To cancel insurance or not - very fit 13 and 12 year old Spaniels

[needastrongoneagain]

As the message states really! Any advice?

We've two fabulous, wonderful amazing boys, fit as fiddles and no one has mentioned to them they are 12 and 13. Picture attached! They are very slim, fit, active dogs with no signs of stiffness or ailment. They love life and still have a good couple of hours walk a day, perhaps slightly slower but that's about it in terms of anything age related.

We have, and always have had PetPlan cover, the lifetime sort, since they were both puppies. Ddog2 hasn't ever had a claim, Ddog1 is another story but all because he's a spaniel and stupid, nothing at all to do with health as such. The almost inaudible heart murmur that requires no medication and hasn't changed since he was about 5.

The combined insurance premium is £270 a month now! I'm debating whether to cancel and maybe stick half of that amount in an account to cover anything. We could cover any costs anyway, but I'm a bit nervous due to their ages and we've been covered for so long.

Is this just a preference thing?

I love my boys so much!

TIA.

We haven't had insurance for our 16.5 year old dog for a few years now - it got ridiculously expensive as she aged and due to having made a claim for spinal surgery (£5000). Our thinking was that we wouldn't put an older dog through a big operation and anything small we would pay as we go.

I have had the same thoughts but have stuck with insurance as we always seem to claim for more than our premiums most years. Recently had to run him to the emergency vets on a bank holiday for an abscess that appeared overnight which has cost almost £1000 with repeat consultations to get on top of it. I have the view that we will not put him through anything major now but just getting things like that under control or treating chronic conditions means that we are still better paying for the premiums than self insuring.

Ddog1 is another story but all because he's a spaniel and stupid

That did make me laugh! I still have insurance for my eldest Goldie (13 - so quite old my Goldie standards). I won't ever cancel simply because it's my peace of mind.

There's also that chance that you get lots of little things go wrong with your dog - nothing that would necessitate that ultimate choice of whether it's better to PTS - but things like infected tick bites, skin infections, or just removal of lumps, or even warts, that may not turn out to be cancerous but are in awkward places (like elbow joints or in the case of one of my dogs, literally on her eyelid).

Personally, I think if you can afford it then the peace of mind is worth it. At leas to me it is.

Not the point at all but they're both beautiful, OP.

I’ve done this for my two because the price was skyrocketing - I’m thinking just putting that monthly money aside would cover a lot and in terms of a crisis it would need to go onto a credit card.
pet insurance has become such a farce.

I cancelled insurance when my two late Basset hounds reached around 12 years old as Petplan premiums went very high plus they wanted us to pay a percentage of any vet bills on top. I think cover may have been reduced too but can’t remember the exact details. Petplan had been pretty good up until then. One dog had Addisons which they covered all her life as it was a life policy, other dog had nothing wrong with him ever really.

Reasoning was we had the ability to find the cash if we had to, but also at that age I wasn’t going to put them through any major invasive treatments as they were elderly for Bassets. Both made it to 13.5 years.

I cancelled insurance for my elderly cat for similar reasons. Just make sure you could afford to spend a lot of money if an emergency arises.

Both my last two dogs were ridiculously healthy right up until they were 15 - never had a thing wrong with them. Then one of them got glaucoma and cancer, and the other got cancer and a few other (more minor) issues, and things got very expensive very fast.

I was glad to have the insurance at that point. But, if you can afford to potentially pay tens of thousands of pounds, or you can live with having to make a difficult decision because you can't afford treatment, then cancel.

They say that if you are lucky and have no claims, if you put the amount you would pay in premiums in an account, by the time they are the age yours are, you have a nice little fund in case you need it. On the other hand, my 7 year old mutt has had a grass seed in an eye (Sunday evening, emergency vet and referral to expert), grass seed buried under front leg (surgery) and both cruciates done…..I reckon my claims total about £12,000 so far and I am very grateful for insurance! In your situation I can see why you would think about cancelling though!

We've been facing this, our lab is 9, healthy and on petplan whole of life her premiums have crept up to £172 per month on the ultimate cover. Reducing it to classic would only save around £200 per year. We've got other dogs covered also so paying around £450 per month although she is the highest. After a vet check we've ended up cancelling some of them. Think as long as you have savings and a good dog first aid kit. We have liability insurance also.

I think at those ages I would keep the insurance. What’s the opportunity cost here? Youve spent 12 and 13 years paying insurance which if you cancel goes down the drain.

how many more years realistically do you have left with them? And if you needed something then you have insurance.

I say this from the point of view of owning 2 uninsured Labradors but they are 5 and 6 years old and we made the decision to not insure them years ago

I definitely agree with insuring them, but as they get older it’s not that clear cut.

In our case Petplan reduced our cover, wanted us to pay 20% of all vet bills on top and the premiums were so high it didn’t really provide any cover at all when we calculated it all out. Also my old boy sadly developed lymphoma at 13 which as I said is pretty elderly for a Basset Hound. We made the difficult decision to let him go which the vet agreed with. To start putting him through tons of invasive treatment at that age seemed cruel & unnecessary, the ultrasound scan showed his spleen was hugely enlarged and lymphoma quite far progressed. So the decision to let them go isn’t purely financial when they’re elderly, it’s balancing what you think they can cope with treatment wise. Saying that we did have money aside if something was fixable and did continue paying privately for medication & treatment for my other dogs Addisons for the last year or so.

