If you get pet insurance quotes you don’t think you can afford, don’t be tempted to provide false information in a bid to get it for less.

You may think it’s a good way to save money and still be insured, but the reality is your cat or dog insurance policy will be invalid if the details you’ve provided aren’t correct.

The Co-operative Insurance has provided the following list of things some people deliberately lie about to try and get cheaper pet insurance.

Age
Deliberately lying about your pet’s age is something people try in order to get cheaper cat or dog insurance. This is because most pet insurers won’t cover pets over a certain age.

The problem with this approach is that if you do need to take your cat or dog to the vet, they will usually be able to tell how old it is.

If you’ve stated your dog is five years old for example, but it’s actually 10, a qualified vet will be able to spot this straight away and your pet insurance policy won’t be valid. This will mean you’ll have to pay the full cost of having your pet treated.

Breed
Some breeds of dog are known to have a host of genetic problems which of course makes them more expensive to insure. In a bid to get round this some people provide false information about the breed of cat or dog they have, hoping nobody will notice.

Even if you give the name of a similar breed that tends to have fewer health problems, a vet will be able to tell the difference and your pet insurance policy won’t be worth the paper it’s written on.

Medical history
The Co-operative Insurance is also aware that some pets’ medical histories are falsified in a deliberate attempt to get lower pet insurance premiums.

This approach could also adversely affect your cat or dog. If your vet reads their notes and there’s something important you’ve not disclosed about their health, they could end up receiving the wrong treatment and become even more ill.

Existing conditions
Any existing medical conditions your pet has are generally not covered by dog and cat insurance policies from leading pet insurers such as The Co-operative Insurance.

A vet will be able to tell how long your pet has had a condition or illness, so lying about this is not only an offence, it’s also doing your pet no favours and it’s a false economy as you’ll be paying for pet insurance that isn’t valid.

Author Bio: The Co-operative Insurance has a series of measures in place to detect when false information has been provided for pet insurance policies. If you knowingly give incorrect details when arranging dog or cat insurance you’ll be paying for a policy that’s invalid.