Pet Insurance?

Hello, I want to insure my 6 year old chocolate labrador Sam. He has no previous medical conditions. I would like Lifetime Cover & for the Insurance company to pay our vet direct. I know that PetPlan only cover up to the age of 8! (Our Vets are also not allowed to recommend any insurance companies) :(

What insurance company do you use, any problems with them? Who do I steer clear of?

Thank You Kayleigh.

P.S Here is a couple of pictures of my boy, Sam for you to enjoy!

 

Oh Sam is gorg-e-ous!!!!

Well, I'm with PetPlan for my dog and my cat. I haven't heard that they won't insure over 8. Is that for a new insurance, Kayleigh?

I was speaking to a fellow dog owner the other week. His old lab has defied the odds and despite cancer, knobbly knees, an eating disorder and goodness knows what, he was waving the banner for PetPlan ("Not the cheapest, but the best insurance we've ever had"). Seems - and I may be mistaken? - but, if you are on *continuous* cover, PetPlan will renew.

Sam may only be 6yo, but he certainly hasn't reached the 'magic 8' you've mentioned. Is it possible that, if you insure with them now and each successive year, he will be covered over 8yo? The man I mentioned in the above paragraph has his dog on so many meds it would cost £1000's each year; but, because he has had continuous cover, the only effect on his pocket is a nominal increase annually in the access.

Have you called and asked them?

 

My friends are disabled and cannot work or afford insurance. They use the PDSA with high praise. You might qualify if you are on low income or student etc.

 

PDSA funded vets are becoming more difficult to find these days.

Plus, in my experience (albeit 22yrs ago) some unethical vets will tell you that you will be covered for the treatment via PDSA funding (Friday night, emergency) and then, after treatment, (Monday) send you a very handsome bill! Yes, even on (evidenced!) low income

Actually, to be fair (and a fuller picture), the vet had kept my dog at his family home over the weekend and his children had fallen in love with her - he freely told me this! It is only with hindsight, emotional distance and time, that someone suggested to me that it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that he was manipulating me so I would relinquish my dog. In the end, I begged a loan from a very trusting friend to cover the costs of the treatment, kept my dog, repaid the loan and never went back to that vet again. Nor did I recommend him.

Thank goodness, today, we have the internet so we can research all possibilities at the touch of a button and not be bamboozled by unscrupulous others.

 

Good luck with your call tomorrow, Kayleigh.

I do think online quotes are great to get an overview of what is available, but, sometimes, it does pay to speak to an advisor - not just PetPlan mind; also speak to an advisor of others you researched in your comparison quotes

Your Iphone really takes great pictures!!

6yrs old is not old for any dog! Do phone around and trust your instincts. Let us know how you get on

 

When I was 18 years old and doing a stint of being unemployed and completely flat broke, my dog had a near fatal heart attack. I didn't know it was a heart attack at first. One minute my beautiful border collie was fine, next she was laid out on the floor motionless, eyes rolled back, drooling.

There was no way I could possibly afford an emergency vet, so I just sat with her all night until 9AM when the local vets opened, and I carried her down there. I didn't know about the PDSA at the time, but I hoped their love of animals would be enough to get them to help and then we'd sort out a payment plan after. They treated her for hours, and ultimately I came away with my dog, conscious and dopey but aware. I discussed with the vet about how I would pay them. They said that I was broke they'd take the costs from the PDSA fund, and I should just pay what I can. I had 17 pence in pocket. That was all the cash I had to my name, and I put it in the tin. That very moment I made a pact with myself, that I would never, ever ignore a PDSA collection box. I've never yet broken that self imposed rule, and I reckon by now I've more than covered the costs of my dog's treatment, and I'll continue doing it as long as there is such thing as me and the PDSA.

However I digress. In terms of insurance, I don't have pets any more, but my dad does. He doesn't take out insurance for them. Sounds irresponsible at first, but it works like this. He has a savings account which usually has a couple of grand in it, and that is just for vets bills. He pays a tiny amount each week into it. Sometimes it takes a hit of one of his dogs get ill, but then he just pays it back in when he can. He reckons he's paying less than he'd be paying in insurance premiums, but has the added bonus that if his dogs are fine (which usually they are), then he gets to keep the money.

