Pet insurance suddenly more expensive - normal?

[loomer]

We got our first dog last year (a Viszla) and took out insurance with Many Pets by recommendation. I’ve just had renewal confirmation and monthly cost has jumped from £35 (which I could just about afford) to £58 (which I can’t). Is this normal for puppy cover vs 1yo dog or are they taking the piss? I’ve not made any claims so far. I’m going to have to find cheaper cover either way.

Pet insurance changes each year dependent on risk assessed on breeder, gender, location and whether neutered or not.
Vislas in my experience have highest veterinary costs between 1 and 6 years of age. Due the the whizzing at that stage.
In contrast when my standard poodle hit a year old his many pets premium dropped - there is a particular risk with fractures in young standard poodles which is less of a problem as they get older. My kittens I know their premium will drop when I get them neutered.

It does go up so you have to try and find the "right" one at the beginning, as soon as the hound has any conditions (whether you have claimed for them or not) they will be excluded if you move.

Many people end up with PetPlan (under one of its many guises).

We moved from PP 3-years ago as the premium was getting just too much (£1.8K pa) and went with the Insurance Emporium (£740 pa) with existing conditions excluded.

Also check out the max amount covered per condition, excess and amount you have to cover per treatment.

We started with Many Pets and our renewal shot up massively. Our dog is a 5 year old cross breed. No claims.
I've renewed with Napo. Higher limits and much better cover. Includes dental too.

You need to shop around every year I've found. There's no way I'd pay nearly £60 a month on the dog's insurance, you may get slightly less cover but I think you'll find a cheaper insurance.

Shopping around every year puts you at risk of running up against unexpected exclusions - absolutely anything mentioned in your pet's clinical history, no matter how inconsequential at the time, will be considered a pre-existing condition.

I'm with the same insurers and have a Labrador of the same age.
First year premium was £40 per month and second year is currently £45 a month.

We have the top policy if that helps.

Shopping around is risky if your dog has ever been to the vets for sickness or injury before - even if you never claimed on insurance, it will count as a pre-existing condition on a new policy which could leave you uninsured if they have the same problem again in the future.

Generally insurance increases with age, but it depends on lots of other factors too - a large dog like a vizsla will be more expensive than say, a shih-tzu. Equally a small brachy dog like a pug or a French bulldog will be more expensive than a larger but healthier breed like a beagle or whippet.

We pay £57 per month for our beagle - we've never claimed and he's 4yo, but that's lifetime cover for upto 15k per year and it includes dental cover, which many policies don't include. It's expensive but much cheaper than the thousands it would cost me if he needed emergency surgery or investigations for illness.

Thanks all, I appreciate all the variables re different breeds and age etc it was really the 30% increase that made me gasp. Dog hasn’t had a single vet visit since we got her (other than vaccinations) so I’m going to shop around now whilst she has no clinical history. Will check out Napo as I’ve not heard of them.

Also my husbands income has dropped a lot in the past twelve months and we are economising furiously on all of our outgoings, so a £23 increase on direct debit is not something that we planned for, and we just don’t have the money. I imagine there will be lots of pet owners facing a similar dilemma with the cost of living generally.

If you switch, make sure you get a policy with lifetime cover.

It's worth calling them to say you're thinking of leaving due to the increased premium. They'll usually 'see what they can do" and reduce it there and then.
But yes, it is normal to go up each year. This year especially so - rising costs of everything (drugs, fuel / utilities, wages) mean that vets' charges are higher which means the risk of the insurers having to pay out more is higher.

I had insurance for my 3 year old cocker .... £45 a month. She had to have an emergency operation. Total claim approx £3,000. The following year insurance went up to £150 a month.

I cancelled. Subsequently got another cocker so added older dog to policy ..... £56 a month.

We again have claimed this year for older dog. About £1,500. Policy gone up to £100 a month.

I've cancelled and taken out a policy for just younger dog who hasn't yet had any issues at all. Just £26 a month with Tesco.

I'll be saving £30 a month to help cover any costs for older dog.

It would seem if you claim you just pay it back the following year.

That's a big leap, I've literally just had the renewal for my 1 year old lab and and it's gone up 3.50 a month. Also with many pets.

Sounds like a big jump for a 1 year old. This week our 9 year old labs policy went from £74/month to £87/month with PetPlan, but that was expected.

It started at £28/month when he was a pup and has increased gradually each year as he has aged, again as expected.

I’m with Emporium Insurance, it went up £40 after first year, I rang and said I wouldn’t be renewing so they offered it at an extra £10 a year. I do pay yearly as this is cheaper, although I know not many people can do this. I pay £235 per year for my 4 year old border collie on a medium range lifetime cover.

Have a look at More Than, my renewal for 1 yr old has only gone up by £5 a year .... lots of options to play around with but they were far cheaper than lots of other companies.

Mine have all gone up massively this year.

£35-£47
£62-£78
£30-£52.

2 were with many pets and one with petplan. The biggest jump was the youngest dog first year policy with many pets. Petplan has steadily increased for years but not really any huge leaps.
Not claimed for any of them.

There seems to be a common theme with many pets putting up premiums very heavily.
yes insurance goes up each year, but many pets seem to be the worst offender.

I'm with ManyPets and ours went down after the first year, stayed about the same for the 3rd year then went up by about 1/3 in Y4.

I would expect a Vizla's insurance to go up by about that much - and be prepared for it to top £100+ pm by the time he is older. Plus, the excess tends to go up to be about 20% of the total claim.

Worth knowing and trying to plan for: though I realise that's easier said than done!

ManyPets do a Fixed for Life option in which the premiums never go up. Might be worth a look?

My Many Pets policy for 2 collies increased by £44.98 a month (from £89.10 to £134.08). We had no claim in the last 2 years. Had to double the excess, halve the cover and agree to pay 20% of all claims to reduce it down to £82. Currently saving like made so that I can self insure.

Pet plan here and my renewal has just gone up from £36 to £44 for a 3 year old medium large breed... no major health issues!
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I knew before I even opened this post that it was Many Pets.

they have form for hiking up premiums after first year - it’s the reason I didn’t go with them - the number of complaints on trustpilot and Twitter about exactly this. They are buggers for it