The vet my UK cats are registered with is great - without compromising the quality of care, she's always ensuring that nothing is done without necessity. One of my cats is long haired and had some matts that I could not remove without him trying to lacerate my arm. Booked him in at the vets so they could sedate him and remove the matts. So I took him to the vets and left him there, they were going to call me when they were all done.Turns out he was as good as gold for her, and no sedation necessary, which saved me £90. She could've sedated him - I'd have paid for it and was fully expecting to. So, £30 rather than £120 was spent. Nice one. I do have comprehensive insurance for my cats though. Those that think saving the equivalent of the premium is a good back up are sadly mistaken,
The vet my UK cats are registered with is great - without compromising the quality of care, she's always ensuring that nothing is done without necessity. One of my cats is long haired and had some matts that I could not remove without him trying to lacerate my arm. Booked him in at the vets so they could sedate him and remove the matts. So I took him to the vets and left him there, they were going to call me when they were all done.Turns out he was as good as gold for her, and no sedation necessary, which saved me £90. She could've sedated him - I'd have paid for it and was fully expecting to. So, £30 rather than £120 was spent. Nice one. I do have comprehensive insurance for my cats though. Those that think saving the equivalent of the premium is a good back up are sadly mistaken,
You are very lucky with your vet orangebird. Sadly there aren't many left like that now.
I blame insurance for vets greed. This is why I'm anti insurance for pets. I think we should be less sentimental about their treatment. The RSPCA kill thousands of dogs every month. Why not rescue a healthy one rather than spend thousands on vet bills?
I completely agree but peoples financial circumstances can change dramatically very quickly. Insurance should be compulsory to safe guard the animal and insurance comps need to simplify the plans.
Agree. Insurance should be a compulsory prerequisite to owning a cat or dog imo.
We looked at pet insurance when we got Elsie her premiums would have been £40 a month add Betty to the policy and it came to £90 a month. We cannot afford that sort of out lay every month so will carry on with an empty credit card and pay off bills as quick as we can. Look at the insurance cost over 8 years and when they get to 8 the policy changes (goes up I assume) you are looking at pets only being affordable for quite wealthy people.
So no pet insurance shouldn't be compulsory or what would you suggest is done with all the animals owned by those on more limited incomes ?
I blame insurance for vets greed. This is why I'm anti insurance for pets. I think we should be less sentimental about their treatment. The RSPCA kill thousands of dogs every month. Why not rescue a healthy one rather than spend thousands on vet bills?
So your philosophy is: have your sick pet put down to save money and get a new one as a replacement?
I work at a vets. We don't refuse treatment to sick animals, and if people are unable to pay, we set up a payment plan for them, where they pay an amount ( whatever they are able to) each week or month to clear the debt. We also have people who get a monthly bill set up like a debit agreement, so they pay the whole thing or whatever they want off it each month. If someone has medication they haven't used, they can get a credit note back for it. Working in a vets, I can tell you now, you don't see the huge amounts they have to shell out themselves, a typical order for us to stick the shelves is near the £1000-£2000 mark ( more sometimes) every single day. And just to pay the wages for the vets alone is £60,000 every month, that's without the nurses, office, reception staff, and anything else required such as the running costs of the practice. When you take into account that sort of money needs finding each month regardless of if we've actually seen any animals, it's no wonder those costs have to be recovered somehow.
The RSPCA kill thousands of dogs every month. Why not rescue a healthy one rather than spend thousands on vet bills?
>:( What a despicable attitude towards a pet that has shown you nothing but loyalty, love, affection and companionship throughout its life - just trade it in when it gets to old fir a younger model, like a second hand car:(. Would you say that about a human member of the family, when they get ill and old have them put down and have a nice new baby instead. Pets aren't disposable commodities, their members of the family, a living being that deserves to be thought more of than that.
If you want a pet, you need to be sure you can afford every eventuality.
Insurance is a must for cats and dogs IMO.
I don't agree with the PDSA policies, hence I do not support them.
If you are lucky enough to live near a PDSA hospital you can a lot very cheap, so long as you get some housing benefit.
Vets are running a business, if you do not like yours, shop around for another one.
IMO, no real animal lover is going PTS a pet with a treatable problem, they will seek help somehow (some rescues support, family, friends, loans, sell stuff, rehome pet).
.... one of medications vetmidin at my vets is 1.78 a tablet she has one a day online you can buy them for 0.49p a tablet its disgusting how the vets mark up everything but we have no choice if I dont pay for it my dog dies......
Vets cannot refuse to give a written prescription although there will be a charge for this - mine charges £10. The savings made can be considerable.
