You are choosing the wrong insurance, a lifetime policy will cover them for life.
Our pup needed xrays at 3,5 and 7 months, that came to over £1k in the first year.
Our older dog has been insured for 14 years and we'd never claimed, but at 12 she became ill and after extensive tests and several long stays in the vet and referral to specialist, coming to nearly £5k, she was was diagnosed with atypical Cushings and now needs onver £100 meds a month. She's cost about £350 a year for 12 years, and that has been got back and more.
And don't forget, with dogs.... they need third party liability in case they cause problems/are aggressive.
It was pet plan we looked at and yes they cover for life ect but the premiums !! Much better for us is just keep an empty credit card zero interest and pay it off as quick as possible. We have never paid more than insurance would have cost over the lifetime of an animal. The premiums in one year alone would pay for spaying (of course they don't cover that) and then we usually run in credit until the get old. Even Duncan who went to the vet twice a month for 6 years had steroids and creams and shampoos never cost as much as the insurance would have done.
Interestingly if my vet knows someone has no insurance he keeps the bills down, go in with insurance and he charges like a wounded bull ! We keep tests and things to a minimum oddly he can use his experience and manages to diagnose pretty well without all the bells and whistles. Old fashioned vetting he calls it and TBH it works pretty well.
The other thing to think about is not for profit vets which I have seen one of open in my locality, it may be that these are on the increase. At least then whatever you do pay gets ploughed back rather than go to shareholders.
The other thing to think about is not for profit vets which I have seen one of open in my locality, it may be that these are on the increase. At least then whatever you do pay gets ploughed back rather than go to shareholders.
We use an independent he may well be making a profit but I don't begrudge him that, the people making the most these days IMO are the huge multi national practices and the insurance companies.
Hindsight is 20/20, or a crystal ball to know whether you'll ever need pet insurance would be great. Sadly, neither are available. I have paid insurance for the past 12 years, and only claimed once. So of course, I've paid more than I've had. But that's fine - part of what the premium pays for, for me personally, is peace of mind that if anything did ever happen, the cats are covered.
Hindsight is 20/20, or a crystal ball to know whether you'll ever need pet insurance would be great. Sadly, neither are available. I have paid insurance for the past 12 years, and only claimed once. So of course, I've paid more than I've had. But that's fine - part of what the premium pays for, for me personally, is peace of mind that if anything did ever happen, the cats are covered.
I don't disagree but it must be easier to say that if you can afford the premiums in the first place, the worry over how to pay for them would far outweigh any peace of mind the policy would give us. Would make the dogs lives far less exciting too as we would need to cut back on days out with them or even not have got one of them.
I don't think you should keep animals, unless you are able to pay for pet insurance and vets bills.
A gross generalisation. What you (one) can afford when you acquire an animal may not be what you can afford after illness, redundancy, etc. What happens to a 10-year-old dog if the premiums become unaffordable to an otherwise exemplary owner?
We don't have pet insurance after several episodes where - much to our (UK) vet's amazement - the companies refused to pay out finding small loopholes and in one case, disputing the treatment that the vet deemed necessary.
If we'd been paying out for pet insurance, over the past 8 years, we'd have paid over 8000 euros and actual bills (that would have qualified for being covered) would have been about 1300 euros. Pet insurance? I don't think so.
You are choosing the wrong insurance, a lifetime policy will cover them for life.
Our pup needed xrays at 3,5 and 7 months, that came to over £1k in the first year.
Our older dog has been insured for 14 years and we'd never claimed, but at 12 she became ill and after extensive tests and several long stays in the vet and referral to specialist, coming to nearly £5k, she was was diagnosed with atypical Cushings and now needs onver £100 meds a month. She's cost about £350 a year for 12 years, and that has been got back and more.
And don't forget, with dogs.... they need third party liability in case they cause problems/are aggressive.
I agree with Muze that you are choosing the wrong insurance or making the mistake of going for cheap policies that don't confer proper protection.
I have my 3 cats insured with Petplan on covered for life policies. This means they are fully insured for recurrent or chronic conditions, for their whole lifetime. Petplan never try to avoid not paying - the vets in my practice can't speak highly enough of them. Obviously, pre-existing conditions, at the time of taking out insurance, would not be covered but that's just common sense.........
My late Tabitha more than recouped my outlay in the premiums I paid over 16 years - she broke her leg 3 times and received extensive cancer treatment at the end of her life. One of my current cats, Lucy, has cost me over £800 in vet fees this year, all bar the £95 excess paid for by Petplan - far more than what I have paid out in premiums for her over the past 3 years. The vet told me that Petplan is one of the few companies that cover skin conditions. Also, I have never known Petplan to increase my premiums after claiming (and I claimed a lot over the years) but they do go up as the cat ages and the excess increases. Older cats are far more likely to become ill and require expensive vet care - but Petplan (and other companies probably) still pay out for around 80% of the total costs.
