Cats insurance has skyrocketed - not sure what to do

sterl1ng

My cat has had a skin issue for sometime where he overgrooms so vets give him a steroid injection (of which I have only learnt recently could potentially give my cat diabetes later in life) every 6-8weeks which cost around £55. Cats insurance last year was £25 per month (he's on unlimited plan with More Th>n) but yesterday I received his new renewal insurance papers which are now around £39 per month! I called his insurance company and they said the price is due to vet fees increasing and my cat being a year older, he's only 7.

I know insurance companies won't take on a pre existing condition so if I go anywhere else he won't be insured for this but I'm thinking perhaps just move him elsewhere and cover the injections myself as for now it works out around £90 better off. I'm just so shocked his insurance has skyrocketed so. I think even moreso but at same time I wonder whether something else can be done for my cat as I hate this idea of steroid potentially causing him more longterm harm than good.

Has anyone been in simlar situation and also cats with 'superficial dermatitis'? how did you treat?

krlyr

Are you sure you'd be better off?
£25 per month for his current cover, plus the £30 a month treatment he's getting (and that's at 8 weekly jabs rather than 6) comes to £55 - so at £39 I'm seeing you as being quids-in still.

I'm sure my dog's premium will go up this year as we've made quite a few claims, but the way I see it, I claim £20 a month for her meds. If her premium goes from £25 to £45, we're still breaking even and I know she's going to remain covered for her condition (which will require lifetime medication and also, at minimum, annual blood tests - so that could add another £10 to her monthly claims if you spread it out over the year, plus more testing if her thyroid levels were to become unstable and her medication need tweaking)
OK, I could probably source her medication a bit cheaper elsewhere if I wanted to change to a cheaper policy, but then I'd have to pay for the prescription charges (£12 a pop, probably every 3 months) and for the bloodtests (£10 a month if it's just the annual, possibly £20-30 a month if I had to have them repeated once or twice like at the start of her diagnosis when we had to see if her dose was correct - that could have risen to even more had we not got it right first time), and then the cost of the medication on top..I still think I'll be doing alright!
Plus, looking at it longterm, I would have been more than happy to pay out for this last year without any claims (as I have done for my other dog) - whereas I think I've actually claimed twice what I've paid in, so my "profit" from insurance should definately outweigh even a steep increase in the next year.

Another thing to consider with switching is how insurance companies might link this condition to others. Unfortunately it's not as black and white in the insurance world as Cat has X condition and every other condition will be considered non-related. Insurers can try to wiggle out of claims - they may, for example, consider the dermatitis to be an allergy issue and then refuse to pay for anything else that could be chalked up to an allergy, such as stomach problems and ear infections. Your vet may be willing to write a statement to say they are unrelated, but it's still up to your insurers to decide whether to accept it or not - and then possibly a difficult avenue to persue through the insurance ombudsman if you disagree with their decision. For me, the peace of mind of being covered regardless of what Kiki develops (especially as the thyroid affects so many parts of the body, I'd be terrified a different insurer could link nearly anything to her condition) will be worth the rise in premiums.

Whether steroids are the right treatment for the condition is another question - steroids probably would be one of the last resorts, for me, and I would look into alternatives but this to me would be another reason I'd probably keep going with the policy, even if it's just for the next year before re-evaluating. Having the policy in place will let you explore other avenues that may be pricy, such as allergy testing, skin scrapes for mites, bacteria, yeast infections, etc., fungal cultures and so on, if those haven't all been checked already
http://www.vet.utk.edu/dermvet/pdf/Feline%20Dermatitis.doc.pdf

sterl1ng

He's already had all the tests - skin/blood a few years back so nothing further can be done there. Having spoken to his vets earlier she suggests widening the gap for when he has his injections or perhaps try felliway to see if that will help with behaviourial maybe.

sterl1ng

His treatment is £55 each time and his cover will now be £39 per month which is a whopper compared to last year so I would rather keep him covered but perhaps cover myself the injections especially as we are looking at reducing given steroid factor.

krlyr

But if you think of it as £25 out of that £39 being his insurance cover for anything/everything else, you're only paying an extra £14 a month towards his steroid treatment. At £55 every 6-8 weeks that's £30-40 a calendar month.


E.g. you get a new policy at £15 a month
After a year you've paid
12 x £15 - £180 insurance
£360 on treatments (52 weeks in a year, divide by 8 weeks is 6.5 treatments)
Total £540 (and possibly more if you have to stick to the 6 week timeframe - could be up to £655)

Or
12 x £39 - £468 in insurance
All treatments covered by insurance. OK, an excess may have to be paid which might knock that over but even an excess of £60 or so would bring you to £528, less than the £15 a year policy

You might start saving money if you could get away with less treatments in a year, but you then have the gamble of his condition costing you more - say he had a really big flareup when you tried lengthening the gap betwen jabs and he developed a bad skin infection that needed antibiotics, swabs to check for antibiotic resistance, etc. - if you're insured for it, none of that costs you any more since you've paid your excess, if you've changed policy then it's all got to come out of your own pocket.

I can see you cutting your costs if you go for a new policy with a new company that perhaps offers less cover, offers a competitive new customer discount, etc. but remember that new policies can jump up in year 2 when these discounts stop applying, or that cheaper policies can also have more exclusions so you may be stuffed trying to claim for certain things.

Personal choice, I'd stay with the policy for at least a year, while we experimented with different doses or perhaps even different treatments. I'd perhaps consider a second opinion within the practice, or at another vet, to see if we could come up with something less risky than longterm steroidal treatment. And then I'd start rethinking the insurance thing a little while before his renewal comes through next year.

Up to you, just giving my opinion

gettingready

krlyr - nice avatar

sretl1ng - I think the advice above is spot on. You do not know how new company can link the pre-existing condition to any future problems and exclude those.

I am paying £20 each for my 3 cats with Pet Plan (they are 6, 2.5 and 1.5) and £23.50 for the fourth cat with Argos Platinum. George is with Argos as he had an op so could not move his insurance. They are all covered for 7k each and yes, it is expensive BUT peace of mind.

My dog's insurance is now nearly £90.00 (Argos Platinum, up to 7k per year, ongoing, same cover as cats) - wish I took a higher cover as 7k per dog is not much is a dog needed double hip replacement.

The main point is - linking any future possible problems with the exisiting conditions. And with a new insurer you will never know till you put a claim in.