DazzJo Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Hi, any ideas for insurance I am with animal friends ATM it's going up every year Cheers guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie-fox Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 our terrier is with pet plan.. they seem good enough..hes 7 years old and its £15 per month, so far weve never used it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazzJo Posted June 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Well that's cheaper than what I've had already.. Thanks Archie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 It might be time to think on, I have never spent more than £2-300 on a dog in one go and unless you think a dog with three legs, one on chemo or even one with so much metal in it you can just weld it next time is ok you might want to look at what £15-£20 a month in a separate bank account can do each year. Think on £2000 or more over a ten year working life? That will buy you a fully trained dog needing another season or three or four pups. Do you take insurance on new tyres for the car etc? The vets and the insurers are the only true benefactor the rest of the time people just do too much to a sick animal, which can be a whole another subject of debate. There are always credit cards and such if the funds have not yet built in the account? Don't let the fact the dog has insurance persuade you to do too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender22.250 Posted June 29, 2014 Report Share Posted June 29, 2014 Hi, Recently switched my dog insurance from Virgin (renewal £19.00/month) to LV Pet Insurance £15.00/month. for a 14 month old choccie lab. LV were the most price competitive and I trawled all the various pet insurers. Prices varied from £15 up to £30 for the same level of cover. It pays to shop around!! Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wj939 Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Take a look at the limits too. Some insurers will only cover an illness up to s certain value per year or for the life of the pet. Others cover an illness only once. John lewis believe it or not are pretty good, £20 a month for a high level of cover with mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazzJo Posted June 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Thank u for all the advice, always helpful as ever I need to insure one boxer which has a dodgy eye due to running into a thorn a couple of years back and another boxer which had a crucially ligament operation just before Christmas do either way it going to be costly but sod it they are worth it animal friends are now coming back to me with even higher rates for less cover now :s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Just binned my Insurance for my 2 Springers, had one insured for 7 years and no claims. Adding my pup to the policy has upped it to nearly £50 a month. Thats saving me about £600 per year to pay for any vet treatments i need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Just binned my Insurance for my 2 Springers, had one insured for 7 years and no claims. Adding my pup to the policy has upped it to nearly £50 a month. Thats saving me about £600 per year to pay for any vet treatments i need. I think more should twig onto this and the exclusions, issue is tugging on the heart strings seems to work and its also done the vets a good turn if you look at the charges today- especially if you compare farm and companion animal prices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 It might be time to think on, I have never spent more than £2-300 on a dog in one go and unless you think a dog with three legs, one on chemo or even one with so much metal in it you can just weld it next time is ok you might want to look at what £15-£20 a month in a separate bank account can do each year. Think on £2000 or more over a ten year working life? That will buy you a fully trained dog needing another season or three or four pups.Do you take insurance on new tyres for the car etc? The vets and the insurers are the only true benefactor the rest of the time people just do too much to a sick animal, which can be a whole another subject of debate.There are always credit cards and such if the funds have not yet built in the account? Don't let the fact the dog has insurance persuade you to do too much Kent I usually agree with your views lately but on this one I'm not so sure. Insurance is exactly what it says on the box. It's a gamble. If nothing goes wrong you have money in the bank. If something serious happens it will cost you a fortune and your monthly savings will go no where. My 5 year old springer recently dislocated his front elbow joint very badly. Cost me just over £2600 to put right. I was working on your theory with no insurance. Some of my friends said they would have had him put down and bought another. Maybe I should have. But as I have said on here before my dogs are more than tools to me. Insurance is a gamble either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Kent I usually agree with your views lately but on this one I'm not so sure. Insurance is exactly what it says on the box. It's a gamble. If nothing goes wrong you have money in the bank. If something serious happens it will cost you a fortune and your monthly savings will go no where. My 5 year old springer recently dislocated his front elbow joint very badly. Cost me just over £2600 to put right. I was working on your theory with no insurance. Some of my friends said they would have had him put down and bought another. Maybe I should have. But as I have said on here before my dogs are more than tools to me. Insurance is a gamble either way. See your point but my eldest dog who is nearly 8, £20 per month for 8 years is roughly £2000 I have spent on insurance for my dog and I have never made a claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 See your point but my eldest dog who is nearly 8, £20 per month for 8 years is roughly £2000 I have spent on insurance for my dog and I have never made a claim. That's the point I guess rimfire4969. You have gambled and so far won. I gambled and lost. It's like all insurances they are purely gambles. And also unlike bookies, insurance companies can't lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 That's the point I guess rimfire4969. You have gambled and so far won. I gambled and lost. It's like all insurances they are purely gambles. And also unlike bookies, insurance companies can't lose. Sorry, looks like we have both lost. ( I must learn to read the post more before I respond. