[Closed] Pet Insurance

Personally I'd just put the money in a separate account. Then it'll also insure your washing machine, your TV, your roof...

We self insure. Was all working out well till one of the cats got an Intussusception and a few complications - £4k bill for that one!

I have used pet insurance in the past and never had an issue claiming but for 2 dogs it is now quite pricey and we have sufficient savings to cover pretty much any eventuality so we do not bother anymore.

We do pay £12 p/m-ish per dog for the flea, wormer, health check and annual booster plan though as that does work out to be quite cost effective.

To answer your question though you have policies with lifetime limits for conditions or just renewable policies with a monetary amount per condition. Both have pros and cons. The lifetime limit looks good and means a condition continues to be cover for an amount of time but can run out quickly. The set amount per condition can be better however come renewal they will be sure to exclude that condition going forward so if it reoccurs you're buggered.

As the dog gets older - particularly above 8yo but starting at 5yo- the premiums will ramp up significantly and the excluded conditions list tends to grow.

Have you made any claims yet because don't forget if you change insurers the new insurance won't cover anything previously claimed. It's one of the really annoying things about them. Is that £210 for the year or for the month? In the end with Ziva it was up to £100... a month! but it was gold class covered for life insurance with pet plan and they paid out about 2 grand twice within the last couple of years.

Cost goes up with the animals age. Our old cat was costing over £40 a month. Three younger ones are £35 for the three. ONe of ours can't be insured as he has cat flu so we pay the checkup/vax £12 per month (including flea/worming).

The other 3 cats are on a Vaccination for life plan - just starting to pay back (after year 2)

Is that £210 for the year or for the month?

It was £138 last year, I have prices of £140 for this year, the renewal with our last insurer was £210 for the year.

Like all insurance, it is a gamble so up to the individual whether they gamble or not.
And also like all insurance, cheaper insurance is great until you actually claim.

Self insurance is great in theory until you get 2 dogs that both had £4,000 of care in their first 2 years of life in which case the £400 a year insurance was a pretty good idea.

I would insure for at least the first year (with a good insurer that will actually pay, i.e. PetPlan) as you don't know how healthy the animal is. If it turns out they are healthy then just save the money, if they are not healthy then you have got them covered for life

Self insure is great if you have a few grand in the bank to fall back on. Not so great if you are starting from zero.

Over the last 6 years we must have claimed over £14,000 for vets fees.

My sis is head nurse at a vets. She/They recommend petplan lifetime ( they dont get a kickback). Its not the cheapest, we got a dog 4 months ago and its £33.00/month. Problem with annual is that it will only cover illness for that year, lifetime resets each year ( if you stay with same insurer). More expensive but an on going illness will empty your pockets pretty quickly.

I'd happily pay £210 a yr. We're currently paying £77 a month for 16 yr old westie. Only one claim in those 16yrs.

We pay around £21/mth for £7k cover for our 2yr old dog. No claims in first two years but the daft sod somehow ate half a beach of sand recently and we've just had a bill for £900 as a result (thankfully didn't need an op otherwise it'd have been 1000's).

BoughtbyMany were great, liaised with the vet and paid out, money in my account within a week. They do a 20% cashback policy, so if you don't claim in the year you get 20% of your premium back.