Confused about dog insurance

[Betti]

Can someone explain the different sorts of dog insurance I can buy. I am confused about 'Time limited', 'Lifetime' and 'Maximum benefit' cover. Can anyone recommend a good insurer?

Time limited and maximum benefit are pretty much the same...you can claim for a condition for a year up to the amount covered and then that condition is never covered again.

Lifetime is an amount per year, but it will pay out forever on a condition.

Petplan are usually the best company.

Thanks :-)

When I joined the vets we got 1 month petplan so we're currently dithering about what next. Have heard shocking things about animal friends online but great things from friends. Petplan seem good online but haven't met anyone in real life who uses them. Any advice welcome from other people!!

I use pet plan which have been brilliant,got lifetime.
Two months after taking it out puppy dog got very ill after her spay.
Pet plan paid £1000 to vet and £2000 to vet school direct,was paid out very quickly to.
Vet said pet plan is the only one they will claim direct from.

Definitely lifetime for as much as you can afford - I only got our cat insured for £4000 (lifetime policy though) as I didn't think we'd ever claim that much money for anything ... However when he got hit by a car last year it was frightening how quickly the bills mounted up - orthopaedic surgery is very, very expensive and his was relatively simple, not requiring lengthy hospital stays or MRI/CAT scans - we were still out of pocket by a couple of thousand pounds. I keep telling him he's not allowed to have anything wrong with him until his insurance is renewed.

As far as I can see Petplan is the best company to go with (and wish I'd chosen them instead of the company I went with in the end). They may not have the cheapest premium to start with but have a reputation of not hiking it up dramatically even if you have claimed the previous year.

Dcat's insurance premium doubled because of his claim ....

We've got lifetime cover with John Lewis. We got the renewal notice for this year (50% increase) just before submitting a claim so I'm dreading how much it'll go up even though we haven't made any further claims. That said they were great at paying out and the policy also covered her special diet so we stocked up before the renewal date

No idea OP but watching with interest.
How much would you insure a Dmutt for?
I suppose I'd want third party cover - she wouldn't bite but could well knock someone over - she's v v fast and doesn't look where she's going. And to fix bones if she was hit by a car.
Plus treatment for any illnesses etc. What does all that cost? I know we should have insurance but I've just never bothered...

I'd say the minimum should be £7000 per year lifetime cover - in the event of really complicated surgery and a long hospital stay that still wouldn't be enough but should be ok for the vast majority of claims

Depending on how old your dog is and how often she's already been to the vet it might or might not be worth it ... If you don't insure it would be sensible to put aside a few thousand pounds in the event of a large vet's bill - some people get a credit card and keep it just for emergencies

It would be awful having to make life or death decisions purely on a financial basis