Pet lovers know that their pets are an integral part of their lives and their families. Holidays and family outings are made more memorable when we take our pets along for company. It therefore becomes very painful if our pet falls ill, breaks any of its bones or needs constant medical supervision due to an illness like cancer. As the pet owner, the responsibility falls on us to get the best veterinary care and bear the costs associated with the treatments.

Advancements in veterinary science have made all kinds of treatments possible to cure your pets. At the same time this technology demands compensation in the form of thousands of dollars. In such a situation what you need is pet insurance. Pet insurance guarantees that the medical expenses incurred on your pets is met by the insurance company partly or in whole. Some pet insurance policies also cover annual pet checkups and immunizations. It all depends on the type of policy you select. Insurance costs can begin as low as $10 with incident costs being in the range of around $40.

The top reasons to go in for pet insurance are:

• Bears the cost of medical expenses – Needless to say, that this is the primary objective of pet insurance. You have insurance to fall back on when you take your pet to the vet. All pet insurance policies can be used at any registered vet’s clinic. So you need not compromise by taking your pet to any clinic. You can visit your own vet and be at peace.

• Insuring multiple pets – Most pet insurance companies give you a discount if you have more than one pet and give you a package insurance deal. This not only brings down the cost of maintaining and taking care of your pets but also saves you thousands of dollars in pet medical expenses

• Taking care of tomorrow – As time passes, your pet becomes older and prone to more illnesses. Pet insurance comes handy in such a situation. Getting your pet insured when it is very young ensures coverage for accidents and diseases which may occur at a later stage.

• Inflation shield – Pet insurance acts as a shield due to rising prices in the economy. Medical expenses which may seem affordable now will look enormous after a couple of years. The years gone by will also bring your pet closer to you and you would not want to lose it when it is ill and old just because you cannot meet its medical expenses.

• Peace of mind – Pet insurance gives you the peace you always sought when you bought your first pet and wondered how you will deal with any medical emergencies that may arise when your pet needs medical care or taking care of the vaccinations and checkups. Pet insurance makes having a pet more affordable and truly keeps your pet protected for a rainy day.
So if you are one of those pet owners who really love your pet and want to take care of them till the very end, pet insurance is an attractive and affordable solution.

Insurance firm says the data was lost during a routine transfer to South Africa in August last year, but there is so far no evidence of any misuse

Insurance firm Zurich today admitted it had lost a tape containing the personal details of 51,000 UK customers and said it had launched an investigation into the incident.

The group said the back-up tape was lost during a routine transfer to a data storage centre in South Africa in August last year.

It said it had no evidence that the data had been misused, but it has written to all its customers whose details were lost advising them to take precautions. These include businesses as well as individuals.

Zurich refused to say what personal details were contained on the tape, but it is thought they include information that could be used by identity fraudsters.

The company has offered the affected customers, who were all general insurance customers, free identity theft protection and free protection registration with anti-fraud group CIFAS.

It has advised people to speak to their banks and other financial providers, and added that it was confident letters alerting customers to the problem would arrive today, despite the current disruption to the postal service.

The group declined to comment on why it had taken more than a year for the loss of the data to come to light. But it said investigations had revealed deficiencies in the management of data tape security procedures in South Africa.

Annette Court, chief executive of Europe general insurance at Zurich Financial Services, said: “What has happened here is unacceptable. However, so far we have no evidence that our customers’ data has been accessed or compromised in any way. We are apologising unreservedly for this situation.

“At this time, our first and foremost concern is our customers, and we are doing all we can to support and assist them in these circumstances and have put in place a dedicated response team to help support them.”

The group has around 4 million general insurance customers and 2 million life insurance customers in the UK, but it stressed that only 51,000 had been affected by the security breach. These customers all had either Zurich Private Clients, Zurich Special Risks or Zurich Business Insurance Direct policies.

The group said both the City regulator, the Financial Services Authority, and the UK Information Commissioner’s Office has been informed of the situation.

Zurich UK has set up a dedicated helpline for customers who are affected on 08000 152 183. Information is also available on its website.