Dog thread - UK dog insurance recommendations?

[Paul_B]

Any UK dog owners with insurance recommendations? Puppy breeder cover just run out and we're too disorganised to sort cover out. Need suggestions because I have no idea what is a good pet insurer.

I've gone on comparison sites, kennel club and pet plan too. Pet plan is very expensive. Kennel club is a good cover for the price but excess adds on 10% of vet fees after excess is paid. A £500 vet fee = £135.50 bill to us. Seems wrong somehow. A quarter of the fee! For that we pay £192.50 a year.

Anyway, who do you use? What do you look for in cover? Any advice?

PS our puppy started panting a lot of of the blue without a good reason. Turned heating off in case too hot. It's breathing normally I think but didn't have energy to jump up onto the chair. She does that occasionally but it's usually because she's being lazy and wants a lift up. She can jump up easily, usually at full pelt run too! It's that fear that she's ill. I don't think she is but it's a wake up call to sort the cover out.

So any recommendations would be much appreciated.

 

[daveO]

Ask at the vets if you can. They generally have a good idea which companies actually pay out when required and if any are a nightmare to deal with.

All pet insurance is a scam though. It's another industry that's in desperate need of better regulation. Your poor animal has to get pretty sick before it's even worth claiming most of the time.

 

[Nice65]

Pet Plan have a good reputation, but the good service comes at a price as you've found. I have both dogs on Lifetime Pet Cover, I've made two claims and found them to be no quibble and quick to respond.

More importantly, your pup isn't likely to be panting beacause the house is warm. Snippy contracted lungworms when she was a puppy, she'd sit panting and got slower and slower. We spent a fortune at the vets for her to have heart function and lung tests despite me saying the symptoms were those of lungworms. I got fobbed off by the vet telling me it was very rare and highly unlikely. So after spending a lot of money, I insisted she was tested for it. Sure enough it was, and a cheap and simple course of worming tablets would have saved the dog and us a great deal of anxiety. The eggs are carried in fox faeces which slugs and snails might feed upon, the eggs are in the snails, but also in the slime trails, and Snippy was a stick chaser who'd root about in the bonfire site for a good one. Should yours root about in flowerbeds, chase sticks etc, like most of them do, bear it in mind.

 

[Broch]

The devil is in the small print on all of them. We used to be with Pet Plan on our last two dogs and we will go back to them when we start again

We're currently on Animal Magic and, although they have paid up each time (snapped achilles heel, skin allergies, cranial X-ray ...) there is always a quibble. On top of the excess as soon as the dog is over eight years old we have to contribute 20% of the bill. Worse of all, they refused to continue cover for third party liability because she snarled at the vet when being injected (the vet is required to log that information) - so. here is a dog that will never run away, cause a nuisance with traffic, and has never bitten anyone, but they won't cover her!!

To be honest, I don't think you can complain that one insurer is expensive and then complain that a cheap insurer charges too much fee contribution - you get what you pay for (well, nearly).

All said, all insurance is gambling - as far as pet insurance is concerned I am quids in and would never dream of not having it.

 

[Dogoak]

It was recommended to me some years ago by a very experienced vet to put the money into a savings account monthly instead of paying the insurance company. His view and experience was that most vetinary fees are less than the excess, so you wouldn't claim anyway. If your dog is kept fit and healthy and you were a sensible owner they wouldn't be needing the vets untill they were older (by that time you'd have saved a fair amount) and that he totally disagreed with giving jabs every year as it wasn't good for the animals health. 3rd Party liability was his only caveat.

Worming tablets, etc; we buy via the Internet, works out a lot cheaper.

 

[Macaroon]

I've kept dogs and horses all my life and never had any insured apart from third party liability for some; never any medical insurance. as Dogoak states above keep 'em healthy, and psychologically is every bit as important as physically, and watch them carefully all the time to pick up the very first signs of anything amiss and you can generally keep most things at bay with early intervention and little expense. I always put a little by as a contingency fund, and with the exception of one bitch I never had to spend much at all. Even with the very expensive treatment for the one exception I came out on top, financially, by a very wide margin.

