Vet & Pet Insurance

VicLud

Good afternoon all,

I have a beautiful short haired cat called Teddy who is 2.5 years old. We’ve had him for about 18 months and obviously have a good pet insurance policy. This was our first ever pet and wanted to make sure that he was covered for everything so I also took out a monthly policy at Vets4pets. This covers his flea and worm (prescription strength) plus any extra visits/check up and yearly vaccinations. The monthly cost is £15.99 a month. 

My question is…. Is it worth it? 

They have recently introduced a £20 deposit when booking an appointment, which is refundable when you show up (this irritates me - don’t ask why, I don’t know) 🤷‍♀️ 
and every time I order his flea and worm there seems to be an issue and sometimes we don’t get it for up to 2 weeks after it’s due. 

Would I be better off cancelling the £15.99 direct debit and buying flea/worm treatment or should I continue as we are. As with all households money is in short supply but do feel like they are causing me more hassle than necessary.

thank you

peteuk

Not sure this is the right place to ask such question,  however like most insurance policies it’s only useful when you use it.

By saving £15.99 what are you risking, if anything happens can you afford the vet bill?

born_again

Don't cancel DD without informing vets & cancelling with them 1st. Check T/C as these can be annual.

We used to insure our 2 dogs. Now we self insure them, by putting funds aside just incase.

VicLud

Hi, thanks for the reply. Only realised after posting that I had put my question in this section by accident and don’t seem to be able to move it.

flaneurs_lobster

I assume that a good chunk of that premium is for accident/emergency medical bill coverage, the stuff your can't foresee unlike jabs & normal treatments? 

Those can be extremely expensive, if you don't have that coverage then yes it's not good value. 

MayDogsandCoffee

Is this a health plan as a pose to Insurance, they are completely different things so you would be best to define which it is before you get advice that is not relevant.  A health plan usually covers vacs, flea, worm, nails cut but not vet treatment such as operations.

elsien

peteuk said:

Not sure this is the right place to ask such question,  however like most insurance policies it’s only useful when you use it.

By saving £15.99 what are you risking, if anything happens can you afford the vet bill?

The 15.99is not an insurance policy.  it’s a monthly subscription plan for flea treatments. Not the same thing at all. 

OP, have you looked at the cost of buying the flea stuff elsewhere e.g online and and done a comparison? 

JGB1955

We used to have a subscription from Pe**-@ H*** for flea treatment - it was a fraction of the cost of buying it elsewhere.  After 5 years of paying for pet insurance we decided to just put the money aside and pay when necessary.  Owning a dog is not cheap - probably evened out at £1000 a year!  Springer Spaniels for you.....