To be shocked by the cost of this

[Shockedbycost]

Just had our pet insurance renewal for our 2 year old dog. The first year we paid £20 per month, last year this went to £50. This year it has doubled to £100.
The policy is a lifetime one from Argos. I wouldnt mind so much if it had a limit of say 15k but it only has a max limit per year of £3.5k! So if she needs a really serious operation it’s not even going to help us that much….
Anyone else think this is a crazy increase? Or has had something similar happen?
In first year we claimed around 3k so anticipated and increase, this year we have claimed about 1k but didn’t expect it to double!

It sounds like you've claimed more than you've paid in, so so far you're still in profit?

We effectively self insure and have for a while. We get third party through the dogs trust.

Our last old dog, premiums and excess went through the roof and wasn’t worth sustaining.

We decided against it with this one as he got older. We had a hard conversation about what we would treat though. There’s a lot I wouldn’t put an old dog through.

So you’ve had your policy two years. Paid £1k ish for it over those years but claimed £4k and it’s increased to £100 per month so only £1.2k for the third year? I’d say you’re doing pretty well out of it wouldn’t you? If you’ve claimed twice already you’ll be high risk for another claim. Insurance companies are there to make money they don’t just give you it for free.

What the heck is she doing to have needed 4k of treatment in 2 years?

Mind you my dog had an emergency op that cost 3.5k last year, but that is our only claim in 5 years. I don't claim the ear infection / bit of a dodgy tum type expenses for this reason, I want to be able to afford the premiums.

We stopped insuring last year for our old boy. I wanted to claim for an infection to his bits and by the time I'd paid excess and co-pay i would have got £20 back from £175 bill. He has hypothyroidism as well that i don't claim for. We wouldn't put him through any surgery or cancer treatment etc at his age so I had a chat with my friend who is a vet and she agrees the insurance is a waste of money at this stage. We save what we would normally pay on premiums in case he needs any treatment.

When she was very young she ate something dodgy and was extremely ill - this happened on a bank holiday weekend so she needed emergency overnight care, UV drip, scans etc. This was the bulk of the first years claim. Last year she had some scans and some physio. We think she has hip problems so that will be on there as a pre existing claim (which I’m fine with) but I think due to the other incident they also have gastro problems as a pre existing conditions despite it being the result of a one off incident, so I might see if it’s possible for that to be taken off?
i appreciate we have claimed far more than we have paid - though the idea of insurance for the pet owner is not to break even right? My main issue is the max claim only being 3.5k rather than higher, as if she needs anything major then the insurance will essentially confribute max £2300 towards it but we are paying £100 a month and still don’t really have peace of mind that she’s covered for a big operation!

Take a look at K9Cover, you choose whether to be covered for the existing / previous claim condition and you then choose how much you want to be covered for (for the existing condition) . It was £40 a month cheaper than my existing insurers renewal quote & they paid out with no issue.

though the idea of insurance for the pet owner is not to break even right?

The idea is that you have peace of mind should something untoward happen - it’s not a pay in/pay out pot or insurers would never make any money.

This is the problem - at 3.5k a year I don’t have peace of mind 😔

I imagine you could get the £3.5k limit increased if that’s the real problem although it will cost more per month. Perhaps shop around and get a few quotes. I see pet insurance more as a spreading out per month the big cost of something. You could always just put your £100 into savings for this purpose instead but then you’d only have £1.2k and the end of the year so still nowhere near the £3.5k claim limit. Obviously if you’re claim free for a few years you’ll be able to save a bigger pot but you’ll be seen as higher risk for a claim with two in two years already.

We haven't insured our current dog - adopted as an elderly dog with a huge back catalogue of ailments. She has a budget on the family spreadsheet of £250 per month and so far this year has had an enormous bill for an unplanned surgery on top of her budget. I would rather pay for her health than sodding car repairs like the pothole-caused new wheel and tyre.

OK, so if you cancel the insurance, do you have £3.5k for an emergency?

I once did an assessment of premiums paid and claims made over my old cat's life. It worked out that the cost to me was £7.50pcm over his 14 years. In the end his premiums were about £100pcm and claims only paid out at 80%. He had arthritis during his last few years and we broke even.

My two young cats, 3, cost about £50 for insurance every month. When it goes up to £100 I'll stop it but only because I have enough money to cover expensive vet bills. I would not put a cat through chemo.