Pet insurance has always worked for me, as have the other forms of insurance I use (home contents, plumbing. electrics). It doesn't matter if I never have to make a claim, I prefer to have the security of not having to find large sums of money to fund emergencies, of any sort.
Obviously, covered for life policies are more expensive and my Bernard is getting on a bit now so I pay under £50 per month for all 3 cats. I researched the costs before I took on 3 cats. I also pay £33 per month to my vet to cover boosters, worming and flea products, plus twice yearly check-ups. So just over £80 per month plus the cost of feeding 3 cats (expensive food) and cat-sitting or cattery fees when I go away. It's not cheap but I can afford it and, as I said, I was fully prepared to commit to caring for them before deciding to have 3 cats.
I agree with those who say that putting the premiums in a savings account to cover vet fees just wouldn't work in many cases. Vet costs for some conditions can amount to thousands, far in excess to what is accumulated in monthly premiums.
As an aside, what does HB mean, referred to in several earlier posts?
Pet plan covered for life is extremely good, and it's what our vets recommend to anyone asking about insurance. However, it is also extremely expensive each month. So they've got you both ways basically, either cheaper payments but you get caught out in the small print, or peace of mind cover that costs a fortune. I agree with Molliepops, either saving some aside each week/month in a separate bank account or an empty credit card is a better idea 99% of the time.
Pet plan covered for life is extremely good, and it's what our vets recommend to anyone asking about insurance. However, it is also extremely expensive each month. So they've got you both ways basically, either cheaper payments but you get caught out in the small print, or peace of mind cover that costs a fortune. I agree with Molliepops, either saving some aside each week/month in a separate bank account or an empty credit card is a better idea 99% of the time.
People do what suits them best. I virtually have everything in my life insured and I'm pleased I do because insurance has come to my rescue many a time (3 major plumbing leaks in my house causing damage to walls and ceilings). I prefer to pay out a reasonable regular monthly outlay (I don't consider it a ''small fortune'' it would be very cheap if I just had one cat), it gives me peace of mind so that I don't have to find thousands in emergencies. I would hate to have to use my hard earned savings to fund vet bills or any unexpected household bill.
I budget for all the insurance I pay out and still manage to save some money most months and have a nice lifestyle with regular holidays. Perhaps my job as an NHS nurse isn't as badly paid as I thought - despite not having had a pay rise for the past 4 years from this government.
I worked out what HB means. I've never received a benefit in my life so find some of those terms very confusing.
All 4 of ours are insured and I would never not insure them, I'll not go into all the claims but we've been unfortunate and have had some big, unavoidable claims. One of our girls was only 5 when she became seriously ill overnight with an autoimmune disease and had to be admitted to a referral centre for 5 nights. The bill that insurance year was around £6000, £4000 of which was covered by PetPlan. We had a difficult 12 mths with her but she's now fit and well. Without the insurance we would have struggled but I would never have had her PTS.
Our other 2 with another insurer have run up bills of around £5000 between them, one broke her leg and had to have it amputated at 4, she's now coming up 9 and doing really well on 3 legs. The other has narrowing in her spine and we're hoping to avoid her having spinal surgery.
Bad luck - yes, non of it could be foreseen, we're insured - great luck as it took away all the worry of paying for it.
We have had dogs insured in the past and never claimed at all, that's just how it goes.
Our independent vets are fantastic, charge fairly, don't over treat and always give me options re treatment and costs.
They're a business like any other, they have their bills to pay, everyones wages etc why should they treat for free? it just means the rest of us have to pay more if they did to cover it. I was in there today and someone was ringing up to complain as a debt collector had been round. The vets had given the dog several hundred pounds of treatment, she'd paid £50 with promises of paying it off monthly but hadn't paid another penny so what's the vets to do? They do their best to help people financially but can't afford to treat for free.
Yeah shes on half tablet twice a day aswell as frusemide, tempora and fortekor my vet said hed do a prescription for me but im a bit reluctant incase they are dodgy. 5 years thats a long time I wish I had 5 years with my little girl..
Buy from a UK site and the medication you receive is exactly the same as you'd get from the vet.
Expensive canine drugs that I've bought on line were always supplied in sealed manufacturers packaging - whereas some vets can dispense in plain packaging from bulk supplies.
