Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

UKTigerlily

Also, no amount of savings would cover a public liability claim for dogs which could easily hit millions & doesn't just have to involve cars!

SJC08

MrsTine wrote: »

I'd never take on a pet if I couldn't afford to insure it

But this totally depends on your attitude to risk and your financial position. I don't insure my cat - the past two cats I've had haven't been insured either and the vets bills across their life have ended up being cheaper than the cost that insurance would have been.

I am in a position to pay if anything happens to my cat though - if I wasn't, I probably would take out some form of insurance.

UKTigerlily

SJC08 wrote: »

But this totally depends on your attitude to risk and your financial position. I don't insure my cat - the past two cats I've had haven't been insured either and the vets bills across their life have ended up being cheaper than the cost that insurance would have been.

I am in a position to pay if anything happens to my cat though - if I wasn't, I probably would take out some form of insurance.

See in your situation I think it's fine not to, in fact I advised my Mum that when she gets her new cats she doesn't need to insure if 1) She can afford a potential £4k bill & 2) She doesn't mind not getting any money back on any bills. If I could take out a loan or have an emergency credit card or whatever for bills I wouldn't, my last cat lived to be 15 with no major issues just the odd thing. However my current cat has arthritis which is only £100 a year to treat but it could get worse idk

If I ever saved enough to have a really big amount put by I still don't know if I would, I think I would, cause if something happened to need the money it'd be hard to say no it's for the pets. Right now i'm ok, the dog came with 6 weeks free charity insurance! Shame it's not a year free huh!

hethmar

Well, I have one of mine with Halifax after M and S doubled their premium. As long as you havent claimed on your dog - they all exclude anything already claimed for - you should be ok. But have a look at AXA too - they underwrite Halifax and may well be cheaper - I didnt realise that til Id signed up to Halifax.

lowis

i always insure - basically because i do not want to ever have to put my pet down simply because i can not afford the treatment.

two years ago (to the day ) i had a cat diagnosed with lymphoma...i was told that without treatment she had a week or two left at best...with treatment she could have another year, maybe more or maybe less depending on how she reacted to chemo...when i was told the costs of treatment i almost feinted despite being insured! with the treatment she achieved another 18 months of normal life, but the vet claimed about £11,000 over those 18 months. i could never have affored to pay for that myself.

i also recently adopted an old cat, got him insured, and about 2 months in have had to claim for a tooth extraction (£450) and a heart scan (£310). these two claims far exceed my annual premiums!

purchasing insurance is a personal choice and i respect the choice not to purchase insurance, but for me i prefer to play it safe and know that i can get the best treatment available for my pet.

foreign_correspondent

hmm, I didnt insure my old dog, and she was very cheap bless her, never saw a vet till she was 15/16 when she developed diabetes. In her last year she cost me £600, which was affordable.

I decided to insure my new dog, Badger, but just for the first £1000 which should cover most eventualities and cost me £7 a month with the Halifax. If she had a much bigger bill I could always raid the ISA, so it would be covered, but I think the chances are relatively slim.

For me, this is a happy medium.

MrsTinks

FC I pay a couple of pounds more and have about £7k cover... FWIW then Direct line seems reasonable (who the cats are with) - if you're happy with £1k cover then fine - just seems worth paying a couple of quid more for 6 or 7 times the cover?
Ofcourse insurance is a matter of personal choice... but I have to say that when people come on the boards saying OMG £2500 vet bill, can't pay it etc etc I have absolutely no sympathy... If you can afford several thousand pounds of treatment - and if you are unlucky then you could pay that several times in an animals life... My boy cat is still stupid and could still do something else as daft as argue with a car... and hey presto I'd have another large vet bill... and the dog had another paw ouwie 2 days ago - thankfully didn't need treatment other than saline washes and keeping clean which I am fairly well practiced at... but could easily have been another £200 if she'd cut her paw instead of slightly higher up her leg... that would be claim number 4 this year... not counting the "free" consultations from my friend who's a vet for things like tonsilitis (yes she managed to get that too...) and a number of other things because she's such a high energy dog and doesn't always look where she's likely to land...
At the moment her scrapes are costing far more than the insurance every year

foreign_correspondent

if its literally acouple of quid more, then thats great, but when I was looking around I couldnt find much for less about £15??

deb76

My parents are paying just under £50 a month for their 14 year old Yorkshire Terrier. I know they looked around for cheaper quotes when they last renewed, but many companies wouldn't even touch them because of the dogs age. They pay the money for peace of mind and because he is like one of the family.

suki1964

MrsTine wrote: »

FC I pay a couple of pounds more and have about £7k cover... FWIW then Direct line seems reasonable (who the cats are with) - if you're happy with £1k cover then fine - just seems worth paying a couple of quid more for 6 or 7 times the cover?
Ofcourse insurance is a matter of personal choice... but I have to say that when people come on the boards saying OMG £2500 vet bill, can't pay it etc etc I have absolutely no sympathy... If you can afford several thousand pounds of treatment - and if you are unlucky then you could pay that several times in an animals life... My boy cat is still stupid and could still do something else as daft as argue with a car... and hey presto I'd have another large vet bill... and the dog had another paw ouwie 2 days ago - thankfully didn't need treatment other than saline washes and keeping clean which I am fairly well practiced at... but could easily have been another £200 if she'd cut her paw instead of slightly higher up her leg... that would be claim number 4 this year... not counting the "free" consultations from my friend who's a vet for things like tonsilitis (yes she managed to get that too...) and a number of other things because she's such a high energy dog and doesn't always look where she's likely to land...
At the moment her scrapes are costing far more than the insurance every year

But there you go MrsT - thats what you have been quoted for your pets in your area and your pets history. Unfortunately theres no "one size fits all" when it comes to insurance.

Alfie is 4 years old now and when I first got him, I was quoted £54 a month with pet plan for lifetime cover - less £60 excess on all claims. That was for a perfectly healthy young pedigree pup - talk about post code lottery

Insurance really is about your attitude to risk as SJC08 has said, and if also you know there is money that can be found either through savings or through a loan if god forbid it s needed.

Dont forget on here we only ever hear the horror stories of huge vet bills because they are the ones posting for help and advice. The vets will only tell you of all the huge bills their patients rack up because thats all they ever see. They dont see the many hundreds of thousands of animals who never require vet treatment other then the usual boosters etc that arent covered by insurance anyway

And isnt pet insurance a new concept? I dont ever remember anyone when I was growing up having pet insurance. And back then dogs were more often then not seen wandering around lose along the streets ready to cause accidents and biting kids. There was none of this huge claim culture back then. I personally think that insurance companies have nurtured this claim culture just to line their own pockets

But thats just my own twisted view (having worked on in the NHS and seen the ambulance chasers in action and seen the no claim no gain companies pay to advertise in A&E ):D