Insurance for new dpuppy.

[Whynosnowyet]

Where do I start??
What will it cover?
What are the things they try to get out of paying?
Is it worth it?
Ddog 1 had cancer last year - no insurance but they told me it would not have been covered anyway!
Aah!!
#confused mner!!

[IndigoGusset]

Unless you have access to a cash reserve you would use instead then I think good insurance is sensible - not least because it removes money from being one of the factors when deciding what treatment might be best.

Look for lifetime cover, otherwise long term illnesses are only covered for the first year.

Look for the max cover per year you can afford because the expensive times are the times you will really need it.

Think about insurers that pay the vet direct (e.g. PetPlan) if you don't have cash to pay and then reclaim back.

Don't leave it until your free 4 weeks is up (if you are getting 4 free weeks with your puppy) because most policies won't allow claims for the first two weeks, which leaves you uncovered. Overlap them. Puppies can get into real mischief.

Petplan and BoughtByMany are two you can start to look at, that tend to have good reviews on here.

Hope that helps.

[Whynosnowyet]

Thanks. Dpuppy is 14 weeks. Will look at PetPlan. Ddog's surgery last year cost me 1.5 k. Def can't pull that out again.

[DeathByPuppy]

I have PetPlan Classic+ Covered For Life for mine. You can view the cover online. It is expensive at £40 a month (large breed puppy) but it is very comprehensive cover and, according to my vets, they are one of the easier companies to deal with.

[IndigoGusset]

No problem. Bear in mind that anything you've seen the vet for in the first few weeks you've had dpuppy (assuming you've had him/her a few weeks) might not be covered. At least at first.

[DeathByPuppy]

Both my cat and dog are covered by PetPlan, same type of cover (though cat is on the level of cover below dog as cat problems are generally less pricey than dog ones). Pet insurance costs us almost £70 a month

[inwood]

Get the highest lifelong cover you can afford, you never know what is going to happen.

I have 2k per condition per year, Ddog is diabetic, and costs a fortune. Now he diagnosed we can't move insurer and his premiums are £54 a month and likely to go up every year.

His first hospitalisation cost £2.5k and ongoing costs in the forst year where £££ on top.

[BiteyShark]

I have claimed now close to £5000 and my dog is just 3.5 years old.

I would recommend lifetime cover for as much as you can afford. I would avoid any that specify a percentage as well as an excess as it could get very costly.

Pet insurance isn't like other insurance where you shop around for the cheapest cover each year because ANYTHING you have seen your vet about even if you haven't claimed or had a diagnosis can be deemed preexisting and may not be covered and I think this is what people don't get when they say the insurance company refused to pay out due to something that happened years before that they think is unrelated.

However, you do need to look at the T&Cs closely as they all differ. For example mine covers dental (often costly) but my vet needs to have examined my dogs teeth once a year for them to cover it (not a problem as we have checkups every 6 months but you could fall foul of this if you only go every few years).

I have only used petplan so cannot comment on other insurance companies but there are old threads on here where people have recommended others. Petplan have paid out quickly for the many claims we have put in and our premiums have only had a modest rise. They weren't the cheapest but we have claimed far in excess of what our premiums have been. My only regret is getting the £4000 a year cover as I now know that doesn't go very far.

[VanillaGodzilla]

Our latest dog is 2.5 years old and has cost £3.3k in vets bills so far.

A long ear infection was £2.5k of that

Get the very beat you can because it's very hard to change insurers once you've started claiming for things.

[Whynosnowyet]

We have had her a week and only had first jab. Vet gave her a 'clean bill' of health. Prob the only bill that will ever be free!
Pic for the interested....

[DeathByPuppy]

Is she from a breeder? Did she come with any courtesy cover? Mine came with 5 weeks free Kennel Club insurance. I started his policy from the day we picked him up, so he was actually covered under two policies for 3 weeks (the first 14 days of the PetPlan policy aren’t covered for claims - read the small print).

[DeathByPuppy]

She’s a little cutie, btw

[Medievalist]

Pet Plan is, I think, generally considered the best.

Our old lab was covered with Direct Line and I used to moan about the monthly premiums, which reached about £180 pcm by the time she was 10. However, in her last year they paid out £2k for an MRI scan and £4K for her final stay in pet hospital and investigatIons. A couple of years before that they paid over £6k for ear operations. When she died, aged almost 13, they insisted on giving me £500 to cover her purchase cost - despite me pointing out to them twice just how old she was 🤷‍♀️.

A ruptured ligament for another of our (uninsured) dogs cost £3.5k.

Treatment for sick and injured pets is very expensive. And it's good to be able to make decisions about treatment based solely on the pet's best interests rather than what you can afford.

[Girlintheframe]

Take a look at Bought by many. IMO as good as pet plan but a bit cheaper