Dog insurance - am sure this has been done to death - but ...

[BasiliskStare]

I have 2 border terriers - they are as fit as a flea and so do not have congenital diseases / problems . As a breed they tend to be healthy But they are 10 & 11 - the insurance is now the thick end of £900 ( for two ) . Could any one advise me before I just pay the amount ?

I'd carry on with it as long as it's a good policy which pays out a decent amount.

Actually @rideawhiteswan - that may be the advice I need - it's expensive , but then we have said we will look after these two - there is a thing where you can pay a small amount to the dog's trust for 3rd party insurance - any one done that and is it OK ? Otherwise will pay the insurance - note to others - dogs are expensive if you are going to insure them properly etc ( and if you are going to look after them properly , you need to ) But thank you @rideawhiteswan

I would pay. My (4 year old ) goldie is on chemo and steroids for a small tumour and the medication is costing £300 a month - the insurance is now about £60 a month, and I know will increase year on year now. To get to the diagnosis cost upwards of £2k in tests so for me, it's a no brainer.....

It depends whether you could quickly and easily find a spare few thousand. If I had £10000 spare I wouldn’t bother. But I don’t.

We had accident and 3rd party with Tesco who were excellent and v reasonable- paid up and after dog died sent a lovely letter offering counselling. V impressed but we only did that when we knew we would not want dog to go through lengthy treatments after she reached old age for her breed.

@wolfiefan - have checked down back of sofa and no £10k . Such a shame

I think what I am hearing is - just pay. The problem I have is these two are so robust and never a problem. There is a thing where you can pay for just 3rd party - but I suspect we will just pay the premium. DH will phone tomorrow and see if a larger excess will lower the premium ( I could do this and I asked but the is the named person on the policy - so they will not speak to me ) memo to self get names on policy changed.

Rather a sweeping statement to look after them properly they need to be insured.
They dont.
Pet insurance is relatively new. I have two dogs and 4 cats, the insurance monthly cost would be too high. If something was to happen, I have an account with money put away rather than insurers profit, if nothing happens.

£17 per week for 2 dogs is good at that age. You probably spend that without blinking on other things, Im always mystified why people baulk at £ for essential things but probably spend more on takeaway food/coffees.

I am now a bit worried because my insurance for a small labradoodle aged 2 is only 9.80 a month eek!!! Have I read the small print wrong? Is she fully insured??? Thought she was but must get the paper work out and check ...definitely haven't got £10000 down the sofa or under the bed

I think my worry is mine is a giant breed. The breed is known to get cancer or heart issues and the bills can easily be thousands. (A recent ear infection cost over £800!) I understand it’s a lot of money though. If you have savings, can borrow or have a credit card you could use then I might consider it. But I don’t.

My dog had a injury because he jumped a ditch and missed and it cost £240 just for a neurologist to see him as he showed neurological damage afterwards. An mri alone would have cost £2000 and if we had needed an operation (thank god he didn't) the cost would have been around £5000. This type of injury could happen to any fit and healthy dog no matter what age.

I also know someone who had a bill of over £10000 for cancer but I guess that depends on whether you would decide to treat at that age but the operation and diagnosis would set you back a few thousand before you could make that decision.

As others have said if you had access to several thousand easily without hardship you would be ok with just third party otherwise I would stick with the insurance.

Up to you I’ve two cats and a dog - never insured any of them .

I also think that you are more likely to make decisions purely based on medical outcomes if you don't have to worry about the cost.

If you are facing hardship trying to find several thousands of pounds or faced with an unknown high bill of course that will factor into decision making.

Our Ddog recently had gastritis, though he needed xrays to make sure he didn't have a blockage as he chews everything (bearded collie.) Vets bill was £1800.
Luckily we had insurance! He's also had a nasal skin infection which needed treatment. Another £450.

Both in the last 6 months. Insurance costs around £32 monthly, with no excess to pay.

Well I have just done the Tesco 3rd party and accident insurance - My two are hardy so we will decide what needs paying for - they are not liable to diseases or e.g. joint problems ( DPIL's lab was ) So more inclined to get them insured for the minimum and stick the other money away , Thank you @thesandwich ( But I would never not do 3rd party insurance ) £140 for two

My dog cost me £4000 in her last 2 years, £1000 was her last vet bill which included her being PTS. I cancelled her insurance a few weeks before she decided to eat something she shouldn’t have and ended up with a £3000 bill over 2 days.

I’m just about to get another dog and will be paying for insurance. Do make sure it covers for more than £1000 per new condition. I have also insured the cat as I can’t afford another huge bill.

I am going to look very closely at my insurance terms and conditions. Beginning to think she may not be properly covered though it seemed alright when I chose it. Have just been discussing with my daughter. She has a Golden Retriever and her insurance is £36 per month. Maybe its differences in breed but I am having a bit of a panic now and will check it out properly tomorrow.

@Cherrypies - sorry if that was me I do not mean to say you cannot look after a pet properly without insurance. Just that the thought of it is something most pet owners will take into consideration. So for me - 3rd party & accident is now the level I want to insure my dogs at ( but as said above they are not prone to diseases or conditions. ) Sod's Law will probably say the moment I have done this they come down with something dreadful. But @Cherrypies sorry if you thought it was a sweeping statement. A good friend of mine is devoted to her dogs and has cancelled the insurance. I just want the 3rd party & accident. Given I have a hardy breed I am more inclined to put the rest away in case they need it at some point - Anyway - did not mean to imply you were not a "proper" pet owner looking after dogs "properly"

‘A hardy breed’ is a silly misconception, any dog can have a injury, cancer etc
Again why would you consider £17pw too much for both dogs, would you like faced with expensive insurance covered treatment or pts your dog?
People wouldn’t switcher to spend this on their self or child so why not on your loved pets?

Plan a : £900 into premium bonds add to every six months/year. If you are unlucky enough to get a bill bigger than the investment zero interest credit card paid off monthly.
Plan b: ever increasing insurance payments.

When I tell the vets I have savings but no insurance its amazing how much the bill comes down by.

I have over £12,000 on my ddogs account and he has several health complications this advice is possibly the best advice I have ever been given. Whatever you can afford to start off with, I chose the same amount as ddogs cost then add the 'insurance premium' yourself. I am beyond pleased I chose to follow it

Public liability if a dog causes an accident?

Covered by most household insurances and definitely uner the legal cover on mine £11 a year

I agree that ‘hardy breed’ doesn’t really mean anything. My dog was healthy and hardy until she reached ten and ate someth No she shouldn’t have, she had never been to the vets before apart from vaccinations. Same with the cat, totally healthy then discovered a lump on his belly when he was 5, turned out to be an aggressive form of cancer, luckily her survived but cost me a huge fortune.

It’s all good and well of you have £1000’s put back for an emergency but many people don’t. I will be insuring my new dog to be covered for everything not just accidents as I can’t afford another £3000 vets bill.

I've got a "very hardy Border Terrier" who's so hardy it turns out he's been passing off a serious elbow joint problem as a touch of arthritis for the past few years. He's hopefully going to have a whole elbow replacement in the next few weeks (yes, it's that bad) at a cost of 'about' £4k. DH is being very stoic and reasoning that not insuring him for the last 9 years has saved roughly that amount but I'm getting quotes for our large breed puppy...

My cats aren't insured, I have a pot to cover vets fees.
One of mine is currently ill, so far, three vet's visit, one jab, three lots of meds has been £90.