When is it worth claiming on pet insurance?

hardpressed

My cat has had 3 trips to the vet in the past week due to him getting in a fight and ending up with infected bites, I'm now £77 poorer. The insurance has a £60 excess, is it worth claiming for £17? I guess it will put up my premiums next year.

elsien

I'd probably claim if you think you're going to need further visits as if you need any more treatment for the bites then it will count as a continuation claim.
I tend to find that making claims doesn't send the premiums shooting up, but most of mutt's illnesses are ongoing so it's a slightly different situation.

gettingready

£77 for 3 visits? Can I please have details of your vet....

SEriously though, I would claim for absolutely everything to be honest, why not? That is why you have the insurance in the first place.

Hope the little one is well soon...

Fridaycat

I agree that you should claim. If you don't, all those little extras could soon add up and mean you lose out on quite a lot in the longer term why have a self-imposed higher excess when it isn't reflected in your premium?

Fridaycat

BTW gettingready - that's around what my vet would charge, but I think the cost of you getting to him would outweigh any savings :rotfl:

rising_from_the_ashes

Personally I wouldn't claim for £17 to try to help keep the premiums from going up - it depends on who you're insured with (some companies will put up premiums more if you've had claims).

However, if more treatment be required, then it's probably worth it (could you hang on a week or so and see if you need to go back first?)

Wishing the wee one a speedy recovery

rising_from_the_ashes

I need to move - I never walk out without paying at least £50 for each visit!

gettingready

Tel me about it, at my vets just the "consultation" is £36 and anything else on top of that.. sigh

krlyr

Pet insurance doesn't tend to be like car insurance, premiums tend to increase as claims increase over the whole company, rather than for you personally. I know many people who've claimed thousands of pounds for complicated treatments like amputation and chemotherapy for bone cancer, double hip replacements, etc. and only had fairly minor increases in comparison to what the insurance company has paid out for their pets.

For a one-off I probably not bother claiming it because you may find that future insurance companies notice a claim more than they'd notice the notes on a vet record, and might argue against covering any skin-related conditions, but that's probably unlikely, so you could claim if you want to.

paddypaws101

gettingready wrote: »

Tel me about it, at my vets just the "consultation" is £36 and anything else on top of that.. sigh

£39 at Palmerston vets, but we all agree that Neil is worth it!

PolarKitt

Wow, even mine is only £25 per consultation, it's quite funny because when Griffy got ill and wouldn't eat,drink, poop etc I didn't have the money to pay if he needed more than just the consult so we popped him down the RSPCA, they charged less than the consultation fee for a consultation, antibiotics, flea, worming and tablets, the kicker is though because I don't drive I had to take a taxi, which cost £15 for a round trip so in the end it costs no more than a few quid less, can't wait to get a bloody car.

One thing I can say though, the RSPCA has always done good by me when it comes to their vets, even Roxy's (dog) hip surgery to fit her dislocated hip with plastic due to a chipped bone and a little physiotherapy after only came to £200 which looking back I'm betting I couldn't get a better deal if I tried.

As for the insurance, it's up to you, I severely doubt they'll up you premium by £17 just to get their money back and since this IS the MSE forums, every penny counts right? That £17 could go towards any return visits.