Pet insurance - does anyone self-insure?

Wizard_of_Id

After getting stiffed by Petplan I did not renew the insurance for my dog, instead I set up a regular savings account, took advice from the thread on the savings board and set up a standing order for as much as I could afford and got a tidy sum of £2300 after 12 months which I have then shifted to a Marcus account to get a better interest rate while also keeping going with the regular savings account.

As well as a doggy fund for him, it will also be a replacement fund for anything that gets dammaged about the house, as per trailingspouse's post and if need be a kennel stay if i need a holiday.

I should add that he also has his own credit card so that I can keep track of what I spend on him easier, the vet's receptionist thinks it's great that he even has his name on it :T

stator

People who think they are 'self insuring' are living in fairy land.


If you can afford £2k plus per pet, per year without insurance, then don't get insurance, your rich and don't need it.

If you can't afford to spend £2k plus on vet bills per pet, per year, then you need insurance.


Putting £50 a month into a bank account will never provide you with equivalent backup if your pet needs an emergency operation. Even if it builds up to £1000, that's still not enough.


If you are unlucky you will end up claiming for that pet for the same condition every year, and if you have a decent insurance company they will keep paying out, year after year. And you will never have to have your pet put down because you can't afford the operation to save it's life.

maisie_cat

pramsay13 wrote: »

Aside from the vet's bills you have other things like third party insurance.
What if your cat causes a car accident?

As said before cat owners are not generally responsible in the same way that parents are not responsible if their child causes an accident.
We self insure because we rehomed both our girls and the insurance quotes were high. Over 10 years we are still up against what we'd have paid if we'd insured. The local vet told us that many things are refused anyway so it's only really worth it if you get a puppy/kitten and insure from birth.
Last year we paid £1500 as one of the girls was ill before she died. We think over the 10 years we've spent around £3000 of which £1200 was dental. We were originally quoted £35 a month for both of them aged 9 & 5 so would have spent minimum £4200 in premiums plus £1200 dental.

charlotte1994

I would say it is worth just putting the money away.

I have insured my cat but she is only 1 years old and only costs £3 a month. Pet insurance can be a such a rip off, you can have such healthy pets and they still charge you through the nose. I don't think 9 is that old! If I was you I would just put money away each month into a cat bank account! It'll be cheaper, plus if you keep putting away and never need it, you'll have a lump sum at the end :-)

SallyDucati

I think it depends on the cover, and how risk averse you are.

I've always insured my cats with PetPlan. One was quite ill for the last 2 years - 12 months & I worked out I got all my premiums (over 14 years) back and a bit more. I checked and they would also have covered her to go to a specialist cancer vet at a cost of £000s had I chosen to go that route (various reasons I didn't).

A friend of mine got a cat about 3 years ago. She insured it on the Friday, he was run over on the Saturday. PetPlan paid out no quibble, again in the thousands. No way would my friend have been able to afford the treatment.

stator

charlotte1994 wrote: »

I have insured my cat but she is only 1 years old and only costs £3 a month. Pet insurance can be a such a rip off, you can have such healthy pets and they still charge you through the nose. I don't think 9 is that old!

It can change in an instant.
You think your pets are healthy, then one of them develops a cough and you're claiming thousands of pounds per year for treatment.


Don't begrudge the premiums you spend on pet insurance. PetPlan are a commercial company but they don't make that much of a profit. Most of the money you pay them goes out to pay for the treatment of other animals that haven't been as lucky as yours.


And in the last years of your pets life, you can end up claiming an awful lot of money.

Tammykitty

I have mine insured and a "cat pot" for smaller items which I put £10 a month in - this pays for vaccinations and any excesses


The insurance was very useful when 1 cat was knocked down and the bill was near £1,000


The insurance is so that I never have make the decision of what can I justify paying

garth549

As pet insurance ultimately makes a profit, self insurance would be cheaper more often than not. Of course you can get unlucky.

The more pets you have the lower the spread risk hence the more likely self-insurance will be cheaper.

stator

garth549 wrote: »

The more pets you have the lower the spread risk hence the more likely self-insurance will be cheaper.

Diseases are contagious, so that logic doesn't work.
If all your pets are sick, do you really want to chose which you can afford to treat?


Self insurance is a myth.
If you're rich enough to pay the maximum claim for all of your pets every year, then you are rich and don't need insurance.


If you can't afford it to pay that out every year, you are just kidding yourself by putting a few hundred / thousand in a savings account.

lindens

Maybe I'll look into Petplan before i jump into anything else, they seem a better insurer