Non-motoring > Pet insurance. Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Ted Replies: 16
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 12:29 
 Pet insurance. - Ted

We've probably done this before, but I wasn't listening properly.

Any recommendations ? Just had our renewal from John Lewis and it was over £230 more.

Ted
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 13:23 
 Pet insurance. - smokie
Get rid? :-)
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 13:25 
 Pet insurance. - Dog
I've been owned by dogs since God was a boy but never had pet insurance.
My present pleasant dog is 10 years young and never been to a vet, apart from his first jabs.

I worm him now and again but I have to get the stuff from Australia.

I'm 72 and not seen a GP in over 33 years + never been jabbed, 'spect I'll be dead soon, with any luck.

:)
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 13:27 
 Pet insurance. - Slightlyfatdirector
Sorry Ted, no recommendations I can give.

We had a policy (with Sainsburys from memory) when we got our then 2 year old rescue ex-Greek street dog, and the next year the premium jumped and they did the following year and pricing was similar elsewhere and quite large amounts.

I then stopped taking out insurance thinking that there was a clear trajectory on increasing costs and we had never had a claim. A gamble for sure, but a calculated one.

Touch wood, since then I have saved goodness knows how much in premiums and not had an issue at all. She gets her vaccinations and apart from an ear infection a number of years ago she is as fit as a fiddle and 12 years old very soon.

If we had an issue I think we will have saved enough money in unpaid premiums that would cover pretty much anything and I will worry about it then..

If we had a pure-breed or something unique then I know from other peoples experience that they can come with really expensive issues - sometimes linked to genetics - and in that case it makes a huge amount of sense.

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New Tue 14 Jan 25 13:36 
 Pet insurance. - CGNorwich
Pet Insurance is very much a funding scheme. It spreads out the cost of the almost inevitable cost of Vet’s bills over the animal’s lifetime. Since at least 50% of the premiums will go into profit and admin it is not particularly efficient financially. Unless you absolutely cannot afford vet’s bills then best to self fund
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 13:55 
 Pet insurance. - zippy
>>Self fund...

Totally agree CGN.

With insurance for the Lhasa costing £1200 this year (2024) and likely to rise again for 2025, I want to put £6k in an account for emergencies, but Mrs Z won't have it.
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 16:19 
 Pet insurance. - Slightlyfatdirector

£1200?! Wow....

I've just seen the below in Dog's message and re-read it.

>>>>>"I've been owned by dogs since God was a boy".

That's brilliant! :)

I co-habit with mine and I believe she lives a much more stress-free existence. Warm house, choice of sleeping areas, two meals and a walk a day, get's cleaned up after, goes on holidays (kennels that she loves) and lots of games and cuddles.

What's not to like!?
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 17:33 
 Pet insurance. - zippy
>>WOW

I feel like I am being bent over every time the renewal comes through!!!

Ours hates kennels. We had an excellent dog minder - a retired couple - but they have since retired from dog minding. We've tried a couple of others and found one but she was very expensive and has since gone back to a full time job.

Lhasa is coming up to 13. Life expectancy is between 12 and 14 years with 18 years as outliers.

Mrs Z now won't leave her with anyone else so I guess holidays will be in the UK for a while.

She has changed habit recently - and is going deaf and blind and greets people on "smell".

If I go to bed late, I tend not to put my clothes in the wash-basket because it's teak and makes a wood against wood clack when closing it, so I put them on the floor. Lhasa will without fail, be wrapped up in them come the morning.

She's also becoming very "barky". Lhasa's do bark and sound much larger than they are, but this is almost non-stop. I am glad we are in a detached house.

She is also becoming a bit incontinent. This is very annoying and doesn't always get to strategically placed pads and has ruined a wood floor.

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New Tue 14 Jan 25 16:27 
 Pet insurance. - Ted

Thanks y'all. My inclination was self-funding but the mistress doesn't like the idea.

It wasn't so much doggy illness
A couple of years ago, Millie, who likes to bring the post in, caught the finger of some stupid woman who was shoving rubbish through the door ! First we knew was a sheaf of paperwork from a solicitor in Leeds telling us of the alleged incident and claim. We ignored it, of course until it got too threatening.

She was claiming tendon damage, infection, days in hospital, loss of earnings, etc. I reported it to John Lewis and the guy said it was our fault and didn't seem interested in fighting. In fact, he was quite offhand and rude. If her facts were true, why was she not trained in pushing stuff through doors. A friend who had experience told us that they had been told to use a ruler or similar, but most junk mail didn't need to be on the hall floor ! Our composite door is 3 inches thick, including a metal flap on both sides. I'm inclined to think she caught her finger on the inner flap when withdrawing her hand. It takes a bit to get a finger through 3 inches and leave enough sticking through for a small terrier to nip whilst jumping up !

