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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Thinking about cancelling dog insurance

26 replies

Midori1999 · 03/03/2013 09:55

Is there any really good reason why I shouldn't?

We pay £1200 a year in dog insurance. I've always had it as I felt it was the responsible thing to do. However, now I'm thinking its an expense we could do without, especially if we saved that money each month instead. If it came to it and we ended up with a huge vet bill for thousands of pounds we could pay it out of savings or if we really had to put it on a credit card.

The other thing that has always worried me is having to pay for lifelong drugs, but realistically how much is this likely to cost? A couple of hundred pounds a month maximum? More?

OP posts:
SpicyPear · 03/03/2013 10:06

I don't have experience of ongoing meds but just wanted to pop on to remind you to get alternative public liability cover if you do decide to cancel. You can get it by joining the Dogs Trust. There are instances of people losing their homes after being sued for injuries e.g. if dog causes a road traffic accident. It's not so much the compensation as the other side's costs, which can run to tens of thousands.

Lynand · 03/03/2013 19:15

I've never had insurance. Had 2 pedigree Dachies and it was going to be £12 a month each. Stopped at 8 yrs and there was an excess. Decided i was better saving the money and would deal with any large bills. Never needed it. Current dogs are Dachsi crosses and i was surprised to find it was more expensive than ever so i won't be taking it. Members of dogs trust though.

scurryfunge · 03/03/2013 19:16

The vets bills I could cope with but it is being sued if my dog caused an accident that would create serious problems.

needastrongone · 03/03/2013 19:34

I have an 18 week old springer that may lose an eye after he got a thorn in it last week. Vet bills so far are £400 although I confess that the medicines are pretty cheap, after seeing the breakdown of costs.

This may be a lifelong managed condition. Having insurance I also have the option of having a very com

needastrongone · 03/03/2013 19:37

Complex operation which could save his vision, although I am not sure I will take the option but it wouldn't even be there without insurance. Cost is £1000's

I never thought a puppy would be needing a claim, particularly so early but I am glad I have it now.

Ask me again when I get my renewal premium though!!

needastrongone · 03/03/2013 19:41

Ps. Never ever claimed on house or motor insurance though, guess its just the luck of the draw I have pet insurance for less than 2 months then have to claim!!!

lovemydogs · 03/03/2013 19:54

I would never not have it - have used it alot and when my dogs were getting older they had medication every month which was more than the premium - my dogs have both had ops for glass in paws, my girl had a tumour removed from her rib as well as her rib - I have more than needed the insurance.

yesbutnobut · 03/03/2013 20:44

I'm also thinking about cancelling as I'm acquiring another dog so will have 2 cats and 2 dogs. If you have one pet then it's affordable but it soon mounts up if you have multiple pets. If you put it to one side instead, or are prepared to pay up out of savings or whatever if there's a need, then why not?

Noodled · 03/03/2013 21:55

I wouldn't cancel. Heart issues have cost us 3000 recently, bone caner was £5000 or so, over thirty grand has been payed out in total!

DorsetLass · 04/03/2013 00:58

Have you shopped around? We pay £21 per month - our very for and well 7 year old lab (until now that is) has just cost us £3000 in a month - all covered! We're with pet plan - may be more next year after claims however!!

Original poster
Midori1999 · 04/03/2013 11:07

I won't use Petplan due to their involvement with puppy farmers.

In years of dog ownership, my biggest bill has been £1,000, but we could cover up to the limit of our insurance if we had to. Plus, whenever we have bred that is never covered by insurance anyway, which we always expect.

Obviously third party liability is a must.

The £100 is for three dogs, but one of those has just gone up to £50 a month due to her age, so half of it is for one dog.

OP posts:
higgle · 04/03/2013 12:58

I think it is worth having cover for young through to middle aged dogs. With an older dog you have to think about how much treatment you would want them to have if they turned out to have a serious condition. One of our dogs developed a "doggy Alzheimers" type condition when he was about 13 and o;nce we had established that medication didn't help him we decided - after consulting wih our vet - that it was not worth carrying on paying £5 pcm for insurance because if he became seriously ill with anything else we would not want extensive treatment. Broken legs, RTA not much of a concern as he didn't go out much.

