Just fallen off my chair at dog insurance renewal quote!

[billybagpuss]

50% increase, no claims at all yet pup only 1 year old!!!

We were direct line whole life policy.

So needless to say I'm shopping around I want another whole life policy the sum assured available seems to vary between £1000 and £10000 with the average around £4000. We've had no vet bills at all other than the regular jabs this year so I don't know.
Also interested in the 3rd party liability which currently is £2.5m pet plan would be £2m but the average is £1m.

What do you guys think realistic cover I should be looking at for a healthy 12 month old pup who is still a work in progress but on her way to being well trained dog with a very gentle nature?

If you took out a new policy with Direct Line, how much would it be?

Have you phoned direct line to ask why? They might reduce the premium.

Just be aware that when you shop around 'anything' you have seen your vet about even if you haven't claimed could considered as pre existing conditions. However, as you said you had no vet bills I assume you mean you haven't consulted them for anything other than vaccinations.

I have £4000 per year life cover and honestly it's far too low. I can't change it now because of all the claims we have had. If I could turn the clock back I would go for the most I could afford which would be far more than £4K per year. I know of someone who had a healthy youngish dog but then ended up with over £10,000 bill. We were at a specialist vets due to an injury and if we had needed an operation it would have been around £5000 and that was one of the cheaper operations on their price list.

My advice is go for the most you can afford. Being healthy now is no guarantee of the future nor does it make any difference to accidents.

Direct line have really pissed me off this year, their home insurance went up by £100 for no reason. I am gradually cancelling all my policies with them

I'll second the remark on pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies are absolutely ruthless about picking up on the briefest mention in a clinical history of anything that could be remotely related (not when you take the policy out- after the fact, when you try to claim).

Also, have a look through the small print. If she busts a cruciate (common), then busts the other one 6 months - 2 years later (common), would they consider it as one condition?

Some companies- particularly the newer plethora of ProtectYourPawz'n'FurriesEmporiumof Dodge type ones- are placing unrealistically low caps on what they're prepared to pay for certain surgeries, overnight hospital stays etc. So while the insurance limit might look good, by the time you pay the excess plus percentage of the total plus top up the difference between what they will pay for hospitalisation/ night and the actual cost of high dependency care if your dog is very ill, badly injured or needs major surgery with a postop stay at the vets, they're not that great.

My rabbits are insured for £2000 treatment per year (each). I would want a dog to be insured for a far greater amount than that, due to vets bills for dogs being that much higher.

Good insurance isn't cheap, how much is your renewal and what breed?

Our 5 year old lab is currently £53/month for £4k/year lifetime cover and I expect it to be over £100 when he's older.

We claimed last year and £4k was used up very quickly. With that is two previous claims for £500 each, we've claimed more that we've paid.

Wow @brokenwing ours looks like a lottery win compared to yours. They’re wanting £29 pm increased from £19 for £8000 pa and 2.5m liability for a 12month collie cross retriever. I’m looking at m&s £20pm for £7000 and £2m and petplan £24pm for similar levels. But pet plan is based on a gut reaction is it any better? To be fair our current policy is excellent but the 50%increase worries me going forward.

Mines gone up from 57 to 78 this year. But he is an 8 year old English Bulldog and we get 7000k per condition per year which is excellent

I’d bite any of their hands off! Ours were never that low even when we took them out (one with PetPlan and one with nfu) They are now 10yrs old and have only claimed a handful of times over the years. One is £83pm and one is £107pm!!

Tied in though as in covered for life policy. You just need to accept it’s going to happen

I pay £40 a month and my spaniel is only 2.5 years old. The issue is insurance goes on age and breed of dog as well as where you live as it's based on risk and general location costs of vet care.

I chose petplan because whilst premiums rise on age they don't on claims which I am glad about given the number of them we have done. I just wish I had gone for their £12k top premium instead. But as I have claimed around £5000 already it will take a while before we are in deficit.

You really do need to consider the T&Cs as not all policies are equal. No point in going for cheap if they don't payout or if you underinsure. And once you start claiming you are generally tied into them unless you are happy for lots of exclusions when you move.

Get third party through the dog's trust charity.

Just wanted to thank you all for your input I’m still torn especially as from what you’ve all said I should probably consider that I will have to stay with whichever one I chose now.

Our house and my car are insured with direct line. At every renewal it is a game. The charges are increased by a sizeable amount, I ring them up and challenge it, saying I will take my business elsewhere, and they always back down and i usually end up paying the sam or a few pounds more.. They rely on people just forking out without querying it. One reason why I didn't insure our dog with them! Anyway, op, try ringing them and see what they say.
I pay £24 a month for a 2 and a half year old toy poodle and the premium has stayed the same since she was 8 weeks, if you want a comparison. That a whole of life through the kennel club.

My insurance went up to over 200pm following 2 cruciate ligaments plus an mri and lots of testing for what turned out to be vestibular disease. Be prepared for insurance to rocket if you need to claim.

PetPlan's premiums increase with age, but not if you claim.

How often do people claim? We're looking at getting a small dog.

Kennel Club do a significant discount if you go for a slightly lower excess so it depends if people make lots of small claims or occasional massive claims.

How often do people claim?

I claim every time I go over my excess which is £85. Some claims have been a few hundred, others several hundreds and a few in the thousands.

One of the reasons I picked petplan was that I didn't see any point being tied to an insurance company but not feeling like you can claim and be penalised. After all even if I didn't claim and I swopped policies mine asked for the full history on my first claim looking for things I had been for to exclude anything that might be related as a pre existing condition even if I had never bothered to claim.

My Lab is 13. He’s had several major surgeries in recent years totally about £14k. He’s always been insured by Direct Line. They always pay up and we never have any bother. The bad news? He’s uninsurable with anyone else and I have to pay £130 a month.

Has anyone used 'bought by many'?

We use Pet Plan. I think we’re about £35 a month for a four year old lab with no claims. Our vets say Pet Plan are easy to use because they can forward them the bill without you having to pay it all up front and then try and claim it back.

Mine are with petplan one dog is 13 now and premiums increase annually as expected, although it started higher over the years its not risen as much as with previous insurer who also increased the excess with each claim & premiums so wasn't worthwhile for many bills as your then paying more for rest of dogs lifetime.

Dog has long term condition so the small bills all add up over the year and I claim for it all over the excess, I have 20% co-payment too now OAP but I'd rather that to keep premium affordable.

Work has few clients insured with bought by many they've paid up claims quickly & without issue. They seem good option, only issue is being fairly new its hard to know if they've longevity in market without changing policy/prices significantly in time & could be stuck then.