 

I'd go for Petplan everytime......yes cover can be expensive but i've certainly had my monies worth over the years....in the early days i was with one company and my dog had to have an operation....my vet advised to read the small print as many insurance companies will only pay out one large lump sum and not for life long illnesses....My dog had cancer so i knew it could be a long job.....Pet plan were brilliant and from the age of 3 to 14 years on regular medication and they never missed a beat.....It is true that with many companies not sure about PP won't insure a dog 8years or over if they haven't previously been insured......

 

I'm going to chime in on this philosophy/approach. I know you'll appreciate it, clue, as you are someone who puts store by your own personal experiences and thus, shared 'wisdom'

A few years ago, I used to be a member of a particular forum which advocated similar advice regarding pet insurance premiums vs savings and regular top ups. On face value, it made perfect economical sense (life span of animal vs premiums vs savings/monthly deposits: no brainer!)

I had a cat, fair enough a cross breed, part ragdoll, part chinchilla (yes, cat, not rodent variety ) He was the most beautiful boy! Bought him at 6months old from a ragdoll breeder.

One day, he became ill, very, very quickly and was rushed to the vets - although his condition was dire at that moment, the overall prognosis was not dire, but nor was it an immediate 'fix-it'. He was kept at the vets for over a week and only returned to me because he refused to eat and was losing weight hand over fist and becoming dangerously thin.

He had developed crystals in his bladder; hence his initial deterioration. Quite rare for an UNneutered cat - more common in neutered cats.

His refusal to eat and assumed 'pining' meant the vets were finding it difficult to treat him and I was finding it difficult to meet the rapidly rising costs. The bills soon reached over £2k and there was still no guarantee that he would be ok. He just couldn't cope. Nor could my bank balance/"savings". Because I had no insurance (because I had accepted this, rather naive advice) his options soon became extremely limited. You can guess the rest He was less than 3yrs old and the amount I would have paid in pet insurance vs what I had in savings would have been LESS! Had I had insurance .... ?

It's (obviously) down to the individual and they have to weigh up the risks vs costs vs value of their animals but I would never keep another cat, or dog, *without* insurance. If I couldn't afford the insurance; I wouldn't keep the dog/cat.

As some of you know, in recent months I lost my beloved Moxie (pure breed ragdoll) and that was so sudden, pet insurance made no difference whatsoever.

Having said that, my dog, and my remaining cat (Moxie's brother), are fully insured at the cost of £500 pa. and I have no problems/queries/regrets in investing approximately £9.50 per week in my beloved animals. Why? Because the payback is ... simply put: priceless!!

Knowing what I (now) know of how rapidly vets bills can rise within a very short space of time and most unexpectedly, it's a no brainer for me. Insurance all the way.

 

How has it gone, Kayleigh?

I got an email from Martin Lewis' Money Saving forum today and here is a bit of it:

If you need any of the links, I'll pm you them. Alternatively you might want to receive its emails instead - I think it's about 1 a week.

 

We have a birman cat who luckily was insured with Petplan when we bought him, within a few days of bringing him home he became very ill, vet told us to return him to the breeder who lived many miles away and i wasn't prepared to make the journey with this really sick kitten, anyway to cut a very long story short after many weeks of tests the vet found he had a liver shunt, horrendous hereditary condition, periods of blindness, fits, halucinations, he had to go to Manchester for an operation and in the end the bill came to over £2400 of which we paid £50, thank goodness for Petplan,he's now 10 years old and a normal healthy cat, our chocolate lab 'Fudge' wasn't insured and suffered epilepsy and before we lost him had a heart problem too along with athritus, his medication cost a fortune in the end, not that we wouldn't pay it all again to have him back , but it has made us think hard before considering another dog, much as I'd love one.

 

An interesting topic Kayleigh. Perhaps I would start when very young, rates would be lower. Had checked, forgot which one, a vet had the brochure on his counter. The one I wanted to insure I could not due to past issues already.

 

Just thought I would bring this up to the top.I work at a vets and the Pet Plan rep came in the other day.She confirmed that if you have a pet under the age of 8yrs old, you can insure them for life.It is only pets over 8yrs old that cannot be insured.So if you have a young 8yr old, shave off a year,or even a few months and you can insure them..And that is what the Pet Plan Rep told me...However, having said that,be aware that if your pet was previously insured with another company, or has been seen by your vets, they will have a record of his true age, which by law,they cannot change, so this will only work if you get an older dog and you do not know his true age ie through the papers where people are selling them, or you've inherited one.