pet insurance

Make sure you get 'life' insurance and not a 'one year' insurance which is what I mistakenly took out with Pet Plan. They only pay out for one year of each illness. I stupidly didn't read the small print.

Oh and get your puppy microchipped anyway, but get the chip monitored each year at vaccination time as they can float around a bit!

I can recommend SAGA. We pay £10.70 per month for two Jack Russells. The excess is £125. They answer the phone promptly (no button pressing) and are very helpful.

I wouldn't say you NEED insurance .. insurance is really for emergency, huge costs. Won't really help you with regular vet bills, because those usually won't meet your deductible. I can't say about the Uk, but I'm in the US and I have a membership with a vet DISCOUNT plan (as opposed to "actual" insurance) called Pet Assure - which basically knocks 25% off whatever the veterinary bill may be. Don't know what to say for the UK though!

What sort of dog do you have, seasider? I only ask that because the reason I have insurance for the first time is that I have a whippet and it concerned me that she could break a leg due to the speed that she runs at [they're also very good at running into barbed wire]. If it's a smaller, less injury prone type of dog you may be as well to just put the money on one side each month that you would have paid in insurance costs, remembering that, even though you'll only be paying a small amount when the dog is young the premium will go through the roof by the time he or she is middle ages or older. I haven't ever claimed on my insurance and my new insurance certificate tells me I'm now paying £300 a year, and I'm thinking of cancelling it. However I do feel that it's worth having it for third party liability cover [a dog I once owned ran off early one morning towards a busy road and could have caused an accident]. I may start phoning around to see if I can get something with a bit more value. I do wish the companies gave a 'no claims discount'; perhaps some do?

Be careful switching companies, crimson. Our rhodesian ridgeback was with Argos for years. We then bought a Jack Russell puppy who was already with Pet Plan and they offered us three free months for the RR if we added her to the policy. The problem was the RR was only 6 months off her seventh birthday and when she reached it they trebled the premium. We should have stayed where we were. In the end I cancelled the insurance and put money aside each month for the RR. We moved the JR to SAGA and they've been very good (so far).

crimson,
In your earlier post you mention The Small Print.! Very good advice!

Before you decide on third party liability , please read the Small Print!
We had that included, with Pet Plan by the way.
So, we thought every eventuality was covered.

Until I read the small print.
Well, the 3rd party liability only counted when the dog was with us.
If dog was staying with friends for instance, and an accident occurred, the insurance was rendered invalid.
Maybe that has changed now, I am going back 15 years.

That's a concern, because my partner takes the dog away to the seaside several times a year. I also might contact them to find out exactly how much I'll be paying in 2 years time when the dog is 7. The trouble with insurance is you get into one of those situations where you feel that, if you cancel, something bad might happen soon afterwards and then you'd kick yourself. Then again, once you go to the vets with a problem, even a small one, the cost of treatment goes up almost by the second..blood tests, overnight stays etc etc and insurance does give a certain peace of mind. Prior to pet insurace, vets didn't get quite so carried away with treament, being far more pragmatic and realising that people might not be able to pay.

I haven't bothered about pet insurance for our dogs for several years now. Perhaps I have been lucky but it's worked fine for me. In theory I put away the sum that I would have spent on insurance into a savings account and then it's there if and when I need it (bonus of not having to pay the excess on insurance) and if I don't need the money - it's there earning interest and it's still MY money

I had £1,000 put by for vet's fees but one medical emergency hoovered the lot up in one fell swoop. The vet ran up a bill of nearly £500 with tests alone before any treatment was given. Our dog was already old and it was tempting to have her put to sleep but we would still have had to pay the £500 and no dog to take home. I would recommend insurance every time because vets write their own tickets these days.

We were with Pet Plan..all went well until Dog reached 8, then premiums shot up..now with Tesco, not so expensive & staff are great over the phone. insurance is vital, not only are Vet bills enormous, you dont know what's round the corner, road accidents etc.