Pet insurance can improve animal welfare by enabling access to veterinary care that would otherwise be unaffordable, but policy design and access inequalities affect its welfare impact.
The availability of veterinary insurance has transformed welfare outcomes for pets in insured households, enabling life-saving surgeries, prolonged disease management and access to specialist care. However, insurance creates a two-tier system where the quality of care - and ultimately welfare outcomes - is strongly linked to owner financial resources. Low-cost veterinary clinics, PDSA and RSPCA hospitals partially address this inequality but cannot fully compensate for the welfare gap between insured and uninsured animals.