Should I wait till puppy older before getting insurance?

Somerset

Puppy is 10 weeks old and due at the vet's next monday for jabs/check-up. The practice asked if I'm going to get ins ( I am ) and recommended I do it before the visit - I understand why, if he's got anything congenital etc then if I sort out the ins after it's a prior condition and not covered.

So I read all the threads, got a load of quotes. Tbh I think the decent cover is pricey. I noticed someone posted that 'youngsters' are quoted higher than slightly older dogs ( I assume because they've had vet checks and there's nothing intrinsicly wrong therefore less to go wrong ) so the question is ..... at what point/age does the premium on a dog start to level off ie not too young & not too old ?

Waterfalls

i wod recommend insurance to be taken out as soon as possible.
but u can always ask ur vets if they do 6wks free, immediate cover if ur pet is healthy. or he may have exclusions if congential problems etc are found.
if u take insurance out now, there is usually a 2 week time frame in which u cannot claim, so if anything is found on monday u still wont be able to claim for it.

i work in an orthopaedic referal practice and see a fair few young pets in for fracture repairs. so i would always recommend insurance. but the downside is that my practice and alot of others dont do direct claims...

snowman2_2

Get it asap as if something happens it is too late, plus there is the 2 week inception period before you can claim. We do 6 weeks free with instant cover which is worth asking your vet for

Di

if hes pedigree (KC registered) you get 6 weeks free insurance from them so this shouldnt be an issue atm. i take it he is your avitar?

i would say though that its best to get insurance, best you can afford for at least the first year. after that, if there have not been any claims put away the equivalent to premiums in a seperate account. its the first year that can show up any costly/long term congenital problems.

f1re_cr4cker

try axa they offer genuine lifetime cover and are cheaper than the likes of petplan. My 6month old male pug is roughly £18 a month. The excess is only £50 as well

Bubbles911

From experience, I would say get it now. my dog is nearly 11 months now and is a chihuahua. I got 6 weeks free insurance from the kennel club but the insurance they offered me at the end of that was over £30 a month and only had cover of £4,000 per condition which is not good.

I cancelled it but as when you chose a pet insurer, your generally stuck with them for your dogs life I put a lot of thought into it, even drew up a chart which had the amount of excess, amount of cover, cost per month and year etc. However it took me a week to do this and the day I was going to do it, my dog had a mad half hour and badly hurt his leg.

It was the nighttime so we raced to the emergency vets, the visit cost £100 alone and then there was the cost of the treatment on top, it cost hundreds in total and I kicking myself for not taking it out earlier and taking so long to decide. next day I went with petplan, although it cost more than the others they offered lifetime unlimited cover which meant I no longer needed to worry.

Recently, my dog caught a nasty virus and ended up in the vets over night for treatment and it would have cost nearly £700 but luckily all i had to pay was £65 excess because of the insurance. I always put £20 a month on top of the insurance and dog expenses in a savings account so i have the money for the excess if he needs treatment.

I think its important to take it out when your dog is young, you can never guarantee what genetic disorders they may have or what they may catch and they are so vulnerable at a young age. I learned that the hard way!

Hope this helps.

oreo7504

I'd say get it as soon as possible. I'm with pet protect & they have been great, they have paid each claim quickly, it is the few companies that my vet does a direct claim for. They had the best level of cover I could find at the time & the best price.

Hawthorn

Get it.

I hummed and aaahed about it (my parents have never had insurance) and I kept putting it off. She nicked an apple core out of the bin, and a part got lodged in her throat.....well, in her oesophagus. Her eyes were bulging, her heart was racing, she was gagging, vomiting, shaking and messing herself. We rushed her to the vets, who had to administer an anaesthetic, give her an x-ray, and an ECG as the X-Ray showed that it was compressing her heart. It cost us over £1000 in the end, due to needing antibiotics as her throat got fairly messed up trying to get the apple out, special diet as her tummy was so strained, and medication to soothe her tummy.
We had to max our credit card to do it. Had we not had that credit card, she WOULD be dead now.
That is not a position I would like to be in, though the vet said that for that cost, plenty would have had her put to sleep as they wouldn't be able to cover it.
It's not just your pocket that is at stake here - in reality, it could be the difference between life and death for your pet. We were lucky, plenty aren't. Get it, ASAP.
We are with Petplan, which was recommended to us by the vets as the ones who they have had less trouble getting claims through etc etc. Yes, it was more costly than some others, but the vets recommendation is good enough for me.

Sagz_2

If you are going to get the dog insured I can't see any benifit in waiting.

My pets aren't insured (it gets a bit expensive when you have 7) but they have their own savings account in case of emergencies.

suki1964

Your pup if bought through a reputable breeder would have come with 6 weeks insurance free of charge to cover him till the time you get sorted for yourself.

You need insurance (if you are going to insure) in place before you step inside a vets for the first time as that first check (which should be in 24 hours of purchase) is to check that you have a fit healthy pup. If its not then you can reject it - ie the breeder (if reputable) will take it back and refund you or you have the insurance in place to cover it for the problems found.

Find a problem or two at check up and pup isn't insured, no insurance company will cover them without costing you an arm and leg (if then)

shirlgirl2004

If the dog is pedigree then I'd say yes. The chances of congenital problems are massivly reduced for a mixed breed. Puppies of any breen can injure themselves easily though. Personally I don't insure as I have 6 dogs and premiums alone would be over £1k. I am in the fortunate position of knowing that I could afford the fees whatever. If you aren't in that position then you need cover.