RandallPinkFloyd · 04/03/2013 13:07

I'd try shopping around first, even for an old dog £50 per month is a lot of money. Mine is only 4 admittedly but I only pay £12.

I personally wouldn't risk being without it as the one time mine needed treatment it came to £2400 altogether.

I suppose it's a case of weighing up how old the dog is and how healthy really. If old and already struggling then probably not worth it as you wouldn't want to put them through too much treatment anyway.

Difficult one definitely.

DorsetLass · 04/03/2013 22:31

Midori1999 - tell me about pet plan and puppy farms?? Should I change insurers??

Owllady · 04/03/2013 22:32

don't stop having at all
vets bills are far more expensive than the insurance

higgle · 05/03/2013 15:34

Meant £65!

ginauk84 · 05/03/2013 16:23

We have three dogs and a cat and don't bother with insurance. Had a vet bill for over a grand last winter when hubbys gsd suffered a torsion but she is 10 and had we had her insured we would have spent a lot more than that over the years. So I always make sure were putting money aside for such circumstances. Also your house insurance might already cover dogs third party, I know ours does :)

IceBergJam · 05/03/2013 16:33

Our rescue GSD has cost us loads. 5 years of arthiritis meds, xrays and hydrotherapy and now over £2500 for tests to be told our high energy , loves walkies dog will be paralised by the end of the year.

saintmerryweather · 06/03/2013 17:23

Your home insurance should cover 3rd party liability including your dog

ithasgonetotheopera · 08/03/2013 23:23

On-going costs for meds could easily cost £100-200 per month (skin complaints the most expensive for Atopica, heart meds too - depends on size of dog of course). One-off costs could easily be a few £1000s for intensive hospitalisation.

How many dogs do you have to be paying that much in insurance fees? I have a higher-risk pedigree breed and his insurance is £30 per month (w/out vet discount).

As a vet I would say that Petplan are FAR AND AWAY the best insurance company - you can trust them to pay out, and for lifetime complaints - whats this about puppy farms?

Re stopping insurance and saving - what if something happens next month, will you have the money?

A (harsh?) colleague of mine says the sensible thing to do as a pet owner is either to be insured, have a spare £1000 (or credit equivalent), or be prepared to euthanase immediately.

ithasgonetotheopera · 08/03/2013 23:24

In first opinion practice can do most things for under £1000. If you want/need referral most cases are £3000-5000, some cases can go over £10,000.

Paddlinglikehell · 09/03/2013 16:59

Our puppy just over 4 months has cost us £1,600 to date, which included nearly three weeks in the vets.

We were insured from day one. That is just one illness. Could you afford that?

If not, shop around for your insurance, but I think you are mad not to.

topbannana · 09/03/2013 18:13

Its such a difficult choice OP. My old rottweiler bitch was insured since birth and I probably claimed £500, if that, back over the 12 1/2 years we had her. Her premiums would have totalled thousands and her final renewal quote (which sadly we never needed) was a small shade under £70 a month Shock We had very strongly considered cancelling at that point as the amount of treatment we would put her through far outweighed the cost of the premiums.

OTOH I have claimed £4500 for a springer dog with a complex health condition that required specialist referral- this was an amount way beyond my savings at the time so without the insurance I don't know what we would have done with him. This makes me wary of having no insurance Grin

TBH I would always insure my dogs as puppies but once they got to a certain age (dependant on breed, health etc) I would cancel if I KNEW that I could afford the worst from savings or credit cards etc. 3rd party liability is a must though IMO.

yesbutnobut · 09/03/2013 18:15

I think the point about Pet Plan and puppy farms is that many of the high volume breeders (ie puppy farms) offer 4 weeks free insurance with Pet Plan.

janmoomoo · 11/03/2013 21:49

My friends dog ate a sweet corn cob from the bin a few weeks ago which got stuck - vets bills cost £3000. That's a nasty bill to get without insurance.

I rate pet plan also, never had any quibbles, vet fills in the form and we get the cheque.