The insurance man told me to inform the house insurers as a matter of courtesy and they told me that if we hadn't got dedicated pet insurance, they would deal with the claim.

We now have a basket for the mail, not too convenient as the door open flat against a wall, restricting access by a few inches...but it seems to work. The postie and the papergirl are both aware and there's a sticker on the flap saying " no junk mail, etc "

There's no malice in our furbaby (ugh!), she just likes people and gets excited.

I suppose, with house insurance and an excess in place anyway There's less of a need for expensive specialist cover.

Ted
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 16:34 
 Pet insurance. - smokie
I had a mate with two Dobermen who also said something like "There's no malice in our furbaby (ugh!), she just likes people and gets excited." And one day one of them did attack someone, not too serious but a bit more than you could describe as excitement. That's really the reason I'm not keen on dogs - them (and sometimes their owners) can be unpredictable.
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 17:34 
 Pet insurance. - Zero


>> describe as excitement. That's really the reason I'm not keen on dogs - them (and
>> sometimes their owners) can be unpredictable.

You are well known in the canine world as a worthy target.
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 17:38 
 Pet insurance. - Zero

>> I suppose, with house insurance and an excess in place anyway There's less of a
>> need for expensive specialist cover.
>>
>> Ted

If your furbaby savages Smokie out on his daily walk, your household insurance may not cover his litigious claim for damages.
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 17:31 
 Pet insurance. - Zero
>> Pet Insurance is very much a funding scheme.

Almost but not quite. It works like this, you insure your pet till age racks up the price then you self fund if you can afford it. The age racking up price point is very dependent on breed and sex.

I have two currently insured.

Youngster, age 4. had had accidental issues, vets bills totalling £6.5k to date, premiums paid to date around £2k. As you can see currently quids in, and will be for several years.

Older girl, age 12. probably spent about £3.5k in premiums, racked up about 1.5k in vets bills, so down on that one. Fully expected to dump insurance for her this year, but surprised by how reasonable the age/price thing increase kicked in. So she got another year of cover.

Things to consider, Vets bills have ballooned by a huge amount these past few years. Many vets chains are now owned by the insurers, its a bit of an unregulated scandal.

Pup is insured for full replacement cost (2k), and both are 3rd party insured.

Who to consider? Co-op offer the best value high bill limit (10k per single incident) cover. With any surgery / scan /xray incident, you will easily be hit with a 3/4/5/6k bill.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 14 Jan 25 at 17:32
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 17:50 
 Pet insurance. - zippy
>>Vets bills have ballooned by a huge amount these past few years. Many vets chains are now >>owned by the insurers, its a bit of an unregulated scandal.

Yes. Similar to car insurance companies owning credit hire companies and repairers and then moaning about the cost of repairs and credit hire!

When the Lhasa was attacked by two Alsatians (owned by a drugs dealer), which must be 4 years ago now, we called the vet emergency line on route with her on my lap as I was driving. My jeans were covered in blood. I didn't think she would survive.

The practice was closed on Saturday afternoon. The vet arrived about the same time as us and she was on the operating table for about 4 hours.

The bill came to £700! I was shocked, I thought it would be a lot more.

The practice is a country vet, though they too, have become more expensive as costs increase.
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 18:40 
 Pet insurance. - smokie
My daughter just called, her cat has been under the weather a bit so a quick trip to the vet has discovered she has gingivitis. She's been prescribed 7 day pain relief and a quote just arrived for general anaesthetic and extraction of up to 9 teeth - just under £1k.

She could go to my dentist privately for that :-)

They have insurance but the vet said it could possibly have been caused by the cat flu she had when my daughter got her, as a (fairly large) kitten, so may be disqualified as pre-existing... I'm not sure they could prove that but then I'm not a cat GP, or an insurance assessor...

I mean, it's only a cat FFS... :-)
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 18:45 
 Pet insurance. - zippy
>> I mean, it's only a cat FFS... :-)
>>

Somkie, there's a special place in pet hell for you! :-D
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New Tue 14 Jan 25 18:53 
 Pet insurance. - smokie
Haha - over the years I had to take both cats we've ever owned on their final visit to the vet and both times I cried. The lecture I got from the vet on one of them didn't help - owning a pet takes commitment blah blah - just because I requested him to euthanise what I suspect had been his top monthly earner for quite some months - as we'd run out of money, and clean carpet, and the cat wasn't likely to be getting over his severe incontinence and other problems at something over 17 years of age.

Anyway - there's an admission eh!! :-)
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