Dog Insurance renewal

Desperate_Dan_3

Our dog's insurance is due for renewal. I want to get quotes from elsewhere to compare, as M&S have quoted a £4 per month rise!!!

Now, we adopted 'Sam' from a rescue home and were told he was between 1 and 2 years old. He had no history as he was a stray from Ireland. We on our first premium with M&S he was 2 years old. This was three years ago, making him 5 years old now.

However speaking to the vet and a dog handler recently it look as if Sam maybe upto 8 years old, difficult to tell. So what age should I tell prospective insurers?

Steve1981

Desperate_Dan wrote: »

Our dog's insurance is due for renewal. I want to get quotes from elsewhere to compare, as M&S have quoted a £4 per month rise!!!

Now, we adopted 'Sam' from a rescue home and were told he was between 1 and 2 years old. He had no history as he was a stray from Ireland. We on our first premium with M&S he was 2 years old. This was three years ago, making him 5 years old now.

However speaking to the vet and a dog handler recently it look as if Sam maybe upto 8 years old, difficult to tell. So what age should I tell prospective insurers?

im not too hot on pet insurance i must admit, though i would have thought if you disclose the fact (which you are obliged to do) that you have no real idea of how old Sam is that you might struggle to get insurance - i would have thought it similar to insuring a car, if you dont know when it was made then they dont know what to rate against.

It might be worth getting in contact with the rescue centre - I know the PDSA do a donation scheme for those on low or no income for each time you take a pet in (I dont know if this covers all animals though)

The rescue centre might be able to point you in the direction of a particular company, i mean chances are Sam isnt the only stray they got from Ireland and I would have thought that other owners would have needed to get cover also.

HennyPenny

Hi, Most pet ins cease cover or increase premiums at the ages of 7 or 8 yrs so you may be ok for now. I, personally, would leave the age be-it could be that the dog has bad teeth or just looks old---you will never know.

I would recommend you go for a 'Life policy' as this means that, providing you keep the ins going, the animal will be covered for life.
The year by year policies are only recommended if you want cover for a year at a time but are ok for injuries.
The difference is enormous; life policies(can be pricy) will cover any condition for life. So in effect, if the animal was diagnosed with a long term illness (ie diabetes, costs <>£50month) then this would be covered for the rest of its days.
On a year by year policy (generally cheaper) the diabetes would only be covered for a year, then a clause would exclude the condition on renewal.
Shop around and read the small print. Petplan, pinnacle etc life policies are very good but are some of the most expensive. It depends on the type and amount of cover you want. Is there a pet ins section on here?
Hope this helps.

HennyPenny

p.s. you can get quotes from comparison sites like any other ins