Really high Insurance quote for next year

[MiniCooperLover]

Dog insurance is £69 a month already (it was £45 last year and then went up to £69 for no reason). Dog is a Grand Bassett Griffon Vendeen (a pedigree hound) so there's a lot of knowledge about potential hip issues when older. Dog at present is only just turned 4 and healthy, never had any major problems. And ManyPets now want £101 a month!

I cannot justify paying that, it's ridiculous and they haven't even responded to my query asking for a breakdown of the rise. It is however a lifetime policy and has £15K cover a year and I've not found anything even close to it.

I've had quotes from Tesco (£39.44 on a 12 month plan up to £10K cover), but I'm worried that they could cancel us in 12 months?

Direct Line quoted £37 a month for £8K cover on their premium policy but I can't work out if that's a 12 month policy or it just carries on?

I need to make a decision but any help gratefully received.

I need to make a decision.

I've just renewed for a fifteen month old Labrador and that's gone up by only a pound a month. It's about £500 a year, £15k cover. If it was double that I wouldn't bother.

I was with more than and insurance for my 7 year old staffy was £153 and they wanted £230 at renewal. I cancelled it and will use a credit card for emergencies. I looked at moving to another insurer but some of the pre existing conditions (allergies, issues with her leg) would not be covered so didn't see the point. Wish I had stayed with pet plan when she was a puppy to be honest as they don't increase for claims and only as the pet ages.

ManyPets although expensive are excellent with payouts, last claim was paid same day
I had a money back policy with them and changed to a standard policy this year as they wanted £100 a month
Standard policy £79 a month

Our dog had a hip dysplasia op so no one else will cover her

We have a pedigree dog and the insurance doubled last year when she turned 3. We did shop around and managed to get lifetime cover for £42/month.
I’ve previously researched pet insurance extensively, and once she turns 5 we will stop. Her Breeder didn’t use insurance and said she had a rainy day fund. I’ve previously spent £5k on an uninsured dog for a ligament repair, but I worked out that if I’d paid insurance it would probably have cost the same. Pet insurance seems outrageously expensive, but it’s only because we in the UK aren’t used to paying for human healthcare insurance.
a lump sum for a joint repair doesn’t seem outrageous, but if you are the type of pet owner who would want to subject your pet to cancer care and chemo, then you’d probably be better with the insurance.

It’s really unfair it’s gone up when you haven’t made a claim. Mine jumped from £50 to £90 for one of my dogs, but that was after he needed two operations, treatment for a cut, antibiotics for an ear infection, and then 10 visits with multiple treatments after he caught sarcoptic mange, all in a single year. I still chose to pay the £90 as the insurance saved me tens of thousands that year.

We’ve never made a claim for our perfectly fit and healthy seven year old Labrador and PetPlan wanted £90 a month up from about £60. We’ve cancelled it. We’ll just have to pay up if he’s poorly. We must have paid around £5 in premiums already and we’ll never see a penny of that back now.

£5k obviously, not £5, that would have been fantastic.

That’s not how insurance works though. The premiums are based on risk - the age of the dog, the associated health risks of a particular breed etc. So a 2 year old mongrel might cost £20 a month whereas a 10 year old Lab might cost 5x that.

I have claimed thousands over my dogs life time and he's 7 this year.

It costs me just over £800 a year but for only £4K per year and I feel under insured but fortunately we have never needed to go over the limit in any year.

I wouldn't touch any 12 month policy as you can easily end up with so much excluded especially with any chronic illness.

You also need to work out whether anything you have mentioned to the vet irrespective of diagnosis or claims of which might be viewed as an exclusion with a new company.

Insurance doesn't just increase if you make a claim - older dogs are more likely to suffer chronic health conditions and to get diagnosed with illnesses like cancer, diabetes and cushings - all of which are expensive and often require lifelong medication.

It's normal for it go up year on year, especially when they get to "senior" age, even without any claims.

