New Pet Insurance Quote - to self fund or not?

DD2016

Hello,

Having trawled through forums. I need some advice going forward with my dog's insurance renewal. He is with Tesco, he is 8. I have been claiming for an ongoing urinary condition for just over two years, including his diagnosis which included Ultrasound, CT and Xray. The last year claims have been bloods every 3 months, due to him being on loxicom (anti inflammatory) the loxicom and another drug if he flares, consultation fees for bloods and flares. I have claimed about £800 this last year.

My renewal price is £2564. This is obviously far too much going forward. Last year was bad enough at £1500. My excess has always been £500 as I would just pay anything up to that anyway. I now need to pay 20% on all claims as he is over 8. 

I rang Tescos over the weekend to get a quote on reduced cover. When younger he was on £7500, then I reduced him down to £4000. I asked what a quote for £2000 cover would be. I was told I could not adjust his cover level as they are changing underwritters from Royal Sun Alliance to Pinnacle Insurance on 21st Jan and becuase I renew on 1st Feb, it is not possoble to change my cover level.

Help please! Do I:

1. Insure with another provider and cover new conditions (£2000/£3000 cover to help with any costs)  which is looking at £800 to £900 depending on excess. I would now cover the urinary condition myself bills.

2. Put money aside in an account for anything going forward. 

Any advice would be gratefully received. 

Thanks

Slinky

So sorry that you're facing this difficult decision.

Can't help with this one, but if you have another pet, always go with PetPlan. The premiums may seem slightly more expensive, but you would not be facing this massive increase. Our cat had a £9.5K operation and her premium the following year went up from £35 to £40. ETA this was monthly premium

It could be worth checking out PP anyway to see what they say about covering other conditions.

sheramber

Only you can decide what you should do.

What I did when my dog got older was change to a cheaper policy ( lower amount but still £7500 cover.)

At that time Tesco excess was fixed  at £60 for all ages.

I then paid an amount into a separate account to cover any costs not covered by that policy. He had two pre existing conditions that would not be covered but they had not recurred over the years.

Add up the cost of your premium for the year plus your fixed excess then add 20% of a potential bill.

How does that total compare to what the insurance would pay? 

Would you be paying them more that you would get back or  would you still be better off with insurance?

Take  a £4000 bill. You would pay your premium plus excess , so over £3000  to get a few hundred back 

If you self insure you need to put a reasonable sum away, not a small amount, unless you have access to a large sum of money if, say,  you got a  large bill 2 months after starting to self insure. 

£2000 /3000 for vet fees is peanuts nowadays. By the time you count your premium and your excess how much would you get back compared to what you have paid. 

I would rather put that money away in premium bonds ( hoping to win something) or a high interest account  to have available for vet fees.

Good luck with your decision. There is no easy answer. 

forwardnotbackwards

I would self fund.

The age of pet will always count against with any company as you will always have to pay the excess plus a % of the bill. Plus with an existing condition even though you won't claim on it you may have to disclose it which will ramp up the price.

I know of a couple of cases with colleagues at work who have had claims denied as the insurance company have tried linking conditions to previous visits to the vets saying it was pre existing or linked to a pre existing. Even the vet arguing with them had no effect on their decision.

My Labrador had arthritis and prescribed Loxicom by the vet at £60 a bottle.  From a reputable online pet medication firm I got 4 bottles same size for £60, the vet wrote me a prescription for 6 months worth (the 4 bottles) plus £22 prescription fee so £82 compared to £240.