Why your dog can't meet your monthly mortgage payments

More and more of us are putting our pets' lives ahead of our own. Here's why you shouldn't.

When I was young I had a pet rabbit. He was black and was affectionately nicknamed 'Bugs' - courtesy of my dad.

He had a very cheeky side to him and regularly managed to dig under the garden fence to run off on a new adventure (or more often than not, to visit the female rabbits a few doors down). On one particular escapade he even ended up being rescued by the RSPCA.

I loved my rabbit. I really did. So my sister and I were absolutely devastated when he died - I can still visualise my poor mum desperately trying to console two hysterical children!

I know I'm not alone when I say my pet meant a lot to me. In fact, research shows many of us value our pet's life more than our own! Indeed, according to MRL Insurance, for every life insurance policy applied for over the past year, ten pet insurance policies have been taken out!

Spot the dog can't pay up (however clever he is)

Chances are if your cat/dog/snake/hamster means the world to you, you'll want to do everything you can to protect your pet should it become ill. Vet bills can be extremely expensive, so for many people, the best option is to pay out a monthly fee for pet insurance.

But while this does make sense, signing up for pet insurance shouldn't mean you sacrifice your own life insurance to make ends meet. After all, if you suddenly developed a serious illness or lost your job, I'm pretty certain Spot the dog wouldn't be able to meet the mortgage repayments - no matter how talented he might be.

Why life insurance is important

If you have financial dependents such as children, life insurance is a must - you shouldn't even hesitate about taking out a policy. Similarly, if you have a joint mortgage, it's important to protect your life to ensure your partner could meet the monthly payments if something happened to you.

If you decide against taking out a policy, you'll be taking a risk with your family's future. You need to keep in mind that should the worst happen to you, your family may not be able to cope financially. And if your family can't keep up with the mofrtgage repayments they could be turfed out of their own home. Do you really want to take that risk just to save a few pennies?

What's more, the younger you apply for life cover, the better. If you wait too long, you'll be hit with higher premiums. That's because the older you get, the more likely it is that your health will have started to deteriorate. And as a result, your premiums will be more expensive. You can read more on this here.

Do I really need pet insurance?

I think this is something you need to consider carefully. Pet insurance can work out to be very pricey and if you never make a claim, you're throwing a lot of money down the drain.

But if you believe pet insurance is a small price to pay for protecting your furry friends, you'll need to be aware of the following:

As well as covering injury and illness, good pet insurance policies will pay out if your pet is lost or stolen. And really really good ones will also provide dental cover. So you'll need to read the small print carefully to see what's covered before committing to anything.

Typically, there are two kinds of pet insurance policies. Type one will pay out for the first 12 months of an illness only, while type two will pay for the whole time the pet needs treatment for a particular condition. So in an ideal world, you'd be better off opting for the second kind of policy - although the catch is that it will be more expensive.

However, if paying out for pet insurance seems too pricey, I think one of the best alternatives is to open a savings account. You can then pay in regular amounts each month and build up an emergency fund in case your beloved pet is suddenly taken ill.

The downside to this is the emergency could strike before you've built up sufficient funds.

You can read more on protecting your pet here.

Ultimately, you'll need to decide whether you can realistically afford to take out a pet insurance policy and whether you think it's worth it. And if it's a toss-up between protecting your pet or yourself, you should put yourself first every time.

Don't forget that pet insurance will be of absolutely no use to you or your family if you become ill or unemployed. Looking after your pet's welfare might be important to you, but if you've got nowhere to live, neither you nor your dog will be in a very comfortable position.

More: Money and pets: all your questions answered | Cut the costs of your pet