Insurance for a puppy

[Helenluvsrob]

Hi
I have an an I go cavalier King Charles puppy. 11 weeks old.
Covered by a month of “ free” Petplan as per vets puppy package.

Please advise me about pet insurance and vet costs long term.

I have no experience of what these things could cost so I can’t make the “ save up and pay “ vs pay the insurance decision.

Who are good Insurers ?

Lifetime I assume is really the only way to go if you do insure, as 4K or 7k towards a lifelong condition seems pretty low if you then need to,pay all ongoing costs.

I am aware that cavvies have a poor genetic health record so if I do insure I want these conditions covered.

His “ breeder is a good friend who had a litter because she wanted a puppy ( she has gran and mum gran is getting on ) so I know his origin very well but he’s “ nowt posh “.

Here he is to help you decide to reply 🥰

[XoandRogelio]

Well whatever you decide, I can advise you NOT to go with Animal Friends insurance - they're cheap for a reason and will do everything they can to avoid paying you. My vet was astounded at the tricks they pulled to avoid paying my very legitimate claim and even wrote to them on my behalf as she was so outraged at their refusal to honour the claim.

If I could start again, I'd go with Pet Plan as they have a good reputation for paying claims.

As a guide, most standard day-to-day vet bills you wouldn't claim for as they'd be below the minimum claim amount of your insurance. So it's only the bigger things you'd be claiming for. My dog had a £3,000 bill last year after a stint in a specialist animal hospital, so I was very glad to have the insurance, but that's likely pretty rare.

PS your dog is beautiful.

[MustardScreams]

PetPlan all the way. Get the lifetime cover with the highest premium. Both my dogs are covered with them and they are honestly great, never had an issue claiming.

[Spied]

Petplan for our pup.

[Apolloanddaphne]

We use Petplan. When out dog needed an OP they were great. Paid out with no quibbles.

[missbattenburg]

Whichever you choose, do so very quickly. Most insurers have an exclusion time period at the beginning in which the dog is not covered, so you're now likely to have a week or two of no insurance between the end of the 4 weeks free and the end of the exclusion period for your new insurer. Keep your fingers crossed during that time!

Agree that lifetime cover, highest amount with PetPlan seems like a good option for a breed that can be ££££ in medical costs. They often get great feedback on pet forums like this. Plus most vets accept payment directly from them so you don't need to find the money to pay the vet then claim it back.

Have only heard bad things about Animal Friends.

I am with Bought by Many because they offered a higher rate of cover than PP, and I have no issues at all, but they are quite new to the insurance market and new companies bring risk.

[adaline]

We're with Tesco and went for their Gold Standard. Which is lifetime and covers 10k per year including dental work, which is quite rare for insurance.

I've always covered my pets under that policy and have never had any issues. They've never quibbled anything and always pay out.

[mimbleandlittlemy]

Lifetime cover with Petplan which I took out before he arrived to start from the day we collected him - but as I live in London my excess is £100 and we've had a succession of stupid vet visits, all of which have come in just over the £100 or thereabouts. Got Mimbledog on 1st January and so far we've had:

1. Jumped out of ds's arms from about 6" off the ground, landed awkwardly and then wouldn't stop limping - until we got to the vet where he perked up and stopped limping at once and didn't limp again. That was £85. Out of hours consultation plus bank holiday. Yay. We had had him 3 hours.
   
   
2. Managed to jump up on to a work surface (no idea he could jump that high), grab hold of a bunch of grapes someone had left there even though everyone had been told not to leave grapes anywhere but in the fridge and we couldn't take the risk that he might have eaten any. £185. He hadn't (vet carefully inspected vomit).
   
   
3. Got some sort of nasty tummy thing and was pooing blood. Two lots of £125 for antibiotics and probiotics.
   
   
4. Castration - £199 (never covered on insurance).
   
   
5. Kennel Cough - diagnosis and anti inflammatory. £125.
   
   
6. Managed to jump on to the kitchen table, grab a bag of Thai Prawn Crackers we'd forgotten was on there and eat them all but not the paper bag, so that's good.... Chinese would have been fine, Thai contain onion and garlic. £185.
   
   So I could have claimed back about £150 but I haven't because I tend to think it's not worth putting in the claim for small sums over the excess and I don't want the insurance to bump up massively.
   
   All those bills have 10% off as I'm on a vet's monthly payment scheme which covers all worming pills and annual jabs.
   
   Dog is an expensive luxury.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

With a CKCS you want the highest value lifetime insurance you can get. Sadly he is highly likely to develop a heart condition in middle to old age currently in my medium price practice it costs around £150 per month to treat this dogs who knows where those prices will be in 8 years time.
FYI premiums will be high due to your high likelihood of claims.

[talia66]

I have learnt my lesson about pet insurance after having a bad experience my last dog Toby. He very rarely had anything wrong so when he got to about 7 / 8 I changed his cover and went for a cheaper animal friends policy. Fast forward to this year. at age 11 he started having health complaints and then he had his gallbladder out and various things. All in all I paid out at least 10, 000 pounds. I claimed and got back 2,600 pounds at the most. This is because there was a limit on conditions. In their defence they paid up ok - but tried to group lots of different things as one condition. What I never banked on is the immense feelings and distressed when your much loved pet is very unwell, and suddenly no matter what the cost if they have a chance of a decent life you will save them. This is made very stressful if you have inadequate cover, because you have to make hard decisions. I wish I had thorough cover so that this stress was taken away and I could just focus on Toby. Fast forward 6 months and my beloved Toby passed away. So I have just recently brought a new puppy and am taking insurance more seriously. Bought By many seem good and don't cost an arm and a leg - but I haven't claimed from them yet so would be interested if anybody has any experience with them

[BiteyShark]

Lifetime and as much yearly amount you can afford.

Read the T&Cs closely as not all insurance is the same. Swopping around each year or not declaring anything you have been to the vets about could prove costly. That is because 'anything' even if you didn't claim and wasn't even a diagnosis could mean a condition isn't covered as it was deemed to be preexisting. Mine asked for a full history on my first claim.

I'm with petplan and have claimed nearly £5000 and my dog is only 3 years. I went for 4K each year and I wish I had gone for the 7 or 12k as I know from experience that 4K isn't a lot when you need operations/specialist care etc.

[pigsDOfly]

Another Petplan satisfied customer here. Petplan also include certain tooth treatments.

Would echo what everyone else has said about getting lifetime cover and the highest cover you can afford.

I would add, although, it's probably being a bit of a doom merchant that having going with a free month's cover from the vet, might end up costing you dearly if your puppy were to come down with anything during that month. Hopefully, that won't happen but you never know with a young puppy.

In the first year of my dog's life I didn't have lifetime cover and during that time she caught a stomach virus that was doing the rounds.
When I switched to lifetime cover anything stomach related was excluded as a pre existing condition.

I did manage to get it taken off the exclusion after two years of no stomach problems thankfully.

However, my dog went on to develop pancreatitis. If I hadn't been able to get the exclusion removed all my vet bill for that condition would not have been covered. And given that I've claimed for almost nothing else, my insurance would have been a complete waste of money.

That situation would apply with any pet insurance company, not just Petplan.

[pigsDOfly]

Just a thought having read over the thread again.

Anything you ask your vet about in passing will also be noted by your insurance company, and could be use regarding future claims. So be careful what you ask your vet before you get your lifetime cover in place.

I'm afraid pet insurance can be a bit of a minefield OP.

[pigsDOfly]

Oh and meant to say, your puppy is gorgeous.