Bloody pet insurance

Thanks a bunch Grampie
I wonder why is that of remarkably little consolation to me?
My grouse is NOT that I have paid in all these years (well, only a bit) but that when I HAVE made a claim, weasel words from the company whittled it away to a fraction.

I have stopped paying insurance for our dog. I have had her insured with the same company since she was born. She is now 10.
However when she was 8 the insurance told me that they would only pay 40% of any claim because she was old. I had never claimed off them. Initially I accepted the terms of over 8yrs insurance until I did have to make a claim. The total bill was £500,
less the 40% (=£200)that maid the claim £300
Less the £90 excess , they finally paid £210. I now put the insurance money in another account in case something happens. When I think of all the insurance money I have paid over the years for nothing I could have had a nice little holiday ?

We've just had to have our 20 year old cat put to sleep. I never had pet insurance, and only needed to have treatment from the vet about four times in 20 years. He asked if I had insurance and I got the impression he would have bumped up the cost if I had!

Insurance is meant to be the losses of the few covered by the contributions of the many.

Some of us seem now to want to claim just about all we pay, if not more.

Probably better to switch to a discount plan with your local vet.

When I got my dog, I did not insure him, as previously I found that once you started it increased every year and in the end I could not afford it. I meant to put money away for Leo but didn't. I have had him 6 years he is 8. I have not paid out much yet. I discovered he had Colitis soon after I got him so I was glad I did not insure as I felt this would be an excuse to use the of a medical condition already present.

I just treat him with Hypoallergic food and Probiotics and he has been fine.

I used to find that when I went to the Vets they would ask whether I was insured and when I said yes the blood tests etc. would be given as inconclusive and another one was required. This was with previous dogs.

Rang insurance today as heard there should be a reduction for multiple pets, and they hadn't made this known to us. They said we are eligible, and are 'considering ' my view that they should backdate it. I insure my animals as my last dog gained 5 extra active years after being given spinal inserts by Noel Fitzpatrick ( the super vet on TV ) and we would not have been able to do that without insurance. But I now check it and query prices and decisions to ensure they give me as good a deal as possible

We temporarily moved out of our area for a few months last year and the insurance for our two dogs went up by £40 a month because "vets bills were more expensive" in our new location. As soon as we moved home the monthly payment went down.
Having just got another pup we had big discussions about whether to insure or not but as she is so young it has only added £10 to the bill so for the time being we are sticking with it but will think again when our older girl reaches 10 later this year.

My jess is a 13yr old BC she is insured with more than and I pay £35.00 per month and have never had to claim, and was thinking of cancelling it until I met a woman at the vets (I was there with my sons dog) she cancelled hers two weeks previously and was there because her dog swallowed a fishing hook and it had to have a operation to have it removed, £1000 later and her savings a lot lighter! I do think that they hold us to ransom because of the love we have for our animals and inflate the prices

My cat sadly died last year and while claiming from insurers was horrified to see that premiums had risen to over £70 a month (bank a/c not used often so hadn't clocked this).

We took our dear Labrador to companion so called care to have a scan. The appointment was 9:30 am they told us to leave him there and they'd phone us to collect him we reluctantly agreed. Four hours later they still had not called so I telephoned them they told us they had, had an emergency and were running late at 3 pm I telephoned them again and I was told Charlie had bowel cancer. I asked how advanced it was and could he be operated on. The reply was "Oh no we have already carried out euthanasia" we were shocked and distressed beyond belief. We had not given permission for them to end his life. Weeks later when we realised we were still paying More than insurance each month. We filled a claim form in and sent it off. We had been paying £37 per month for 8 years and never claimed one penny. They told us they could not pay-out because we had not authorised any treatment because we had not signed any consent form. We took legal action against Companion 'Care' and was awarded £1000 in compensation plus cost.

Penny dropped! It is only in N.I. that dogs need to have a licence.

I am a bit confused. I thought dog licences were no longer needed (other than by breeders) though microchipping is compulsory as is a collar with a tag showing owners name and address. I certainly didn't have a licence for my last dog though I complied with the other two criteria.

I have always had dogs and cats and I have never had Pet Insurance. I have considered it in the past, but having repeatedly done the maths, I know I'm much better off without it and would be throwing several thousands of pounds away over the lifetime of a pet if I had it. The only people I have ever known that paid £5000, £6000, for surgery have been insured. So many vets throw everything at an insured animal. They seem to have a scan when and xray would do the job, often have more than one scan (each one requiring a general anaesthetic which adds to the cost and is bad for the animal if not necessarily). Whatever else they do adds up to these huge bills. Whenever it's become apparent that more than routine treatment was required, I have always been asked "is she/he insured"? I say "no" and we move on to discuss the best treatment for the problem. One of my dogs had bloat and gastric torsion (twisted gut), a veterinary emergency. To add to the worry and the cost, it was out of hours. I contacted them and rushed her to the vet at midnight. The vet didn't expect her to survive. She had emergency surgery and was nursed at the vet's on various drips (fluids and intravenous analgesics and antibiotics) for two days after the surgery. Then had the usual follow-up appointment. Thankfully, she did really well. Total cost £1400! Subsequently, she tore her cruciate knee ligament and had surgery for that. Cost £450. Other than these events, all other stuff cost under the cost of an average excess, so there would have been no payout. I currently have a dog who suffers with allergies. He takes daily medication for life. He is reviewed by the vet every 6 months as is required by law (no doubt it would be every 3 months as recommended by the BVA if he was insured). The cost of this ongoing situation is a fraction of the monthly premiums of an insurance policy and that isn't taking account of the excess! IMO Vets do more (not great for the animal) and charge more for insured animals. This of course contributes to what insurance companies charge and their huge profits makes up the rest. Most of my animals have needed very little veterinary care until old age. My understanding is that insurance premiums go through the roof in an older animal!

