Pet Insurance - Read and learn

dizziblonde

I don't have huge savings... but I do make sure I have the tripod insured. My mum's cats have hit her up for a variety of nice vet bills over the years, thankfully they're in a financial position to find the money for those things - I'm not. I've never had to claim on it in all the years I've had the furball - but I'd rather pay out for peace of mind than suddenly have to find £500 for a vet bill and see her suffer.

Course then you have relatives like my cousin who takes in cats all over the shop (and has a really annoying habit of fobbing them off all over the shop when the novelty wears off) and just grunts that "the PDSA will cover it if they get ill" and assumes that society/charities/everyone but herself will bail her out. Yes you-know-what happens in life - but at least show some forethought into what you're going to do if an animal gets ill (either having savings or insurance) BEFORE you get it - rather than just assuming someone will bail you out when it happens.

babyshoes

Unfortunately, insurance is very high on less common pets, so it works out better for us to simply save up for vet bills for our ferrets, and even if they needed something very expensive we would be able to stump up the money easily. That said, in the couple of years we have had them, no single incident has cost more than a couple of hundred quid, even when one had to see a specialist a number of times.

We may have to use the credit card if there was anything over a few hundred pounds, but even if we maxed that out we would be able to pay it back within a year, so not overly concerned about it. Insurance would be nice, but with 4 ferrets to insure it would just cost too much!

stingy_rach

I have big dogs, a Saint Bernard and a Newfoundland and so vet bills are extraordinarily expensive. A course of antibiotics is around £75 and so a routine trip for a bladder infection, for which Mike has been twice in the last year, can easily add up to over £150.

Mike has had over £5000 in treatment in total for different things, the most expensive being a gastric torsion at 6 months old which cost £2,000. We have definately had our monies worth with him, however, when he was younger we took the cheap option of a standard policy which covered for £2,500 or one year. He was then diagnosed with hip dysplacia and so we have had to pay for hydrotherapy for 18 months and ongoing meds.

My other dog has not had to go anywhere near as much but we have still probably claimed as much as we have paid.

In all honesty I would always have pet insurance as I love the security of not having to consider cost when my dog is sick. I do, however, understand that some people may not agree with me but in these circumstances other arrangements have to be made. My parents had to make the difficult decision of having their dog put down recently because she was old and sick and the medication needed to keep her comfortable was expensive and they did not have insurance. I would not want to have to make this decision.

Bromley86

Anyone self insuring might want to consider this inexpensive 3rd party insurance that mrcol1000 mentions:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2329115

1,000,000 / 20 = 50,000 years before self insurance covers that amount .

Debt_Free_Chick

Bromley86 wrote: »

Anyone self insuring might want to consider this inexpensive 3rd party insurance that mrcol1000 mentions:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2329115

1,000,000 / 20 = 50,000 years before self insurance covers that amount .

But check your home/contents policy as many provide this.

hethmar

I persuaded a friend of ours 2 years back to take out pet insurance when he adopted two Mastiffs. One has just had leg ops costing £7k and the other needs an operation on his eyes.

Like all insurance, premiums are wasted money until you need it.

Soubrette

!!!!!! wrote: »

So you have been lucky that you have not needed major vet treatment in the last 5 years.

Our dog is now 11 and we have had him insured from the first day that we had him.. With the various accidents and illnesses that he has had in that time we are still in profit when you compare our insurance outlay to the vet's bills that he has racked up.

In hindsight a definite no brainer

Actually you must be unluckier than average to have to claim more than you've paid in on your pet insurance, otherwise the industry would not exist.

You may be in profit - and a good few people with pet insurance may be in profit, but the nature of the insurance beast is that all premiums paid in are used for payouts, overheads and company profits. It is therefore impossible that more people will claim more than they pay in over the medium to long term as the market would collapse. So, from an insurance point of view - looking at the whole market - most people will lose on their insurance premiums than will gain from them (no one can manufacture money from nowhere).

I am in the same kind of position as Debt_Free_Chick although my 'insurance' funds is a general emergency fund (and I mean emergency - our car recently died but we have a car fund for that kind of thing, not the emergency fund). I like the security of knowing that that I can pay for anything I choose from that money (no exclusions).

If I couldn't afford to self insure (and that means access to a lump sum from day one) then I would certainly get pet insurance but I don't believe it would give me the peace of mind that my own self insurance does.

I do get very cross with people who use the phrase 'self insure' instead of 'no insurance' though - self insurance still involves insuring oneself against a risk - it's not taking a gamble that the risk won't ever happen.

Sou

lostinrates

OK, we are one of those who don't have insurance. Actually we do, for the horses, whose bills mount up super quickly. And my mother does have for her dogs (one of whom died to day) having not had insurance fo a couple of generations, The reason these so is within their normal life span my dad will retire, so best to have them insure from now.

we had ours insured till living abroad, insurance would not cover us from here, there no comparibly good insurers at that time. We also were ''liquid'' every thing we own in cash. we have more in cash than an insurer would pay out, while we don't want to lose it we would for them. In this time (now for years) we have built up a sizable cash fund for the animals and again, could cover a heftier bill than i've ever had from a vet (which was over £12k). I feel at this time, we would not be best placed to have these animals insured. soon we won't be as liquid anymore, at that point it has been our plan to re insure the animals. We put away roughly the equivalent premium we would pay for all the uninsured...If we had not been ''liquid'' and with cash easily accessible we would have maintained insurance until sizable reserve was met.

simialrly, I don't know if its true, but for he very few who could afford it (and I mean very few!) its legal to be uninsured in a car if money is lodged with the supreme court...I found this link having started typing this: http://www.carinsuranceonline.org.uk/exceptionsanddefences.html I guess for he super rich it might work out viable.

edit: the giant breed dog that died to day will have cost a lot, but no claim has been put in yet....because we've been paying as we go. If you couldn't then, there is no doubt insurance should be top of the list.