Pet insurance

[Yeahsurewhatever]

Interested to see what people pay?
We're currently looking at a puppy and I saw that insurance for this breed could be around £75 a month (!!?)
I was honestly expecting £10-30

I have so many insurance policies on myself and my family and they all togehet don't cost much more than £75 a month!!

What breed are you looking at? I have a Pomeranian and pay around £15 p/m - lifetime cover for up to £5,000 per condition per year

Our 2yr old Airedale is insured with petplan ( who have been excellent with the large claims for our previous dale) - the renewal has just arrived at £40 per month.
It goes up by a couple of pounds per month every year and they are known to be quite a hardy breed.
Is the breed you are looking at a short nosed breed prine to breathing problems? I think they are expensive to cover due to the very real likelihood of illness.
Whatever you do, get lifetime cover- its essential.

Prices tend to vary on breed and your location (vet prices).

Don't be tempted to just go for cheap as vet fees can quickly get into several thousands. A bad D&V episode requiring scans, admissions and treatment cost over £2000. We were facing a bill of £5000 for surgery after my dog jumped over a ditch and landed badly (fortunately he didn't need the surgery). A MRI typically starts at £2000. Specialist vet consultation started at £240 at our local animal hospital.

As PP asked what breed is it. Some breeds are prone to expensive conditions which will push the price up.

My advice is to have a life policy and get as much yearly cover for as much as you can afford. Some companies seem to push up premiums every year according to what people post on these forums but we use petplan and despite claiming around £5000 over the past 3 years ours hasn't increased much.

Thanks it was a forum, and one bad quote.
I've done a few others and have found prices from £21!

I have another thread about breeds so I think my breed may be about to change.
I was just doing a quick financial check to confirm I could afford to care for the dog properly and panicked when I saw £75 just on insurance! ..plus food, day care, routine jabs, grooming etc.

To add another question - what criteria are you looking for in your insurance?
I know to get lifetime cover and don't get the cheapest insurance, but that's it, what are your priorities when picking one?

My priorities were:-

Well known company. I always get a bit concerned about low quotes from companies or underwriters that I haven't heard of before but that's just me personally.

I crawled through T&Cs of some quotes. Some expected you to pay your excess AND a percentage towards fees. When fees can easily be thousands then you would still be expected to find hundreds of pounds in one go.

I went with a company that my vet dealt with lots and recommended them. At the animal hospital they dealt directly with 'some' companies and not others so I didn't even have to pay anything other than my excess. Depending on whether you can find thousands to pay for expensive treatment upfront before claiming might impact whether paying direct or not matters but you would need to discuss this with your vet to see if they do do that or not.

Some policies cover hydrotherapy up to a certain amount which can be vital in recovery from some surgeries or conditions.

Some policies cover dental whereas others don't. Dental work can be pricey but even if they cover it do look at the T&Cs as mine will as long as a vet has checked his teeth at least once a year.

Some policies cover the cost of the pet if they die within a certain age, some cover cancellation of holiday in certain conditions. These may or may not be useful to you.

Essentially gets some quote. Crawl though the boring T&Cs and make sure you are happy with them. The problem being is that once you have gone to the vets about anything, even if you don't claim, it could be deemed a pre existing condition so swooping companies later can be problematic. We have had so many claims now that I cannot swop even if I wanted to as we would have a gazillions exclusions.