Vet fees are extortionate, massively so, and alot of the blame for this can be laid at the feet of the insurance culture; pet owners will feel that cost doesn't matter as they are covered by insurance and the vets know this all too well. Veterinary medications are often many times more expensive than the human equivalents for exactly the same product and there are many resources available freely which will show you the equivalent medications which are off patent for humans at a fraction of the cost, and they'll also show you how to dose the animal by weight, particular illness or disease. There's a slight learning curve to all this but it's much easier than you'd think.

We all know that some of the old folk remedies, for animals especially, are bunkum, but only a fool would ignore them; they kept horses and dogs sound and healthy for centuries when those animals were absolutely essential to the provision of food and income for many. They worked then and with a modicum of thought, research and self education the work every bit as well now. The key to it all is know your animal and get to any problem early.

Any good vet will start a consultation by questioning the ownwer thoroughly about the animal and it's symptoms.............What does that tell you?

 

[Broch]

I don't think vets fees are high to be honest.

An X-ray for a dog is a fraction of the price of paying for one for a human (privately). A hysterectomy for a bitch (which two of our gun dogs had to have) was nothing compared to a human operation. The snapped Achilles heel cost about £600 for the consultations, x-rays, anaesthetic and operation.

Our vet is perfectly happy with us getting even prescribed medication on the internet; she can't buy it any cheaper than us.

Some dogs we've had have hardly ever visited the vet other than for vaccinations; others, looked after in exactly the same way, kept fit etc. have needed quite a bit of treatment. As I said, insurance is a gamble.

 

[5teep]

Remember that the insurance company's job is to take your money and not give it back if at all possible. My own experience with a Jack Russel and a torn tendon was "Sorry, pre existing condition, JR's are prone to loose joints" = no payout.
I'd take Dogoak's Vet's advice which incidentally is what we did after the above episode, put money aside in a savings account for when it's needed. When its young your dog is less likely to need a vet's care, when it gets older and needs more is when you'll get less back from any insurance company. With your own savings (assuming you've not had to pay out) you'll have a decent pot ready for your dog's old age.

 

[daveO]

I've kept dogs and horses all my life and never had any insured apart from third party liability for some; never any medical insurance. as Dogoak states above keep 'em healthy, and psychologically is every bit as important as physically, and watch them carefully all the time to pick up the very first signs of anything amiss and you can generally keep most things at bay with early intervention and little expense. I always put a little by as a contingency fund, and with the exception of one bitch I never had to spend much at all. Even with the very expensive treatment for the one exception I came out on top, financially, by a very wide margin

Depends on the dog I think. So many breeds now have congential problems that manifest quite early on. Although if you buy a massively inbred toy dog then you should really expect trouble. I've claimed a couple of times on dog insurance in 15 years and both were due to accidents that could have happened at any time of the dog's life. Neither saved me much money though in the long term. My mum's English Springer Spaniel has weak joints in the front legs that required expensive surgery at a young age but insurance didn't cover much of that and they tried to refuse to pay out as she went directly to the vets and agreed treatment when one of the legs broke rather than ringing the insurers first.

In terms of vets fees it just cost me over £100 to have a vet watch our pet rabbit die of natural causes.

 

[Dogoak]

A lot of small vetinary practices are being purchased by bigger companies, hence the higher bills a lot of folks are faced with.

 

[Paul_B]

If you're insured and the dog gets ill with a long term condition requiring drugs for life. I assume that will tie you to your insurance company? Basically if you change insurers that condition is classed as pre-existing condition and will not be covered. Which means you'll pay for the drugs if you change insurers.

Is this correct for all types of insurance policy? A vet or veterinary nurse told us to get a lifetime policy that will cover you for life of the dog but it must tie you to the insurer.

 

[Broch]

You're pretty much tied to one insurer for the life of the dog anyway to be honest. If your dog has had treatment a new insurer can refuse to cover a repeat or will charge a larger premium - your existing insurer is bound to continue subject to the terms of the contract - as I said, the devil is in the detail.

You've had pretty conflicting advice above so you can see this is not a clear-cut situation. If you can be disciplined and put a sum aside each month and/or lay your hands on hundreds of pounds at short notice (maybe even more) maybe you will be better off. But, what about third party liability? If your dog causes an accident resulting in you being sued how do you pay?