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Kent I usually agree with your views lately but on this one I'm not so sure. Insurance is exactly what it says on the box. It's a gamble. If nothing goes wrong you have money in the bank. If something serious happens it will cost you a fortune and your monthly savings will go no where. My 5 year old springer recently dislocated his front elbow joint very badly. Cost me just over £2600 to put right. I was working on your theory with no insurance. Some of my friends said they would have had him put down and bought another. Maybe I should have. But as I have said on here before my dogs are more than tools to me. Insurance is a gamble either way. I wonder how much I might have paid in insurance over the years and I have never had such a claim, thing is if you have it occur again I bet they cry "pre- existing" at you and refuse a further claim OR bump your premiums up. Also don't let on its a working dog (ie act fraudulently illegally) either or they might also refute your claim as most don't even cover working dogs. I bet it wouldn't cost £2500 to sort a farm animal of such a thing as they generally are not insured. Pet insurance is one big rip off IMO, there are people talking £50 a month, no way are we spending that on our animals £5000+ over ten years? I don't think I have paid more than £300 for anything in all the years and dogs I have kept. Yes, £2500 on a dog might put me in the get another frame of mind as its not just the money- its how its going to work well enough afterwards and chances of re-occurrences. Like I say tugging at your heart strings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazzJo Posted July 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 I wonder how much I might have paid in insurance over the years and I have never had such a claim, thing is if you have it occur again I bet they cry "pre- existing" at you and refuse a further claim OR bump your premiums up. Also don't let on its a working dog (ie act fraudulently illegally) either or they might also refute your claim as most don't even cover working dogs. I bet it wouldn't cost £2500 to sort a farm animal of such a thing as they generally are not insured. Pet insurance is one big rip off IMO, there are people talking £50 a month, no way are we spending that on our animals £5000+ over ten years? I don't think I have paid more than £300 for anything in all the years and dogs I have kept. Yes, £2500 on a dog might put me in the get another frame of mind as its not just the money- its how its going to work well enough afterwards and chances of re-occurrences. Like I say tugging at your heart strings We'll I was very lucky with my brindle boxer as the eye specialist in Frodsham near Manchester (which also treated the dog off TopGear) never discharged her from there due to it may reoccur, all the treatment every other day for 3 weeks, and alls I had to pay was just the excess on the policy which is just £90 and the treatment costed £1200 altogether so it was the best £90 I have ever spent. And credit to the vet he was fantastic if it wasn't for him she would have lost her eye. So I would never ever go without insurance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fal Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 My insurance with petplan for my Lab is 17 quid a month. It's not the highest coverage, I can claim up to £3000 per condition. The way I look at it is, if the dog has an injury that is going to cost over £3000 pound, it has to be pretty bad one. I would really have to consider what I wanted to do if that happened, touch wood, it won't but it's easily done. Recently a friend of mine has spent EIGHT THOUSAND POUND on two operations on his spaniels leg, snapped it clean in half jumping over a wall. If he hadn't had insurance he said he would have had to have him put down. Turns out the dog is ok to carry on working, he gets a little stiff after a run around, but so far thats it. Who knows what will happen in the future but he's given him a chance. Now I've taken the insurance out, I am terrified to stop it, I will probably spend £1000's on it over his life and hopefully never use it, but I dont care. I would break my heart if I had to put my dog down due to the option of giving him a chance being taken away because I can't afford it. I can see your point about putting money away each month, but if you've been saving two months, your dog breaks his leg, you're not going to get far with £40 in the bank!! My dog is more than a tool to me, when you decide to take on a dog you have to be prepared to spend money and keep the dogs best interests at heart. If something happened to mine and he was never going to work again, there is no way I could put him down if he had a good quality of life. Making the decision to put one of your dogs down is awful, I've taken a week off work in the past because of it, a lot of people leave dogs hang on for way too long before deciding and in my eyes. Insurance is a massive, expensive gamble, but in my eyes it's a worthy gamble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Consider that paying by direct debit £17 a month and rising is no different than paying the same off a balance owing on card or overdraft or other borrowing and at least you spent it, yes its a hard choice but consider I can insure my new company for less than you insure your single dog (and likely it don't cover dog injury while working) with 5 million cover including welding and explosive gasses on site work. No way can I afford 5 million and its a requirement anyhow but you only have too see how costs compare likewise my can and van insurance, pet insurance needs to be at least a quarter of todays cost but people spend it on emotional fear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Here with a degree of vested interest. Pet insurance is great. We see the wrong side of things all the time and so often we are forced to give sub-optimal treatment or put animals to sleep that could have been fixed for a few hundred/thousand pounds. The other side is people who want treatment beyond their means and then end up with us having to chase them for the money, send them to court etc etc. None of that is why I (or any one else I know) chose to study veterinary medicine. Pet insurance is just that - insurance. If you have a lot of money then there is no need. If the dog requires