Pet Insurance guide discussion area

mikesten

Sharada wrote: »

Thanks for that, I was really leaning towards self insuring but wondered if I was being foolish. I used to have 4 cats (now with the ex) and to this day (after 10 years) they've incurred very little or no vet fees at all. I now have a kitten and will be doing what you advise, £10 per month in a savings account. I am skint, but not in debt, so if I did need emergency treatment costing hundreds/thousands of pounds in the near future then I'd rather borrow the money from my bank to be honest!

But what happens if your bank refuses to lend you any money? If you're skint the likelihood of getting a loan in the current climate must be slim.
I've paid £12 a month for 3 years for my two cats to Tesco Insurance - a total of a little over £420.
One of my cats this week got into a fight with a neighbours cat and severely damaged his eye. He is having an operation today, and with drugs etc this will cost my insurers in excess of £2000.
If I borrowed that off the bank it would cost me interest, and possibly over 3 years about £3000, a similar amount with a credit card.

If I'd put a tenner away it wouldn't come anywhere near the amount I need.

To say you've never had any illnesses or accidents is fine, but you never know what's round the corner (- in my cat's case it was next doors's cat ) but seriously consider even 3rd party insurance.

MOGGYMALONE

Are there any policies for pet insurance on which you can have both the dog and cat together? I currently have mine with two different companies and thought it might be easier to have them both covered together and have renewal once a year etc. just to simplify life
Moggy

NevGeorge

I have been everywhere to try and get good pet insurance at a price that I can afford with my wife being on pension and myself being unemployed. We are totally max'd out with insurance, Life insurance, car insurance, house and contents insurance, boiler insurance, if we keep adding insurance we would be splitting a bean for our daily meal.

We have no debt but we simply cannot afford more insurance unless the damn insurance companies got real with the premiums and brought them down to a reasonable level.

Pet insurance I would get but not until I can get a job.

thebarefootchef

"Dogs need legal Insurance"

But in the name of sanity don't pay for it, it's included in your buildings and / or contents insurance.
There's always a liability section of a million or so quid.
It doesn't just cover tiles falling on folk's heads it's there for when your dog runs across the road & causes accident or bites postman.

& really don't bother insuring animals, vets will charge three times as much for an insured animal as for one which is not.

£50 gets anything put down.

barefoot Bargins

Chilli1_2

I have been a vet nurse for a number of years. I deal with pet insurance policies all the time. I would urge people never to buy a policy because it is cheap but to look for lifetime cover for ongoing conditions, ask whether they increase premiums based on claims you have made as this could double of triple your premiums,whether they cover congenital or hereditary conditions and how long you have got to put in a claim. Your vet may be able to give you more comprehensive advice but the cheaper the policy, the less it will cover long term.

Stanley45

I feel so sorry for pet owners who have taken out pet insurance in good faith only to find that when the time comes the insurance company will not pay out. It is a terribly emotional time when decisions have to be made about a sick pet, even more so when they give consent to vets to go ahead with expensive treatment and then find out that the insurance company won't pay out and they are left with a large bill to pay.
Also be aware that pre-authorisation is not usually possible in emergency situations (and these are often the most expensive) as insurance companies often take up to 10 days to process them.
Many companies are now quibbling about paying for even very small items on vet's bills.
Just an example of why cheapest is not always best - Animal Friends market cheap policies but they also have a limit on vet fees they will cover, for example, intensive care charges that they will pay out is only £100 per day. This is not clear at the time the policy is started. £100 per day is not even close to what it will cost for intensive care treatment in a specialist hospital, leaving the pet owner with a very large bill to pay. This is one of the reasons that vets will not do direct claims on behalf of owners.
It's often more cost effective to take out a more expensive policy with an insurance company that will pay up and pay promptly so that vets can do direct claims and the owners don't have to find the money first. In pet insurance, unlike some other types of insurance- you get what you pay for.

spaceboy

We just got a kitten and I'm considering putting £10 away in an account each month to cover future vet bills. Anyone think this is a reasonable idea?

UKTigerlily

I think the problem with putting £10 a month away is firstly, if you save for 4 months (£40) & then the kitten has a £2k vet bill you won't have enough. Secondly once used it's at £0 so should the kitten then do something else you will be stuck & also you may end up spending it on something else if another emergency crops up. It is definitely tempting, i've had my cat for almost 12 years, she's nearly 14 & has had hardly anything wrong & even less costing over the excess, in fact I think i've never claimed for her as the problems costing enough to claim for were all dentals. However the dog i've had for three years & she's always at the vets, currently she may need to go in for sedation for the day at an estimate of £160, already paid out £62 & this is just her latest issue. A few months back a dog attacked her & cost me £125 etc.

spaceboy

How likely is a £2k vet bill?

D&DD

We are with Virgin and they have been really good.
A lot of companies won't even insure my breed but they are (I think) pretty reasonable and pay out super quick too.
I was paying £24 a month but claimed back over £600 in the 1st year,this year our premiums only went up to £32 which for a high maintenance breed I don't think is too bad.