When buying pet insurance you are often faced with a plethora of offers, money off deals and unmissable opportunities (or at least that is how it seems!) and the companies behind such offers will often try and attract your custom with lots of clever deals.

But what is the reality behind a lot of these so called deals and what pet insurance pitfalls should you look out for when buying your next insurance policy?

The first thing to be aware of is pay out limits. Some pet insurers will limit the amount they will pay out each year so check this. And it may also be a good idea to find out if there is a time limit on claiming for one treatment – the best policies offer a yearly limit on how much you can claim but no time limit.

Another thing that can confuse if so called ‘lifetime cover’, which is often not as it seems. You may get it but you could find that your insurer increases how much you pay each year get a promise not to increase cost before buying into this pet insurance.

Some insurers will pay for the costs of putting your pet down but often it is not included so it is worth checking to avoid an unexpected cost further down the line.

Other things to look out for include cover for known hereditary condition inherent in certain breeds as some policies will exclude cover for these, dental cover and even money to cover advertising costs if your pet is lost of stolen – all important stuff.