Cats are less expensive than dogs. Mine get good food, are on the pet plan fkr their check ups, vaccinations, and flea/worm treatments. They cost about £220pcm.

I would urge people to Consider how expensive pets are please.

I pay money into an ISA and use that for my cats rather than use insurance. I started doing this with my first cat about 20 years ago, so now have a nice cushion to cover my increasingly expensive elderly cat and the annoying kitten.

You’ve had 2 large claims in a short space of time. Insurance is all about risk. Your dog is now considered high risk by the insurers so your premium has increased to reflect that.
My dog was insured for 15 years and I claimed in year 14 for one £500 bill.
My premium for year 15 obviously increased as a result and my dog was far ‘lower risk’ given I’d claimed once in 14 years. Think about it.

You've shown that your propensity to claim is a lot higher than the average joe; you're a high risk client so your payments are going to be huge.

Just as if you were a 19 yr old driver who'd already caused 3 x 6 car pile ups and youre still wanting to drive a 100k car...

Insurance isn't a "not for profit business". Most people don't have annual claims, especially with younger dogs.

I stopped insuring my 16yr old dog as the payments had got to £50 a month, with a max claim of 1k, and an excess of £250, a recent (first) claim for an ear investigation had cost us over £700, and when we received £297 back from insurers I thought id be better off paying that £50 monthly payment into a pot i could use in event of an issue. It's no wonder your payment is going up with so many claims.

If you want the peace of mind, you'll have to pay for it.

So increase the cover - easy to shop around as there are loads of insurance companies out there. But it'll obviously cost you more. Struggling to understand why you seem surprised your premium has gone up when your claims have cost so much already.

So 2 claims on a young dog,
totalling way more than your excess, seems a reasonable increase to me, especially on a lifetime policy.

You’ve claimed way more than you’ve paid in in two years so your high risk for insurers, so your policy cost has gone up.

We have a lot of animals and it's cheaper to save an amount each month than insure them all. As a back up I can always raid the new car savings pot.
I find it helps to be assertive with vets, especially when they're recommending expensive surgery on older pets. Vet has recently suggested exploratory surgery and tests on a 17 year old cat who is otherwise healthy, eating well, going out every day, and enjoying life. I'd never see him in pain or suffering but at 17 I think the stress of it all would do him more harm than good. I took him in for something minor last week and saw the senior vet who has known us for years and he agreed with me. The pressure to opt for treatment has really ramped up since the practice was taken over by one of the big companies.

Still saving for that new car 😂

We've never had pet insurance, we just pay for anything thats needed. I had a cat with diabetes and just paid that as a monthly outgoing and will soon take care of a cat with kidney disease so he is on medication and needs special food.

When we had a dog he needed quite a lot of work on his back, about 2k (not an operation), we just paid it.

Years ago pet insurance wasnt a 'thing' and I think its a scam to be quite honest.

They will count gastro as pre-existing because nobody can know the true gastro cause, that isn't coming off. Have you talked with the breeder about all these issues to get a true picture of what you're facing here in terms of costs and claims? What was the reason for all the physio if you don't have an actual diagnosis? Is the vet perhaps a bit over-enthusiastic at sending for treatments because you're happy to claim? If you keep on with this level of claims, then you risk investigations and non-renewal, even with a lifetime policy.

Agree with everything here. I've just cancelled my oldest dog (14) now after speaking with my vet - there is no surgery/major illness or cancer treatment I would put him through now. His went up from £100 pcm to £200pcm at renewal. I've definitely had my moneys worth due to skin issues - any dog who is on Apoquel (the only effective treatment for atopic dermatitis), is looking at a lifetime of medication that costs hundreds of pounds a month depending upon the size of the dog. Three out of my last four dogs have suffered from this horrible allergy and without Apoquel would scratch until they bled. All from different breeders - 2 x Pugs and a Newfoundland. A 0% credit card is always an option, and like PP have mentioned, REALLY query whether your bet is recommending procedures that aren't necessary-the big corporates set targets and have effectively ruined the veterinary industry.

You need to shop around, insurers don't reward loyalty. I have 2 cats, no claims, total cost was:
Year 1 £300
Year 2 £700
Year 3 £970

I've just cancelled the renewal before year 3 started, and found one with the same cover for £306 a year.