Dispute on vet bill advice

monty-doggy

I'm another one here for compulsory pet insurance. You wouldn't be without the HHS care should you heed it so why should your dog?

TeamMCS

monty-doggy wrote: »

I'm another one here for compulsory pet insurance. You wouldn't be without the HHS care should you heed it so why should your dog?

I agree.

Out of curiosity are routine treatments covered by insurance? For example, having a cat spade? I'll assume no but I'm curious as a lot of them say "XYZ compulsory treatment per year"

ljonski

Tbh i would like to see an NHS for pets set up. This may or may not be funded from compulsory insurance/licences/pet owners tax and work hand in hand with a national neutering programme to keep the no' of unwanted pets at a minimum!

Jemima09

TeamMCS wrote: »

I agree.

Out of curiosity are routine treatments covered by insurance? For example, having a cat spade? I'll assume no but I'm curious as a lot of them say "XYZ compulsory treatment per year"

Routine treatments aren't normally covered, so spaying, annual boosters, flea/worming treatment etc.


I think some cover dental work but most only if it's an emergency.


Really helps though.. My first cat I didn't have insurance to start, but got it after a small cut in her foot cost the best part of £200.. she then ate a bird and gave herself either salmonella or a perforated stomach, either way the claim was £700! My current cat has had a broken foot and a broken tail and had to be cleaned when she got covered in a nice load of fresh tar... she's making the most of her premiums

Jemima09

ljonski wrote: »

Tbh i would like to see an NHS for pets set up. This may or may not be funded from compulsory insurance/licences/pet owners tax and work hand in hand with a national neutering programme to keep the no' of unwanted pets at a minimum!

In theory, great idea.. but there will be a lot of people who just don't pay in. Compulsory insurance and/or licensing definitely the way to go. Insurance for pets is so reasonable for the average owner, that it just seems daft not to have it. Admittedly the premiums can jump quite considerably if your pet has an underlying condition, but then presumably so do your vet bills!

Torry_Quine

Jemima09 wrote: »

In theory, great idea.. but there will be a lot of people who just don't pay in. Compulsory insurance and/or licensing definitely the way to go. Insurance for pets is so reasonable for the average owner, that it just seems daft not to have it. Admittedly the premiums can jump quite considerably if your pet has an underlying condition, but then presumably so do your vet bills!

I have to disagree here. I have never had insurance for any of my cats and it would have been a total waste of money as they have needed very little other than the annual vaccinations. My present cat is 11 and no treatment other than that. How reasonable is reasonable?

yangptangkipperbang

Compulsory insurance is not quite the good idea it might appear to be.

Take your car in for some bodywork repairs and if you pay yourself the job is half the price of an "insurance" job !!! Same thing is already happening in private medicine and vet services.

Price is doubled - premiums double - good value ??? The customer pays in the end...............

Jemima09

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I have to disagree here. I have never had insurance for any of my cats and it would have been a total waste of money as they have needed very little other than the annual vaccinations. My present cat is 11 and no treatment other than that. How reasonable is reasonable?

You're right in that respect, I've not had to claim anything for my other cat in the 6 years I've had her.. but on the other hand I like the knowledge that the money is there should I need it.


If I had savings I probably would use that instead of insurance, as then if you don't use it at least you get to keep it! But for the last few years I've been paying off a lot of debt and my savings have been non-existent, so I think insurance is just a slightly easier way of guaranteeing people have the funds for treatment.


I pay £18 a month between the two of them, which I don't think is bad at all.

Air_Cooled_75

Vets generally earn a great deal less than doctors.

[/QUOTE]

You are kidding? I have never seen a vet that doesn't drive a top of the range Merc or something similar.

They need better A levels as there are fewer places that offer veterinary degrees so competition is high.

When one of my cats had an open wound on his paw we were told we should have all sorts of tests done blah blah blah. After a bit of back and to-ing (no tests though) I *suggested* just putting a bandage on it to see what happened. I think the vet agreed just to humour me. Low and behold his paw got better.

Don't get me started on the other cat who fell out of a window and damaged a tendon....she kept taking the plaster cast off (in their care) and they tried to charge me every time for the new one. I refused to pay and they did relent (it was a few hundred pounds).

This was about 15 years ago (before insurance) I don't know how successful a bill challenge would be these days.

Jemima09

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

Compulsory insurance is not quite the good idea it might appear to be.

Take your car in for some bodywork repairs and if you pay yourself the job is half the price of an "insurance" job !!! Same thing is already happening in private medicine and vet services.

Price is doubled - premiums double - good value ??? The customer pays in the end...............

Well that's a tricky point.. I pay the vet, and then claim back on the insurance and my bills have been high enough, so I dread to think what they charge the insurers they deal with directly!! On the other hand, my premiums have never increased from making a claim, so I can't complain about that!