Dog insurance- Bought by Many

Buzzard1985

I am paying £32 per month for my 5 year Labrador. via Bought by Many
Lifetime Policy- £15k cover I believe.     But I know if I make a claim that £32 will rocket.  My cat had cancer and went to £200 pm so canceled it.    Get a loan if she needs care than paying £200 just in case.
Thinking of doing the same with my dog.   I can afford £32 pm but I rather divert to pension etc.
Keep hearing folk getting told to just put money aside rather than insurance companies or do what I think take out the best loan deal going if it's a large bill.
No idea what to do here!  Just feel handing out money on insurance is peeing it away.

sheramber

Taking out a loan is okay of you can get one and can afford the repayments bearing in mind that, with interest, it will cost you    more than you originally borrow so may work out dearer   than insurance in the long run.

Some people  prefer the peace of mind that having insurance brings.

Each to their  own

tacticalbanjo

It's important to understand that veterinary care costs so much more than it used to due to the more advanced options available. My local vet has in-house MRI and CT scanned that will run you a few thousand pounds if they are used - lots more than a simple x-ray. And it's hard to say no to diagnostics and advanced treatment for your beloved dog. I heard of a dog that fell off a shed and bust through the £12k limit on their insurance due to scans and lengthy surgery to repair the shattered bones.

RunningKatie

We are with Bought by Many and currently pay about £32 a month. We took out the policy three years ago when we got him at about £28 a month. Within six months of rescuing our boy, he developed allergies (they were always there, just began to present as he hit the year mark) and there were a lot of costs involved. Initial treatment was in the region of £1,000 including all blood tests. It was determined that he needed ongoing immunotherapy treatment for at least a few years and in addition needs medication to reduce the itching/biting. This costs over £200 a month, we assumed the policy cost would sky rocket but in the 3 years we've had him it has gone up around £4 in total, in line with inflation/ indexing which they say is the only increase you'll get, so far this has been our experience. When he reaches an older age, 7-9, we expect the policy cost will start to climb but luckily the immuno treatment should be complete in the next few years (he's nearly 4).
The only downside I can see is that if you don't have funds available yourself you may struggle with larger bills as vets do not deal with them directly but as soon as you make the payment and make the claim they handle everything from there including confirming the cost etc. with the vet and pay out quickly so as long as you have access to a credit card for example you will be fine. We are covered for £15,000 a year for his lifetime and pay no excess on any claims. To date their payment record has been second to none and they haven't quibbled anything with us.
There are people out there who have had bad experiences and as such are against insurers but if you find the right one for you it really is a benefit. We know that if he ever injures himself or gets seriously ill, we don't need to consider how we will pay for his treatment, we know he is covered.

FBaby

I'm with BBM, same policy. In 6 months since joining, I've needed to contact First Vet twice for health concerns. They were great, problem sorted and no need for any treatment but a change in diet. This was all free. One of these times were out of hours. I have no doubt that they would have suggested blood tests and potentially other tests. It's likely the costs would have been in the hundreds. Just for that, I'm happy to pay £30 a month.

hdjkfdkt

RunningKatie said:

We are with Bought by Many and currently pay about £32 a month. We took out the policy three years ago when we got him at about £28 a month. Within six months of rescuing our boy, he developed allergies (they were always there, just began to present as he hit the year mark) and there were a lot of costs involved. Initial treatment was in the region of £1,000 including all blood tests. It was determined that he needed ongoing immunotherapy treatment for at least a few years and in addition needs medication to reduce the itching/biting. This costs over £200 a month, we assumed the policy cost would sky rocket but in the 3 years we've had him it has gone up around £4 in total, in line with inflation/ indexing which they say is the only increase you'll get, so far this has been our experience. When he reaches an older age, 7-9, we expect the policy cost will start to climb but luckily the immuno treatment should be complete in the next few years (he's nearly 4).
The only downside I can see is that if you don't have funds available yourself you may struggle with larger bills as vets do not deal with them directly but as soon as you make the payment and make the claim they handle everything from there including confirming the cost etc. with the vet and pay out quickly so as long as you have access to a credit card for example you will be fine. We are covered for £15,000 a year for his lifetime and pay no excess on any claims. To date their payment record has been second to none and they haven't quibbled anything with us.
There are people out there who have had bad experiences and as such are against insurers but if you find the right one for you it really is a benefit. We know that if he ever injures himself or gets seriously ill, we don't need to consider how we will pay for his treatment, we know he is covered.

