OMG - the pet insurance renewal !!!

[IrmaFayLear]

Just opened my policy documents and... £781.27 for a 6-year-old golden retriever. This is for £4K of cover a year/covered for life.

He has no health issues (fingers super crossed) but has been in the vet's a few times for eating stuff he shouldn't.

At this sum it makes me think of risking not taking out insurance... what do others in this position do?

Well, you're not getting a huge amount of cover for that price.

Operations can go well over that limit, not to mention the cost of MRI's, blood tests and other things that can become more common as dogs get older.

Could you afford to shop around?

Can I ask who you are insuring with?

We insure both dogs and the cat with PetPlan. We had one year where one of the dogs needed both knees operated on for cruciate ligament rupture, and then a further op when she dislocated her kneecap, and an admission for a gastric ulcer caused by the painkillers she was given for the dislocation. In total, PetPlan paid out just over £10,000 to the vet hospital for these operations, the gastric ulcer, and all the consultations and x-rays she needed during the treatment.

We were sure her premiums would shoot up the following year, but they didn't. They went up a bit - probably more than inflation, but not too much more - and she has lifetime cover, and an annual amount of £10,000 cover.

If your dog has no pre-existing conditions, I'd look at moving to a different insurer - that premium looks way over the top to me (though I am no expert).

Definitely shop around and see what you can get elsewhere.

Or go back to them and say you're not happy with the amount. Sometimes companies will lower it.

It is Petplan. I have argued with them before about the level of cover, but they stuck fast.

When I tried to shop around, other places had a massive list of exclusions, including "stomach complaints" even though dog has only had these due to having eaten various unsuitable items. In fact he seems to have an iron constitution given what he manages to steal and eat. Oh, and he got a stick impaled in his mouth (no, I didn't throw it... he just chewed it and it slipped) so I suppose that counts against him too .

I made the mistake of having only £4k cover and am stuck with it as well.

The crucial bit is can you find £3300 (taking off your premium) or more easily enough anytime over the next few years?

Would finding several thousand this year and then next year be a problem if something major happened one year then the next?

The other thing to consider is whether you can get a much cheaper but better cover but have money available for anything big connected with any preexisting conditions. This would give you a half way house where you have insurance for new stuff but know that anything connected to previous vet visits would need to be funded yourself.

Have you looked at Bought by Many?

There all as bad I think. We were with John Lewis. We did have a few claims (Golden Retriever suffers occasional pancreatitis) but the rate it was rising was astounding! This year they wanted over £1K so we cancelled the policy and now we put money away in an account each month.

Hmmmph. I think they make a good deal of money from golden retrievers!

We live very near a "supervet" type establishment, and I read somewhere that if that shows up in your locality they increase your premiums as they think (quite rightly) that should the need arise you will be charging off there.