No doubt your vet has prescribed only one Vetmedin tablet daily for sound reasons but the usual dosage is one every 12 hours an hour before food.
One of my Westies (sadly no longer with us - he was 16) was on Vetmedin for almost 5 years http://www.vetmedin.co.uk/vetmedin/your-questions-answered/
If you want a pet, you need to be sure you can afford every eventuality.
Insurance is a must for cats and dogs IMO.
I don't agree with the PDSA policies, hence I do not support them.
If you are lucky enough to live near a PDSA hospital you can a lot very cheap, so long as you get some housing benefit.
Vets are running a business, if you do not like yours, shop around for another one.
IMO, no real animal lover is going PTS a pet with a treatable problem, they will seek help somehow (some rescues support, family, friends, loans, sell stuff, rehome pet).
Depends what the problem is really, we made the decision when Duncan was 8 not to continue on, it was possible they could do more but it was coming close to torturing him just to find a cure so we decided not to spend more and had him PTS. When Rosie had her second lot of cancer they could have operated but at 13 we felt she had been through enough and finding the money was not really going to make any of us happy so we again chose PTS.
Some would I have no doubt carried on longer especially if they had insurance to pay the bill, whereas we felt it was a loving thing to do, just and injection and take away their pain.
We are sentimental even now we talk lovingly about them just realistic enough to know money isn't always wisely spent in the pursuit of keeping a dog alive longer.
Depends what the problem is really, we made the decision when Duncan was 8 not to continue on, it was possible they could do more but it was coming close to torturing him just to find a cure so we decided not to spend more and had him PTS. When Rosie had her second lot of cancer they could have operated but at 13 we felt she had been through enough and finding the money was not really going to make any of us happy so we again chose PTS.
Some would I have no doubt carried on longer especially if they had insurance to pay the bill, whereas we felt it was a loving thing to do, just and injection and take away their pain.
We are sentimental even now we talk lovingly about them just realistic enough to know money isn't always wisely spent in the pursuit of keeping a dog alive longer.
You are very lucky with your vet orangebird. Sadly there aren't many left like that now.
I blame insurance for vets greed. This is why I'm anti insurance for pets. I think we should be less sentimental about their treatment. The RSPCA kill thousands of dogs every month. Why not rescue a healthy one rather than spend thousands on vet bills?
It's not just about sickness though. I'm not a massive softy and I don't agree with prolonging terminally ill animals lives (I had a cat pts once when we discovered it had leukaemia even though cat chemo was a possibility), but then another time I thought one of my cats had a broken leg. X-rays, emergency call ours etc add up to hundreds of pounds. But to pts a cat for a broken leg? No, sorry, that's wrong.
It's not just about sickness though. I'm not a massive softy and I don't agree with prolonging terminally ill animals lives (I had a cat pts once when we discovered it had leukaemia even though cat chemo was a possibility), but then another time I thought one of my cats had a broken leg. X-rays, emergency call ours etc add up to hundreds of pounds. But to pts a cat for a broken leg? No, sorry, that's wrong.
Surely that depends on the cat, some may handle treatment and some would be miserable. We had 2 ex-ferals I wouldn't have fancied having to take them to the vet repeatedly or have them in a cast, it wouldn't have been fair at all.
Luckily they never broke a leg but just getting them injected was a huge deal every year.
We looked at pet insurance when we got Elsie her premiums would have been £40 a month add Betty to the policy and it came to £90 a month. We cannot afford that sort of out lay every month so will carry on with an empty credit card and pay off bills as quick as we can. Look at the insurance cost over 8 years and when they get to 8 the policy changes (goes up I assume) you are looking at pets only being affordable for quite wealthy people.
So no pet insurance shouldn't be compulsory or what would you suggest is done with all the animals owned by those on more limited incomes ?
I am suggesting that its cruel if you cant afford vets bills and your animal is in pain.
The pet insurance on my cat is around £4 per month. You don't need to be wealthy to afford that.
I agree, it depends on the animal.... what I meant to write was that few real animal lover would pts because of lack of money alone.
Our older dog has had several major surgeries, over £7k in all, no way I'd have been able to find that without insurance.... we were lucky he was young and tough, but there were lots of times when we wondered if we were being fair... but money didn't come into that decision
You are very lucky with your vet orangebird. Sadly there aren't many left like that now.
I blame insurance for vets greed. This is why I'm anti insurance for pets. I think we should be less sentimental about their treatment. The RSPCA kill thousands of dogs every month. Why not rescue a healthy one rather than spend thousands on vet bills?