expensive treatment and all you will do is have it put to sleep then OK. Beware that the Animal Welfare Act 2006 puts the onus on the owner to get appropriate veterinary treatment when the animal needs it. If you vet contracts out their out of hours cover a simple cut sustained whilst working could cost you well over £500...... What you cannot do is keep changing insurer - pick one and stick to them. If you change then anything that has gone on before will be excluded - a bit of a limp at 6months can mean the arthritis tablets are not paid up for when the dog is 10. You cannot shop around. The cheapest insurer is never the best. Read the small print, and ensure you are comparing like for like. If I was insuring my own dog (this is a personal opinion and not as a vet) I would use PetPaln or NFU. I wouldn't consider anyone else. I do wish that vets earn the kind of money people thought they do - the provision of the service is expensive. In 2012 the average salary was £33,700 - didn't even make the top 100. With all the additional vets flooding the market from the UK and abroad that figure is falling. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-2269520/Best-paid-jobs-2012-Official-figures-national-average-UK-salaries-400-occupations.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Pet insurance is just that - insurance. If you have a lot of money then there is no need. If the dog requires expensive treatment and all you will do is have it put to sleep then OK. Beware that the Animal Welfare Act 2006 puts the onus on the owner to get appropriate veterinary treatment when the animal needs it Hey I will step into court with anyone who thinks its appropriate to have a working dog on three legs etc. Chasing bad debt is often blamed on the salesperson over selling to the wrong person, this is why reps are often expected to collect bad debt in industry. What I am totally against is 1. letting things survive in pain or distress 2. doing thing to an animal for the good of the owner or the vet. You only need to see dogs on trollies etc. instead of legs to know that some think otherwise. I am not anti vet as some are totally great Average salaries of a number of jobs will surprise many, reason is a lot of high paid jobs often have a fair few who earn nothing like the top end of the profession in question, yet are grouped in the same bunch. Part time semi retired, trainees those lacking experience or higher training etc. I earned about ten times the average salesman when I was on the road full time my wife earns a heck of a lot lot more than her future brother in law who are both qualified accountants, you would soon know why if you spoke business to them both. I think it would be a fool who went against the advice given on swapping and recommended insurers. Always good to speak to body shops about who not to insure your car with likewise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterse Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Be careful a lot of dog insurances do not cover working dogs. This is often only included in the small print and the insurance company's assumptions. You may believe you have insurance and then find out too late that because of this clause you are not covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 I have a standing order to put money in the building society every month in a Vet account. It has no exclusions or excess and builds up very quickly. It covers our lot for vacc's every year and the occasional dental and most treatments. If not enough in it there's always Mastercard. Only used Mastercard once in the last 10 years since I started doing this and the shortfall was only a few hundred quid. Would never have a dog put down if treatable and a reasonable life outcome from treament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 I've just about broken even with my insurance. I have been paying it for 7 years and earlier this year had to make a claim for just shy of 2k for a cruciate ligament repair. The renewal has come through this week and my monthly payment has gone up 50%!! But the dog is a part of the family, it's not a working dog, and I think I'd really struggle to have her put down if I couldn't afford vets bills. So for now I'll continue to pay the insurance. Definately a decision based on emotion and not business sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 I've just about broken even with my insurance. I have been paying it for 7 years and earlier this year had to make a claim for just shy of 2k for a cruciate ligament repair. The renewal has come through this week and my monthly payment has gone up 50%!! But the dog is a part of the family, it's not a working dog, and I think I'd really struggle to have her put down if I couldn't afford vets bills. So for now I'll continue to pay the insurance. Definately a decision based on emotion and not business sense! I was thinking about my car insurance Bill over the last 30 or so years, I have far from broken even and doubt I ever will I have had two my fault claims (one was stolen and crashed into a big ash tree within 1/4 mile Kids and fast cars eh?). As I used to drive about 1500 miles a week I fail to see how they cannot make profit out of that as for dogs we all know the answer from those who are offering it for sale - like everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 The insurance companies are running a business too. If they paid out more than they took in then they would no longer be there! I suspect if everyone had insurance the premiums would fall significantly as the dogs currently insured represent a higher than average risk of claim (in a lot of cases). Maybe not a popular view, but I would be in favour of a minimum level of mandatory insurance....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieT Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 The insurance companies are running a business too. If they paid out more than they took in then they would no longer be there! I suspect if everyone had insurance the premiums would fall significantly as the dogs currently insured represent a higher than average risk of claim (in a lot of cases). Maybe not a popular view, but I would be in favour of a minimum level of mandatory insurance....... And I Sir would be in favour of a mandatory maximum for Vet fees !! I have this horrid feeling that if all dogs were insured Vet fees would increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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