Pet insurance - to have or not to have?

Pets do have some advantages, GabriellaG. Though as mine is a crotchetty old thing at the best of times and has just coughed up a furball out of reach under the Christmas tree, I'm struggling to think of one at the moment.

I have never insured my pets, neither dd my parents, although I have to say if I owned a dog now I possibly would consider insurance.

I have a cat, he was my DD's & came to me when he was 6 years old, he's never been vaccinated, I had him neutered & micro-chipped when I got him. Too late to consider insurancenow, I do the flea/tick treatment. He's more at risk from squirrel attack than fox where I live

I think Jacksmum is a really good reason why you shouldn't have a rescue dog. I've been looking for one for ages and when you read the blurb about them there always seems problems. I've had cats and dogs all my life and never had insurance and only taken them to the vet when necessary.

Our vet does a Dog pet plan scheme that covers a six month check up, all monthly flea treatment and wormer, along with any annual vaccinations. Our dog has bowel disease and is on permanent antibiotics he needs a check every six months which is done at his health check. We had him vaccinated but as he is seven years old his pet insureance went up to £41 per month. We can't afford that. His bowel disease is not covered so we cancelled are with looking around after Christmas for another policy. Even without claiming and having no other health issues it goes up each year

Yes, I think pet insurance is essential. Just watching the treatments now available/possible as illustrated on 'Supervet' make me wonder how on earth this would be possible without insurance.

Also bear in mind that at certain ages of the animal, e.g. 8 and over, the insurers will only pay a certain percentage of the bill, not 100%. Clumsily worded but brain too tired to re-word!

Sorry if someone else has already pointed this out but CBA to read the whole thread.

The cost of vet's bills is getting ridiculous and will result in animals not being rescued and being allowed to suffer instead of going to the vets. We've just paid £210 for a grass seed in the foot. Insurance doesn't help as it increases as the dog ages and you still have to pay the excess. We would not have expensive operations and tests. It's a racket like many other things I feel we are being forced to take out insurance I just won't have a pet. Ever met a poor vet?

We never had insurance before our last cat who was rescued by our son in Dubai. Watching Super Vat made me think about possible bills and so I insured her with John Lewis. Poor little cat was diagnosed with liver cancer and died before she was 8. It was very reassuring to know that all her tests and palliative treatment were covered. The final bill was around £1000 and was promptly paid. DH has decreed we will have no more pets as he was so upset by her death, but I wouldn't hesitate to get insurance if he relented!

My cat (14) is insured as I would never forgive myself if he needed expensive treatment and I had to have him put to sleep due to the expense.

Next time any of you have a vet's bill to pay, ask for a detailed account. It will really open your eyes. We checked the details of a bill my DD had a few months ago and compared prices online. Items that you could pick up online for just a couple of pounds were being charged at 10 times the amount. It is, as others have said, a racket and I believe it is down to pet insurance; years ago we never had insurance for our dogs and the vet's bills were never scarily high - we weren't rich by any stretch, but the costs were never beyond our means. Nowadays you'd almost need to take out a second mortgage to cover some of the most routine procedures. Pet insurance has pushed prices up to the point where people are forced to take it out because they would otherwise be unable to afford even the vet bills for even minor treatments.

Oops, an unnecessary 'even' in the last sentence

yes get for life it is a little more a month but if your animal gets a condition eg heart murmur like mine who was only covered for one yearand he still going strong after 5 years with medication etc costs me just under £100 a month

amt101 Sat 23-Dec-17 12:43:28
I think Jacksmum is a really good reason why you shouldn't have a rescue dog. I've been looking for one for ages and when you read the blurb about them there always seems problems. I've had cats and dogs all my life and never had insurance and only taken them to the vet when necessary.

I really cant understand your post ??? saying i should not have rescue dogs ??? my 3 dogs all rescues are loved and well cared for , being rescues just means they could have come to me with problems but that is part of them and i accept that and am willing to deal with them ,whether its health or behaviour problems, 2 of my rescues are care visit dogs , going into care homes where the residents with dementia get so much pleasure from being in the company of my dogs, 1 of these dogs came to live with me aged 13 months old and i am his 4th home !!! but with love and training he is doing really well, i look forward to you explaining your post saying i should not have rescue dogs !!!

Vet's fees now are quite obscene. As an octogenarian, I still remember as a child the cats and a dog we had for many years. Don't think pet insurance was around then or tinned pet food!. We were always so grateful to the PDSA for the care they gave us as money was tight after being bombed in the war. We have no pets now but family and friends dread the vets bills as something always seem to crop up. However, what price can you put on a beloved companion.

I can't help feeling that because so many people take out pet insurance it gives the vets carte blanche to charge what they like. However, it seems to be a vicious circle, and I don't see any way out.

I have always insured our pets. Both our cat and our dog had life threatening conditions and our insurance paid for it, except the excess. We would have had to save a lot every month to cover the bills. We use Pet Plan and they have always honoured their agreement.
Do get the for life policy, it is worth it.

Definitely insure from when you have your pet as when they get older, the insurance company will be less keen to insure the animal. Our cat ran up a huge insurance bill in her later life and no one else would insure her as she aged.

You should get insurance. We have a moggy and he’s insured if they have a serious illness or an accident it’s a lot to pay out vets are not cheap.

Household insurance provides third party cover including any damage done by a dog. Since under UK law a dog is property!

Gabriella, of course you don't need to have a pet but this thread shows that many of us love sharing our lives with animals.
There is a lot of research that confirms dog owners live longer, healthier and happier lives. I've often wondered how much of that is due to the regular walks and how much to taking a fairy laid back approach to life. You can't be a house clean/tidy obsessive and share your life with dogs (or cats)

Also be aware. Most vet practices are now owned by corporate businesses. They expect their employees, managers, to maximise via insurance, el profitos!

Stella wrote:
"Household insurance provides third party cover including any damage done by a dog. "
But what if the dog causes a traffic accident while away from the house? Is that covered too?
eg on a busy road or motorway.

I ve had a number of cats and dog over the years but never had insurance mind you I m aware that things are very different now And it’s the one thing that puts me off having another pet is the exhorbit amount to pay out to give an animal a home

We were silly enough to have pet insurance for our last black Labrador we paid it for 8 years we never claimed in all those years for anything. In the last week of his life he became unwell and died of bowel cancer. More than insurance refuse to pay the vets bill of £1256 because they said that because the condition was terminal the treatment and drugs the vet had prescribed was unnecessary. They did pay £250 that it cost to buy him. We have not had any pets since we lost him.

Just a general question. Does pet insurance cover the need for counselling, when our hearts are broken by the loss of our pet?