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Buy the best you can. With the highest limits on vet's bills. You won't believe how much it can cost, and you'll be glad you have it if you need it. You really don't want to make that decision of how much to spend believe me.
After years of putting it off, I've finally buckled and we're picking up our Jack Russell pup on Friday.
We're beyond excited, but one thing that worries me is vet's bills. I've heard some horror stories which why we've chosen what I believe to be a hardy breed.
What are your thoughts or experience of pet insurance? Anyone you'd recommend or avoid?
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Buy the best you can. With the highest limits on vet's bills. You won't believe how much it can cost, and you'll be glad you have it if you need it. You really don't want to make that decision of how much to spend believe me.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Make sure your limits reset each year, some policies have a total limit, the good ones reset on your renewal date. We had an epileptic dog who cost thousands a year in medication, we’d have been stuffed if we’d had a lower limit.Originally Posted by oldoakknives
We’re with LV, not through choice, we were with legal and general, but LV have taken the policies over. PetPlan is one of the best, but you’ll pay for it.
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But don’t let worrying about the bills spoil your enjoyment of the dog, terriers are robust, you’re not buying in to a breed with issues.
Some previous threads on this - the most recent:
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?486827
We've always used PetPlan - more expensive perhaps, but more complete cover, and no issues in our experience with the claims we have made.
When we had our Westie in 2007 we took out Insurance which I am glad we did as she developed a disease of the leg bone and the operation cost £1000. We continued paying up until she was six years old, they then put the monthly premium up to £60 a month, so I made the decision to save the premium so if we claimed we would have the money. Fast forward she is now 15 this month and we have not claimed a penny in the last 8 years. (touches wood) We did pay £99 when we registered her at out vets which covered her for booster injections for life, best £99 I ever spent. As the saying goes you pays your money and takes you chance.
Last edited by hilly10; 3rd April 2022 at 19:36.
This 100%
Thanks chaps, great advice. We've gone with Petplan.
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Highly recommend ManyPets (formerly BoughtByMany). Claims process is very straightforward and generally paid same day.
Maybe late but also this, we had paid only one monthly installment when our then pup may have had some raisins so was put into vets over that easter Over a grand in fees reimbursed in no time at all!
Joe
Good advice. Our German shepherd has claimed over £20k in insurance over 12 years.
Another vote for petplan, although Animal Friends have been used in the past and was very good when I required a claim.
We are with Co-op underwriter is Allianz, they have been good had lots of claims in the last few years £5k per year limit but resets every year. We use that in both the last 2 years of one of our dogs life. With the our other dog he got a peach stone stuck in his intestines when he was 9 months old, £4K bill so both policies have been good. It important to get continuous or lifetime cover as some policies don’t cover for the long term care and drugs are expensive.
We’re with petplan and the first claim has gone through seamlessly via the vet.
You've done well.
Some of the fashionable breeds nowadays have inbuilt medical problems that often turn out very expensive.
I insured my first two dogs through Petplan but they only ever needed routine treatment which the excess didn't cover.
Then they doubled the premiums (which had been going up steadily anyway) when the dogs turned 8 years old.
Since then with my previous and current Bull Terriers I haven't bothered with insurance.
Cheers,
Neil.
My moggy (who has just turned two) is insured with Petplan for about a tenner a month. A few weeks ago on Saturday morning he came in feeling very sorry for himself with quite a nasty scratch on his nose. By Sunday morning it had swollen and he was extremely listless apart from a disturbing head spasm, so we took him to the vets Sunday afternoon.
His nose swelling actually burst on the way, bit of a pong, and they examined him, and injected him with antibiotics and anti inflammatories and gave us some to take home. He recovered fully in a couple of days.
But what would have cost about £75 based on previous similar escapades of his cost £286 because it was a Sunday.
So I went on the Petplan website and put a claim in, and it was very simple to do. I was expecting them to refuse it with the arguement that it wasn't an emergency and we could have waited until the next day, but no, they accepted and have paid me £211 (there is £75 excess) today, so a big recommendation for Petplan from me. I guess others have had a nightmare with them however?
Good to read positive on pet insurances & hope he continues to recover quickly. You can always tell when they’re not themselves.
Ours had a Sunday one too, but no way was I waiting until Monday as he seemed in pain but wouldn’t show it & hiding in a plant he has never been in.
We made the call to just put some money aside each month - hadn’t realised the insurance was that cheap to be fair! We were putting £100!each month to cover both of them, cat sitter etc. having lost one, the remaining car has quite the savings account!
We were with ManyPets for several years but they've hikes the rates (claim free) so high this time we've decided to self-insure... stick the premium away each year and hopefully we'll have a decent sum available if our mutt needs treatment. Bit of a calculated gamble but after a 30% increase on a 3 year old dog it seemed like the right option.
