Harold!
Bert was £80 a month for an 11year old Karelian Bear Dog. I always thought up to a few months ago that I should have / or would next time self insure. However despite him being a super hardy long lived breed that hadn't had any claims - at year 11 we ran into sudden health issues.
He had a foreign object granuloma in his paw that needed an MRI and follow up OP at my choice of Liverpool small animal hospital.
Then a few months after that we ran into what was ultimately cancer. I didn't and wouldn't have subjected him to any unnecessary treatment but I was glad of insurance for some (v.expensive) specialist diagnostics that quickly gave us the full picture of his health and prognosis and helped minimise his suffering.
Petplan covered the costs of everything including the individual cremation - we had an annual £7.5k limit and I'm pretty sure we over ran. I had to cover 20%
When I get another dog in the future I would use petplan again. However dogs aren't cheap - MrsRNP and I have been chatting this holiday and reckoned Bert was ~£500 to £600 a month (food, insurance and car transport costs) and well worth it!
That then isn't a reliance on being cash-rich, it's a reliance on forward planning.
That's all well and good when dealing with forward thinking humans, not so useful with a dog that lives for the moment and will be apt to do something ridiculous at the most inopportune moment. Our last two went from heart failure (we chose his time of going after a year of reassuringly expensive drugs) and eating the string off a joint of meat (either from counter-surfing or scavenging outside). Many Pets are currently charging £77 a month after 2 claims for our current 5 year old.
That’s fine unless you’ve only saved a few hundred and are suddenly faced with a bill for thousands.
Fair point. In theory I should have carried over the £3k my old dog had saved up to my new dog, but I spent it on a bike, its what she would have wanted for me isnt it?
Just to add 2 1/2 years later. Dog is now 4yo. Pot is now upto about £3k. There have been some minor expenses (2 x split claws, 1 x eye infection) that have just paid for. Obvs something major will wipe that out.
Also am now custodian of another dog also 4yo which comes with £10k set aside in premium bonds as insurance, to be held until dog dies & then split between family. Suspect though that will be grabbed by the council & wiped out by carehome fees for the dogs owner.
Our pooch is with pet plan with a £7k a year limit. And a good job too, he was at the dog minders on Saturday and came back with a badly broken back right leg, both bones above the hock (ankle) and in numerous pieces. They said they’ve no idea how it happened.
Anyway, he’s had two nights in the local emergency vet hospital and then two nights at a specialist orthopaedic vet hospital down in Castle Donnington (very much recommended though I hope no one ever does). He’s come home today following surgery last night, now has three pieces of wire in his leg, an external fixator with five bolts holding it all together. And had we been without insurance we’d be £6,700 lighter.
Poor thing. That sounds horrendous.
A bloke at work says his Tesco insurance is much cheaper with a clubcard.
I wonder what they're like in the event of a claim 🤔
Yep, pretty traumatic. We (me and the wife) have never had kids so the dog (a dachshund) is basically treated like royalty so seeing him go through this over the last few days has been exhausting.
But, he’s now home, I nipped to the supermarket before we picked him up to get him his favourite sliced topside of beef (I wish I was joking) and he’s now asleep downstairs with the Mrs so things are looking up.
Yep, pretty traumatic. We (me and the wife) have never had kids so the dog (a dachshund) is basically treated like royalty so seeing him go through this over the last few days has been exhausting.
But, he’s now home, I nipped to the supermarket before we picked him up to get him his favourite sliced topside of beef (I wish I was joking) and he’s now asleep downstairs with the Mrs so things are looking up.
My dog always gets a reverse seared medium rare rump or sirloin on his birthday lol.
I have to cut it into little cubes though as he's small and doesn't do chewing.. It just goes straight down the throat lol
I'm hoping for some advice on the Petplan insurance I've just taken out for my 2 year old Patterdale.
When I was giving all the details they asked for any previous vet visits of which there was just one. This was when she was about a year old and had a tiny lump on her chest near her front leg, the vet wasn't concerned and said bring her back in a month if it's still there or gets bigger. It went away in a few weeks.
