Do you have questions on pet insurance? Ask PDSA vet Claire Roberts - £200 voucher to be won

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Created for PDSA

Do you have questions on how pet insurance works, the different types of policy available and why it’s important to protect your pet? PDSA expert Claire Roberts will be on hand to answer your questions.

• Everyone who shares a question on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw.
• One lucky user will win a £200 voucher provided by Mumsnet.

About PDSA vet Claire Roberts:
“ Claire Roberts is a vet working for the UK’s leading veterinary charity PDSA, which provides free and low-cost veterinary care to the pets of owners in need. She has worked in mixed and small animal practice as well as in academia and currently provides veterinary advice for PDSA’s communication team. Claire lives in Bristol with her two rescue cats, Indiana Jones and Jon Snow.”

Here’s what PDSA has to say:
“With so many different policy-types on the market, choosing the right pet insurance policy to meet your pet’s needs and your budget can be complicated. PDSA Vet, Clare Roberts is here to help by answering any questions you have about protecting your pet; from the key cover to look out for, to jargon-busting those technical terms!”

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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Why do insurance companies insist on a blanket co-pay once a dog is certain age. Some breeds live much longer than others. My dog could easily make 15 whilst my brother's breed has a life span of 10. Yet, the co-pay for both kicks in at age 9.

Does it make sense to shop around every year for cat insurance? Our girls are four now (both in good health), but we've stayed with the same provider. Is that a mistake?

Do many providers offer cover for life for pre/existing conditions that isn’t scarily expensive? Ours does, and at the moment the premiums aren’t too eye watering, but I’m mindful that they will go up as our cat ages (and we are making more claims to treat this condition), so I’m wondering what our options are.

I have to say, I’m thankful we insured her from day one since this condition would have proven very expensive for us to pay the bill for!

Our 3 year old cats have been under the same insurer since having them , is there any benefit to regularly swapping the provider in the same way you can save money with car insurance or once they have pre-existing conditions are you better off staying put as on a new insurance the conditions would be known conditions and would not be covered?

With so many options… what should you make 100% is included?

My mum has her dog insured but has never claimed on it despite a couple of issues needing treatment. She is worried if she claims, it'll put her costs up so she just pays vet direct. How can she work out what effect a claim will have to balance if it's actually more cost effective to make the claim?

I'm thinking of getting some guinea pigs, how much space do they need?

Is the general rule for dog insurance that the older the dog gets the more costly it gets? Unless maybe you stay with the same provider? or is it best to shop around year on year like most other insurances?

Our cat is very special to us and if she was sick we would cancel our holiday.
What is the best way to protect ourselves against this?

I have an 11 year old dog who I have had to claim on our insurance twice a few years ago. It was a substation amount both times (over £1000 vet bill) and have been with the same insurer ever since. Because we have done that, would it be impossible to now change insurer? Or are we not likely to find it cheaper elsewhere anyway due to his age? We pay nearly £40 a month at the moment.

I was wondering this the other day? Is there a pet insurance that helps low income families?
I know the PDSA helps them but sometimes pet insurance is expensive and there is an excess.
Families in a lower income would still like to have a lovely pet but might not be able to afford it?

Which policies are best for rabbits? When they go through it can be very expensive and pretty sudden

My cat turned out to have a recurrent UTI issue. As she had a UTI once before I got her insured, is there any insurance that will now cover her for it?

Having paid monthly charges for vets fleaing and worming of cat and dog we found the cost of insurance prohibitive and avoided it. Both our cat and dog are over the age of ten and we would not have claimed once during that time. How can you convince me that for future pets insurance is worthwhile? Or have we just been lucky?

We are now looking into getting a cat. Do some breeds or types mean that insurance is cheaper? What about indoor cats vs outdoor cats? If you do or don’t have a cat flap? Do or don’t have a secure garden? We are looking at getting a kitten and wondered if this might influence our choice!

I remember reading somewhere that only 84% of cats are insured in the UK. My cat is 15 and until she was about 5 we insured her but the price kept increasing and we'd only taken her to the vets to be spayed and once when she had a UTI. She's not been to the vets since. A lot of insurance also has a high excess. Is it worth insuring a cat in your opinion?

And going back to my sibling cats query, in their first year, one sister had a couple of issues requiring treatment (the first just after we'd bought insurance but before the policy became valid so £450 less well off very quickly) but no issues (to date) since. The other sister is generally more robust. The insurance premiums for the two of them seems identical (or perhaps it's even a joint package!) which is odd? Or maybe not?

My cat has been very unfortunate over the last year he has had kennel cough, anxiety related excessive drinking and a wound on his chest probably from a squirrel or rat. My question is - will the insurance company think that he is not being looked after properly and refuse to keep him insured ?

Would you always recommend getting the highest level of insurance? My British shorthair cat has the mid range level - meaning once he’s had one condition I can’t claim for it again. It’s worked well so far as he’s had a few issues over the years but never the same one twice. But I’m waiting for something to reoccur…

We have a 6 year old dog and 11 year old dogs. Is it worth getting insurance for older dogs?

If you have several pets is it best to go with the same insurer or different ones? Do you get discounts?

We are thinking of getting a rescue cat as virtual novice pet owners. Do you have to pay an excess every time you claim on pet insurance?

Hello my rescue staffy is about 11 and slowing down (as am I) I've been looking at insurance but am overwhelmed by the choice and deciding which type is likely best for him.

Can you please clarify what the jargon means around time limited etc and advise how people can choose best between the many options?

Does microchipping pets reduce the cost of insurance?

Where is the best place to start looking when starting to research different pet insurance policies?