I would not have been able to afford Atopica for one of my Westies with a bad skin complaint if I'd purchased from the vet at £3.20 a tablet - on line they were half the price.
In case anyone wonders I didn't have insurance as all my Westies were adopted/rescue dogs aged over 9. Try to get reasonably priced insurance on a 9 year old (or older) rescue dog with (usually) unknown medical history.
I don't disagree but it must be easier to say that if you can afford the premiums in the first place, the worry over how to pay for them would far outweigh any peace of mind the policy would give us. Would make the dogs lives far less exciting too as we would need to cut back on days out with them or even not have got one of them.
If I couldn't afford the premiums, I wouldn't get a pet.
If I couldn't afford the premiums, I wouldn't get a pet.
Good for you we lost one suddenly and had to get another to help the one left behind recover a year later the one left behind died and we were faced with another grieving dog and neighbours complaining to the council because we couldn't settle her while our work overlapped (2 hours of barking wasn't fair on anyone) so we got another and all is peaceful again. I only work a couple of hours a day so I can be here with them while my husband works. We could be better off financially without them but life would be miserable.
So we will carry on having our dogs as long as we can manage they are actually all I bother to get up for in the morning, my disability means I would happily kill myself if I had not got to carry on and they keep me going.
I try not to judge people who do their best by their animals, and I don't think not being able to afford insurance is a reason to not have them, not getting them treatment when they need it would be a reason not to have an animal but we don't stint when they need the vet they go to the vet.
I pay £21 a month, lifetime cover with Petplan and IMO it's worth every penny.
My vets deal directly with them so if I have a massive bill, I only have to worry about finding the excess.
And, something many are missing IMO..... all dog (and cats IMHO) should have third party liability insurance. If your animal causes significant harm/damage, you could find yourself owning tens of thousands!
I pay £21 a month, lifetime cover with Petplan and IMO it's worth every penny.
My vets deal directly with them so if I have a massive bill, I only have to worry about finding the excess.
And, something many are missing IMO..... all dog (and cats IMHO) should have third party liability insurance. If your animal causes significant harm/damage, you could find yourself owning tens of thousands!
I pay £21 a month, lifetime cover with Petplan and IMO it's worth every penny.
My vets deal directly with them so if I have a massive bill, I only have to worry about finding the excess.
And, something many are missing IMO..... all dog (and cats IMHO) should have third party liability insurance. If your animal causes significant harm/damage, you could find yourself owning tens of thousands!
You can avoid that being a problem by keeping your dog on a lead and not letting it be a nuisance IMO.
You can avoid that being a problem by keeping your dog on a lead and not letting it be a nuisance IMO.
Do you never let your dog off lead then? What if it escaped from your house or a burglar broke in and let it out and it caused a car crash? you would still be liable for their damage, the reasons don't matter.
I can see the day when 3rd party cover will become compulsory. If you join the Dogs Trust for £25 a year you get full 3rd party cover and are supporting the charity too.
Do you never let your dog off lead then? What if it escaped from your house or a burglar broke in and let it out and it caused a car crash? you would still be liable for their damage, the reasons don't matter.
I can see the day when 3rd party cover will become compulsory. If you join the Dogs Trust for £25 a year you get full 3rd party cover and are supporting the charity too.
Yes they are on leads and in a first floor flat with two interior doors before they can meet anyone on the communal landing. It would be a bizarre occurrence if they got out without me and their leads.
I have had human aggressive dogs in the past so my responsibility for them is very much ingrained, automatic that they cannot get away from me at any time.
Mine have been fairly healthy really not unfit or over weight so they are getting plenty of exercise on lead just back from an hours walk now, and for a 5lb Chihuahua that is enough for the morning, she will be back out tonight for another 3/4 hour wander. Our other is a puppy and not going off lead is for her own safety she has zero sense or fear of roads etc so stays close when she is older we will reassess but none of our others have gone off lead and been perfectly happy.
Yes they are on leads and in a first floor flat with two interior doors before they can meet anyone on the communal landing. It would be a bizarre occurrence if they got out without me and their leads.
I have had human aggressive dogs in the past so my responsibility for them is very much ingrained, automatic that they cannot get away from me at any time.
Mine have been fairly healthy really not unfit or over weight so they are getting plenty of exercise on lead just back from an hours walk now, and for a 5lb Chihuahua that is enough for the morning, she will be back out tonight for another 3/4 hour wander. Our other is a puppy and not going off lead is for her own safety she has zero sense or fear of roads etc so stays close when she is older we will reassess but none of our others have gone off lead and been perfectly happy.
wots the thread tittle again ? another thread been De-railed !!! >:(
I don't disagree but it must be easier to say that if you can afford the premiums in the first place, the worry over how to pay for them would far outweigh any peace of mind the policy would give us. Would make the dogs lives far less exciting too as we would need to cut back on days out with them or even not have got one of them.
