Is pet insurance really worth it?

fuzzgun19

I'm a bit confused with pet insurance, but am considering it.

We have a 3yr old terrier, been in good health so far. Had no treatment by a vet yet apart from jabs and neutering.

We couldn't afford any big bills, but what happens with minor things eg. thorn in paw/infection or something like that.
Or an x-ray?
Would the cost of this kind of thing be below any excess?

Or would pet insurance cover this kind of thing if it was over the excess? I don't want to take out insurance then find they get out of paying due to some loophole, I'd just want to be covered for any health condition over the excess.

pinkteapot

lee8040 wrote: »

Mainly for dogs? A few people I know have pet insurance but every time they have a problem and try to claim there not covered. Do you other dog owners have insurance? Thanks

They've taken out poor quality policies, or they're trying to claim for pre-existing conditions (which aren't covered).

We got insurance when we got our cat. In the first year we had four claims, for four different things, totalling over £600. All were paid with no quibble at all.

WD1234

I have an accident policy for £68 per year just incase of a disaster and then stick some money away in a savings account.

I know it's not guaranteed to cover the cost of vets but i feel better with it being in my account than an insurance companies.

debbie_debt

We have two dogs and currently have them both insured. The border collie needed a hip replacement at age 2 (genetic issue that didn't come to light early on), which was a £4,500 bill plus £100 per month for painkillers and anti inflammatories for a few months. So at the time, I was very grateful for the insurance!!! However, now that op is over 4 years ago and he's no issues I'm debating on self-insuring. I'd have thought that any other problems would have come to light by now (they're aged 6 and 3) and the premiums are going up every year. I'm nervous to cancel though, because we'd never get his hips insured again! :undecided

Nual

I suppose I have been lucky. I have had 4 cats over more than 30 years ( some concurrently). Never had to pay a Vet more than £150 per cat in their lifetime. Cat number 4 is almost 17 now and needs her nails clipping regularly. I can't bear to do this so she will probably work out the most expensive as she has lived the longest!

When I took her to get her nails clipped last Easter, she had gone quite skinny. The Vet gave her an antibiotic injection as well and wanted to do a blood test, saying she had either thyroid problems or kidney failure. I felt she had had enough distress for that day and declined the blood test. 9 months later and she is healthy and happy, has put on weight and when she had her nails clipped last week a different Vet said how good she was for her age.

So no, I wouldn't get insurance for cats, maybe for a dog.

Aretnap

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

I'm a bit confused with pet insurance, but am considering it.

We have a 3yr old terrier, been in good health so far. Had no treatment by a vet yet apart from jabs and neutering.

We couldn't afford any big bills, but what happens with minor things eg. thorn in paw/infection or something like that.
Or an x-ray?
Would the cost of this kind of thing be below any excess?

Or would pet insurance cover this kind of thing if it was over the excess? I don't want to take out insurance then find they get out of paying due to some loophole, I'd just want to be covered for any health condition over the excess.

Whether the cost is below the excess depends on the size of the excess - that's something that varies from policy to policy and there's generally a trade off between the monthly premium and the excess. Very minor treatment will often cost less than the excess, but if it's more than the excess it will be covered. The important thins to check the excess on the policy you choose is at a level that you're confident you could afford to pay. Personally I tend to take quite a large excess to keep the premiums down, but then I'm fortunate enough not to have to worry about the prospect of putting my hand in my pocket for a couple of hundred quid if my cat needs an X-ray - it's only the prospect of a bill in the thousands which worries me. Your mileage may vary of course.

It's a myth that insurers commonly wriggle out of claims because of "some loophole". The terms of the policy should make clear what is covered and what isn't - and if something is covered it will be paid for. The most common reason people find that they're not covered is because the illness or injury was already preent when te policy was taken out. Some routine things like vaccinations and annual check ups are also not covered which is fair enough - insurance is there to protect you against things which might happen, not things which will definitely happen.

fromtheshires

It depends on the type of animal.
My dog - yes. Pedigree so there will likely be something crop up sooner or later and worth it for the 3rd party in case of her causing anything.
My cat - no. He is a cute fuzz ball who is a house cat so I self insure as there is less risk of injury.
My Ferrets - No. Even when they were babies the premiums we stupidly expensive (and anyone who owns ferrets would know why) so I always self insured (big pot for emergencies). The most I had to pay was £80 to have one put to sleep when he had acute kidney failure. I asked the vet if surgery was an option and the response was yes but it was almost certain he would die anyway so they recommended the outcome.

DoodleBip

I think it depends who you go with. I had one insurer refuse a £200 bill on a puppy who injured his leg (so pretty definitive), but last year a different insurer paid without quibble for my cat's IBD diagnosis which was very vague and over £2000 with various diagnostics. In my experience, your vet will give a recommendation on who's good to go with as they're used to figuring it all out.

I would recommend "lifetime" cover if you do go ahead. It's more expensive but it does mean that if your pet has a chronic condition, you continue to be covered for their entire life. I learnt this the hard way when I had a cat diagnosed with kidney failure and live for three years, two of which was totally uninsured. Expensive.

As for the excess question: I cover anything minor myself in cash. Only when it's three times the excess do I consider claiming on the insurance; short term pain preferable to the insurance going up.

fromtheshires

DoodleBip wrote: »

As for the excess question: I cover anything minor myself in cash. Only when it's three times the excess do I consider claiming on the insurance; short term pain preferable to the insurance going up.

Don't you find your insurance goes up year in year anyway? I have always found with my pet policies that the older they get it increases exponentially. My current dog is three years old and its gone up from £11 a month to £29 a month without any claims. Im sure if I had claimed it may be higher I don't know, just genuinely interested in this discussion / point as its not like normal insurance where it goes down if no claims have been made.

GwylimT

Our cat and dog both have lifetime policies with petplan for £7k per year for each animal, this costs £32 per month, each has an £80 co-pay.

The dog who is four years old cost over £5k as a puppy just for one incident. A bone in his leg was growing too slowly so he required surgery, a ten day stay in animal hospital and six weeks of hydrotherapy. In a few years he will need a knee replacement, without complications this will cost around £2.5k. This is before other illness he has suffered, such as a nasty paw infection which required surgery.

Our cat despite never being over weight or fed carbs has feline diabetes, this requires daily bloodsugar checks and insulin injections around twice a day. On top of this she is seen by the vet every three months to check urine output, kidney health, foot heat and general management of her condition. This all costs around £96 per month, so it just costs us our co-pay on top of insurance costs.

Petplan does not cover pre-existing conditions, as ours are insured from day one we have no pre-existing conditions, petplan also covere dental treatment where as most don't. A neighbours Jack Russell recently had six teeth out and a deep clean, it cost her just shy of £400.