Because its my dog, part of my family, there is years of bonding there and I love them dearly.
You make members of your family sound like disposable goods.
When my kitten broke his leg (I'd had him 3 days :0 and insurance hadn't kicked in) my local vets treated him straight away and put me in contact with Pdsa- they saw proof of hb and sent me a chq. Maybe I was lucky but seemed to me they did everything they could to help
Round here you have to be in certain postcodes to qualify for PDSA help and these postcodes do not cover most council estates.
You can get some HB when you have £30k income so can get come PDSA to pay for you animals if you are lucky.
When my dog needed treatment before insurance kicked in, I was told that I was ineligible because I had insurance and was in the wrong postcode, despite receiving HB and being on less than £8k p/a.
I take it most pet insurance these days requires that you settle the bill before they pay up?
My vet sends the claim off and you just pay the excess once the insurance has paid up. They also do payment plans. I've got an excess to pay just now but I'm allowed 30 days to settle the bill or I can do a plan. Just paying it off at the end of the month when I get paid.
My friends vet down south is the opposite where you have to pay up in full after the treatment then get it back, which to me defeats the point of insurance! They don't offer plans either.
As an animal and a human lover, I think that no one should undertake pet ownership unless they're able and prepared to fork out the fees for their care, and no one should expect vets (who are not paid for their training like doctors) to do it cheaply to suit their needs.
I know of course that people fall on hard times, but this should be the extreme circumstance, not just walking into pet ownership without commiting the time or devotion to make it work.
No vet I know would 'happily' refuse treatment to a sick animal. My cat died in January, and the vet stayed up through the night without charge trying to save her, and was devastated when she died.
Indeed. I was once asked if I knew of any 'free' cats available, as a lady was looking for a pet companion but could not afford to pay for one - I had to reply that no pet comes free! Even a kitten from an unwanted litter needs injections, food, toys, basket, cat carrier, regular visits to the vet. I really felt for the person, but it does annoy me that so many people think about what the pet can give to them, rather than what they can give to the pet.
I completely agree but peoples financial circumstances can change dramatically very quickly. Insurance should be compulsory to safe guard the animal and insurance comps need to simplify the plans.
My cat, who is now 22, has never had insurance because she was considered uninsurable from the start. She has always been prone to urinirary & digestive problems, which have to be declared to the insurance company and they then won't pay out on any treatment in relation to these problems. I paid insurance on my other cat but at 9 years old, they put up the monthly payments to an extortionate amount, nor would they take on a new insurance for cats over ten years old. I never claimed during the 9 years I paid for insurance on my cat. :-/ I now pay a set amount into a 'cat savings account' to take care of any future bills.
>:( What a despicable attitude towards a pet that has shown you nothing but loyalty, love, affection and companionship throughout its life - just trade it in when it gets to old fir a younger model, like a second hand car:(. Would you say that about a human member of the family, when they get ill and old have them put down and have a nice new baby instead. Pets aren't disposable commodities, their members of the family, a living being that deserves to be thought more of than that.
Vets cannot refuse to give a written prescription although there will be a charge for this - mine charges £10. The savings made can be considerable.
No doubt your vet has prescribed only one Vetmedin tablet daily for sound reasons but the usual dosage is one every 12 hours an hour before food.
One of my Westies (sadly no longer with us - he was 16) was on Vetmedin for almost 5 years http://www.vetmedin.co.uk/vetmedin/your-questions-answered/
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..
Indeed. I was once asked if I knew of any 'free' cats available, as a lady was looking for a pet companion but could not afford to pay for one - I had to reply that no pet comes free! Even a kitten from an unwanted litter needs injections, food, toys, basket, cat carrier, regular visits to the vet. I really felt for the person, but it does annoy me that so many people think about what the pet can give to them, rather than what they can give to the pet.
My cat, who is now 22, has never had insurance because she was considered uninsurable from the start. She has always been prone to urinirary & digestive problems, which have to be declared to the insurance company and they then won't pay out on any treatment in relation to these problems. I paid insurance on my other cat but at 9 years old, they put up the monthly payments to an extortionate amount, nor would they take on a new insurance for cats over ten years old. I never claimed during the 9 years I paid for insurance on my cat. :-/ I now pay a set amount into a 'cat savings account' to take care of any future bills.
I couldn't do it, my pets mean the world to me.
That's exactly why I don't insure mine. If you don't read the small print very carefully, you find that they won't actually cover what you want them to anyway. Some won't renew each year so the cover runs out, others will only treat a new condition from after the insurance starts, not a current issue the animal already had, and some will cover for one thing but not something else. And then there's ones that send your premium up if you do claim or won't pay for treatment if its under the excess, (so if your excess is £120 and the bill is £105 they wouldn't pay). Basically, with most, if they can find a way to get out of coughing up they will.