Yes, it obviously makes sense that there’s more chance of a claim as they get older. Buy in many, many years of pet ownership I’ve never had my insurance go up without a claim, no matter the age of the cat or dog. I used to use pet plan which only went up if I made a claim. I now use bought by many which hasn’t increased from the time 2 of my dogs were puppies and my cat a kitten, and now the dogs are turning 8 and 11, and the cats 14, so far older than the op’s 4 year old. I can’t see insurance increasing due to age related issues for a 4yo dog.

I hope everyone who has cancelled their insurance has a big rainy day fund.

My 4 year old cat needed an operation last year - without it he'd have died.

It cost £7.5k

I couldn't have lived with myself if we'd have had to have him die because we couldn't afford the bill. Hi

It's quite normal for pet insurance to increase as pets age.

I would say it's more unusual that you haven't seen this.

There often used to be a jump in premium when they turned 7 or 8.

@Ihatethenewlook which company are you with that never increases premiums as they age?

I've never heard of this before. I've had various animals insured with various insurers and every single year the payments have risen - not by much when they're young but there's always a jump when they hit senior age.

It seems insurance premiums just get hiked up for no particular reason. Last year my renewal said nearly double - I rang to question. They said it is because your dog is getting older and at more health risk - yes, but I only have accident only - not illness cover. There was no explanation. I cancelled. I would love someone who works at a pet insurance place to explain to us.

You would just have to work put what you are prepared to self fund. There are certain treatments I would not put a dog through eg I would not put my dog through chemo when he was diagnosed with cancer (lung mets) and opted for euthanasia when the time came, so whether that was covered or not would be a moot point. After his 5th birthday we stopped insurance and self insured. By the time he died we had enough to cover two joint operations ( golden retriever) and paid for vaccines etc out of pocket. You just have to be very self disciplined with saving.

I suspect it's because the older a dog gets, the more likely they are to have issues with their joints, vision and hearing which leads to more accidents and injuries.

Yes thanks for this reply, you may well be right. It is just so annoying when you have never claimed for a single thing! A lot of people seem to just have a fund instead which is a good idea. I do still have insurance (I changed provider) but I might just do the same.....

Having had insurance pay thousands for emergency surgery, it's personally not something I would risk going without - but as always it's personal choice.

I suppose you need to decide how you'd feel if you cancelled your insurance and your dog escaped it's lead and got hit by a car the following week, needing surgery and maybe an amputation or weeks of crate rest etc.

Surgery costs - especially emergency ones - can run into the tens of thousands.

I've found a lifetime policy with Pets Sure for £44 a month, with £15K cover (same as I had with ManyPwts). Luckily we have no pre existing conditions so I've signed up to that one and have cancelled ManyPets.

Completely accept that a policy should raise for a pet that's ageing or has issues but for a healthy 4 year old with no issues that rise was just ridiculous 🙈

Glad you’ve found an alternative cheaper insurance. Like most insurance, companies hope you just accept the renewal.

Here none of the vets will mow do direct pay pr pre authorisation you have to pay then claim back on insurance

Insurance now want £165 a month for my 9 year old lab and also they take of a % from a claim as he is senior
They also excluded any limb issues as he had a sprain when was a puppy ( no claim and just needed couple days painkillers )

I have ended up cancelling it especially given his age would not be putting him through major surgery let alone finding thousands up front first ( why I took pet insurance when was younger as knew did not have

Whilst I agree that when dogs get older you probably wouldn't put them through invasive long term treatments but it's the acute issues that can also cost thousands that most people would want to treat.

My middle age dog was rushed to emergency vets recently and I had to authorise surgery which was estimated at that time to be £2500-3000 to remove a bowel obstruction from something he had eaten unknowingly.

This is the thing - it doesn't take much for the bills to run into the thousands.

Things like obstructions, pancreatitis, epilepsy and cushings are all expensive to treat but not (as a general rule) something you'd have a dog PTS for unless they had other things going on. The same applies to things like arthritis.

Treatment isn't cheap but it can mean your dog lives another 5+ years with no real issues.

Mine recently went up to £100 a month from £80, but I'm going to keep it because when I have needed it in the past, the vet bills were £800-£3,000 at a time with little or no warning. It has definitely more than paid for itself over the years.