Does claiming on insurance increase your premium

[Dottiespotty]

Did rescue dog last yet at and took out the best premium we could afford with a low 50 pound excess.

he has to go for some expensive scans which we will claim for but we have had another visit costing 200 pounds so 150 over the excess.

my husband says don’t claim for the second one as will bump up the premium assume as for car insurance . I didn’t know pet insurance worked like that but maybe it does?

In my experience yes, it has an effect and they increase your premiums as you're seen as a bigger risk.

Depends on the provider. Petplan don’t hike your premiums due to claims - though premiums will increase as your pet gets older and the risks go up. But ManyPets for example specifically state they will affect your premium.

And remember that when or if you want to swap insurers any pre exisiting conditions either wont be covered or you will need to declare.

We are with John Lewis not sure how they work ?

Depends on who you’re insured with, if you look for reviews you’ll usually work out whether yours do or not.

But also... if you’re claiming for one thing, you’re as well claiming both I’d think, and if it’s annual insurance it’s only one excess you pay.

We claim £120 a month for medication and have claimed over £2000 for a life long illness diagnosis plus £600 in random tests/ rashes / swallowed things.

Premium has changed from £18pm at puppy to £64pm now. That's over 5 years.

Age of the dog, medical conditions and what you will be likely to claim all play apart of the cost.

Yes it can do. It depends on what is found. If it's something which means there could be further treatment over the lifetime (and therefore expense) your premiums will go up. Less likely if it's say an injury from which full recovery is expected with no long-term implications.

Bear in mind if you do claim later, they might ask the vet if there had been any previous relevant visits. If the company believes that you have concealed information about your pet's health, then they might reject a claim or even withdraw cover completely (depending on what the issue is)

My DDog had a very mild orthopaedic issue, and because of that we are now paying a much higher premium. But it's a lifetime policy, so if it worsens (which it might or might not) she will be covered (could one day need an operation). If we'd not claimed, then our premiums would not have gone up, but we would have risked a later rejection. We can't really change insurer, as we'd have to declare it, and it would probably be excluded completely.

There's no blanket answer because it depends on the insurer, your policy and the small print.

I just dealt with this with Tesco. I'm on a old-style policy where we pay a set, fairly large excess throughout the pets' life (no matter how old they are) and that's it per condition, per year. Our premiums do go up, but only based on age rather than claims. Other policies have lower excesses but will hike the premiums if you claim.

Basically it all comes down to what's in the small print.

Ours goes up yearly (Petplan) regardless, but the cover is worth it. My girl has Cytoipint injections which cost an arm and a leg and I now claim every time and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Is the other visit related to the same issue/condition? If it is you only pay the excess once. We are with PetPlan and they do not increase with claims, only age - thankfully as our lab was in 3 times last week, twice out of hours, and it cost £1k in all!

John Lewis I think is known for bumping up premiums after claims.

If you read the Policy Wording you need to advise them if any new condition, whether you claim for it or not, especially at renewal - it’s called Duty of Disclosure. If you decide to make a claim in the next policy year for the same condition you’re investigating now, that claim would very likely be refused as it wasn’t initially disclosed. Insurers do generally ask for the animal’s veterinary history so they would find out anyway.

Better policies will continue to pay for 12 months up to the sum insured (even if renewal is within that 12 month period).

Please read your Policy Wording! 😊