On the other hand, insurance can be an unneeded cost, my oldest dog is 13, he has never in his life cost more than £40 in a vet visit ( and that was only when he's got really old and ill), in fact apart from annual boosters, I can count on one hand almost how many times he's been! He's now not very good and its been decided that if anything goes major wrong now that's it, as it would be unfair to do anything, so there'll be no more chance of high vet bills. But if I'd had him insured as a pup, I would have forked out hundreds in all those years for insurance, that would never have been used, never will now and I couldn't get back! That's why I prefer to save a bit aside, at least if its not used, I can have it back incase something else needs it!
That's exactly why I don't insure mine. If you don't read the small print very carefully, you find that they won't actually cover what you want them to anyway. Some won't renew each year so the cover runs out, others will only treat a new condition from after the insurance starts, not a current issue the animal already had, and some will cover for one thing but not something else. And then there's ones that send your premium up if you do claim or won't pay for treatment if its under the excess, (so if your excess is £120 and the bill is £105 they wouldn't pay). Basically, with most, if they can find a way to get out of coughing up they will.
On the other hand, insurance can be an unneeded cost, my oldest dog is 13, he has never in his life cost more than £40 in a vet visit ( and that was only when he's got really old and ill), in fact apart from annual boosters, I can count on one hand almost how many times he's been! He's now not very good and its been decided that if anything goes major wrong now that's it, as it would be unfair to do anything, so there'll be no more chance of high vet bills. But if I'd had him insured as a pup, I would have forked out hundreds in all those years for insurance, that would never have been used, never will now and I couldn't get back! That's why I prefer to save a bit aside, at least if its not used, I can have it back incase something else needs it!
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.
Vets cannot refuse to give a written prescription although there will be a charge for this - mine charges £10.
And, that just highlights the greed of some vets. You've already paid for them to examine your pet, so you're effectively paying them £10 for a piece of paper. It's the equivalent of paying for a receipt after a supermarket shop.
That's exactly why I don't insure mine. If you don't read the small print very carefully, you find that they won't actually cover what you want them to anyway. Some won't renew each year so the cover runs out, others will only treat a new condition from after the insurance starts, not a current issue the animal already had, and some will cover for one thing but not something else. And then there's ones that send your premium up if you do claim or won't pay for treatment if its under the excess, (so if your excess is £120 and the bill is £105 they wouldn't pay). Basically, with most, if they can find a way to get out of coughing up they will.
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?
Round here you have to be in certain postcodes to qualify for PDSA help and these postcodes do not cover most council estates.
You can get some HB when you have £30k income so can get come PDSA to pay for you animals if you are lucky.
When my dog needed treatment before insurance kicked in, I was told that I was ineligible because I had insurance and was in the wrong postcode, despite receiving HB and being on less than £8k p/a.
Hence I do not support them.
You HAD insurance? Of course they won't pay! They have limited funds and had to allocate them as they see fit. If you had insurance then you should claim on that, most vets will wait for the payment
Comments
You are very lucky with your vet orangebird. Sadly there aren't many left like that now.
I blame insurance for vets greed. This is why I'm anti insurance for pets. I think we should be less sentimental about their treatment. The RSPCA kill thousands of dogs every month. Why not rescue a healthy one rather than spend thousands on vet bills?
We looked at pet insurance when we got Elsie her premiums would have been £40 a month add Betty to the policy and it came to £90 a month. We cannot afford that sort of out lay every month so will carry on with an empty credit card and pay off bills as quick as we can. Look at the insurance cost over 8 years and when they get to 8 the policy changes (goes up I assume) you are looking at pets only being affordable for quite wealthy people.
So no pet insurance shouldn't be compulsory or what would you suggest is done with all the animals owned by those on more limited incomes ?
So your philosophy is: have your sick pet put down to save money and get a new one as a replacement?
Shoot me down in flames if you wish - but yes I do.
>:( What a despicable attitude towards a pet that has shown you nothing but loyalty, love, affection and companionship throughout its life - just trade it in when it gets to old fir a younger model, like a second hand car:(. Would you say that about a human member of the family, when they get ill and old have them put down and have a nice new baby instead. Pets aren't disposable commodities, their members of the family, a living being that deserves to be thought more of than that.
Insurance is a must for cats and dogs IMO.
I don't agree with the PDSA policies, hence I do not support them.
