Pet insurance (sorry, I know it's been done before)

[Teeb]

It's all such a minefield, so I thought I'd come and ask for some user experience and what you other dog owners have chosen to do. I have a 5 month old cocker spaniel and From the research I've done, the lifetime policy cover seems most ideal. However on further research I've heard of insurers where the policy quotes begin at £20 per month suddenly become £60/80 per month when the dog becomes 7 or 8, basically discouraging you from using the policy for life and then I start wondering if I should just self fund and get third party liability insurance from the dogs trust.

If you wouldn't mind sharing, who are you insured with and how much are you paying? A rough overview of the policy would be helpful too, as I hear people saying 'oh I only pay £6 a month,' when all the quote I seem to be seeing are around the £20 mark.

Watching with interest. I am in the same position with an eight week old puppy. I was inclined to go with pet plan and the vets recommended them but would like to hear other people's experiences.

Yes I would like some advice on this too. We're looking for a new dog this year and it all seems a bit of a mystery now.

Premiums go up as they get older...because that is when most people claim from insurance.

I'm with purely pets, it was £40 a month for £7500 a year lifetime cover. It's now just over £100 a month, but that's after claiming about £4000 in his first year, using the full amount last year and having drug costs that still cost more than the premiums this year.

I have a cat not a dog so this may not be helpful. His premium did go up when he was about 8 but our vet says it does not go up for individual pets when you claim on insurance unlike car or home insurance.

I would worry about self insurance as when my cat ate tin foil last year it would have been £1000 bill for X-rays, overnight stay, a few blood tests and a drip. If they had to operate the price would have been from £3000.