Brad is 10yr old springer and getting a bit long in the tooth. He got ran over 3 years ago and has made his back end a bit lame.

Other than that he is fine, he gets tired nowadays because he doesnt have a hip in one rear leg and he has titanium braces over 3 of his back vertabrae. The claim came to about 3500k in total but he is as good as he will get.

The only ongoing cost from it is Metacam every 6 months or so at £50. His policy with Direct Line has now escalated to near on £50 a month. Im starting to think this is getting a bit of a joke. We cant leave and get a policy elsewhere that would cover this ongoing cost.

So we stay and get shafted (obviously they want their 3.5k back)
Move and pay a lesser policy maybe but abandon cover for this injury
Dont bother with it and just pay saving £600 a year.

Has anyone stopped a pet insurance policy after making a big claim.

Yes. After two leg oop and a back opp worth about £15k in total, we ditched the insurance who wanted almost £100 a month for a basic policy costing a tenth of that. It won’t cover rebuilding his back legs again, but they e both been done now anyway. We put some money away for him each month and his regular check ups and meds are paid for out of his “pocket money”*.

*i know, he doesn’t have pockets. That’s why we keep hold of it for him. Besides, he’d just spend it all on cheese and frozen peas if we let him.

We never made a big claim, but we cancelled anyway and just started putting the monthly premiums into a separate account, just in case. There was even an excess of £70 or so, which is what most basic consultations are, so insurance is only for the big stuff. We took the risk about 3 or 4 years ago on a collie who’s now 12 and have saved all that money!

Guy in work downgraded his pet insurance. About a week later his dog got diagnosed with a tumor in its mouth. The vet bill was £10k+ and the downgraded insurance only covered up to £2,000. Ouch.

Yep this thread isnt going to help one bit really.

Can you imagine a car policy which wouldnt cover a bumper if it got damaged on another policy previously. So your stuck with one company and they just keep pushing it up. Doesnt sound right when you think about it.

Technically its fixed to a Vetinary standard so really it shouldnt matter – clutching at straws

Slight hijack but we’re going to start insuring our dogs.

Been without it for 7 years with first dog and now 4 years with these 2 but a few recent near misses and a slight change in financial situation has lead us to think we should be covering.

Problem is I’ve looked into a few of the companies and it seems like the policies are not worth bothering with. However just found a company called vetsmedicover (http://www.vetsmedicover.co.uk/) – seems quite good idea. Anyone got any experience?

You may only be paying for Metacam at the moment, but it could become a lot more, due to working the Liver & Kidneys a bit more.

It is completely wrong that pet insurance companies have you by the balls if your animal is over 3-4, in their eyes old!

I can only recommend PetPlan, we have had many claims with the 2 dogs, 1 claim was £12k, the other dog had £10k a year spent for over 6 years.

Only cancel the insurance if you are sure that you can pay £3k+ for any accident wit your dog, or face having it put down because you couldn’t afford it.

Just has £1.4k quote for one of our dogs, so reconsidering. Like health care, I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to build up our own fund rather than pay our in premiums. Obviously doesn’t work in dire emergencies but that leads to another debate……

Its a tough choice but we ditched our insurance and still have an ancient old Westie (16) who has loads of problems but the insurance wasnt paying out due to the excess on claims plus the premiums were up at about £50.00
If he gets i’ll and requires serious treatment then we’ll have to go down the euthanasia route if the vet will do it!! Just cant afford huge bills and £50 plus each month. I actually doubt they would insure him now? Before anyone says dont get a dog if you cant afford he was left to us by wife’s mum and dad when they passed away.

Guy in work downgraded his pet insurance. About a week later his dog got diagnosed with a tumor in its mouth. The vet bill was £10k+ and the downgraded insurance only covered up to £2,000. Ouch.

No brainer really. Put the dog down.

Had dogs since we were kids, had my own for years and never had insurance.

OK I have 2 dogs and insurance

But another circumstance to consider is if your dog strays and is involved in a road traffic accident guess who is responsible hence insurance

The reason for the above comment is because unfortunately a dog ran out in front of the wife last week alas the dog was killed outright and the car is a right off and the insurance company are going to pursue the dog owner for costs.

Food for thought

Try animal friends insurance. Our 7 year old lab had a 3k+ claim 2 years ago for a cruciate ligament repair and direct line started taking the piss. This lot have insured her but not that leg and we pay £14 per month per dog for ours.

I self insure my spaniel by putting a little money aside each month, he’s had loads of operations on his front legs due to genetic problems, they are now uninsurable so I said sod it as I have to pay now anyway!

I always haggle with the vets, they are quoting for insurance companies.

My dogs last op cost me £750 paid by me, the same op on insurance (the first time) was over £1000!

Dropped our insurance on 2 dogs after 2 years. Totaled up premiums $105.00 US per month for the two dogs) paid vs actual vet costs and it just didn’t make sense.
Unfortunately, in our experience, what pet insurance does pay generallly doesn’t come close to what the vets charge.

EDIT

Couldn’t get through to pet plan to organise for the cover to renew for the 3 weeks before the dog flew to oz. She had been on cover for 12 years to that point. She jumped off a wall and broke her leg. Needed a specialist due to complexity of the fracture rather than missus (a vet) doing it herself. They did it all at cost for her (materials & drugs no vet time) and was still over a grand.

Insurance gives you options in the long run the missus recommends it as a vet not so that she can charge more but so you get the sensible options not just massive bill or dead dog.

Have Direct Line for our 2 dogs (10 and 4 years). Renewal cost was £49/month, but going online and starting a new policy came to £42/month (for identical cover etc etc). Not had any expensive bills, so I don’t know how they track these things, but if there’s no pre-existing conditions (I know this isn’t for the OP) but try starting a new policy. There were no questions from Direct Line about claim history when I took a new policy out.