Agria Pet Insurance - Big Annual Increase for Males??

Bigun28

I've got 2 big dogs (Deerhounds) that are insured with Agria and have been for some years. The female is nearly 6 years old (bar a month) and the male is 6.5 years old.

In May 13, the female's policy went up £2 to £38.41, but I noticed this month that the male's policy has gone up nearly £11 to £49.08 per month. The male had a big claim (£2k) over 4 years ago and nothing since, but each year since, his policy has only gone up a few pounds until this big rise of £11 this year.

I've questioned the rise with Agria who gave me the waffle that vet fees had gone up (but why hadn't the female's gone up by so much 6 months ago?), that male dogs were more expensive (by £9 per month more?), that dogs get more expensive after 5 years old (how come it didn't go up last year by as much?), and that he had had a big claim (over 4 years ago and nothing since?) etc. Each question I raised back was met with 'well that's the premium and it is correct'.

Anyone else getting a large premium increase for male dogs for no apparent reason?

krlyr

Could it be to do with the slight age difference? E.g. he's fallen 6 during the current policy and she's not yet 6? For their breed, I imagine he's now counted as a senior dog and the jump could well be to do with that. I know that GSDs are counted as 'senior' by Petplan at 6 and they won't offer new lifetime policies (just 12 month ones), alongside certain other breeds.

Bigun28

Agria quoted the the male was over 5 years old. So I'm assuming that 5 years old upwards is their age for a senior dog. Which is why I questioned it when I spoke to them because both dogs were over 5 years old when I renewed the policies.

The main line they seemed to be pushing was that he was a male dog, and hence costs more in vet fees, but the difference in the increase between the male and female is quite steep. Hence I wondered if anyone else had experianced such a difference in insurance costs between a similar aged male and female dog,