 

[Dogoak]

I think the best thing for you to do is talk to the insurance company, I doubt many of us on here are going to know the full details of the policy/s.

 

[Paul_B]

My partner wants to put money aside each month, £15 each. But she's also worried about third party insurance.

The other issue, if the dog does bite someone, say the vet, it gets recorded. I've read about people renewing their insurance after such a situation and the insurers remove the third party element. Seems they can remove it if there's been a recorded incident. It's a case of the insurance company reducing their risks.

I guess it's business but to us it's family at the end of this business, the dog. I really don't like the vet / pet insurance sector. It feels like it's not regulated enough. One business is feeding another and things grow because businesses need to grow But do we get a good deal out of it? As it's run now that is?

The other thing, as a kid my grandparents had dogs. The advice from vets back then seemed to be too put a dog down a lot more than now. It seemed to be partly suffering and partly cost based recommendation. Now there's so much more treatment opportunities and costs get covered by insurance.

If it was you paying directly would you pay several thousands of pounds each year to keep dog alive but on medicine? I suspect insurance breeds expensive treatments. Like my friend who's dog went through 2 sets of cancer treatments. One went into remission for a year before coming back and taking the dog. Was it right to treat the dog's cancer like that?

Difficult question and difficult times that you'll be asked it too. I really don't know the answer I'd give.

A work colleague took a sick cat in without insurance. His bill was racking up each day and the cat suffered each day. It would have gone on for some time but he told the vet to put it down when the bill reached £400. It still cost him £550 once it was all added up including the putting it to sleep. He said if he'd known what he knows now two days earlier he'd have put it to sleep then. Less suffering for the cat (and owners) plus only a hundred or so quid vet bill. It wasn't in the vet's interest to advise him to put it to sleep. Once it would have been because of lower levels of pet insurance take up.

 

[widu13]

From my experience, avoid E&L like the plague.

 

[Paul_B]

Yes that's often the advice I've read.

 

[Broch]

The other issue, if the dog does bite someone, say the vet, it gets recorded. I've read about people renewing their insurance after such a situation and the insurers remove the third party element. Seems they can remove it if there's been a recorded incident. It's a case of the insurance company reducing their risks.
.

If you read my earlier post you'll see a dog doesn't have to bite someone for insurers to remove third party cover - just show aggressive signs; in our case just snarling at the vet when being given an injection! They don't have to wait for renewal necessarily either.

If you do not trust your vet, change your vet. In my experience they are extremely well trained and qualified professional people - they do not need to 'create' business by keeping a suffering animal alive but they will not just put down an animal on the whim of an owner who's run out of patience either. I know our vet gets quite upset when an owner insists on an animal being put down that could be saved and have a few more years of life. If the cost of the treatment is the reason, that person shouldn't have had the animal in the first place (I know some will disagree - but the cost of an animal is the life cost, no argument).

 

[santaman2000]

.....You've had pretty conflicting advice above so you can see this is not a clear-cut situation. If you can be disciplined and put a sum aside each month and/or lay your hands on hundreds of pounds at short notice (maybe even more) maybe you will be better off. But, what about third party liability? If your dog causes an accident resulting in you being sued how do you pay?

Not a judgement, but a question: Here pet insurance only covers veterinary care. Third party liability is under the home owners insurance (the same as liability for an accident in your home; and might be breed limited anyway) I know that sounds like a statement so far but my question is, does y'all's homweowner's insurance not also cover it?

 

[Broch]

Good point Santaman but usually not in the house insurance here (why would everyone's insurance be loaded if they don't have a dog?) - but it may be in specific policies so worth checking. I don't even know if it's an option on most and it's not a question asked on the insurance application forms that I've ever filled in.

 

[daveO]

I've never heard of 3rd party liability being removed because of aggression. I always ask the vet to muzzle my dog for anything because he's very nervous and, while he's never bitten anyone, I won't take the chance. Frankly if they tried to take my temperature like that I'd probably bite them I've also had a spaniel who bit a neighbour and the police were involved and there were no insurance come backs from that. He was the softest dog so why he decided to escape a fenced garden to bite that one women I don't know.