[Closed] Pet insurance please explain...

Go for lifetime cover - most places refuse to cover older pets so once your cover expires and fido is over 7 or so, you may not be abe to get new insurance.

Which? have a handy guide to pet insurance [url= http://http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/reviews-ns/pet-insurance/ ]here[/url]

went to the rspca today and we have reserved a 1 year old cat

My pet insurance for my 8 yr old spaniel has gone up from about £12 to £55 over the last few yrs. it's crazy. It's the most expensive monthly insurance payment I've got.

Any ideas? Can I still shop around at this stage?

[quote=burko73 ]My pet insurance for my 8 yr old spaniel has gone up from about £12 to £55 over the last few yrs. it's crazy. It's the most expensive monthly insurance payment I've got.
Any ideas? Can I still shop around at this stage?

Same with our 9yr old westie, only goes to vet for annual check up, premium is now getting to a stoopid price. Often wondered about self insuring,bit late now tho but suppose it only takes one illness.

vet pricing must be partly to blame I'm sure

If your pet has had any problems eg lameness, skin problems then they will not be covered if you start a new policy with a new company.

Generally avoid accident only as doesn't cover lots of things, lifetime cover is best but is most expensive. Some people choose to self insure ie put money into a savings account and use that. I think if you have the wherewithal to pay a large bill ie 3-4k if it came to it then that can be a good option.

[url= http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Veterinary_Surgeon/Salary ]Average vet salary £30,644 [/url]

[url= http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Dentist/Salary ]Average dentist salary £58,661 [/url]

[url= http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Physician_%2f_Doctor%2c_General_Practice/Salary ]Average Doctor salary.£49,908 [/url]

[url= http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Information_Technology_(IT)_Consultant/Salary ]Average IT consultant £39,316 [/url]
Given degree of training and now debt involved in getting there most vets are pretty poorly paid in comparison.

I sometimes wonder if the growth in pet insurance, increasing cost and availability of treatments aren't somehow feeding each other in a delicious spiral. When I was a kid when the cost/benefit got too high the dogs had to be put to sleep.

Yep, agree with the cost/insurance thoughts.

Never insured any of ours, and that includes horses - you are just insuring 'money' (and profit).

We started with lifetime and it's a good job we did after £15k worth of specialist surgery. However, he's now about 12 and the lifetime has gone up to £75 a month. We had to swap insurer and drop down to a lesser level of cover. We now semi self insure. He's covered for accident on new illness with a modest limit and what's left from that £75 a month goes in a kitty to cover his meds and check ups which hopefully leaves a buffer if we get a nasty surprise.

Our westie had a seizure after battling with meningitis last week. Seizure was so big it left him brain damaged and he had to be put to sleep. Incredibly traumatic and upsetting experience but I am glad we'd got him insured. Vet bill up to his death exceeded 2.5k over a 9 week period, in various tests, medication etc. and we were being cautious not to go overboard as we were of the opinion that if our dogs prognosis wasn't good in terms of quality of life, we didn't want to keep him going for our sake. Our vet thought otherwise, no doubt considering an early demise meant less income for him.

As upsetting as it all was I'm now glad our westie made the decision for us.

My dog is up to £45 a month its 7k in cover per year and seems a complete rip off. Started out at £25. If I could stratch together £7k in savings I'd bin it. She's 5 and we have only claimed once for a few stiches ~£300 after a playing accident with another dog. Was told it was due to her breed once...she's a ****ing lurcher thats not a breed!!

I'm seeing how good petplan is. My collie was insured in early May but in June got cruciate ligament injury and had an op costing nearly £4k. The insurance form went in and we were told we would hear something by the end of July. Still nothing. They're most probably beavering away trying to come up with an excuse not to pay.

they've been very good IME. ~ 3k bill on my spaniel x last year at 6 years old and no problem at all.

Anyone else mentally comparing this to NHS V private health care right now?
PS, I have two dogs costing me over £100pm ATM & to be honest I would of self insured or not of got them if I'd known, the really sad bit is the first dog I got was from a well known recucue home & I had to go through the whole 'how much it will cost' questionair & at no point did anyone mention insurance could cost you £20 per week 🙁

I sometimes wonder if the growth in pet insurance, increasing cost and availability of treatments aren't somehow feeding each other in a delicious spiral.

It used to be the case that a vet could basically stitch up a hole, pull out a splinter, give antibiotics and if non of those were an option put an animal down. Non of those things warranted insurance.

The costs now reflect there are all sorts of expensive and extensive technological options to defer doing the last of those - and with those options existing many people with think with their heart and wallet instead of their head. Those expensive technologies need to have their costs covered whether the customer uses them or not so they will be spread across all the treatments

(that and the fact people have paid a fair wedge for a pet rather than brought it back from the pub in their coat pocket so they've got and investment to protect)