2nd April 2007

Sick Pets Cost Millions To UK Businesses

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New research has found that British businesses are losing out on £19 million per year due to workers taking time off to take their pets to the vet. What's more, many of these visits are unnecessary.

Do you feel you could call in to work and say you're missing a day while you take your cat to the vet? Or if your pet was sick, would you just make up a fib and take them anyway? According to new research by pet insurer MORE TH>N, over one in three pet owners (37 per cent) took time away from work last year to rush their pet to the vet, lying to their employer about where they were or taking the time off as compassionate leave. The most common excuses they used were that they were ill themselves or they had a medical appointment. A further 58 per cent of those who made sudden trips to the vet had to use up their precious annual leave.

Although these figures are surprising, what’s really bad is that when it comes to the visit to the vet, up to 49 per cent of the emergency trips may be unnecessary. Often, it seems, pet owners just needed advice rather than urgent treatment for their pets. Therefore the sick pet was transported unnecessarily, the owner either lost out on annual leave or had to lie to cover up where they’d been and the employer lost a day of work for nothing.

According to the survey, unnecessary trips cost pet owners £118 million in a combination of vet fees, wasted miles and lost annual leave. The majority (81 per cent) travelled up to 10 miles to visit the vet unnecessarily and a small but significant 3 per cent travelled over 40 miles. If your pet is sick, the last thing you want to do is put them in a car, especially for such a long journey, and we all know how animals react to the vet's waiting room!

To get around this problem, pet insurer MORE TH>N has launched a service that is like NHS Direct but for pets, called Vetfone. The service, which launched at the beginning of April, works in exactly the same way as the one for humans in that you ring up, speak to a qualified veterinary nurse, and then get referred on to your vet if the problem requires veterinary assistance. In a recent pilot with MORE TH>N pet insurance customers, only 27 per cent of callers ended up needing to take their pet to the vet urgently – most people just needed advice, and could then nurse their pets themselves at home.

The MORE TH>N research revealed a strong demand for such a service, with pet owners saying that a telephone advice service could have saved them both time and money, but more importantly, worry about their pet’s health.

Mike Holliday-Williams, the managing director of MORE TH>N, told us, “Pets are an important part of the family so when a pet becomes ill, many people don’t hesitate to take time off from work to rush them to the vet. Often these visits are unnecessary but they cost UK businesses dear. It costs them in employee time and colleagues can be left to hold the fort for hours with no idea when their colleague is likely to return.

"MORE TH>N’s Vetfone will provide worried pet owners with 24 hour access to a qualified veterinary nurse who can advise them on the best course of action. We anticipate that Vetfone will save pet owners valuable time and money in unnecessary vet visits, and it will enable vets to focus time on the serious cases that need their expert skills."

If you think you’d like to take advantage of the new service, Vetfone is available for new and existing MORE TH>N pet customers. If you’re interested in getting a pet insurance quote you can call MORE TH>N on 0800 300 885 or visit www.morethan.com/pet.