Is pet insurance worth it?

edwink

One thing to remember when you insure your pet is some insurance policies will insure your pet for the life of the medical condition while some policies only insure the medical condition for 1 year only with a stated maximum amount that you can claim for that condition.

Years ago we were with JLT (Jardine Lloyd Thompson) and their policies at the time only insured up to £3000 per condition and obviously when the £3000 was used up in vet bills basically you were no longer insured for that condition and would have to pay for any further treatment out of your own pocket.

I am not entirely sure but I do believe that Pet Plan are an insurer that does cover your pet for the life of the condition although it may depend on what policy you take out. Well they used to several years ago anyway although that may have changed since I had a dog.

One of my dogs that was insured had Marcel Tumours treated, a cruciate Ligament operation and many painkillers prescribed and many other medical problems besides. I know we had to make claims for over £5000 for her so was pleased we did insure her.

A friend of ours has a terrier who has had a Thyroid problem since she was a puppy. She did not insure her and now has to pay in the region of £80 a month for her treatment.

Also good to remember is that some policies have higher excesses than others so it is well worth shopping around for a good policy hopefully with a fairly low excess. The excess on ours policy at the time was £80 per condition.

Hope that is some help to you in your decision to insure or not.

Edwink

krlyr

edwink wrote: »

A friend of ours has a terrier who has had a Thyroid problem since she was a puppy. She did not insure her and now has to pay in the region of £80 a month for her treatment.

A bit off-topic, but what treatement is she on? My girl is hypothyroid and costs about £20 a month - and she's a GSD x Rottie so a lot bigger dose than the Terrier probably is on! I could get it even cheaper by getting a prescription to order online, but I just buy through my vet for less hassle.

Blood tests do cost more on top of that (thankfully all covered by insurance) but once stable, shouldn't be more than once or twice a year (and my vet happily runs a simplistic T4 panel that is cheaper than full bloods, for my girl that is adequate), so it averages out around £35 a month.

BEAT_THE_DEBT

I also think that if you say you will put money aside if you are like me it won't stay there it gets taken with other things that crop up. If you insure the money is taken then the help there when?if you need it.

SeduLOUs

Don't forget that insurance premiums aren't just for vet bills, but also give you third party liability cover in case your dog injures someone or damages somebody's property.

Fen1

Ditto Sedu's post. As the dog 's owner you will be liable for any misbehaviour on his part. Make sure you have really good legal cover.

tizerbelle

SeduLOUs wrote: »

Don't forget that insurance premiums aren't just for vet bills, but also give you third party liability cover in case your dog injures someone or damages somebody's property.

Fen1 wrote: »

Ditto Sedu's post. As the dog 's owner you will be liable for any misbehaviour on his part. Make sure you have really good legal cover.

You get 3rd party public liability insurance for your dogs by becoming a member of Dogs Trust - £25 per year. It does not need to be a major consideration in the do I get pet insurance for the dog or not question. But IMO if the answer to pet insurance is no, then the DT membership is a necessary.

edwink

krlyr wrote: »

A bit off-topic, but what treatement is she on? My girl is hypothyroid and costs about £20 a month - and she's a GSD x Rottie so a lot bigger dose than the Terrier probably is on! I could get it even cheaper by getting a prescription to order online, but I just buy through my vet for less hassle.

Blood tests do cost more on top of that (thankfully all covered by insurance) but once stable, shouldn't be more than once or twice a year (and my vet happily runs a simplistic T4 panel that is cheaper than full bloods, for my girl that is adequate), so it averages out around £35 a month.

I think the figure of £80 she said she is paying is a combination of the costs of the blood tests and the dogs prescribed meds. I believe her dog has hyperthyroid. HTH

Edwink

badamsgirl

HappyMJ wrote: »

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?

Ours costs the the vet on the first visit were at least £300+ for xrays and various meds. The cost radically increased as he had to have major surgery on the leg at a totally separate animal hospital and was there being treated for a number of days. Obviously everyone did know we were claiming on insurance as forms have to be completed there, however I very much doubt that a reputable vet/surgeon would inflate the price for their own means.

krlyr

edwink wrote: »

I think the figure of £80 she said she is paying is a combination of the costs of the blood tests and the dogs prescribed meds. I believe her dog has hyperthyroid. HTH

Edwink

Hyperthyroidism is quite rare in dogs - could explain the extra cost. Might be worth asking your friend though, they may wish to look into the cost of getting a prescription from their vet (the vet can charge but RCVS guidelines say this must be "reasonable" and they cannot discriminate against a customer who requests a prescription) and ordering the medication online. Especially if it is hypothyroidism - it would cost me £14 a month (including prescription fee - that would be lower if my vets prescribed for longer than 3 months but they don't seem to like doing that at the moment, where we've had to adjust her med dose a few times) to source her tablets online, and as I say, that's for a Rottie sized dog.

Katiehound

No, I don't have insurance and never have had.
I am a Dog's Trust supporter so have the 3rd party cover.

If a large bill came up I would have sufficient money to cover it, and if the cost was so enormous I would wonder if the treatment was 'pie in the sky' and far too invasive. Call me cynical, but I sometimes wonder if animals getting very expensive treatment are looked on as cash cows or if that treatment really is vital and gives the pet good quality of life, rather than an extended lifespan.