pet insurance

[ste eibar]

Hello. 

I've got a five year old black lab and my insurance for him has just gone up again fron £26 to £33 a month. I guess it goes up with age but is £33 average or should I hit the comparison sites.

Insurance is with tesco at the minute. 

Thanks for any replies. 

 

[rubyred]

Hi we have a 10 year old springer up till this year we have not had any problems with her but she broke her leg cost we 2 grand.

If we had been paying insurance we wood have been £1120 out of pocket at the rate of paying 26 a month.

What i would do is put money to one side allso read the small print as thay want pay out on somethings or a repeat injury.

[toontastic]

1 hour ago, rubyred said:

Hi we have a 10 year old springer up till this year we have not had any problems with her but she broke her leg cost we 2 grand.

If we had been paying insurance we wood have been £1120 out of pocket at the rate of paying 26 a month.

What i would do is put money to one side allso read the small print as thay want pay out on somethings or a repeat injury.

I put money away instead of insurance, 3 months down the line my springer bitch needed major life saving surgery of £5,000 the £60 I had saved up was as good as useless. Came home from the vets alone. It's all swings and roundabouts you can either take out a policy and never use it or save up and be thousands short if the worst happens.

[JJsDad]

I wouldnt have thought £33/month is a bad price. I work 2 Springers, but only have one insured due to the cost. I pay £54/month with Pet-Plan, which was a monthly jump of about £9 after I had a vets bill of slightly over £1000 last year. If you work your Lab make sure your policy covers you because some of the cheaper companies either don`t cover working dogs or have a wriggle clause that allows them to refuse payment, if, for example the dog got shot and you havent declared it as being used for working. Some people would probably rightly argue that its better to stick the premium into an ISA each month and then use that if and when the need arises.

While Vets have quite rightly invested in high tech medical equipment and facilities over the years, their prices have risen at an alarming rate to pay for these advancements. I have had Springers now for approaching 40 years and there is hardly a year goes bye without a trip to the Vet with at least one to get a foot lanced to remove barley or grass seeds. My last visit resulted in a bill for £130 which I opted to pay myself. If I claim on the insurance, I pay the first £75 myself and invariably my permium will jump up come re-newal time. 

In short, your £33 seems pretty fair, but do check what it covers you for.

[peek-at]

Have a look at 'Bought by Many' insurance. I got their top lifetime cover with a yearly limit of £15k includes dental cover for my Cocker pup for £27 a month. They have other policies including pre-existing conditions cover, and lifetime policies with a lower cover amount. My policy was half the price of Petplan.

[JJsDad]

4 hours ago, peek-at said:

My policy was half the price of Petplan.

Thanks for that. £54 a month is a fair old wack each year, I will have a look at the insurance you mention.

Cheers

[oowee]

On 15/09/2018 at 11:22, toontastic said:

I put money away instead of insurance, 3 months down the line my springer bitch needed major life saving surgery of £5,000 the £60 I had saved up was as good as useless. Came home from the vets alone. It's all swings and roundabouts you can either take out a policy and never use it or save up and be thousands short if the worst happens.

Thousands short you might be if the worst happens but if you take the insurance you will be thousands worse off. Overall you should be better off financially without insurance (the insurer must make a profit) but when push comes to shove it's more than a pet. 

I don't have the insurance. 

[Vince Green]

My friend Joel is paying over £300 a month for his old Lab, it gone up to that after several illnesses. He can't change company but rather pragmatically says he's still in profit.

[ste eibar]

Thanks for the replys 

I'll stick with it if it's reasonable. I couldn't afford to pull 5 or 6 grand out if it came to it.The dog is like one of the family so it's a small price to pay I guess. 

[harkom]

just a point to remember in the overall scenario of "pet costs" when you open  the glass door and enter     - 1.- if it is a working dog ---.....ermm... "it is not covered under the terms"....of the policy.

2. you walk into the local veterinary SA practice... is the first question from the desk lady -  1)name,address, etc 2) are you insured...3)... and you credit card details...???...

Fees (costs) are directly related to those....who pay the bill...?

[Twymyn]

Ask your insurers what they mean by “working dog”  because a dog that accompanies you shooting is probably not classified as such. However if you go beating or picking up for reward it may be different. Don,t make assumptions based on hearsay _ get insurers to clarify anything you don,t understand or are not sure about in writing