Self insuring your pet via savings. Anyone do this? How do you find it?

Supersonos

I'm not a fan of insurance.  I have car and home insurance because I have to, but that's it.

Pet insurance has limits etc. and there's a lot they don't pay out for, so I'm considering putting £10k into savings and then adding monthly and having that as insurance for our dog.  Wonder if anyone else does something similar?

JGB1955

Absolutely.  Our 10 year old Springer got to the age when he was un-insurable at a cost we were happy with.  We have put aside £40 per month for the last couple of years and spent.... nothing!  I know that's just luck, but, on the basis that we would pay whatever it takes to keep him with us until life is no longer comfortable for him, it seemed like a reasonable self-investment.  We pay for (absolutely essential) annual Public Liability insurance through the Dogs Trust.  Sorted!

Supersonos

JGB1955 said:

Our 10 year old Springer got to the age when he was un-insurable at a cost we were happy with.

So if you got a puppy tomorrow, would you do the same?  Or would you choose to insure again as the premiums would be more affordable at that age?

And could I ask how high your Springer's premiums got?

MovingForwards

Slightly different as I've an indoor cat, but she has a pocket money tub and if I needed to go to the vets, she could pay for it herself.

I've never insured any of my other cats.
The first one I lost ended up being PTS as treatment didn't work. 
The next one died instantly in hit and run. 
The third one I lost had cancer ops twice, I didn't subject her to a third one.

In 27 years of having cats I've spent about £1k in total, including having spayed / nuts off, but I had a good vet practice who didn't cost a lot.

It is personal choice, down to financial stability and knowing the money you've allocated won't be spent on anything else but your furball.

donnac2558

I do this.  I save via the credit union for a number of years.   My cats both house cats lived to 18 and 17 both had to PTS because of cancer, my vet was honest and did not try treatment as it was pancreatic and no treatment would work.  My girl did have a few medical needs, but the medicine  was not expensive each month.  Just blood tests every 4 months for her kidneys which was under £40.  The only big bills I ever had been dental  so £260 which was four years apart.

NaughtiusMaximus

MovingForwards said:

In 27 years of having cats I've spent about £1k in total, including having spayed / nuts off, but I had a good vet practice who didn't cost a lot.

You've been pretty lucky there tbh, if we hadn't have been insured we worked out we'd have paid out over 5k over the past 20 years for 3 cats, that's excluding routine expenditure like booster jabs. Having said that, the total of what we've paid in insurance premiums and insurance excess (they never cover the full bill) is probably around the same.

maisie_cat

We self insured when we rehomed a 9 year old cat as the insurance premiums were high. In the 10 years we had her she did not cost us as much as the insurance would have done.

KxMx

I had a 3k bill for my 13yo late cat, this was necessary diagnostic only and not treatment as diagnosis was terminal.
Pet Plan paid the big bill as quickly and quibble free as the smaller ones over the course of investigations.

wannabe_a_saver

I do this, on most of my pets its been much cheaper than insuring, because most have only needed yearly boosters and occasional dental work which aren't usually covered anyway, maybe the odd course of antibiotics here or there.

For one animal, it cost me an absolute fortune, nearing 10k by the end of their life.  When I looked back though, a lot of that cost I would have had to pay myself anyway in addition to (huge!) insurance premiums as it would have been classed as 'pre-existing' or related to existing/previous claims. 

So overall I still think it works out better to self insure, as long as you have the cash/credit readily available and are actually prepared to fork out when it comes to it. 

JGB1955

Supersonos said:

JGB1955 said:

Our 10 year old Springer got to the age when he was un-insurable at a cost we were happy with.

So if you got a puppy tomorrow, would you do the same?  Or would you choose to insure again as the premiums would be more affordable at that age?

And could I ask how high your Springer's premiums got?

If we got a puppy we would probably insure it until the age of 7, at which point the excess seems to suddenly increase, as well as the premiums.  We were only paying £35 per month when he got to 10 but the premiums were about to double.  He had had an  incident with a stick (causing £1K worth of damage to his mouth) along with a steady two visits per annum, under sedation, to have grass seeds removed from his ears.  Removal of a large lipoma was another £700.  To be fair, we have probably received more in claims than the premiums we have paid.

MovingForwards

NaughtiusMaximus said:

MovingForwards said:

In 27 years of having cats I've spent about £1k in total, including having spayed / nuts off, but I had a good vet practice who didn't cost a lot.

You've been pretty lucky there tbh, if we hadn't have been insured we worked out we'd have paid out over 5k over the past 20 years for 3 cats, that's excluding routine expenditure like booster jabs. Having said that, the total of what we've paid in insurance premiums and insurance excess (they never cover the full bill) is probably around the same.

It is because I had a cheap practice, who kept costs down to make it affordable for people. I've only ever had moggies, which also helps. 

The first one who died had kidney failure. Tests, treatment, an overnight stay followed by a difficult decision the following day, cost just under £200 18 years ago. He was 9.
Number three cost £300 each op and tests, consultation fee and scan the third time, total cost under £670. She was approaching 19 when she died.

None of the others cost me anything aside from spaying / nuts off (sorry, I can't for the life of me think what it's called).

I've not included cremation costs as that's a personal choice and urn costs vary.

It's only been over 4 years I've only had one cat, which is odd for me, but she's 14 this year and only ever been spayed.

Where I am now are normal priced vets. So her pocket money will cover that or her cremation.