Four grand vet bill no insurance

dolly4

Hi,
We recently welcomed home our new puppy in the end of July however in August, at 13 weeks old, he had an accident which resulted in surgery and extensive care which adds up to three to four grand worth of expenses.

We thought we had pet insurance as we took it out when we first got him but turns out the cover started literally the day after the accident (!!!!!!) so now we’re lumbered with a four grand vet bill

Before anyone says ‘a responsible pet owner should be able to afford vet bills’ well of course they should but no one expects a four thousand pound bill. I don’t know many people who have a £4k disposable income. We are just an ordinary working class family and we set up pet insurance to make sure we could look after our pet if the worst should happen however we have just got very unlucky with the cover start date.

Was just wondering if anybody has been in a position similar to ours and how you

Artytarty

Hopefully your vets will have a payment plan you can use.
That's really bad luck. Maybe some family member could help you out with a loan or gift a bit of money in lieu of birthdays etc?
See what you could sell as well.

elsien

What about the cover provided by the breeder - was that not still in place?

Artytarty

Hopefully it was a rescue pup though. I didn't assume it was a pure breed though sadly that seems more common these days.

Carrot007

Artytarty wrote: »

Hopefully it was a rescue pup though. I didn't assume it was a pure breed though sadly that seems more common these days.

We really should ban the term pure breed. Inbred is what it is, and always comes with medical problems in most "breeds".

gettingready

Your insurance should cover accidents straight away, it is illness that you have to be i indured for 14 says before insurance will cover it

Who is your insurance with? When did you take the insurance and when did the accident happen?

sheramber

Yes, accidental injury is normally covered from the day you take the insurance out.

SensibleSarah

Friends had something similar. Fortunately they had good credit so were able to take out a 0% interest credit card which gave them just over 2 years to pay it off before any interest kicked in. Still not ideal - but meant they could spread the cost.

Some vets will do a payment plan - but they are few and far between

[Deleted User]

Awful situation, the options are


vet payment plan
credit card / loan
family loan
extension to mortgage

Soot2006

Definitely double check your insurance docs as accidents should be covered immediately. My friend claimed several thousand for a fractured leg repair (the dog was rehomed privately from Gumtree, bolted and ran into a bicycle!) for a dog she'd insured 2 days earlier, and it wasn't a problem. It's illness, disease, and anything precipitated by a pre-existing condition that won't be covered. Please double-check. If they don't cover you, change insurance as that would be extremely poor practice. Beg the vet for a payment plan; they often face this and should be understanding.

motorguy

Also, if all fails with the insurance company ask if there is any discount that can be applied under the circumstance. £4,000 is an awful lot. Even 10% discount would be £400 saved.