So I’d perhaps calculate how much cover you’re actually getting for the high premiums and decide whether or not you’re better saving it. Plus do you have savings/credit card in case of emergencies.

Have you looked at quotes from elsewhere? Use comparethemarket or similar.
Ours isn't as expensive as yours yet, but when the 20% bit came in, I changed company and put the difference in premiums plus a bit extra in a savings account each month.

I take the view that insurance is essential for the first couple of years to identify if there are any fundamental health issues. If there aren’t then self-insurance is the way to go…

I wouldn’t insure personally, but I would get third party insurance (we use Dog’s Trust). However Petplan are expensive but they are often better for veterans because they don’t exclude things in later life.

Problem is not many companies are keen to take on older dogs aged 10 or over, often cheaper companies also avoid paying out. My friend who is a vet warned me about other cheaper companies. Petplan did always pay up no quibble in my experience, also if your dog has a previous medical issue it’s almost impossible to get new cover, whereas life cover with Petplan although pricey, did pay out for over 9 years for my dog with Addison’s Disease which needed daily meds and regular checks & injections. Like any insurance it’s a gamble and weighing up cost versus risk.

That’s a hefty premium! We’re with Petplan too and we have claimed for both of our elderly dogs. If you’re able to self-fund and disciplined with saving, cancelling might make sense, especially with one never having claimed. Just keep in mind that getting new cover at their age could be tough. Totally a personal call, very cute boys and clearly living their best lives!

The thing is, it is all down to chance, @needastrongoneagain. You could keep on paying and never have to make a claim, or you could cancel the policy, and find yourself facing a whacking bill.

One of our dogs had to have both cruciates done, plus fixing a dislocated kneecap (a rare side effect of the cruciate surgery), and treatment for an ulcer caused by the pain relief she was given - and the bill was just over £10,000 - which PetPlan paid directly to the vet hospital, without a murmur, apart from £50 for specialist food when she had the ulcer.

Personally, I would always carry on with the pet insurance.

Don't do it...I have a 7 year old terrier,who was as fit as a butchers dog. I cancelled his insurance under duress- my husband was unhappy about a previous claim not being fully met and nagged and nagged until I cancelled.
Three weeks later his cruciate ligament was damaged. Operation would cost 4k which I don't have. Luckily extended rest did the trick and he's OK. However I now can't get him covered for this issue which isn't uncommon so basically I've shot us in the foot and insurance quotes are ridiculous.

2 spaniels (stupid) no insurance..it just got silly cost wise. I put money away each month to cover any extra spaniel calamity costs. I could afford a big bill if needs be though , well I’d have to so I am aware of that.

We insure our young (4) dog, but don’t insure our old (12) cat. Once they reach the age that you wouldn’t put them through extensive treatment or surgery insurance is pretty pointless, as long as you can afford the routine and minor stuff which, thankfully we can.

One of my dogs insurance went up to £355 a month after 1 claim of £900 and a pre existing condition, safe to say we didn’t renew and we’re putting that in a high interest savings account. My other dog is only £50 a month with no claims and no pre existing condition but we will not be renewing and we will be putting that into savings also.

Thank you so much for all the replies. Quite a mix, which reflects my own feelings about insurance at this stage. On the one hand, I’ve paid for two dogs for nearly 13 years, one has hardly had anything go wrong so insurance has (sort of) not been as essential, the other - well, erm… quite the opposite (inherent daftness I’m sure was included in the small print from the breeder contract that I didn’t pick up on at the time, and I secretly adore in truth), where insurance has very much been essential and has paid so much more out than we’ve ever paid in premiums without question.

Even at aged 10, when he ruptured a disc jumping into a ditch he misjudged and needed specialist surgery, total cost £10k (most covered but not all at that age), there was the ‘is he too old for this’ discussion but 8 weeks later he was charging around good as new, so maybe I’m judging by age and not by fitness anyway!

We can afford to cover medical needs. But as kind folk have pointed out, we’ve paid this long - why stop now?

I just know the month after I cancel cover they both develop or do something I could have claimed for!

And thank you re kind comments, they live their best lives and always have, but they have given us more than they we give them without even knowing it. Like most loved dogs 😊

I wouldn’t stop insurance. The thing is they could develop a condition that could be treated but would cost thousands and thousands.

I think at those ages it comes down to whether you’d put them through any significant treatment or whether you’d let them go quietly. Only you know the answer to that.

Id keep it. I had this internal debate and wouldn’t put my dog (13) through any invasive treatment. However he did get an eye issue which cleared up with minor surgery and the total cost was about £3-4k. Even minor treatments can end up being £££ and I wouldn’t have liked to make a decision about whether to PTS over an issue with such a straight forward recovery.