Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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Lorrainelovesplants
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Cost of pet insuranceIve just bought a very expensive cocker spaniel pup, and the vet has advised me to look at lifetime pet insurance.
Ive been on money supermarket and go compare, but Im out of my depth - anyone bought pet insurance?
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joanne
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If they are a KC registered pup you should have got 4 weeks free insurance from the Kennel Club when you got the papers
I would contact them first to see how much an ongoing insurance policy would be and then use that to compare other products on all the compare sites
I really wish I'd had insurance on my girl - then maybe I wouldn't have delayed taking her to the vets when she was a bit off and been saddled with a £600 vet bill when the emergency surgery didn't work and she died
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Nell Merionwen
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I use sainsburys. It costs around £8 a month and they seem to be average.
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alison
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We use pet plan, whole life cover.
We also follow another plan from the vets which gives discount on worming, feed, and treatments, and has already saved us the years fees, and still have 4 months to go.
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unlacedgecko
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I would recommend not getting any insurance. It is something vets recommend as they see insured animals as a cash cow, often bullying owners into unnecessary expensive treatments which do not improve quality of life and have a small chance of working.
I had a jack Russell which poked its eye on a stick. Vet wanted £600+ to remove the eye on first inspection. When she found out I had no insurance, treatment was downgraded to a £20 bottle of eye drops.
Another Jack Russell was torn up in a kennel fight, predictably on a Sunday, at the other end of the country from my usual vet. Several local vets wanted to knock the dog out merely to examine him, the. Spoke of muscle repair operations costing £500+. Fortunately I was able to find one who under stod working dogs. I held the dog while he applied local analgesic, anti biotics and staples. £120, £100 of which was the Sunday call out fee.
Boths dogs healed fine.
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Mithril
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I have to say since my father took out vet insurance his dog seems to be always having some treatment or the other for apparently minior issues. (I bred the dog and his siblings are very good doers).
That said, two of my bitches have totted up nearly £1000 and £2000 in surgery over the years. With hind sight insurance might have been a good idea. Or better still an emergency credit card.
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cir3ngirl
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Set up a bank account and pay money in monthly you then have a fund to use to pay for any treatment
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Lorrainelovesplants
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Its whole life cover I think Id look at, because if we just insure for a years cover, whilst this will sort a broken leg or op, it will not cover chronic illness such as diabetes or thyroid (such as our older dog has).
On the other hand, Im also thinking just to put money away regularly just in case.
Alison - have you ever had to actually use your insurance? Ive heard stories of suddenly being told that your not covered for whatever or they'll only cover you so much.
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sally_in_wales
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I also need to consider this, we've got new kitties coming home on monday hopefully. Am currently thinking that putting a few quid a month by in a separate 'pot' in the bank account might be the way forwards
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Treacodactyl
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Our dog is insured via Direct Line as they covered her before we got her. The policy has paid out a couple of times and even the simplest treatments can cost a huge amount (a simple scan cost £1000).
You also get third party cover for your pet if they cause injury or damage (your house insurance may already provide this).
We do sometimes feel vets take into account your pet insurance when recommending treatment but just be firm and ask them why they are recommending the treatment, is it really necessary etc, etc.
I don't think many policies are whole of life, they tend to go up to a limit, e.g. 11 years. Worth checking between policies.
if the dog is working then many companies will not insure through normal pet insurance. You may get a better deal if you're with BASC or one of the other countryside organisations.
As for not insuring and saving money, if you only have a single pet that is more risky but if you have several then you'll be offsetting the risk.
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alison
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Its whole life cover I think Id look at, because if we just insure for a years cover, whilst this will sort a broken leg or op, it will not cover chronic illness such as diabetes or thyroid (such as our older dog has).
On the other hand, Im also thinking just to put money away regularly just in case.
Alison - have you ever had to actually use your insurance? Ive heard stories of suddenly being told that your not covered for whatever or they'll only cover you so much. |
I haven't, but only because she is 10 months old. Going on the last dog we did need it.
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Nell Merionwen
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Just realised that the sainsburys insurance was up for renewal and now costs £13 pcm. So I have just changed to co-op for £11 pcm.
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Spruengli
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I don't know if small animal insurance is similar to horse insurance, but beware any clause that says in effect 'once you claim for something we won't let you claim for it again' e.g. a claim for treatment for arthritis means ANY arthritic conditions are excluded forever (and the premium doesn't go down...)
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dpack
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when i looked into it a policy that would cover everything for life was about £30 a month for a thorough bred saluki.the fee was based on show dog line risks not proper line risks and seemed unlikely to be a good investment ,so far i aint spent about a grand .
with a kc cocker it may be a good investment to get a full policy
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snowy747
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I would not own a dog without it. Claimed nearly £5k with Axa for our Jr X who has primary lens luxation. Premiums were £9.30 a month and we had her at a year old and had paid 10 premiums........
Scottie had Cushings disease, her premiums were £26 a month and her meds £200 a month plus she had regular blood tests at hundreds of pounds.
Gotta save a whole ton a month to build up a fund of your own to cover those sort of costs!!
Ali
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pollyanna
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My OH and I are retired farmers and we have a practical, unsentimental attitude to our dogs. We would never contemplate starting on treatment that was going to cost over £1000 however much we loved our dogs.
Hence no insurance. And as it happens all our dogs, over many years have lived long, healthy lives and insurance would have been a total waste of money. As it would have been for our cats.
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Katieowl
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More Than are generally considered to be good value for money amongst dog owners that I know on line. I've just switched to them for a pair of older dogs, from Tesco who came in with an extortionate renewal quote. More Than nearly halved it.
Kate
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snowy747
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Insurance enables you to make choices, I wouldn't put my dog down because of lens lux at age 2. It enabled us to have the micro surgery she needed to retain some vision in each eye.
Ali
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Jb
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I suspect insurance is not worth the cost but what about pet health plans? I use a pet health plan for my cats which provides a monthly cost but then covers annual health checks, worming, flea treatments, innoculations, boosters etc and sends me reminders when I need to do the worming and frontline stuff. I know there will be a premium they charge for that but I get the impression it's not excessive as, unlike insurance, the costs are predictable. On the other hand I have honestly no idea if I am overpaying.
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Nick
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If you have peace of mind, and your finances can stand it, you are not over paying. That's not to say it couldn't be cheaper elsewhere, but that might not be the point.
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mark
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The problem with insurance is that is you get vet treatment for your pet sensibly - you will be subsidising
1) the people and vets who overtreat
2) the management of the policy
3) the shareholders / underwriters
If your lifestyle is hand to mouth you don't really have any choice. You need insurance to cover risk!
But if you decide not to have pet insurance , handset insurance, appliance insurance etc etc
and you pay the equivalent in to a savings account which you don't touch very quickly you can acquire enough of a pool to meet eventualities. There is often a risk when you first start doing this - but you can mitigate that if you think ahead and start paying in before you get your pet. IN effect you become your own insurer.
You make some money on interest and the money that would go to the overtreaters, the managers and the underwriters is yours .
And the "policy" still covers you pet when they get old if the insurance company goes out of business, closes down your scheme or al the other risks that attach to insurance these days.
You can even pool with friends if you can't build up a big enough fund to cover yourself but you need to know they share your outlook on when to claim and treat!
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