To insure my dog today and claim this week?

[Swerab]

My dog has hurt his paw . I can't see anything immediately wrong with it but its clearly hurting him.

He's not insured. If I take out insurance today can I claim straight away?

Ps 're Vets making profit on drugs...i had a recent stay in hospital, and on discharge told to take paracetamol on top of the other drugs I was prescribed. When I asked why the paracetamol wasn't with the other stuff I was told that people are expected to have some at home anyway. Then the pharmacist said it costs the NHS £6 to dispense the paracetamol I could get for 36p in the supermarket, because it has to be prescribed, counted, checked and labelled.
So maybe the same process applies to vets.

you can get most animal medications much cheaper off the internet. Most vets will give you a prescription and as long as you use an approved online service, it can save you a shitload of money.

We did it with my moms dogs, their heart meds were costing £90 a go from the vet, it was 1/3 of that from online pharmacy.

I think it is quite irresponsible to choose to have an uninsured pet.

Our old cats weren't insured. We were both working full time. Didn't have kids. Good amount of savings.
Now we have two young cats and a pup. I'm not working and we have kids. They are all insured.

Not the kids obviously! That'd be weird!

I feel like I have to defend myself here. I am a vet and I can honestly say that in 13 years of practice I have never ever charged somebody more because their pet is insured. Never. Nor have any of my colleagues as far as I am aware.
Insurance companies go through claims and our clinical history with a fine tooth comb, do none of you think they might notice an extra £100 for no reason and query it?! We have to declare that our fees are no higher than they would have been for an uninsured pet when we fill in the forms. If a vet was caught doing that they risk being struck off.
I spent 10 years working in a fairly deprived area which was not covered by a charity clinic and in many cases would have to alter my diagnostic/treatment plan to cost less as an uninsured owner couldn't afford it. The treatment will be cheaper and if it works then great but the more expensive treatment is for a better standard of care, not to make money!

It's in no way irresponsible to have an uninsured pet! It's irresponsible not to take your dog to the vet if it needs it. I have never insured, I just pay as and when. The excess is often more than the vets bill anyway!

I always insured my cats as when I first got them I could afford the monthly premium rather than a whacking great bill if something went wrong. I can afford a surprise bill now without worry but still insure them. Habit maybe? But they're 10 now and although I'm sure they'll be fine for years yet it's a subconscious comfort that they're insured.

I agree OP - You can be a responsible owner and not insure your pet, as long as you have some sort of plan to be able to pay vets bills when they crop up.
In answer to your original q you would be U and committing fraud to take out insurance today and try to claim for this pre existing condition.
Hope your dog feels better soon. If it's just a broken nail I doubt it will cost more than your excess anyway, but will be painful until the nail is sorted out.

I'm paying £13 a month for a dog and a cat. I don't think we're underinsured, it's a lifetime policy with renewing £4k a year per condition. Maybe it's because the cat was free and the dog was a rescue, so basically free?
Anyway, yes, clearly stated 14 day exclusion before insurance begins.

It's in no way irresponsible to have an uninsured pet! It's irresponsible not to take your dog to the vet if it needs it. I have never insured, I just pay as and when. The excess is often more than the vets bill anyway!

In which case why ask? Just take your let to the vet and pay your bill

So can you afford to pay vet bills or not? And if you can, why post about taking out insurance to cover bills?

Because I was concerned that it was going to be something massively complicated and expensive.

Fwiw, it was a broken claw, I took him to vets and with some meds it's cost 75. Dh and I are going to put money away for him every month.

Why not just get insurance?

TBH vets bills can run into a couple of thousand if injury serious enough so based on that you would need to be putting at least £200 per month away and then there's no saying you would have enough to cover treatment plus any ongoing meds dog may have.

It's a gamble but I would rather know I haven't got to worry about finding the money !

After reading this thread I was a bit concerned that our insurance was too cheap so I have checked the policy; it is a lifelong policy covering treatment (including dental) up to £4,000 with a £95 excess and 5% vet fees contribution. It's with PetProtect and our dog is a healthy 7 month old mastiff cross. We pay £14 per month.

Sorry to hijack your thread OP but can I ask pps if this sounds okay or should I look for a better policy that might cost more? I'm not sure about the vet fees contribution part to be honest, we would struggle to pay a large amount upfront (which is why we have insurance!) and 5% of fees could work out to quite a bit?

My dog was in a car accident and his treatment cost 4000, so that would be 200 upfront. Not bad really. I think if you have a pedigree insurance is more expensive for some reason.

To the original OP, no you won't be able to claim for a couple of weeks so not worth trying that.

I am another who cancelled insurance. Had it for years at great expense. The excess was £50 and most visits cost less than that, when a problem reoccurred I was told it was not covered and finally I was asked to pay 'up front' in future and claim back from the insurance company as it wasn't petplan! Cancelled at that point and now ensure I have savings and a credit card with a big available balance on it.

Gladys - the thing that concerns me about PetProtect policies is that they have a cap of £750 per policy year for claims relating to CT or MRI scans and cruciate ligament tear/rupture/damage. Referral for MRI is seldom less than £2000, cruciate repair can be similar if doing TTA/TPLO.

I have had cats all my life but now that my last one has died i will not be getting another....My cat died from a blood clot in November and that cost me £400...i can not afford vet bills or a monthly insurance premium until my kids are independent....no wonder so many animals need rehoming when the vet costs are so high.

Id love to know how people are getting such cheap insurance. My girl is a healthy, never needed any vet treatment rescue mutt of mixed breeds (unknown as to which) and she's still gone from £17 a month to 41 a month in 2 years without ever making a claim?!