If you are lucky enough to live near a PDSA hospital you can a lot very cheap, so long as you get some housing benefit.
Vets are running a business, if you do not like yours, shop around for another one.
IMO, no real animal lover is going PTS a pet with a treatable problem, they will seek help somehow (some rescues support, family, friends, loans, sell stuff, rehome pet).
Vets cannot refuse to give a written prescription although there will be a charge for this - mine charges £10. The savings made can be considerable.
No doubt your vet has prescribed only one Vetmedin tablet daily for sound reasons but the usual dosage is one every 12 hours an hour before food.
One of my Westies (sadly no longer with us - he was 16) was on Vetmedin for almost 5 years
http://www.vetmedin.co.uk/vetmedin/your-questions-answered/
Depends what the problem is really, we made the decision when Duncan was 8 not to continue on, it was possible they could do more but it was coming close to torturing him just to find a cure so we decided not to spend more and had him PTS. When Rosie had her second lot of cancer they could have operated but at 13 we felt she had been through enough and finding the money was not really going to make any of us happy so we again chose PTS.
Some would I have no doubt carried on longer especially if they had insurance to pay the bill, whereas we felt it was a loving thing to do, just and injection and take away their pain.
We are sentimental even now we talk lovingly about them just realistic enough to know money isn't always wisely spent in the pursuit of keeping a dog alive longer.
You did the right thing.
It's not just about sickness though. I'm not a massive softy and I don't agree with prolonging terminally ill animals lives (I had a cat pts once when we discovered it had leukaemia even though cat chemo was a possibility), but then another time I thought one of my cats had a broken leg. X-rays, emergency call ours etc add up to hundreds of pounds. But to pts a cat for a broken leg? No, sorry, that's wrong.
Surely that depends on the cat, some may handle treatment and some would be miserable. We had 2 ex-ferals I wouldn't have fancied having to take them to the vet repeatedly or have them in a cast, it wouldn't have been fair at all.
Luckily they never broke a leg but just getting them injected was a huge deal every year.
I am suggesting that its cruel if you cant afford vets bills and your animal is in pain.
The pet insurance on my cat is around £4 per month. You don't need to be wealthy to afford that.
Our older dog has had several major surgeries, over £7k in all, no way I'd have been able to find that without insurance.... we were lucky he was young and tough, but there were lots of times when we wondered if we were being fair... but money didn't come into that decision
Because its my dog, part of my family, there is years of bonding there and I love them dearly.
You make members of your family sound like disposable goods.
You can get some HB when you have £30k income so can get come PDSA to pay for you animals if you are lucky.
When my dog needed treatment before insurance kicked in, I was told that I was ineligible because I had insurance and was in the wrong postcode, despite receiving HB and being on less than £8k p/a.
Hence I do not support them.
My vet sends the claim off and you just pay the excess once the insurance has paid up. They also do payment plans. I've got an excess to pay just now but I'm allowed 30 days to settle the bill or I can do a plan. Just paying it off at the end of the month when I get paid.
My friends vet down south is the opposite where you have to pay up in full after the treatment then get it back, which to me defeats the point of insurance! They don't offer plans either.
I couldn't do it, my pets mean the world to me.
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..
That's exactly why I don't insure mine. If you don't read the small print very carefully, you find that they won't actually cover what you want them to anyway. Some won't renew each year so the cover runs out, others will only treat a new condition from after the insurance starts, not a current issue the animal already had, and some will cover for one thing but not something else. And then there's ones that send your premium up if you do claim or won't pay for treatment if its under the excess, (so if your excess is £120 and the bill is £105 they wouldn't pay). Basically, with most, if they can find a way to get out of coughing up they will.
On the other hand, insurance can be an unneeded cost, my oldest dog is 13, he has never in his life cost more than £40 in a vet visit ( and that was only when he's got really old and ill), in fact apart from annual boosters, I can count on one hand almost how many times he's been! He's now not very good and its been decided that if anything goes major wrong now that's it, as it would be unfair to do anything, so there'll be no more chance of high vet bills. But if I'd had him insured as a pup, I would have forked out hundreds in all those years for insurance, that would never have been used, never will now and I couldn't get back! That's why I prefer to save a bit aside, at least if its not used, I can have it back incase something else needs it!
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.
And, that just highlights the greed of some vets. You've already paid for them to examine your pet, so you're effectively paying them £10 for a piece of paper. It's the equivalent of paying for a receipt after a supermarket shop.
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?
You HAD insurance? Of course they won't pay! They have limited funds and had to allocate them as they see fit. If you had insurance then you should claim on that, most vets will wait for the payment