I don't buy that your dogs life would be far less exciting if you cut back on " days out" what if your animal got an injury or illness that cost 3 or 4 grand to fix, would you still be happy to put that on a credit card?
I've had insurance for different dogs for the last fifteen years and have only claimed recently... Even then I could have afforded the cost myself but decided to claim to recoup some of the premiums payed over the years ! I will always insure just incase of that 'massive bill'.
I don't buy that your dogs life would be far less exciting if you cut back on " days out" what if your animal got an injury or illness that cost 3 or 4 grand to fix, would you still be happy to put that on a credit card?
I've had insurance for different dogs for the last fifteen years and have only claimed recently... Even then I could have afforded the cost myself but decided to claim to recoup some of the premiums payed over the years ! I will always insure just incase of that 'massive bill'.
Of course they would miss out, we can only pavement walk from our home so we like to get them out into the country to see a bit of grass and trees. But I am not saying anyone else shouldn't insure if that makes them happy and they can afford it then great. I just don't think it right to say if you cannot afford to insure you shouldn't have a dog. What about pensioners ? people on benefits ? what about if you had a dog before you fell on hard times or something ? We would see thousands of dogs PTS or in rehoming centres and sadly they are already full to bursting in most cases.
I think when you talk about vets fees insurance does go hand in hand with it,.
Why ? as long as dogs are treated when needed, why does insurance have to go hand in hand ? all it does is push up prices. When I had my first dog 30 years ago no one had insurance, we still had our dogs treated when they needed medical help, all those of us without insurance are doing is carrying on that same way funding the treatment ourselves. Insist everyone have insurance you will be taking the dogs away from poorer people, people on benefits for illness and disability and pensioners.
Comments
It was pet plan we looked at and yes they cover for life ect but the premiums !! Much better for us is just keep an empty credit card zero interest and pay it off as quick as possible. We have never paid more than insurance would have cost over the lifetime of an animal. The premiums in one year alone would pay for spaying (of course they don't cover that) and then we usually run in credit until the get old. Even Duncan who went to the vet twice a month for 6 years had steroids and creams and shampoos never cost as much as the insurance would have done.
Interestingly if my vet knows someone has no insurance he keeps the bills down, go in with insurance and he charges like a wounded bull ! We keep tests and things to a minimum oddly he can use his experience and manages to diagnose pretty well without all the bells and whistles. Old fashioned vetting he calls it and TBH it works pretty well.
We use an independent he may well be making a profit but I don't begrudge him that, the people making the most these days IMO are the huge multi national practices and the insurance companies.
I don't disagree but it must be easier to say that if you can afford the premiums in the first place, the worry over how to pay for them would far outweigh any peace of mind the policy would give us. Would make the dogs lives far less exciting too as we would need to cut back on days out with them or even not have got one of them.
We don't have pet insurance after several episodes where - much to our (UK) vet's amazement - the companies refused to pay out finding small loopholes and in one case, disputing the treatment that the vet deemed necessary.
If we'd been paying out for pet insurance, over the past 8 years, we'd have paid over 8000 euros and actual bills (that would have qualified for being covered) would have been about 1300 euros. Pet insurance? I don't think so.
Pet plan covered for life is extremely good, and it's what our vets recommend to anyone asking about insurance. However, it is also extremely expensive each month. So they've got you both ways basically, either cheaper payments but you get caught out in the small print, or peace of mind cover that costs a fortune. I agree with Molliepops, either saving some aside each week/month in a separate bank account or an empty credit card is a better idea 99% of the time.
People do what suits them best. I virtually have everything in my life insured and I'm pleased I do because insurance has come to my rescue many a time (3 major plumbing leaks in my house causing damage to walls and ceilings). I prefer to pay out a reasonable regular monthly outlay (I don't consider it a ''small fortune''
I budget for all the insurance I pay out and still manage to save some money most months and have a nice lifestyle with regular holidays. Perhaps my job as an NHS nurse isn't as badly paid as I thought - despite not having had a pay rise for the past 4 years from this government.
I worked out what HB means. I've never received a benefit in my life so find some of those terms very confusing.
Our other 2 with another insurer have run up bills of around £5000 between them, one broke her leg and had to have it amputated at 4, she's now coming up 9 and doing really well on 3 legs. The other has narrowing in her spine and we're hoping to avoid her having spinal surgery.
