[Closed] Pet insurance

Try MoreThan...

https://www.morethan.com/pet-insurance/

...we've used them for years and they've always be cheaper than PetPlan, and with good cover.

We use Animal friends, definitely get lifetime cover - we have up to 6k per year, per condition, which it turned out we needed when ours popped 2 spinal disks, Surgery and MRI and stuff came to nearly 6k. He'll need ongoing hydrotherapy too, his back end was paralyzed but 4 weeks later, he can now walk a little bit. so it's worth it.

You may get lucky and have a dog that never has an accident or random condition, but if you are not so luck and the insurance is poor, you might find yourself having to make some decisions that no one should have to make.

I've never bothered. Have tended to have working terriers or mutts with only a vague guess at their father, never pure breeds or designer dogs, and haven't been far wrong. My last Jack Russell cost a small fortune in running repairs due to misadventure, but they were usually the sort of thing the insurance wouldn't cover anyway (too cheap).

We're with Petplan with lifetime cover. They're the company that are repeatedly recommend by vets, which is why we chose them even though they're more expensive than the competition.

My biggest grievance with them is that although they're more likely to pay out for a claim in my experience I've found them poor to deal with and they always increase the renewal by 10% or more.

We have two dogs, the eldest is a 5 year old miniature poodle who we've never claimed for, with £4k cover and the renewal has increased again. The policy started at around £400 but the renewal last week wanted £700. Each year when I call them they refuse to move on price, yet a new quote for the same dog is hundreds of pounds cheaper, but won't cover any pre existing conditions, even though we've never claimed. They also refused my request to increase the limit to £7k to match what our other dog is covered for.

We did claim for our younger dog but the specialist vet we saw required us to pay up front and claim the money back. Petplan did pay but it took nearly a month and I had to chase them a few times. Turns out they were trying to invoice the wrong vet! Somewhere we've never been to, but didn't contact us to check the details when they didn't get a response from the vet they invoiced.

Everyone I speak to recommends PetPlan so I suspect we've just been unlucky, but if you don't like what they've quoted you already I doubt you'll be happy with the renewal quotes.

My (~30kg 8 year old) dog costs nigh on £100 a month, but we've done the "make sure you have enough savings and just pay out" thing and had a year where 2 dogs - and this was about ten years ago - ran up bills of several thousand pounds EACH and only one survived.

Pet insurance means the pain of your animal being ill is separated nicely from the pain of parting from your money. Which is good when you have a dog dying messily on you.

Think we're with John Lewis - not too pricey, ended up going through go compare/meerkat one.

Already had home & contents insurance with them so seemed like a natural progression. £140 for the year...

Also I think it's pretty much against the law not to post pics of the pup when starting a dog related thread.

Here's ours...

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Petplan. Have paid out every single claim over last 5 years without question. May not be the cheapest but cheap insurance is only good until you actually have to use it.

The premium goes up every year as expected as animal is getting older and more likely to have problems but both of my dogs had a lot of problems when very young and my claims averaged around £4000 a year for first few years.

We stopped paying after our first 2 dogs and bunged the premiums into a savings account/premium bonds - we’re about £10k up.

We stopped paying after our first 2 dogs and bunged the premiums into a savings account/premium bonds – we’re about £10k up.

That's insurance for you and the luck of the draw. I could have stopped paying house insurance 20 years ago as have never claimed and I would be £20K up. £20K wouldn't go too far if my house burns down though.
For dog insurance I have so far saved money by having it. It also removes any doubt in my mind about getting things done as the factor of cost of procedure is totally removed.

My (~30kg 8 year old) dog costs nigh on £100 a month

Has it cost that it's whole life? 8 x 12 x 100 = £9600!

You can pay the ridiculous premium or gamble and save the cash.

My Border Terrier has had one procedure costing £800 he’s 12 now. Our Lab was 13 when she died and cost us £2.5k (19 years ago) for orthopaedic surgery but nothing else. If you’ve got spare funds then I’d not bother if not and can afford the monthly premium go for that and the recommendations as above.

20pcm into a Pete account here.

There's a credit card option of its a big bill...

The last 2 dogs have departed in a messy fashion.

Dog 1 ate string from a roast joint and perforated his intestines, bill around £3k (not including euthanasia and cremation).

Dog 2 heart murmur followed by heart failure his last year cost around £5k across 2 premium years (also not including euthanasia and cremation).

Dog 1 we had for 5 years, dog 2 for 3 years. We may just have had enough savings for the first one but not the second.

Pet plan are handy if the vet will deal direct our first vet did, the second didn't but the referral place did. They can be difficult if you're buying drugs online with a prescription as they can delay payment while you argue that the vet was not involved in anything after the prescription is issued.

Not having to worry if the funds were available helped mentally in both instances.

Bodhi learning to walk again after spinal surgery

https://flic.kr/p/2jxV5gt