Reading all these posts I wonder what it costs for a farmer to have his animals ie herds of cows and flocks of sheep, vaccinated/injected/treated. No wonder a lot of them are going out of business. Would it be cheaper to grow crops?

NEVER give an animal as a present. Maybe the recipient will not thank you because of these vets' bills.

We had a cat once. We were given a bill of £90 for just removing an abscess from its cheek. It died of kidney failure in the end but you have to be aware that you just do not have to pay for food, you have vet bills too.

Why do we pay for a dog licence and not a cat licence?

PS. My previous cat became diabetic. Nowadays a diabetic pet is not put to sleep but can be injected twice a day with insulin. If you don't have insurance, you would have to be prepared to pay out a lot of money for the diabetes to be stabilised (£800 for my cat), then regular check-ups, plus £30 per month for needles and insulin .... all out of the insurance.

It's a gamble, like any insurance. You may pay out for years and your house doesn't burn down ... it's the same with pets. A neighbour's cat has thyroid problems and needs thyroxine every day - when you have these sort of ongoing illnesses, the vet bills certainly mount up without insurance. If you are happy to have your pet put to sleep when the unexpected happens, well that is your choice.

John Lewis Pet Ins are brilliant. My little cat was hit by a car 18 months ago aged only 1, and was in the vet hospital for 8 days having operations and treatment while they tried to save him.

Eventually he caught an infection and sadly had to be put to sleep, but his treatment came to £3,000 which was my insured max, and JL paid up immediately without a quibble. As he was only a year old, there is no way I could have put £3,000 "under the mattress" as someone suggested, and I would never have been able to afford so much treatment for him.

As it happened, he still died but at least I knew that I had done the very best to save his life. He was - and still is - much-loved. JL are excellent.

MawBroon, sending healing thoughts to you and Gracie.

I agree that country vets seem to charge less. In fact, I wasn't charged at all for a vet to call 'on her way past' to quickly check my old pony. It seems they have to verify the existence before prescribing Danalon which he has. When my poor old Westie was pts 3 weeks ago the home visit part of the bill was £37.30. That was for a vet and a nurse to come out. In the past (another vet in a different part of the country) seemed to put up their bill if they knew the animal was insured.
Maw Broon, thinking about you and Gracie and willing her on to get better.

Anya is doing what I considered, i.e. the pet savings account and it's something I'll consider with the next (if there are any) dogs. The hunting accidents paid for about 5 years insurance though so and as that dog is now 9 it seems worth continuing to shell out every month.
I suspect city/town vets have higher charges than country vets. That's been my experience, and that of friends. Country vets do big animals as well, whereas city vets have a captive audience of doting and probably less knowledgable pet owners. No offence!

The home visit element was £80 anya on TOP of the consultation (!) I thought that was worth it to save Grace distress (and frankly I thought it might be the final visit) and the Metacam was over a 9 month period plus another 2/3 months supply.
I think our vets ARE pricey but have always had impeccable and friendly care so didn't want to compromise on that. But yes, even £50 a month and one would have a handy cushion providing urgent treatment wasn't needed in the first year.
Will think carefully if and when I have another dog in the future but the meantime Grace's welfare is what matters, still fuming of course!!

We have a dog and a cat_ aged 17 and 14. Never paid pet insurance. Same with previous dog and cat. Minimal vet bills so far. No doubt we have been lucky so far.

Never pay pet insurance, instead pay £10 a month per dog into an account. There was over £3000 in that account when I had to fork out £800 for a big op last year.

Just looked at my last bill two weeks ago which included a blood test (£68) The Metacam was £28. That seems a lot for a home visit Mawbroom Having said that I rang in the morning, had an appointment before lunch, and the results of the blood test were back by teatime. Beats the NHS any day!

Stopped paying as so much and reckoned to save it and pay out as necessary and take a chance. I know a risk but worked so far as only payout with last dog cost what the insurance over the years would have cost anyway.

We're with SAGA. Just under £40 for two terriers. We've claimed three times for Millie - Anal gland surgery, pyometra and a dental infection. So far, Peggy's vet treatment has been within the excess of £125.

I do think vets are a bit gung ho when they know pets are insured.