Recent changes to the UK's quarantine laws mean that it is now possible for you to obtain a pet passport (under the government's ?passport for pets? scheme) and take your family pet away with you on holiday. However, before you run off down to your local travel agent and book tickets for the whole family to that exotic seaside tropical location you have always wanted to visit but have to put off because everyone else at home didn't want to leave Fido in the kennel, you might want to consider getting you and your family some travel insurance ? including that all important travel pet insurance.

A number of leading pet insurance providers now offer pet owners travel pet insurance to give pet owners the comfort of knowing whether they are far away in exotic places enjoying the sun and sea or closer to home enjoying the cultural delights of Europe, their pet will be insured against any illness or mishap that may unfortunately befall them.

Typically, included in the travel pet insurance is:

- x-rays

- injections

- lab tests

- prescriptions

- costs while they stay at the vet and recuperate

Keep in mind, however, that as with other types of insurance, travel pet insurance usually comes with what is known as an excess. In short, what this means is that you ? as the owner if the pet ? will be required to pay a certain amount until a threshold amount is reached. Thereafter you can claim for a reimbursement against the insurance provider. However, unlike humans, travel pet insurance premiums are usually calculated on the type of animal you have and the age of the animal. As such, it is possible to leave arranging the travel pet insurance policy until the last minute, then purchasing this online once you have decided that you will definitely be taking your family pet away with you on your family holidays!

Moreover, as with human travel insurance policies, pet travel insurance can be purchased either as annual policy or as a one-off travel policy. If you get an annual pet travel policy, this means you can take your pet with you whenever you travel one of the 25+ countries outside of the UK which the UK government currently has arrangements for the ?passport for pets? scheme, or any of the European Union countries (which are all part of the ?passport for pets? scheme already). Alternatively, with one-off pet travel insurance policies you need to name the country you are going to visit and the dates you'll be there and the policy will only cover you for the duration and place stated.