Would you cancel your pets insurance at a certain age?

[TanaFrench]

My dog is 13 and has insurance. I was always going to just keep her insured until the day she passes (and I still might). But recently I have heard quite a few people say that they cancelled theirs once their pet got to a certain age because at that point if anything major happened they wouldn’t put them through it. I thought that was a good point, but I’m worried and still feel like I would keep it just in case. I wouldn’t cancel at 13 anyway. Maybe at about 16, if she made it to that age.

So I am just curious about what other people do. Do you keep your pet insurance forever or is it pointless once they are elderly? And if so, at what age would you cancel it?

Yes. One million pounds public liability. That's the only pet insurance we carry.

When they get old is the entire point!!

I know there are things that you might decide not to put them through. But also so many things to make their lives better, more comfortable, more mobile!!!

it crushes me when people just give up on these amazing animals that have you their whole lives, just because they are old!

Not having insurance doesn't mean you're giving up

Who do you think is 'giving up on' their pet? Not having insurance does not mean withholding treatment or appropriate care. I think almost all of us have said that the insurance is so expensive that we'd rather pay the vet direct, and/or certain types of expensive/invasive treatment are not in the animal's interests.

My mum has just cancelled it. Her dog is 18 so very elderly now. If he got cancer it something she'd PTS rather than make him go through chemo now. And it's likely that at his age he'd pass quickly anyway if he got sick.

Since our dog was about 6 (shes now 11) we've been putting £30 in a savings account ready for her old age and medical bills. Wish we'd started earlier really. There's now about £2k there which will help when it comes to it. We chose to do this instead of insurance

I would do the maths. See if it worth it and if you did need to use it would it cover you. I had my dog covered with pet plan till he was 9 as the monthly payment went up to 60 a month and I had to also pay 20% of the total bill. I worked out that I was paying £720 a year to be covered and if I had a bill
of £1000 I would have to pay 200 of it. So in my mind it wasn’t worth it. I started paying the money I had been paying into an account in case of a vet bill. Most insurance companies add a co payment of around 20% once a dog reaches 7.
I also agree that with an older dog, you may not want to put them through as many procedures and stress as you would a younger dog.
you must do what is best for you and your pets.

Horse insurance may be slightly different to dog but I kept my horse insured for everything until the monthly payments became too expensive, once she got over a certain age (20) it went up and up each year, up till then it was about £20 a month, once they quoted me £70 a month I switched to veteran which only covered accidents not illnesses, which then brought it back down to about £18 a month, and I just got a credit card should the need arise, but like you say by this point she was about 25 and if something big did happened I wouldn't have put her through operations and stress etc anyway.

If you cancel, I think you have two choices, put that same money away in an account just in case and/or get a credit card for that sole use in an emergency

I stopped paying for my two older greyhounds (9+).

They both developed bone cancer, and even if we'd had cover, I wouldn't have put them through the trauma of operations and treatment as the outcomes were so poor. I don't regret that.

Some animals have lifelong medical conditions that need expensive and complex care.
I do not want to burden my family with that.
Some people are perfectly ok paying hundreds per month for a pet.
So yes, if despite my best efforts to pick dog breeds not prone to complications, I ended up with pet with cronical condition, I would look to rehome.

In my oppinion it is perfectly reasonable thing to do, saving my family unwanted cost and care and providing a pet with home where it will not be resented.

Our dog is 14 this week and in the last couple of years has had some serious medical issues . His insurance( life policy) is now £150 per month , on the face of it it sounds a lot because he likely wouldn’t be able to have anything major due to his co morbidities . However , I make a claim every 3 months for his medication and twice a year for blood testing relating to one of his meds and with what they pay me back his actual insurance is only £20 per month so for us it’s worthwhile .

We cancelled our two 11-12 year old cats last year insurance. Never claimed for one of them, the other two claims of about £100 each time. We decided to save the money instead of paying insurance. We have £2k saved. Sadly my cat was put to sleep this week. If I could have claimed for the appointment, cremation and ashes box then it still would be loads less than what I've paid for 11 years.

I’ve kept mine because she’s old.

Tbh I’ve never thought about stopping it and I thought having it when they’re old was more important than when they’re young.

This thread is making me re-think it.

I pay almost £50 a month now and that money might be better going into a savings account for when it’s time to be PTS.

Does insurance (I’m with pet plan) pay for being PTS/cremation etc does anyone know?

But it may not be something major that happens, it might be something minor to make your pet's life more comfortable/bearable, and you wouldn't be covered.

We cancelled for our dog. He was 17 and every trip to vet ended in too old to investigate/treat.
it was very expensive and we decided not worth it.

We cancelled ours at age 13. I did try to claim something on the insurance and they said that unless we visited the vet every 3 months for routine checkups (we didn't as no need) as well as paying the premium, then the insurance was invalid.

At that point we decided the insurance people could fuck off and that we'd just save our money for the inevitable veterinary emergency that will occur down the line....

Cancelled one dogs insurance when we went to palliative care approach- when she deteriorated I wasn't going to do anything except euthanise, so didn't see the point. Other dog is now on £60 a month and never used it- seriously considering decreasing that as it's a ridiculous amount to be losing, when again I wouldnt actually treat more than an injury, and wouldn't go to extreme measures with life extending care.

My dog is 11 and he's insured for liability only so if he was in an accident/ caused an accident or bit a child or dog ( unlikely) we have cover .

I get that people are saying it might be needed for smaller things to make an elderly pet more comfortable, but is the insurance then worth it? I pay £100 a month and my excess is now £150 plus a percentage (can’t remember how much) of the cost of treatment. If medication cost £200 a month (for example) then my insurance is not worth it because my excess alone pays for most of it

Keep it. Insurance companies love it when you don’t renew at a time when you’re most likely to claim! Older animals need more vet care rather than less to be kept comfortable in old age, and to avoid problem getting worse - it’s not just for heroic measures. Think medications for arthritis, cognitive decline, dental disease, general checkups.

Of the two cats I’ve had PTS with Petplan, they covered the treatment and PTS vet bill, but not the cremation costs. But do check your policy carefully.

I never had pet insurance, or human health insurance, because I can't afford them. There'd be no point trying to get insurance for them now even if I could afford it - they have pre-existing conditions, so would be refused.

Jesus wept.

Pets aren’t objects to be resented and discarded when they start to need care.

So callous.

I wouldn’t with those numbers. Surely most people who are advising you to keep it are envisioning you paying £30 a month or something?

Yes probably, but if you have an old pet with pre existing conditions it shoots up. My dog is 13 and insurance has been a life saver for us, we have had to claim for quite a few things throughout her life. So it’s absolutely been worth it to have it. But it’s so expensive now that that’s why I’m wondering if other people would cancel once insurance gets to a certain point and the animal is old