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Should I get pet insurance?

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  • Abbafan1972
    Abbafan1972 Posts: 7,148 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ok thanks for the replies. 
    Striving to clear the mortgage before it finishes in Dec 2028 - amount currently owed - £26,322.67
  • Katiehound
    Katiehound Posts: 8,125 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Whatever you do get third party cover. If you join Dogs Trust you will get this cover in your membership (and support a charity)
    Being polite and pleasant doesn't cost anything!
    -Stash bust:in 2022:337
    Stash bust :2023. 120duvets, 24bags,43dogcoats, 2scrunchies, 10mitts, 6 bootees, 8spec cases, 2 A6notebooks, 59cards, 6 lav bags,36 angels,9 bones,1 blanket, 1 lined bag,3 owls, 88 pyramids = total 420total spend £5.Total for 'Dogs for Good' £546.82

    2024:Sewn:59Doggy ds,52pyramids,18 bags,6spec cases,6lav.bags.
    Knits:6covers,4hats,10mitts,2 bootees.
    Crotchet:61angels, 229cards=453 £158.55profit!!!
    2025 3dduvets
  • Lavendyr
    Lavendyr Posts: 2,610 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    My insurance paid out £13,000 in my last two policy years for my cat. I've had him since January 2018. So 6 years and 11 months. If I'd put aside £100 a month for him I'd have....£8.300. Insurance with Petplan on a lifetime basis has cost me £1,700 over that period. So I'm still better off overall. I'd rather have insurance to call on when my pet is poorly than not. 
  • Abbafan1972
    Abbafan1972 Posts: 7,148 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 21 November 2024 at 7:35PM
    I am still confused - I did go ahead with cover with Agria that the shelter set up and it's £38.  Hubby said that's expensive, I may go back and cancel it yet.  I have been on comparison sites and it's come up with cheaper prices.
    I went onto Petplan and they came up with £33 a month.

    Should I opt for lifetime cover?  I really don't know what's the best cover to have?  Please see a screenshot of what Agria have included.  I opted not to have cover for boarding etc, as we wouldn't use that.




    He is going to the Vets tomorrow, for jabs.  His vets history states that he had his puppy jabs and then didn't have anything since. 

    Do you normally let your vet surgery know your insurance details, or do you just do this in the event of claim?

    Thanks. 

    ETA:- Pet plan was on-going cover £4,000 £64.87 a month, short term cover £4,000 £33.09 a month.  Is £4,000 too much or not enough?
    Striving to clear the mortgage before it finishes in Dec 2028 - amount currently owed - £26,322.67
  • sheramber
    sheramber Posts: 22,512 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    Franky, £3000 and £4000 is peanuts where vet fees are concerned.

    Lifetime cover, with the vet fess amount reinstating ech year is the best cover.

    Obviously, it is up to you what  cover you take out.  The better the cover the dearer it costs.


  • Lavendyr
    Lavendyr Posts: 2,610 Forumite
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    edited 25 November 2024 at 1:17AM
    What is it that you are confused about? If you have specific questions very happy to try and help. 

    The reason a lot of us opt for lifetime cover is that if your pet develops an ongoing condition (eg diabetes, kidney disease), your insurance will continue to pay out year on year (as long as you stay with the same insurer), whereas if you opt for the year-only cover, then they will pay out for things that occur in that year but if they do develop an ongoing condition then it will be excluded from cover after the first year. It is of course more expensive as a result, but worth it in my opinion. I would also say that those excesses are much higher than those I have with Petplan - they take the first £85 of each new claim for me. Is it an older Beagle? The percentage extra suggests so. I would compare that cost with the Agria cost as well. 

    Let me give you a picture of where I ended up with my first adopted cat, Sandy, who is now 9. 2 years ago he became very poorly, wouldn't eat anything except hand-fed boiled chicken (and not much of that). He was diagnosed with feline infectious peritonitis, went to stay in the RVC hospital in Herts for some time, had several tests, ultrasounds and biopsies of various organs to determine the cause. The antivirals for FIP were very very expensive (£680 for 10 tablets and he was on 1.5 a day). He was on several other medicines to control his nausea - at one point I was giving him 10 different medicines a day from 6am until 10pm.

    After a month it was determined that he was not improving and he had to go back in for another biopsy on his liver, after which it was decided to put him on very strong antibiotics, which cleared him up quickly - it turned out that despite no indication on any of the tests, he had a very aggressive liver infection. The vets did the best they could with very little information from his tests, so they were working on differential diagnosis protocol to work out what was going on. He couldn't have had better care, but it was insanely expensive. His first hospital stay alone was over £8,000. His annual lifetime cover was £7,000. The total cost for that period of illness was in excess of £20,000. I took out a 0% credit card and then sold my car to cover the cost. 

    A few months later he became unable to jump, very quickly over the period of a few days, so back to hospital, where he became unable to walk. He was then diagnosed with diabetes and neuropathy in all four limbs as a result. This is likely due to long term use of steroids to control a chronic skin condition, which I was unable to insure him for because it was pre-existing when I adopted him. He was in hospital for a further week, receiving insulin and Vitamin B12, and then came home for convalescence. For some weeks he had to stay in his own room, as he could not manage stairs. He also had trouble toileting and we had to lay towels down and clean him up every day. This was into his next policy year which meant that the £7k rolled over, and we claimed almost all of that covering his hospital stay, insulin and ongoing blood tests/blood sugar monitoring. Thankfully he went into remission after coming off the steroids, and touch wood, he has been much healthier for the last year or so. 

    The reason I say all of this is that if either of those two conditions - which can be long term and recurrent - do in fact recur, we are covered. If I didn't have lifetime cover, any instance of diabetes or liver illness would not be covered again (and nor for that matter FIP since it was the initial diagnosis). And without that insurance I wouldn't have my Sandy boy, who has been a mainstay in our house for all the family for so long, and who deserves the best chance at life. 
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