Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

pboae

Pet Plan and Marks and Spencers both offer cover for life. Even the likes of Sainsburys offer per illness cover without exclusions (though it is still only £6,500 over the lifetime).

I guess if you are only insuring in case of an accident, like the animal being run over, it would be just about adequate (unless there were later complications or ongoing problems as a result), but if you are insuring to cover illness, one year cover isn't really worth paying for.

Trying_to_Budget

Hi

Just a bit of advice from an ex veterinary nurse (14 years experience).
Although I did see a lot of RTA's and other accidents, we also had a lot of cats on longterm medication for kidney disease and a few hyperthyroid and diabetic cats. Because of medicine improving over the years, a lot of these cats lived a long time after starting on medication. From experience, I would always advise to insure for lifetime cover. All my 3 cats are insured with petplan.

JoeyDoll

Hi

Thinking about getting a puppy or older dog for our family. Not really sure of what type of insurance I'll need and what it actually covers, does it cover vacinations and general check ups? I've read about people taking cover for life on this forum but again I'm not sure what this entails. Sorry really new to Pet Insurance and any help would be much appreciated.

One other thing does anyone know of forums that discuss what dog to get - wanting one suitable for a child - think I have narrowed the breed down to a Kings Charles Spaniel!!

Thanks so much in advance for any help, much appreciated

pboae

For sites to help you find a dog try http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/ or The Refuge. Spaniels are good with families but they are usually very sociable dogs and will be unhappy if they are left on their own a lot, they also need a *lot* of exercise.

For insurance the two companies I would recommend are Pet Plan or Marks and Spencer. I am with M&S because they are particularly good for insuring older dogs with unknown history. I would never insure an animal with a policy that was underwritten by E&L, as they have a terrible reputation for not paying out.

All policies will exclude pre-existing conditions. How they define that varies a lot. So if you have a dog that has been treated for wet eczema on it's face, some policies will only exclude that exact illness (i.e. wet eczema on the face) others will exclude all skin conditions.

But the main difference between insurers is how they treat exclusions at renewal date. I will try and describe the main variations.

1) 1 year payments. The policy will pay out for an accident/illness up to a certain amount (typically £3,000 or £5,000). At the end of the year when yoiu renew your policy that condition will be considered 'pre-existing' and they will not pay out on it again.

2) Per illness life cover. The policy will pay out for life, with a set amount per illness. So at renewal the condition is counted as pre-existing but under treatment. For example, if your dog is diagnosed with arthritis, they will pay a set amount for that illness over the dog's lifetime (again it is typically £3,000-£5,000). If after 5 years you have made claims up to that limit for that illness, they won't pay out anymore.

3) Per illness, for life, renewing cover. This is the same as the cover above, but each year when you renew the per illness cover is reset. So if you claim £1500 of the £3000 limit in Year 1, after you renew that resets and in Year 2 you can claim the full £3000 again, and then again in Year 3, 4, etc.

The final thing you need to look at is the excess you will pay per claim. They can be quite considerable in some policies. M&S offer a no excess policy for a small additional payment, which is the plan I have. But they may cancel that option in the future, so it shouldn't be the only consideration.

It's important to go through all the options before you sign up, because once you make a claim you cannot change insurers. Or rather, you can, but whatever you have previously claimed for will be excluded on your new policy.

Personally, I don't think the 1 year policies (1) are worth having, and (2) can leave you high and dry if your dog gets a life long illness. My dog has Hip Dysplacia and arthritis. If he ever has the operation on his hip that would use his £3,000 up in one go, with nothing left to pay for his arthritis medication.

JoeyDoll

thanks pboae

I'll have a look at those websites and thanks again for your help

tiff

Personally in my opinion smaller dogs are more suitable for people with young children. We have got a 13 week Shih Tzu/Lhasa Apso cross. He is so easy for my children to handle. They can walk him, or at least hold him on the lead while I have to do something. We can take him in the car with us anywhere, he goes in his pet carrier in the boot of our estate car. He doesnt need loads of exercise but we do exercise him twice a day. Sometimes just a walk around the block is fine. He seems to wear himself out chasing balls around! He cant go down the stairs (kitchen is downstairs) so my children can carry him and have been shown how to. Obviously a bigger dog would be able to manage going downstairs himself.

He sleeps in his crate at night, cost £21 on Ebay. (Twice the price in Pets at Home) This crate should see him through to adult as he wont grow that much.

Just this minute before reading this thread I bought our insurance through M&S online. We have one months free insurance with Petplan at the moment, which is given by the vet but I knew that I needed to take out cover asap in case Charlie gets sick or injured which would then be classed as a pre existing condition and we would have to stay with Petplan or be excluded for that condition. I chose the nil excess and cost was £153 annual premium.

pboae

I think temprement is far more important than size, some small dogs can be snappy whereas larger dogs can be slower and less bouncy. But then I am biased, 'cos I've got a St. Bernard and I can't imagine ever owning a tiddly dog.

But, if I were looking for a dog with a family I'd look for an older cross breed from a rescue that fostered their dogs in a home enviornment so they had been properly asessed and you already knew what their personality was like. Virtually every pure breed has health problems and behavioural issues associated with it now because of the inbreeding. A first gen cross can avoid those problems, or it can end up with the genetic weaknesses of both parents. With a mutt you have a better chance of avoiding those extremes,

tiff

I agree about an older cross breed but I dont think a rescue dog is always the right choice for a first time dog owner. My last dog was a rescue dog, totally wild when I got him at 10 months and he passed away at 14 years old. He needed a lot of work on training but he was a lovely dog.

To be honest it was the pedigree dog prices that put me off, anything up to around £1200! In the end we got our puppy from someone who had owned him for 4 weeks and we paid her £200 - her parents had paid £400 for the dog 4 weeks earlier. The dog was vet checked the next day so hopefully all is well health wise.

JoeyDoll

Hi

Thanks for your replies - I have looked at several breeds of dogs if not them all, did look at a Shih Tzu but found their grooming was demanding. I could only have a small dog as I don't think it would be fair to a large dog as we live in a cottage!!

Tiff your dog looks adorable!!!

Pboae I think you are right about temperament being important, when I was looking through the breeds I checked Child Suitablility and Agression of each breed, would love a St Bernard but the house is too small.

JoeyDoll

tiff wrote:

I agree about an older cross breed but I dont think a rescue dog is always the right choice for a first time dog owner. My last dog was a rescue dog, totally wild when I got him at 10 months and he passed away at 14 years old. He needed a lot of work on training but he was a lovely dog.

To be honest it was the pedigree dog prices that put me off, anything up to around £1200! In the end we got our puppy from someone who had owned him for 4 weeks and we paid her £200 - her parents had paid £400 for the dog 4 weeks earlier. The dog was vet checked the next day so hopefully all is well health wise.

Hi Tiff

That's my main worry about a rescue dog, you haven't had them from being a puppy and therefore don't know how they have been trained, with a child in the house his safety is my main priority. But, saying that if they have come from a good home and just due to circumstance they have to part with the dog then it might be OK.

I too am a bit taken aback by the pedigree prices!!! Was wondering if you rehome a puppy/dog and go through the relevant official breeders website would it be cheaper than buying a pup?