Hey, I just wanted to say, my mum's cat was having similar problems and a change of food fixed everything. The cat was originally diagnosed with flea allergy dermatitis, despite being an indoor cat and not having any contact with fleas. It went on for years and she lost loads of weight and loads of fur. Poor girl was super-itchy and licked herself bald. Vet kept draining her glands and giving her steroid injections, but nothing seemed to help much. We thought she'd have to be put down, but a change from Go-Cat to Purina One cleared it up in less than a week. She got all her energy back, and was like a kitten again. I couldn't believe it. Just thought I'd let you know, maybe it'll help your cat too

hdjkfdkt

FBaby said:

I'm with BBM, same policy. In 6 months since joining, I've needed to contact First Vet twice for health concerns. They were great, problem sorted and no need for any treatment but a change in diet. This was all free. One of these times were out of hours. I have no doubt that they would have suggested blood tests and potentially other tests. It's likely the costs would have been in the hundreds. Just for that, I'm happy to pay £30 a month.

How are you finding BBM? I'm looking at quotes now but it seems too good to be true. Reviews on Trustpilot are bad, but on Google they're good. The opposite of "Animal Friends". I know companies will sometimes post fake reviews to slate the opposition, so I'm trying to figure out which reviews are more trustworthy. I'm leaning towards the Google ones (that say BBM are good), because who even *has* a Trustpilot account, y'know

FBaby

I haven't had to make a claim yet, oy used Vet First through them which has been excellent.

I heard positive feedback from people who have made claims but until I do, can't really tell if it was the right choice.

Kinski

I’m with BBM but not claimed anything yet. I do know someone who in the first year of being with BBM had to have two of her dogs legs operated on at a cost of many thousands, the insurance has always payed out quickly and without any problems, the dog still needs treatment and again the insurance payed out promptly. I’m pretty sure that the increase in her premiums is only a few pounds. 

Supersonos

tacticalbanjo said:

It's important to understand that veterinary care costs so much more than it used to due to the more advanced options available. 

I think it's due to pet insurance now being the norm.  If you have insurance, you don't question the cost, you just want your pet better.  So I think vets have slowly pushed up the fees, insurers pay out and insurance premiums also creep up.

WolfSong2000

hdjkfdkt said:

FBaby said:

I'm with BBM, same policy. In 6 months since joining, I've needed to contact First Vet twice for health concerns. They were great, problem sorted and no need for any treatment but a change in diet. This was all free. One of these times were out of hours. I have no doubt that they would have suggested blood tests and potentially other tests. It's likely the costs would have been in the hundreds. Just for that, I'm happy to pay £30 a month.

How are you finding BBM? I'm looking at quotes now but it seems too good to be true. Reviews on Trustpilot are bad, but on Google they're good. The opposite of "Animal Friends". I know companies will sometimes post fake reviews to slate the opposition, so I'm trying to figure out which reviews are more trustworthy. I'm leaning towards the Google ones (that say BBM are good), because who even *has* a Trustpilot account, y'know

I'm with BBM - have been for just under a year. 2 cats and 1 dog and pay about 60 per month (you get a 15% discount for putting multiple pets on same policy).  All my pets are under 4 years old so still young and I have them on one of the top policies (15k per year cover, dental included, etc).  I have a 100 excess so if vet bill is under that it's not worth claiming but have recently had a bigger bill for one of my cats (he was fed one of the recently recalled foods and showing worrying symptoms so had to get checked out) and BBM sorted the claim very promptly (within days).  The ability to video call with vets is also very useful.  As long as I can reasonably afford the premiums I will keep them insured, if only for peace of mind.