That my dig insurance is talking the piss

[Ikeasucks]

Ok so have a 7 yr old spaniel and have always had her covered with Petplan on a life cover policy- it needs renewed right now - they want just over £1400 for the year. Tell me this is crazy - what do others pay

This!
We're with Petplan but they've paid out for a mouth surgery, a broken leg and associated physio and still pay the ongoing maintenance physio 5 years later. They've just paid out for a mouth lump to be removed too.
It's a lot but if you look at cheaper options be careful what you sign up for. Many make you pay 20% of the bill on top of your premium or don't cover a lot that Petplan do

Insurance emporium.
£38 per month lifetime plan.
4 yr old golden retriever.
Paid out £5k for torn cruciate ligament no quibble.
With 50% risk of her rupturing the other leg i'll stay with them.

Thats an insane amount of money. Can you self-insure instead?

It woudn't be so bad if they paid out but often they don't.

We’re with Many Pets for our 12 year old crossbreed rescue. When she was 7 with no conditions it was about £65 a month but is now £165 a month (1900 a year or thereabouts). We’ve got lifetime cover and they pay out every month for her regular medication, often within 12 hours of us putting in the claim. Can’t change insurer because of her age and existing condition, but they’ve been so good recently I’m not sure we would want to.

I'm with petplan, mine is £1000 a year for a 13 year old big dog, lifetime cover but towards the lower end. I have claimed a lot over the years and have always found them to be very good and not to hike the renewal price because of it.

Mine is £30. Puppy staffie.
My Lab was £160 pcm.

I used Argos Lifetime insurance for my spaniel. Last year it was £320. This year it went up to £525! I've never made a claim for my now 9 year old dog.
I went on an insurance comparison site and have got the exact same insurance from Tesco for £216!!
Shop around.

We decided to run the risk years ago when we got our first Labrador and put money aside monthly in a savings account. Our first Lab was treated for a dental abscess and required euthanising at age 17 so we ended up with a large amount in savings which will hopefully cover any future costs we may incur with our current Lab.

I took out insurance for my two cats when they were kittens and worked out that I’d spent over £5k on it with no claims, over 5 years. I cancelled it and instead I direct debit £250 a month into a separate bank account for it, called cats! The cats are now both 12 and I’ve used £3k of it to date on vets fees.
I figure that’s enough to cover most eventualities and if I don’t use it, I get it back at the end.
Interestingly, if the vet knows you’re not insured, they have often given me the cheaper option on treatment to consider - it doesn’t always need the gold standard, the expensive overnight stays and multiple’extras’.

£48 PM for a 5 year old pug. It’s just gone up by £8 pm. I’m dreading getting to year 7 and above. I know it’ll really jump

We had crazy quotes and have always self insured. Dog is now 9 and this has worked in our favour as every issue we’ve had with him wouldn’t have been covered. Of course could end up costing us in the future but we have the savings to cover any eventuality.

i looked into it again recently but the premium plus the very high co pay amount along with a cap meant it didn’t make financial sense

7 is the year they whack it up assuming they will get ill. our two yr old labs are currently 80 quid a month each so it doesn't sound too out of whack

Petplan is expensive but they do pay out with no quibbles usually, its worth the peace of mind!

Yes - totally agree! We’ve used them for years now and they’re brilliant.
Paid circa £30k for our previous Frenchie’s cancer treatments without quibble and when we insured our current dog, didn’t increase premiums.

I’ve never insured any of my pets. Currently have a 6 year old Weimaraner and a 4 year old ragdoll. Dog is a rescue I’ve had for two years; have spent £300 at the vet since I’ve had him (for a ear infection), nothing on the cat (except £100 to have her spayed). Previous Weimaraner lived to 13 and died in his sleep (think it was a stroke), I think he went to the vets once. I go to a local, independent vet who is exceptionally reasonable and cannot fault the care.
I think it’s a vicious circle; most vets are now owned by large corporations/insurance is seen as the norm and I do wonder how much surgery/treatment is necessary. My friend goes to the same vet; her dog potentially needs double hip
surgery, but our vet is very much “let’s wait and see” - a year on and aside from 3 monthly check ups he’s doing fine. I’m sure if he was insured/at a chain vet he would’ve had massively invasive surgery by now.
However, I could afford to pay for treatment in an emergency; I know not everyone has enough in savings for this.

Prices go up a lot once a dog hits 7. I stopped mine a couple of years ago when it was £150pm. Mines 14 now so I just save that money into a separate account to use if I need to

Best solution!

Just catching up - thank you for all the interesting replies on different ways of handling it all. It really is all just a gamble when it comes down to it