Petplan can be quite expensive. But it is perfect. I have never been let down by them. And while it is likely that on reflection I will have spent more with them than I have claimed, the peace of mind of knowing that whatever happened to my dogs would not mean I had to even think about whether we would decide between treatment or euthanasia on financial grounds is worth much more to me than the £ I ‘might’ have saved.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
really not sure if its worth it. we have x2 Bengals 17 and 18 years, over that time without insurance they would have cost us about 3k in vets bills.... insurance premiums we paid £16,800, if we had just banked the premium money we would have been quids in and i could have bought a rolex lol
But I must say Petplan have been very good but as the pets get older the premiums get higher (100p/m for the pair currently)
You are absolutely correct. But an accident in the third year (say) could also have resulted in a vet bill of £20k. Then you would have had to choose. For me the insurance removes this possibility and I sleep better.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
This might surprise but we are with Asda insurance and they have proved excellent, One of our cats seems bomb proof but Lucy has had ongoing problems throughout her life (now 13) she damaged her eye, had an infection that took some testing to sort out which caused her hair to fall out and scabs on her head (fungal infection) and latest she has been diagnosed with hyerthyroid problems so on medication for the rest of her life. Asda's have paid thousands throughout her life, never questioned the claims and paid the vets direct so cant recommend them highly enough, and cover her medicine costs for life, premiums have gone up over the years in line with age but that's all
This. I never want to have to make that call.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Find an independent vet, they’re not going to charge anywhere near 20k for an uninsured mogg, no matter what their condition is
Pet insurance is driving up prices and vets will actively look to bill insurance companies.
Last edited by Rodder; 16th November 2022 at 18:33.
That depends, but it’s not difficult.
One of my old dogs had epilepsy diagnosed early in her life, needed lifelong medication, then she developed diabetes and liver problems, again the drugs covered for life. Almost unbelievably, she then escaped from the house one day and got hit by a car, the complicated fracture required pinning and operations with specialist vets that cost over £6k.
Maybe a bit extreme, but she lived to over 10 years old and PetPlan paid out without quibble every time.
Another dog of mine got a detached lens in his eye, the specialist consultation, eye surgery and follow on care so that he could keep the eye even whilst losing the ability to focus with it, cost nearly £8k.
I would never be without decent pet insurance, mainly because I’d hate to be without one of my dogs because I couldn’t afford the cost of care for a complex fracture/illness or other condition.
edit; and honest, I sound like a terrible owner, I’m really not, but sometimes pets are unlucky!
Last edited by Tooks; 16th November 2022 at 18:46.
Insurance is always expensive if you don't need it, but cheap if you do.
I paid £8 a month for 9 months until he was 1 year old, then £10.11 a month for the last year, so I am currently just about 'up' on the deal. Of course, I would rather not have had to claim at all for his sake, but it is what it is.
I think despite what I said, I’d have insurance with a dog and certainly a pedigree. But with a simple moggy, I think I’d prefer to take the risk
Hmmm...I'd guess that any particular proceedure or treatment will cost roughly the same regardless of species or breed, pedigree or mongrel.
So are you saying an animal you have spent a lot to buy you'll insure for treatment to try and keep it alive but a cheapy can take its chances?
He could be considering that a mongrel is less likely to need a procedure than a pedigree.
Okay yes, I see that, pedigrees do tend to have baked in difficulties. But injuries, standard illnesses and diseases will cost roughly the same regardless.
Down to someone's judgement of the likelihood of injuries and standard stuff vs the other.
Unfortunately injuries and standard stuff are part and parcel of having pets in my experience. Wish it were not so.
We were with PetPlan for our old dogs. Barely a claim on Molly our Heinz 57 mongrel till near the end for her joints.
Our Chocolate Lab Monty was a bit more accident prone and had a fair few claims including removal of a football size tumour (thankfully benign).
As he grew older in addition to premiums going up so did the excess. He was 12 when he started collapsing and had a pacemaker fitted. Insurance covered just over half the cost. He lasted another 3 years.
Sadly we lost both last month within a day of each other. Molly had simply stopped eating and couldn’t be tempted with any of her favourite treats. Monty was given a check next day and vet recommended it was time for him to let go. We accepted advice, but I can’t ever forget the way he looked at me when sedative was taking effect. It seemed to me he didn’t want to go, but trusted me.
They were buried together paw in paw at the foot of the garden. They had been inseparable since Monty joined us aged 4 months.
We are self insuring our twin labradoodles after first year.
Smokey in here all of a sudden.
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Seems to have got smokey where I am too.
Hmmm… you seem to understand now. But, never the less one could reasonably expect the medical bills of an English Bulldog to be higher than a moggy cat.
I do have a moggy and I will happily pay whatever vet bill it requires. If I owned an English Bulldog I would do the same. But I won’t own one for said reasons.
I would expect vets to have a list of charges displayed, or at least readily available so I'm not sure they would charge more for the same treatment of a pedigree dog.
Potentially, an unscrupulous practice may carry out more tests/investigations for an insured dog than an uninured dog, but should discuss treatment with the owner in any event. Maybe the vet will minimise the extent of treatment if the owner can't pay for it due to financial circumstances, but the welfare of the animal should come first.
Regarding mongrel versus pedigree, a lot, if not all pedigree breeds have genetic health issues. For example, I know that certain Italian Spinone bloodline have an increased risk of cancer or epilepsy, whereas a mongrel from the dog pound is a complete unknown. People assess risk on what they know. Of course, the argument should be if you don't know assume the worst, but that's not always the case.
On a personal note, our dogs, cats and horses are insured. Petplan for the domestic animals because although they are expensive, we have had our money out of them over the years and they have never refused a claim. I have only once had to put my hand in my pocket, and that was because we reached the limit (our spin had Lymphoma and we didn't anticipate that £18K in one year wasn't enough).
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