I posted this yesterday on another thread
Buy the best life cover insurance you can afford. Don't just go for cheap because when you need it you want the insurance to pay out and to cover your costs. Go for life cover so any conditions or illnesses will be covered for life as long as you stick with the company.
Be aware that anything you have gone to your vet about already, even if you have not claimed, could impact future claims as they can deem it preexisting. When I made my first claim they asked for a 'full' history of all my visits from the vet.
As for cover you need as much as you can afford. I made the mistake of only having £4000 per year but am stuck now as we have claimed for so many things already and moving would mean so many things would be excluded.
To give you an idea of costs. It was over £2000 for severe D&V which required lots of tests, treatments and admissions. Endoscopy was around £600.
We were at a specialist vet centre a few weeks ago (which a lot of operations and conditions would be referred to) and I was looking at the price list. An MRI was around £2000. An operation to relief a spinal disc compression would have set me back just over £5000. Luxating patella surgery around £3500. Someone I know has treated their youngish dog who had cancer and their bill was over £10,000 for the year.
Pup is a 2 month pedigree and we know she's healthy so what to do?
Btw. My puppy was a healthy pedigree and his parents had been dna tested for specific genetic conditions. It doesn't stop them getting ill, developing cancer etc. Also doesn't stop them injuring themselves or being bitten by other dogs etc etc. You are also in that situation that should you now go into the vets for something like a limp then future policies would possibly have conditions excluding leg issues etc which could prove costly so get your permanent insurance ASAP. People on here have been caught out by that. The person I know with the £10000 bill had a perfectly healthy dog for a few years until they weren't.
Do we need lifetime cover? yes because if you claim for anything or have a consultation in a 12 month policy you will find it is excluded as pre existing the next year and so on. Again that can be a very costly mistake just to save a few pounds now.
Do we need limits per condition? Avoid this. What's the point of having limits per condition when one condition can run into many thousands. It negates the benefit of insurance. For example if you have an overall claim limit of £5000 but a limit of £2000 per condition and you needed hip surgery costing £5000 you can only claim £2000 that year. My policy is £4000 max per year so I would have been able to claim the full £4000 and only after then would I need to top it up myself.