Petplan have come back and and said that anything relating to cysts or tumours is excluded from the cover, which seems quite broad to me. Perhaps I should have not mentioned it but reading about how they have requested vets records for others made me think it could invalidate the cover.
I've emailed back to ask if the exclusion can be narrowed with more detail, but perhaps I should just cancel and go elsewhere? I'm still within the first 14 days.
We've stuck with Petplan through 2 dogs and now onto the 3rd.
They are not cheap at all. BUT...when you need to claim, and it runs into £thousands, my experience is that they just don't dick you around or try to find ways out. No messing, and paid quickly.
Cancer treatment for our angel of a black Lab hit about £11k. I just had the excess (£100 maybe ?) to pay.
As one of the other sisters said, be aware of caps on treatment. Also cheap insurers tend to have other get-outs such as 1 illness only, if it occurs again (say the next year's policy) then not covered. Or a cap on reoccurring illness that screws you if it becomes a long term health problem.
When I did look at the cheap alternatives some also had exclusions after say 8 years old (ie exactly when illnesses start to appear). And then you're bolloxed as insurers won't take on new dogs at older ages. My other concern has been that these 'supermarket' insurers may bail out of the industry in say 3 or 4 yesrs tiime, again leaving you high and dry and not able to get new cover if you dog is getting old by then. At least with Petplan (which is part of Aviva), Allianz, or say through the Kennel Club, there's a good chance ce they are in it for the long term.
but perhaps I should just cancel and go elsewhere? I'm still within the first 14 days.
My experience is that 'pre-existing conditions' are always excluded. How they get from a cyst to excluding tumours is a bit of a leap, but in our experience it is also worth talking to people as they can clarify or correct automated decisions at times too.
Ultimately, they are trying to reduce the risk of a payout, which isn't great for you as it's exactly the reason you are buying the insurance of course. Petplan have always been good with the people around us who have used them so hopefully they can be reasonable for you especially if the vet can clarify why they weren't concerned it was cancerous.
In my experience over the last 10 years of using PetPlan they have paid out every single penny every single time without question and I have claimed more than I have ever paid in premiums.
Willing to continue to use them based on that even if they are more expensive.
My experience is that 'pre-existing conditions' are always excluded. How they get from a cyst to excluding tumours is a bit of a leap, but in our experience it is also worth talking to people as they can clarify or correct automated decisions at times too.
Ultimately, they are trying to reduce the risk of a payout, which isn't great for you as it's exactly the reason you are buying the insurance of course. Petplan have always been good with the people around us who have used them so hopefully they can be reasonable for you especially if the vet can clarify why they weren't concerned it was cancerous.
Yes I'm not surprised that something pre-existing is excluded but to exclude all tumours seems like the insurance wouldn't be worth it, because cancer is something I would want covered! It does sound like the best insurance from what I've read on here so hopefully I can get it worked out.
Poor thing. That sounds horrendous.
A bloke at work says his Tesco insurance is much cheaper with a clubcard.
I wonder what they're like in the event of a claim 🤔
So far so good on Tesco covering us for recent bills and thanks to their v.professional Vet helpline asking the right questions and getting us to take him in rather than leaving him another night to see how he'd have been in the morning. We're getting close to the £7500 limit at the moment with his checks and various drug/steroid treatments but fortunately are also close to the annual renewal date so should be covered for future treatment as well. Issue being a sudden onset auto-immune attack on his red blood cells.
Insurance for mine just come through... it's gone down... by about £5 per year 🤔
£875 per year not including vaccination and worming plan for a 9 year old yorki/shitzu cross who had £14000 worth of spinal surgery when he was about 3.
I think we're stuck with that provider though, as it has lifetime cover for the above, which I don't think we'd get if we switch.
How the **** is a person on minimum wage/benefits/pension meant to pay such exorbitant insurance costs for their pets?, the mass takeover of multiple vet practices by large companies that then feed the insurance racket is a ****ing scam
A company called Agria came quite high up in a Which article.
They were a bit cheaper than Petplan though of course you need to try to compare them like for like which isn't always too easy.