Bad luck - yes, non of it could be foreseen, we're insured - great luck as it took away all the worry of paying for it.
We have had dogs insured in the past and never claimed at all, that's just how it goes.
Our independent vets are fantastic, charge fairly, don't over treat and always give me options re treatment and costs.
They're a business like any other, they have their bills to pay, everyones wages etc why should they treat for free? it just means the rest of us have to pay more if they did to cover it. I was in there today and someone was ringing up to complain as a debt collector had been round. The vets had given the dog several hundred pounds of treatment, she'd paid £50 with promises of paying it off monthly but hadn't paid another penny so what's the vets to do? They do their best to help people financially but can't afford to treat for free.
Buy from a UK site and the medication you receive is exactly the same as you'd get from the vet.
Expensive canine drugs that I've bought on line were always supplied in sealed manufacturers packaging - whereas some vets can dispense in plain packaging from bulk supplies.
I would not have been able to afford Atopica for one of my Westies with a bad skin complaint if I'd purchased from the vet at £3.20 a tablet - on line they were half the price.
In case anyone wonders I didn't have insurance as all my Westies were adopted/rescue dogs aged over 9. Try to get reasonably priced insurance on a 9 year old (or older) rescue dog with (usually) unknown medical history.
If I couldn't afford the premiums, I wouldn't get a pet.
Good for you we lost one suddenly and had to get another to help the one left behind recover a year later the one left behind died and we were faced with another grieving dog and neighbours complaining to the council because we couldn't settle her while our work overlapped (2 hours of barking wasn't fair on anyone) so we got another and all is peaceful again. I only work a couple of hours a day so I can be here with them while my husband works. We could be better off financially without them but life would be miserable.
So we will carry on having our dogs as long as we can manage they are actually all I bother to get up for in the morning, my disability means I would happily kill myself if I had not got to carry on and they keep me going.
I try not to judge people who do their best by their animals, and I don't think not being able to afford insurance is a reason to not have them, not getting them treatment when they need it would be a reason not to have an animal but we don't stint when they need the vet they go to the vet.
My vets deal directly with them so if I have a massive bill, I only have to worry about finding the excess.
And, something many are missing IMO..... all dog (and cats IMHO) should have third party liability insurance. If your animal causes significant harm/damage, you could find yourself owning tens of thousands!
Some household policies cover this.
You can avoid that being a problem by keeping your dog on a lead and not letting it be a nuisance IMO.
I can see the day when 3rd party cover will become compulsory. If you join the Dogs Trust for £25 a year you get full 3rd party cover and are supporting the charity too.
Yes they are on leads and in a first floor flat with two interior doors before they can meet anyone on the communal landing. It would be a bizarre occurrence if they got out without me and their leads.
I have had human aggressive dogs in the past so my responsibility for them is very much ingrained, automatic that they cannot get away from me at any time.
Mine have been fairly healthy really not unfit or over weight so they are getting plenty of exercise on lead just back from an hours walk now, and for a 5lb Chihuahua that is enough for the morning, she will be back out tonight for another 3/4 hour wander. Our other is a puppy and not going off lead is for her own safety she has zero sense or fear of roads etc so stays close when she is older we will reassess but none of our others have gone off lead and been perfectly happy.
wots the thread tittle again ? another thread been De-railed !!! >:(
To be fair ....... molliepops was just answering a question she'd been asked - and giving an explanation.
fair point, but there are spoilers !
I don't buy that your dogs life would be far less exciting if you cut back on " days out"
I've had insurance for different dogs for the last fifteen years and have only claimed recently... Even then I could have afforded the cost myself but decided to claim to recoup some of the premiums payed over the years ! I will always insure just incase of that 'massive bill'.
Sorry but has been pointed out I was answering a question.
Of course they would miss out, we can only pavement walk from our home so we like to get them out into the country to see a bit of grass and trees. But I am not saying anyone else shouldn't insure if that makes them happy and they can afford it then great. I just don't think it right to say if you cannot afford to insure you shouldn't have a dog. What about pensioners ? people on benefits ? what about if you had a dog before you fell on hard times or something ? We would see thousands of dogs PTS or in rehoming centres and sadly they are already full to bursting in most cases.
Why ? as long as dogs are treated when needed, why does insurance have to go hand in hand ? all it does is push up prices. When I had my first dog 30 years ago no one had insurance, we still had our dogs treated when they needed medical help, all those of us without insurance are doing is carrying on that same way funding the treatment ourselves. Insist everyone have insurance you will be taking the dogs away from poorer people, people on benefits for illness and disability and pensioners.