Topic: pet insurance

[manicscousers]

does anyone use this, is it worth it for maisie, she's just over 3, in good health, although we've noticed one of her pointy teeth is broken.it's about 22.00 per month with petplan, thing is it's also 80.00 excess so, I feel it's quite expensive, any advice ?  :)

[RosieMcPosie]

definately worth it in my experience. our beloved dog Bridie got diabeties a few years back which turned out to be hugely expensive. lukcily we were covered on our insurance- we saved literally thousands over the years before she sadly died.
anything could happen and yes and 80 pund excess can seem like a lot but u never know (touch wood) what could haoppen. you may well be very glad u did get it.

[Magnolia]

We're with Direct Line and pay around £20 with a £35 excess.  We've had to claim quite a bit recently.

[Spanner]

My husband and I took out pet insurance on our 2 young cats after some friends of ours had to cope with the expense of treatment after their cat was clipped by a car. It was money well spent because one of the kittens started to get ill at 9 months old and would have cost us several thousand pounds if we hadn't been insured.

[lorna]

Manic. When we bought our King Charles spaniel 8 years ago we decided to take out pet insurance for the first time. We wre both retired and didn't want the worry of big vet bills. My insurance has just gone up by £3 per month. Now £16 per month with £80 excess (that has also just gone up.)  I have had claims and received about £500 during the past 3 years. Watch the small print as I think a lot of insurances don't cover dental treatment. Mine doesn't. Mine covers Elsa for up to £4000 in a year for any secific illness. Elsa is now on medication for arthritis, when I have spent £80 on tablets I will make a claim for the cost from then on.I expect most people know this but, the vet was charging me over £10 for 14 tablets I went on the internet and found the same tablets for £4.12 for 20, I had to get a prescription from the vet, by law they have to give you a prescription free of charge. The vet can insist on seeing the pet every 3-6 months to make sure they can still be on the tablets. Even payin consultation fee every few months still a lot cheaper. The firm I get them from are excellent.

[debster]

yes definitly worth it especially when you realise a call out fee with out anythng being done is £90

[manicscousers]

I was thinking of putting the 22.00 per month, plus 80..00 every 6 months into my isa..just in case we need it..what do you think ?

[lorna]

Manic. It really depends on your circumstances, as I said we had never bothered before. One claim for Elsa was over £300. My daughter had a horse, last year the horse had a leg problem. she went to a hosp in Newmarket, in the end they couldn't save the horse but the bill was nearly £4000- thank goodness Vickie had insurance.

[manicscousers]

thanks, lorna..will have a think and talk it over with ray  :)

[carolinej]

We have Gypsy, our Cavalier, covered with Petplan. Over the last 4 years, we have probably had as much back as we have paid in.

Our main reason for insurance was that we never wanted to be in the position of having to put Gypsy down purely because we couldnt afford treatment.

Cavaliers have a high risk of heart disease,and Gypsy is a very sickly dog, so we are pretty sure we will be claiming lots more in the future.

Last summer, Gypsy had a problem with a cracked tooth and loose back teeth. The vet said this was due to overcrowding. She needed several teeth out. He said he couldnt promise anything, as no company covers dental care. She had the offending teeth out, and petplan paid out because it was a medical reason that the teeth needed to come out, not just neglect or wear and tear, Phew!

It is very annoying that every year the premiums go up, along with the excess.  >:(

cj :)

[lorna]

Caroline. Yes I was lucky when Elsa had 6 teeth out, again the vet said it was connected to another medical thing. I also said Phew!! It appears she may have to have some more removed wonder what will happen this time. I will soon have to chew her food for her ;D

[carolinej]

I will soon have to chew her food for her

ANd I bet she'd let you too ;D

Cavaliers do seem to be under the impression that they are royalty and we are there simply to spoil them and wait on them hand and foot ::)

cj :)

[tilts]

i've heard that m&s have good pet insurance.............

[Emagggie]

Mal, after touting around we found the Halifax to be competitive.Mind you , we haven't had a claim as yet. Pet plan was very expensive by comparison although they paid up without a squeak for a prevoius dog with ongoing problems. Direct line was ok until we had a claim then the premium went up too much if I remember correctly.

