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Manish
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Who if anybody is a good shout for gundog insurance? Part of me is thinking to have a normal dog insurance policy as the dog will only be joining me on Wildfowling trips and some pigeon shooting as apposed to full on commercial shoots. Just got a quote from agri pets and it seemed a bit on the high side

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Apologies, I skimmed past this topic at the weekend because I presumed you'd get the usual meaningless glut of two-word answers that don't help.  Therefore, I'll share my two penneth on the subject for what it's worth..

Be careful and think it through before committing to a policy  A standard pet policy will have a specific exclusion for any "working" purposes.  Obviously they only know what you tell them, and if you take a dog to the vet you can always avoid mentioning they have been "working".  However in my experiences, normal pet policies aren't worth the premiums.  They cover very little.  Insurance is one of those things where you only find out what you should have done after it's too late.

Take out a policy specifically for gun dogs.  Get your dog on a lifetime policy, rather than single year.  In reality, the only things really worth claiming for are likely to be ongoing conditions or expensive surgery after an injury, so with just an annual policy once it has lapsed/renewed if you still need thousands of pounds worth of treatment for your dog due to a condition claimed for in the previous year, it's all coming out of your own pocket.  Lifetime policies carry the cover perpetually as long as you keep the policy in force without a break.

As an example, a dog I sadly lost late last year had some severe orthopaedic issues.  The vet bill racked up quite a few thousand, and traversed the anniversary of the policy.  With lifetime cover that didn't matter but, if it had been an annual policy, after the renewal I would have been either paying the full amount or the dog would have gone without his treatment.

Lots of people say they never bother with insurance, and put away £xx every month to "self-insure" which is fine if you're comfortably off, but it's a bit of a game of Russian roulette if you're not.  Could you afford, without warning, to lay out £3k or more on a referral to a specialist vet, then maybe another £2k more on follow-up treatments and drugs etc afterwards?

A healthy young dog should probably cost about £20 a month on a lifetime policy for gun dogs.  It will go up with age and certainly in the case of a claim.  My remaining springer bitch, at almost 11, is now costing around £40.  But since I switched over to my current insurer a few years ago for what was then two springers, the premiums I've paid fall far short of the vet bills the insurer has paid out.

As dogs get older there will be a "co-payment" clause on any claims, usually 10%, basically meaning you pay 10% of the vet bills claimed for.  In my case I've paid £500 of the £5k of vet bills, I can live with that.

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One thing I would add is insurance is well worth doing. My dogs have all ways been insured but then due to furlough I cancelled it. Now I just noticed a lump on my dogs leg at 7 years old. Never an issue all his life. Now the first thing that comes to my mind is how much will his life be worth which is horrible. With insurance you have no worries or at least you have a lot of wiggle room 

Edited by captainhastings
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5 hours ago, captainhastings said:

One thing I would add is insurance is well worth doing. My dogs have all ways been insured but then due to furlough I cancelled it. Now I just noticed a lump on my dogs leg at 7 years old. Never an issue all his life. Now the first thing that comes to my mind is how much will his life be worth which is horrible. With insurance you have no worries or at least you have a lot of wiggle room 

 

How much money would you have if you had put the money from the insurance payments in a seperate bank account? 7 years at what, £30 a month average for a working dog?

£2520. That's a decent chunk of change, although not eye watering. The real benefits of sticking the money into the bank comes however when you have multiple dogs. 

 

I insure mine up to a year old as by that time they have matured a bit and most mad puppy accidents are out of the way. 

All the vet visits Ive had with my older one have been fairly minor and always come in just a few quid over the excess, I just kept paying them because' I couldn't be bothered to go through all the bother to claim back £20. 

 

 

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... but then you get that one big bill that makes it make sense!  It's just a random lottery really.  Some people say they've never had a big vet bill in many years of having multiple dogs, whilst others have a completely different story.  You pays your money (or not) and takes your choice (or risk).

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17 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

... but then you get that one big bill that makes it make sense!  It's just a random lottery really.  Some people say they've never had a big vet bill in many years of having multiple dogs, whilst others have a completely different story.  You pays your money (or not) and takes your choice (or risk).

