Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

welshsue

just been getting some quotes for my cats insurance renewal and was shocked to find that most of the companies now charge an excess as well as charging a vets contribution i.e if my bill was 2000, then I would have to pay £75 excess plus £200 vet contribution (10% of bill). Apparantly this has only happened within the last year and some companies charge 20% vets contribution.. Makes me wonder whether to bother with insurance or just to open a seperate savings account and put money aside each month to cover any vets bills.

cathodetube

welshsue wrote: »

just been getting some quotes for my cats insurance renewal and was shocked to find that most of the companies now charge an excess as well as charging a vets contribution i.e if my bill was 2000, then I would have to pay £75 excess plus £200 vet contribution (10% of bill). Apparantly this has only happened within the last year and some companies charge 20% vets contribution.. Makes me wonder whether to bother with insurance or just to open a seperate savings account and put money aside each month to cover any vets bills.

Pretty sure I mentioned that upthread, but I think it has been going on for a lot longer than the last year. Shocking, isn't it? I cancelled my insurance a few years back. Have paid out on a few things but am still quids in.

Dollardog

That would be ok if you could afford the vets bill or had a spare credit card with enough credit allowance to put the bill on but what if the cats got run over or something and the bill ran into thousands which it could if the cats had to have scans or something and treatment. I would be worried that I couldn't cover the treatment costs.

cathodetube

What did people do before pet insurance? I have a neighbour who had insurance for both her cats - one of them, aged about ten, was attacked by a dog outside in the front of the house, and was savaged quite badly. He had to have a leg amputated, and eventually died. She did have insurance, but she was only covered for £4k I think, and the treatment went over that amount. They thought he was getting better, but they think he ended up having a heart attack one day in the garden, shortly after coming out of hospital. He should probably have been put to sleep after it first happened, or when the severity of his injuries were evident. Sometimes it's not good to keep an animal alive at any cost. It's not fair to them. She told me that in retrospect she should have him euthanized instead of forcing him to go through many, many operations.

cathodetube

Bromley 86,
If I had a !!!!! in season, I wouldn't let her run around in the middle of a group of intact males. But I would certainly take her out to certain places in order to let her have a run off lead, at suitable times of the day. The dangerous time is in the middle of the cycle and you can tell if a !!!!! is interested in a male, because she lifts her tail to one side. I find it laughable when owners of intact males get huffy if they think you have a !!!!! in season - for some reason, they think it's ok for them to have intact males, but not for you to have an intact female. But I certainly wouldn't take a female in heat to a dog training class like one of the links you put up was discussing, that is just common sense.

Bromley86

I don't think anyone with an intact male would mind someone else having an intact female, but I do think it's reasonable to expect those that do to know the effect their animal may have on others.

Not the boss of you though. And, anyway, I'm the sort that picks up even in the country, so clearly I'm unusual .

Oddjob

I'm looking for insurance for a new rescue dog. I came across this, just wondered if anyone had used them and are they as good as they seem in that they don't increase premiums as pet gets older or charge a %. Seems too good to be true with all the horror stories on here.

http://www.pet-insurance-discount.co.uk/vetsmedicover-launches-unique-lifetime-pet-insurance-policy.html

cathodetube

Oddjob,
Look at the comment from Mandy, on 7th February 2012. It's in the link you sent.

Oddjob

Oh dear, and the one below is not good either, I had not gone down that far.
Pet Insurance seems to be a minefiled. I've just got a rescue dog and the rescue recommended them.
I had been going to go with Pet plan having had problems with a supermarket one with my old dog. I seem to remember reading some bad experiences on here with them though as well. The trouble is, you have to get it right first time in case you have to claim or the animal gets something which would be excluded and you can't claim if you change insurers. I really don't know what to do.
The Vetsmedicover did sound rather too good to be true.

cathodetube

Try Axa, NFU, or LV. They all underwrite their own policies whereas other companies often change underwriters. It can also depend on where you live, and the breed of the dog as certain breeds are higher risk like Rotties with cruciate ligament problems and other breeds with breathing problems like bullies etc.