Cancel pet insurance or not ?

motherofstudents

Our dog is 10 years old. We claimed last year and now the premium has almost doubled. The limit they pay out is £2000 but because she is over 8 years old, we pay 20% plus £100 excess. This means the most we could claim in a one year period is £1500. The premiums are £40 a month. 

 The thing that makes me more reluctant to cancel is the number of exclusions - nothing connected with kennel cough, hips or back or (!) yelping. All based on minor issues she had before we got insurance (didn’t have her from a puppy).

 She was treated at the animal hospital last year for which they paid out £1500 and we paid the rest.  So I’m thinking I may as well cancel but am I missing anything ? It’s with Animal Friends.

KxMx

It's a very low insured amount anyway, but especially so against the cost in premiums annually. 
Had you needed to pay + £1500 last time would that have been easy or difficult for you to find? 
If easy I'd be tempted to cancel, if difficult then I'd be tempted to keep. 

sheramber

Most companies increase premiums after you claim.

They also increase with age , as the older a dog gets , the more likely they are to need treatment.

When my dogs got to 10 I reviewed what cover I wanted.

In one case, he was a young 10 year old- still very lively and alert- so I  continued insuring him.

I used Tesco as they had a fixed excess that did not increase with age. Although he had a couple of exclusions, as a pensioner I was concerned about ongoing medication for things like kidney disease or arthritis, so wanted a cushion to fall back on.

As a crossbreed his premiums were less than £30 pm.

I also put a sum aside for any future vet bills in excess of his insurance cover.

it depends on whether  you have access to a sum of money  to pay any unexpected bills.

motherofstudents

I wouldn’t say easy but we do have savings and we could do it. I just had a look on the website and if we up the excess Fromm £99 to £159, the premium drops to £29 a month.  Have to think about it a bit more..

jane130

I wish I was only paying £40 a month. we currently pay £131!!  having claimed £6000 in her first 2 years of life for hip dysplasia and a constricted pupil. she is on maintenance hydrotherapy for her hip dysplasia and will continue that forever (or until it gets worse again)

I'm wrestling with the same decision, primarily due to the cost! but we would be entitled to use pdsa services. The only thing stopping me is if they would do anything if her hip problem reoccurred or just advise us to put her down as shes still young. could that be an option for you ?

Undervalued

motherofstudents said:

Our dog is 10 years old. We claimed last year and now the premium has almost doubled. The limit they pay out is £2000 but because she is over 8 years old, we pay 20% plus £100 excess. This means the most we could claim in a one year period is £1500. The premiums are £40 a month. 

 The thing that makes me more reluctant to cancel is the number of exclusions - nothing connected with kennel cough, hips or back or (!) yelping. All based on minor issues she had before we got insurance (didn’t have her from a puppy).

 She was treated at the animal hospital last year for which they paid out £1500 and we paid the rest.  So I’m thinking I may as well cancel but am I missing anything ? It’s with Animal Friends.

Plus, in order to be able to have the policy and potentially be able to claim £1500 (net of excess and percentage), you are paying out £480 in premiums. So in fact the maximum benefit to you from having the policy would be just over £1K.

motherofstudents

Undervalued said

Plus, in order to be able to have the policy and potentially be able to claim £1500 (net of excess and percentage), you are paying out £480 in premiums. So in fact the maximum benefit to you from having the policy would be just over £1K.

Sorry only just saw your reply. Yes that’s a good point. We did decide to cancel the insurance so any vets bills we will pay from savings.

jane130 said:

I wish I was only paying £40 a month. we currently pay £131!!  having claimed £6000 in her first 2 years of life for hip dysplasia and a constricted pupil. she is on maintenance hydrotherapy for her hip dysplasia and will continue that forever (or until it gets worse again)

I'm wrestling with the same decision, primarily due to the cost! but we would be entitled to use pdsa services. The only thing stopping me is if they would do anything if her hip problem reoccurred or just advise us to put her down as shes still young. could that be an option for you ?

Sorry only just saw your reply. We could not use PDSA. I hope you have reached a suitable decision. That is a lot to pay each month.