Very true words ,I had been lucky with my dogs always insured and never needed it ,until along came Buddy ,now 9 years old he has had to be stitched up twice couple of hundred each time ,then a thorn removed from his eyeball £600 (tried the old soaked teabag first till I noticed the tiny stub lodged in the pupil).started to show signs of lameness at 7yo vet recommended ct scans (very expensive ) decided it could be managed but not cured so anti inflammatory drugs for life ,sound for a year then a big relapse so scanned again (approx£2800 all in ),So decided to fully retire him and forget shooting with him .

was going to stop insurance as it was getting expensive laziness allowed it to renew itself lucky for me as then this came along. It started as a very small cyst that popped but then wouldn't stop filling with fluid till he looked like a Dromedary so then an operation so far well over £1000 ,just to add I was very shocked when I picked him up as to me it was just fluid ,he has not appeared  to be in any discomfort at any time and hasn't left any food etc he is still fairly wired.so yes it's a lottery ,just to add he is insured with Tesco and they have been brilliant!

IMG_3776.JPG

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On 10/03/2021 at 13:49, Lloyd90 said:

 

How much money would you have if you had put the money from the insurance payments in a seperate bank account? 7 years at what, £30 a month average for a working dog?

£2520. That's a decent chunk of change, although not eye watering. The real benefits of sticking the money into the bank comes however when you have multiple dogs. 

 

I insure mine up to a year old as by that time they have matured a bit and most mad puppy accidents are out of the way. 

All the vet visits Ive had with my older one have been fairly minor and always come in just a few quid over the excess, I just kept paying them because' I couldn't be bothered to go through all the bother to claim back £20. 

 

 

Your point about the excess is a good one. I have picked up three bills this year which is most unusual. Cost in each case once excess has been taken into account would have been way less than a years premiums. Include the tax relief as I am paid as a picker up and I am probably break even at worst.

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@hollowaythats a bad un. Wishing Buddy a smooth and speedy recovery.

 

Ihave always insured my dogs too. My first Terrier had a massive tumour in his chest that ended up coming back. It was why we had to say goodbye to him. But the bill to have it removed the first time came to £8K!! He was 14 by the time the second one developed he wouldn't have made it through the op to say the least. 

Who is good for insurance that would cover hobby working as thats what I would be doing? I did have a look at agrivet through BASC and it came out at £50 per month for the lifetime cover!!

On 10/03/2021 at 07:43, captainhastings said:

My insurance company classed working as paid work so eg a proper pest controller. Working the dog as a hobby is fine. That was the difference 

Would you mind sharing who that is with

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15 minutes ago, Manish said:

@hollowaythats a bad un. Wishing Buddy a smooth and speedy recovery.

 

Ihave always insured my dogs too. My first Terrier had a massive tumour in his chest that ended up coming back. It was why we had to say goodbye to him. But the bill to have it removed the first time came to £8K!! He was 14 by the time the second one developed he wouldn't have made it through the op to say the least. 

Who is good for insurance that would cover hobby working as thats what I would be doing? I did have a look at agrivet through BASC and it came out at £50 per month for the lifetime cover!!

Would you mind sharing who that is with

 

It was petplan.

Heres the chat

12:24:49 [terry] out of interest does it affect any thing if it was a working dog
12:26:45 [Reena] If your dog is getting paid for the work it does it would impact the policy. If the work is voluntary or a hobby it will not have an impact on the policy.
12:27:01 [terry] ok great thank you
12:27:15 [Reena] You're welcome Terry.

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2 minutes ago, captainhastings said:

 

It was petplan.

Heres the chat

12:24:49 [terry] out of interest does it affect any thing if it was a working dog
12:26:45 [Reena] If your dog is getting paid for the work it does it would impact the policy. If the work is voluntary or a hobby it will not have an impact on the policy.
12:27:01 [terry] ok great thank you
12:27:15 [Reena] You're welcome Terry.

Happy with that. Thanks mate

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