Insurance premium doubled. What would you do?

[KronkeyCroc]

My dog is only 3 but been diagnosed with mild hip displaysia. She saw a specialist this year that said it’s ok and conservative management is best. All good, £1000 bill that the insurance paid.

we have a whole life policy we have had since the day she arrived as she is a breed prone to this sort of thing and I thought it would be sensible to get on going cover if she was diagnosed.

But it is going from £28 to £58 a month! This feels so much with cost of living and remortgage on the horizon, a million kids things to pay out for, cars, bills etc the list goes on. I just don’t know what to do. Should I get a cheaper policy that doesn’t cover hip displaysia but would cover emergencies? We’ve been assured it’s very mild so with management shouldn’t cause too much trouble until she is much older.

Or hold out one more year and see what happens? if they keep putting it up like this every year then I won’t have a choice but to stop. Interested to hear what others would do.

Definitely keep the insurance and keep paying it.

We had a Labrador in the past who had the exact same issue, we were told exactly the same, assured it was very mild and wouldn’t cause him any issues until he was well into old age. 2 years later we were paying £5000 for surgery, we also had lifetime cover which paid out on that. Really don’t know what we would have done if we didn’t have the insurance!

What would you do if in a few years time the dog requires surgery, could you find the £5000 for it? It’s a lot easier to find an extra £30 spare a month for insurance than it is to find £5000 at the drop of a hat for treatment.

We have another Lab now and we pay £62 a month for his insurance, have never claimed on it and he’s only 2.5. It is expensive but everything has gone up in price and we know first hand how expensive anything vet related is, so I’d be saving money anywhere else possible before I even thought about cancelling his pet insurance or downgrading his cover, it’s too important a thing to skimp on

I would keep the insurance in place. It’s expensive but vet costs mount up and he could end up needing expensive treatment further down the line.

You're over a barrel

You'd have to declare it as a pre-existing condition and it is likely to be excluded from a new policy - worst case, all orthopaedic is excluded (either totally or for an initial period), and might impact on eg accidental injury if they thought a hip issue was a contributory factory.

Without insurance, how will you afford the operation? Will you be putting the money you are not spending on insurance premiums into a savings account? You'll need anywhere between £3k and £8k depending on procedure, size of dog, aftercare required.

If you found a policy that cost the same as you're paying now, you're saving £360 a year. So if the OP isn't needed for another 10 years and comes in at the cheaper end of the options, and you have saved the money, then you'll probably break even.

But if you weren't planning on putting the difference in premiums into savings for health needs no longer covered by insurance, how are you going to pay for it ?

It's so difficult. I have a golden retriever who used to suffer pancreatitis (been carefully managed for past 9 years) and we had a whole life policy. The premiums kept rising and rising until they were extortionate. Eventually we had to cancel the policy and we put money away each month to cover any vets bills. However, when we did this our dog was already much older than yours. I don't know what we would have done if she was still young.

If your dog breed is prone to hip displaysia, and your dog has already been diagnosed, then I'd be reluctant to change policies now as it will be excluded. I feel for you as I understand how unaffordable it is, when you're trying to do the responsible thing.

Manypets cover pre-existing conditions, in that if you don't need advice or treatment for the condition for two years it drops out of consideration.

I would be keeping the insurance and paying the £58.

Potential treatment for anything related to hip dysplasia could run into the thousands.

It starts to rise at 3 even without a claim. I would love a bill so low / £168 here and worth every penny, we've had over £15k of vets bills lifetime

Keep it.

Imagine if something happened and you couldn’t pay. What would you do?

Unless you can find £20k plus for an op, after care plus rehab then fund ongoing physio and pain meds then keep the insurance. HD is one of the most expensive conditions to treat and manage and the reason why breeding dogs should be hip scored. It's very life limiting for the dog too.

Keep paying.
Insurance goes up every year regardless...I'm paying that for my 4 yr old who has had one MRi after she hurt her leg as a puppy...no ongoing conditions. But with a HD diagnosis you ARE likely to need a lot more treatment in the future and hip ops are £££££
Pet insurance is a rip off, but when the time comes that you need it... you need full coverage without exclusions unless you can dig out 20k !

This is me too.

So far, almost £15k of claims for issues that are not life threatening or even life-altering. Just persistent and repeating. I didn't see a Y3 hike but then my Yr 3 happened at a time of low inflation.

Just gone back and checked my yearly costs:
Yr 1: £27pm
Y2: £25pm
Y3: £28pm
Y4: £38pm
Y5: £59pm
Y6: £80pm
Y7: £160pm

At 3 years old with mild hip d., I would absolutely keep paying it. Or I would be working out the costs of operating on both hips and finding an alternative, cheaper insurance but also saving the money to pay for the operations directly. That way, the money was there if needed but I could take it back if it turns out she never needs the ops.