Cockers - How much do you pay for dog insurance?

[AtlasPine]

And what cover do you get for that? Specially interested if you have a show cocker spaniel.

Thanks!

I paid about £100 for the year (working cocker though not show), that’s middle range insurance for a puppy.

I've paid way way more than that. I have 2 show cockers and my annual total is, I'm sure, (would need to check) is around £600. I make sure existing medical conditions are covered.

@Jayne35 wow that is incredibly cheap!

OP, you may know this but it’s worth saying, when comparing policies be aware there is a huge variation in insurances and what they offer.
If you can afford it definitely get a lifetime insurance which means they won’t exclude a long term condition (eg arthritis) after a year. Also see what the amount per year they will pay out it, and choose one that has X amount per condition, per year, rather than one sum overall.

£43 a month for working cocker ( we’ve claimed twice though as she’s always eating things she shouldn’t, it’s gone up over the years) low excess KC.

I thought you were addressing us as ‘cockers!’

Like Hacker!

@BrokenBrit I chose a fairly cheap policy, it’s not a lifetime one. Next year I will see where we are and go from there. I have had puppies before and spent lots on insurance. With a previous pup we weren’t allowed to claim on an infection on her head a second time and we were asked to pay up front and claim back from insurance (in that case I may as well pay in the first place).

With previous dogs I have found many things are just under the excess so I had to pay anyway. It’s a bit of a rip off really - as with any insurance. So now we choose an average policy and make sure we have lots in savings to cover if necessary.

Mine is a working cocker and at 4 years we now pay just under 60 a month for a life policy.

But we have claimed many thousands on it so it will be a few years yet (assuming we don't claim again) before we will have paid out more than we have claimed.

@CountessFrog

I thought you were addressing us as ‘cockers!’

Like Hacker!

Thanks Cockers!! 😂

Really useful and appreciated.

Always happy to help, cocker!

(45 per month for my cockapoo with pet plan by the way)

We adopted a show cocker 18 months ago at the age of 8.5 years. Because of his age, we could only find lifetime insurance for him with one company (Bought by Many) - for the first year it was £30 a month, but we had to claim on a few things, and then this year it went up to £50 a month. Had to put in a significant claim this year, which they paid up immediately and without any quibbling, but I suspect that his premium will go up again as a result.

43 per month for working cocker, lifetime policy.

I have a 2 year old Working Cocker, I pay £32/mth with Petplan.

I have a 8.5 yr old show cocker, his monthly premiums are over £200 per month for lifetime cover.
We have made many, many claims over the years- up to the maximum yearly payout a few times for illnesses and injuries (he’s very unlucky!)
Although it’s expensive and we can’t now change companies due to his pre-existing conditions, we can’t afford not to insure him as we never know what he’ll throw at us next.

Wow that is a lot. May I ask if some of the conditions are chronic genetic ones?

@AtlasPine

Wow that is a lot. May I ask if some of the conditions are chronic genetic ones?

Some of the things we have claimed for: removal of a hystiocytoma, gun dogs are prone to these, they usually clear in there own but my boys became infected, knee surgeries to both knees for luxating patellar, plus rehab/hydro costs. Removal of said implants from his knees when his body started to reject them, major infection from the wound afterwards. Massive infection to his ear/face/eye socket - we never did find the cause, which led to many hospital stays plus referrals to two different animal hospitals for second/third opinions, MRI scans, CT scans, X-rays and two exploratory operations.

Premium are also based on area you live not just breed as vet fees vary with location although my policy for both dogs went up when I moved 1-2mile not even changed area postcode or vets. At certain ages the risk is higher so premiums reflect that.

Policies & insurers aren't all equal so what you get for the £ can vary enormously along with whether they will quibble claims or pay out quickly (vets don't have to accept direct claim so may ask to pay & reclaim yourself). Some will hike the premiums after a claim or when dog hits that higher risk age category, but once your dog has more than vaccinations on vet notes whether you claimed or not it will be seen as a preexisting condition & they tend to group an area so diarrhoea could be all bowel conditions.
As switching is then difficult do really need to consider when first insuring that this could be for the lifetime unlike other types of insurance where its quite easy to shop around for best deal every renewal.

Our big claim was for pancreatitis, which is something that cockers are prone to - he needed two days as an in-patient on IV fluids and another day in to have abdominal scans and an x-ray under sedation to rule out a blockage, plus three courses of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.

£13 a month with Tesco for my 2 year old, lifetime cover, could claim about £7k a year I think. £27 ish a month for my 12 week old puppy with pet plan, again lifetime cover. Never claimed on either of them. Both show cockers. I have Pet plan for the first year as I know they are good at paying out and I feel the first year is the most likely time I may find out any hidden health issue / accidents. Then switch to something cheaper.

Does anyone have advice for us on where/what insurance to go for in 4 year old Cocker?

We haven't had insurance before - and he's had a few different conditions (itchy skin, blocked saliva gland, limp). I'm now thinking we ought to get pet insurance; before we've just paid the vet's bill but I'm worried we will have something that costs thousands that we can't afford.

When I've looked at various pet insurances they seem to exclude any previous issues and so I give up again, thinking that I'll fork out lots per month only to find then that the insurance company will use the small print to refuse to cover him.

@FredtheFerret

Does anyone have advice for us on where/what insurance to go for in 4 year old Cocker?

We haven't had insurance before - and he's had a few different conditions (itchy skin, blocked saliva gland, limp). I'm now thinking we ought to get pet insurance; before we've just paid the vet's bill but I'm worried we will have something that costs thousands that we can't afford.

When I've looked at various pet insurances they seem to exclude any previous issues and so I give up again, thinking that I'll fork out lots per month only to find then that the insurance company will use the small print to refuse to cover him.

I think BBM have a specific policy that covers pre existing conditions where the cover rises if you don't claim for them again within a certain time.

However, what I would do is try and find a policy that is what you want in terms of cover, then phone the company and ask what would be excluded with your dogs history and then try and negotiate a timeframe for any exclusions (I know someone who had to claim for diarrhoea as a puppy in the initial 2 week exclusion but had the resulting restrictions for any further stomach condition removed after 6 months as no further problems occurred and vet confirmed it was a one off stomach bug). Then you know what is and isn't covered upfront which removes any surprises.

@BiteyShark. Thanks very much.I'll look into that.