Is insurance for a dog worth it?

mw123

I'm one who is for insurance. I strongly disagree with peoples views that vets charge more once they know a pet is insured. Yes it may open up more options but it will be for the sake of the animal.

I would strongly recommend looking at the levels of insurance available it take out the best you can. Some conditions may require lifetime medication which can become expensive. Either way it looks as though you are seriously considering the option which is great to see.

iolanthe07

I would never bother with dog insurance after some past really bad experiences with insurance companies. I have put £5K into a special bank account for my puppy and adding to it at £50 a month. I realise some procedures may cost more than £5K, but that's a risk I'm prepared to take. I refuse to contribute to rip off insurance comanies' porfits. Third party cover is provided by my membership of the Dogs Trust.

sheramber

A few months after my rescue dog arrived I claimed for the removal of to teeth after an accident. It was paid promptly.

A year later I claimed nearly £ 3000 for a cruciate ligament repair which again was paid promptly.

I have not paid more than £26 per month for her insurance since it started and this year it went down to £25 per month.

So I have a few years in hand before I have paid in more than I have claimed.

[Deleted User]

sheramber wrote: »

Not a recommendation as I have not used it but Bought By Many have a policy where the premiums are fixed for the life of the policy. It might be worth looking into.

Thanks. I had a look at the website and it looks like the MSE Energy Club except for pet insurance rather than utilities.

[Deleted User]

iolanthe07 wrote: »

I would never bother with dog insurance after some past really bad experiences with insurance companies. I have put £5K into a special bank account for my puppy and adding to it at £50 a month. I realise some procedures may cost more than £5K, but that's a risk I'm prepared to take. I refuse to contribute to rip off insurance comanies' porfits. Third party cover is provided by my membership of the Dogs Trust.

Were your past bad experiences specifically with pet insurance or another type of insurance? I've only had to make one claim, or rather tried to make a claim, and that was using travel insurance. That's the problem with insurance you never know how good it is until you have to use it.

[Deleted User]

sheramber wrote: »

A few months after my rescue dog arrived I claimed for the removal of to teeth after an accident. It was paid promptly.

A year later I claimed nearly £ 3000 for a cruciate ligament repair which again was paid promptly.

I have not paid more than £26 per month for her insurance since it started and this year it went down to £25 per month.

So I have a few years in hand before I have paid in more than I have claimed.

If you don't mind me asking, who do you insure your dog with? I'm not anti pet insurance but I would like to know that if I bought it and needed it the insurer would pay out promptly as your insurer seems to do.

iolanthe07

Were your past bad experiences specifically with pet insurance

Yes. I had a cocker spaniel with a digestive problem that the vet couldn't diagnose. After a lot of argy bargy the insurance company did pay for some limited tests, but it was a fight. Then, on renewal, they more than tripled the premium, while claiming in their literature that this was something they never did.

elsien

Pet plan are good - they have always paid out without a problem on my claims. There was a query once when the dog cut her foot and they put an exclusion on for all foot conditions which I though was very unfair, however when she then got interdigital cysts and the vet report said this was unrelated to any previous health issue they did pay out.
Having said that, petplan are dearer. But they don't whack up the premiums after making a claim. And as long as you have the annual check up they cover dental issues which many insurers don't.
All pet insurances have different ways of insuring older dogs, either higher excess or percentage of the bill, or both, so with mine I've generally got to the point at age 12ish where I'm not going to put them through anything major so insurance has no longer been worthwhile.

Mandy53

Lover_of_Lycra wrote: »

I might take the belt and braces approach of lifetime or per-condition-no-limit insurance and self insuring. Like life insurance the younger the dog the lower the premiums for pet insurance so I could have insurance in place asap. If I couple that with my current lump sum and regular lump sums then should the insurance become so horrifically expensive that the cons outweigh the pros I would have a very tidy sum in the bank.

Those who have made claims before would you recommend your insurer? Were they easy to deal with or did they try to wiggle out of paying?

I have had to make a few claims on my Petplan policy for one of my cats and for the vet fees that were under £100 prior to my cat requiring specialist vet treatment, i just paid the vet myself as the excess at that time was just £90 however it is now £105 plus 20% of the vet bill. The claims have been /are for an ongoing condition for which my cat is still receiving treatment and may require further tests,etc too. I recommend Petplan as while they may be more expensive and have quite a large excess (for me anyway), they do pay the vet direct (if the vet accepts direct payment) and also pay the vet(and any claims by the policy holder) quickly.They did put a few months exclusion on the policy for my other cat however as he was being sick all the time when i first got him from a shelter and the exclusion was for stomach related health problems. I did have a bit of hassle trying to eventually have the exclusion removed after the time frame they set but did eventually have it removed after my vet wrote to them,provided them with his history notes and told them that it was an allergy to cereals in food that was making him sick all the time and nothing sinister was found during examination of his tummy ,blood tests,etc were normal. My vet told them i had changed his food to cereal free and he has never been sick since.
I did have a look around at other companies and policies( prior to my cat getting ill) however i actually found a few insurers who were offering a similar "whole of life cover" to be much more expensive than Petplan (including Tesco pet insurance).. I receive a discount for having the 2 cats /a joint policy.The excess only rose significantly when my cats turned 11.

[Deleted User]

I will check out Pet Plan when the time comes then. I see Quidco are offering £55 cash back on Pet Plan policies at the moment. :j

I'm interested in value for money rather than the cost of the insurance. There's no point having low premiums if the insurance is inadequate or the insurer won't pay out. If Pet Plan costs a bit more but does actually pay out then I can see the benefit.