Bloody pet insurance

Insurance soars from age 8, what they call middle age although many cats and dogs live to their late teens now.
I'd have a second little dog from the rescue my present one came from but can't afford the insurance for two.
You need to haggle over their premiums, quote cheaper companies and say you'll change. You can pay for only vet's fees (all that most people need) and reduce costs by agreeing to a higher excess. I need pet insurance because I can't pay £5000+ for treatment but I could pay the £170 excess on a big claim.
Remember the insurance company's aim is to make money, not to help us.

Premiums going up a eight? It was ten when I decided to self-insure and just have 3rd party in case of accidents all those years ago! Surely with better health care these days dogs should be living longer and healthier not the other way around. I have to say I'm happy to just have visiting grand-dogs now, I don't think we could justify the expense of actually owning a dog outright!

I just keep an account with as much as I can afford to save in case my dog ever needs treatment....I worked out I had spent several thousand pounds over his first 6 years of his life without any claims and now 9 I have a substantial amount set by in case the worst ever occurs.........I decided that taking into account the fact that routine things are not covered, excesses, having to pay up front and reclaim and yearly limits and of course if your dog stays healthy it's money down the drain....and increases exponentially as the animal ages....I just wont pay it and consider the prices absurd !

I agree that pet insurance is a rip off but I'd be nervous not to have it. Saving up and paying as needed sounds OK but if an animal requires complex surgery or some other complicated treatment the bill can be extortionate.

About three years ago our dog needed surgery on his leg which, including all the X-rays, consultations, medication, special dog brace, stay in hospital, after care etc., etc., etc., came to around £7,000.

Fortunately we had full insurance, which paid for it all bar the excess. We had deliberately purchased a "whole life" insurance which, although more expensive, was meant to guarantee that even if our dog was treated for the same ailment/injury one year, we could still claim in following years if the ailment/injury occurred again. However, when it came near to renewing our insurance, we were told by the pet insurance provider that the underwriter was no longer operating in this country and a new underwriter had been appointed. Although this underwriter would give "whole life" cover in the same way as before, it would not provide cover if our dog had the same problem with his leg.

We stayed with the provider because moving would have been even more expensive and previous ailments/injuries would not have been covered anyway if we required a "whole life" policy. It's worth bearing in mind, that even supposed "whole life" policies can be wriggled out of. No wonder people are cynical about insurances.

All insurance is priced to lose on average, especially if you take into account the time value for money (i.e. money grows due to interest or investing).

The question is whether a major surgery will cause you significant financial distress, and whether you want to self insure that risk, or sell it off at a premium to an insurer.

Generally speaking the richer you are, the more insurance you can afford, while the less you actually need.
www.petsdirectstores.com

I have not insured any of my pets, but we always had the savings to cover whatever they needed. If I didn't have the savings I would open a separate savings account and put a sum of money in there weekly and use it only for the animals treatment.I agree with Stella regarding the maths.
We have been a little unlucky with our current rescue dog as she ruptured her cruciate ligament back in November, cost was £4500, but we had the money to pay, it is a specialist op so very expensive, she couldn't put any weight on one of her legs so it had to be done. It is complex surgery and has a 3 month rehab time, thankfully now she is now back to normal.
A friend of mine insures her dogs, one of whom has had several operations for growths and each time her premiums get much higher as does her excess and also the fact that he is getting older makes the premiums higher.

I changed to the Kennel Club insurance policy for my dog. I did not realise that many insurance companies charge a 15 per cent excess in addition to the actual cost of treatment. The Kennel Club charge 10 per cent, which given the cost of treatment is a bonus. They are also prompt when payment is made.

Oh yes! I second that.... I studiously take every precaution to pre-empt any illnesses by way of their diet etcetera. One thing I couldn't pre-empt was the fact my oldest dog is now ten years old. Last year, the local Council didn't mow the park and both dogs had a paw each penetrated by one of those migrating seed heads. Apart from the fact they (health insurance) paid for very little toward the three operations required, this year they've over doubled our monthly premiums. I'd love another rescue dog. I can afford their food because I've become vegetarian to do so but I think I'll have to drop health insurance because it's not "insuring" against much! I wish I'd been self-insuring because I could've bought another house to rent out with the money I've wasted making others rich... And could afford to look after my pets as they deserve. I feel peeved and stupid for not doing something sooner.

I've had dogs for almost 50 years and bred them for a good part of that time. IMO insurance is not worth the paper it is on. So many exclusions and I've never had a bill I could not pay even with my breeding bitches. Some companies will not insure the dog after it turns 8 in any case which is possibly when you are most likely to need more treatment.

I've had cats for the past 40 years, never had pet insurance.

Some policies don't even cover for extraction of teeth, for example. My old boy had to have one tooth out, which wasn't bad, just loose. £465! I use a credit card only for vet bills.

I have never had an insurance for any of my cats and have always been so fortunate that I only needed the vet at the beginning of their lives when they were neutered, vaccinated and chip marked, for rabies and cat's flu innoculations and at the end, when diabetes or cancer was making their lives a misery to them.

All insurance companies work this way, try sending in a claim for a stolen bike or a broken window. We pay for years and get a similiar amount to the one Maw got when we send in a clain.

We were the same as Spice101 - Insurance for a kennel of working dogs would have been hundreds every month! We used a Country vet and just paid ‘as and when’. Even a serious, complicated operation came nowhere near what we’d have paid in insurance premiums. However, I’m fully aware that insurance is for ‘what could happen’ so that’s the real dilemma?