Is pet insurance worth it?

GwylimT

Person_one wrote: »

Increasing premiums following claims is how insurance works surely? It's a key part of the business model, I wasn't aware that any made promises or claims not to. Maybe you'll see the increase later?

Petplan never increase based on claims. They do increase if costs go up in your area and increase a little with age, on our first renewal there was zero increase, same with the second, our third went up by about 80p per month, this years quote is £1.12 more than our original premium.

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Yes def! I didn't and regretted it x

krlyr

Person_one wrote: »

Increasing premiums following claims is how insurance works surely? It's a key part of the business model, I wasn't aware that any made promises or claims not to. Maybe you'll see the increase later?

Some do state in their policy wording or website that they don't, but not all.

However, from my experience (bar AXA selling the policy across to NCI), the policies have increased at the same rate (and both dogs are the same age, so no jumps to account for the different milestones) for my dog with no claims and my dog with a large amount of claims (I'm talking several thousand each year..we probably got up to around £4-5k last policy year). They've worked out to mostly be around a £5 increase (around 15% of premiums) per year, and that's with various different insurance companies

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Just looking at insurance now for my two kittens life policy with petplan standard is £27.93pm for two. Is this good I don't want cheaper if too many exclusions . x

toniq

My dog now 8, had M&S £29 lifetime policy from the day we had him, we claimed when he was 3, he had investigations for prolonged vomiting, vets bills were £600.

Simple Ibs and a sensitive diet was all we needed, that was our only claim to this day, the following year premiums rose to £45 then up to £66 then this year we said no more when they put them at £84.

Sadly as they state the vomiting is a pre exsistng condition we know everywhere else will have high premiums.

So we like Person one save £100 a month for this dog and have a very high limit CC as back up.

I can't believe the rise over 1 claim which was 5 years ago and he has been in good health since.

krlyr

In terms of insurance being worth it or not...without a crystal ball, you don't know if you're going to be up or down at the end of it, that's kind of the point (and how the companies make their profit)

Think of car insurance - you might save money opting for only third party cover, but you might be seriously out of pocket if your car gets written off and you need to replace it. Same with buildings and contents insurance..you weigh up the cost vs the gamble of what you would have to pay out if you lost everything.

Though with the difference that your dog is a living, breathing animal, and while a new car or a replacement laptop could wait a few months until you saved up, your dog needing emergency surgery because it was hit by a car isn't something you can really delay.

I've thought more than one about self-insuring..with the limitations, excesses, etc. it's crossed my mind more than once that I might be better off with the money in my bank, especially as I've never claimed a penny for one of my dogs. But then with the amount I've claimed for the other dog, I'm definitely quids in with insurance - probably at this stage, all the claims I've made over the past couple of years have probably paid for both dogs' policies.

I also consider my insurance premiums as payment for that security - knowing that, should they need it, I can tell the vet to just go ahead with treatment when needed. If I never claim for it, the money has at least paid for that peace of mind.

Person_one

GwylimT wrote: »

Petplan never increase based on claims. They do increase if costs go up in your area and increase a little with age, on our first renewal there was zero increase, same with the second, our third went up by about 80p per month, this years quote is £1.12 more than our original premium.

I presume then that everybody pays more to start with.

HappyMJ

badamsgirl wrote: »

I have two young cats and one of our boys recently broke his leg in a random accident and had to have a big operation. Had i not had insurance (petplan) i would of been looking at a bill of £2500, which would of been very difficult to find at the drop of a hat. You can't predict the unexpected so i personally think it's better to have insurance cover, unless you already have a large lump sum put away that you can access to pay for any vet emergencies.

My cat also broke her leg falling off the window sill and getting her leg caught behind the radiator. This was only 2 years ago and the total bill for all treatment came to £450. Had I had insurance the excess would have been £75 so I was £375 out of pocket which was equivalent to 2 years worth of premiums. How could it cost £2,500? Did the vet know you were claiming on insurance and inflated the price?

Person_one

krlyr wrote: »

I also consider my insurance premiums as payment for that security - knowing that, should they need it, I can tell the vet to just go ahead with treatment when needed. If I never claim for it, the money has at least paid for that peace of mind.

If I couldn't do that without insurance, I would insure.

I've had several vets make the 'air sucked in through the teeth' sound over the last few years when they've asked if my dog is insured and been told no. I've always been very clear though that money is not the deciding factor in any treatment decisions but I do occasionally wonder if they are a bit more 'free and easy' with the extras, the bloods, the imaging etc. when a dog is insured.

GwylimT

Person_one wrote: »

I presume then that everybody pays more to start with.

His started at £14.04 a month which provided £7k of cover per year, the only exclusion was prostetics. It also covered things like kennels in an emergency, public liability, euthanasia and 'refunds' the animals purchase price on death. Physio and aqua therapy has a separate 'pot' of I think £1000.

Hes a bulldog.