Would you claim for this?

Chop-D

Hello I’m trying to work out whether to make a pet insurance claim for the following circumstance. I can’t decide whether it will be worth it in the end if future premiums just go up to cover it next year so would welcome others’ opinion.

15 year old dog, diagnosed with arthritis mid September 2023 and now needs monthly injections costing £74/month, has had two injections so far. Current pet insurance premiums are £22/month until the end of February 2024 (Previous year was £18/month to give an idea on previous annual increase). Policy pay-out is limited to 12 months from start of condition. Would you make a claim or cover the costs yourself in this circumstance? 

elsien

 £22 a month premium is incredibly cheap for a dog at that age. 

I’d probably claim and then see what happens at renewal time with regards to whether to carry on insuring or not.

Because your dog has reached 15, which is a good age for a dog, there’s probably not a lot of serious treatments that you would put them through so insurance becomes less and less relevant the older they get. And there seems little point having insurance if you’re not going to use it? 

Chop-D

Thanks @elsien that’s a really helpful perspective 

elsien

My boy is 13 and the premium is now close on £100 a month. So I am at the point of deciding whether it’s worth carrying on insuring or not. 

He’s got all sorts of lumps and bumps with the worst one deep in his armpit - it is such a big operation that the vet advised against it because he doesn’t really notice it’s there. I suspect there may be one or two cancerous ones but again, I’m not going be putting him through chemo or anything - at that age it is more about quality of life.

KxMx

I had to have a 13 yo cat PTS with a terminal diagnosis - that diagnosis was always the least likely and something treatable like IBD was most likely. Even the super specialist vet was surprised at the outcome. 

It took 3k to diagnose, (thankfully I was insured and my 2x excess + 20% was much more affordable than the whole lot) I decided against the treatment and it would have been too late anyway. 

Big bills for older pets don't always come from putting them through treatment. 

Chop-D

Thanks for sharing your experience @KxMx that is another perspective on where higher costs can come from which I hadn’t necessarily thought about. I’m sorry you had to go through that with your cat.