[jesssands]

Petplan is the best you can buy!

Don't forget its not just the vet bills they cover....... Your 3rd party liability ins, should your dog escape, maybe cause a road accident or bite someone.
Should you be taken ill and no one to look after your dog they will pay kenneling.
Should your dog get lost or stolen, they put up the reward.
Also most prescription diets.

But as for vet bills, from my own experiences, I had an old jrt that got diabetes at 15, not insured, cost £1000 over 2 years.
I had a staffy, that got cushings disease and thyroid trouble, I had this dog ins but only a very basic cover, for 3rd party mostly, it was the cheapest around and only covered £500 per condition, he had the 2 conditions and they did pay me out nearly £1000 but it took 6 months to get it back and my boy had already gone to the bridge by then  :'( (his ACTH test alone cost about £80)
My Staffy cross I have now, is a pet plan lady, She had a luxating patella op done about a year ago, cost about £400, pet plan paid me straight up with in about 2 weeks, they are Fab!

And on the last post RE: M&S.............. I belong to a dog rescue group of people, one lady had her dog ins with M&S and paid up the full years contributions, (as one annual payment) couple months later, poor doggie has a heart attack and dies whilst on a walk, they were not entitled to any refund on the months remaining.

Hope some of this gives you more of an idea, What breed is maisey btw?

Cheers Sandra x

[manicscousers]

hiya, she's a lovely staffie..we've only just found out we're keeping her..sooo we have to foot the bills for everything now  :o
we're going to set up insurance next month, just debating which one

[SteveJ]

I'm insured with Petplan for two 5 yr old labs since.  Have never needed to claim and hope it stays that way. 

We got our renewal quote through earlier this month and the price had gone up by approx £3 per month.  I phoned them up, and asked if there was anything they could do as I had never had a claim, and was confident I could get cheaper insurance elsewhere.  They immediately came back with a 5% discount on the total, plus a one off discount for multiple pets.

They are still slightly more expensive than other companies, but as others have said, the level is cover is greater than most other providers.  I have a friend who is a vet who also thinks they are one of the better companies.

I checked their website earlier this month and you can get 12 months for the price of 10.

[norfolklass]

as much as I'm not a fan of giant supermarkets, my mog's insured with Tesco and they're very good. I've only had to claim once and they were very quick and helpful. I was paying about £12 per month for £2,500 cover per condition within a 12 month period – just upgraded to £4,000 per condition with no time limit, for £15 per month. fingers crossed I'll never need to use it but she's 10 and a half now and I'd rather she was insured than not.

different levels of Tesco cover also provide other things like boarding fees if you're ill, if your pet goes missing they pay so much towards advertising and rewards, etc.

[Old bird]

Hi - I have just, last year, lost both of my beloved old dogs and got two replacement dogs, one 3 year old black labrador and a beautiful 2 year old lurcher!

I decided that for the very first time I would insure them - I did them separately (I got the labrador first).  Wow was I pleased I did.  Both dogs are young fit and healthy!  I put Poppy labrador in to be spayed.  No problem and obviously I had to pay for it!  Operation went well and home she came.  2 days later she collapsed - her kidneys had packed up - apparently a rare complication of operation.  She was in vets for 10 days on drip.  She needed daily blood tests etc.  Total bill came to over£1,000 - I claimed from More Than who eventually (and to be fair they didn't take long) they paid their share and I paid £80!  I had only been with them 2 months at £12 per month!  Had they not paid - I would have had the permanent worry that  if she got ill again  (kidneys don't mend) and needed further treatment I would have had to have her put down as I couldn't afford any more money at the vets.

A couple of months later, walking along the beach, greedy labrador picks up some random goodie she found on the beach which - thank you Fisherman - had a fish hook in it which promptly got stuck in the back of her mouth nearly down her throat!  Back to the vets and again Wow was I pleased she was insured.  Nothing drastic billwise but otherwise I would have struggled to pay!

My lurcher, touch wood, hasn't had any need to claim yet!  I am now a great fan of pet insurance!  Both insurances cost £12'ish per month each.

I would say shop around for prices though!

Old Bird

 ;D

[manicscousers]

we've gone with more than, as we also insure other things with them, they did us a good deal  :)