Dog insurance

[Cherryblossom200]

Hello,

We’re getting a puppy next week and I’ve taken our Agria insurance as it’s got really good reviews.

I’m paying £36.00 a month for lifetime insurance, it’s pretty comprehensive and pays up to £12,000 a year. I would have to pay £95.00 for each illness and then 10% towards the cost of treatment. I’m not sure if this is really expensive of good value?!

Many thanks x

Well I suppose it depends on the breed price wise however I have lifetime Waggel dog insurance, you can choose the amount of coverage (I think I have either 7 or 8k) and you just pay the first £100 of each illness. I pay about £30 a month and she's 2.5 now and has epilepsy so they cover the checkups and medication for that.
I'm sure you've shopped around but if you haven't , do that, I recommend Waggel, they haven't quibbled with any of my claims yet and pay swiftly.

Thanks. She’s a Cavapoo and quite expensive 😬 I think I’ll have a shop around just to be sure x

Mines a Miniature Schnauzer so similar size to a Cavapoo, and sadly they are all expensive!

You don't usually have to pay a percentage until the dog is older. I'd be wary of that as it could soon add up.
Last insurance year my dog had three separate claims, costing me £300 in excess payments. I'd have had to pay an extra £208 if I was paying 10%.
A previous year we claimed £7k. I'm glad I didn't have to find £800 towards the bill.

I think they are all much of a muchness. I chose Agria as I have a gundog and they cover days working, which many insurers do not. My vets also do direct claims with them. I got the 20k lifetime cover and excess is £150 - I am sure on mine we don’t have to pay % towards the cost of treatment though.

I’d not be very impressed at paying 10% of all treatment on top of an excess.

I think you need to check the T&Cs thoroughly. I too wouldn’t be happy to have to pay 10% on top of the excess.

I am due to have this when my dog hits 10 years old next year and already thinking it’s going to add a lot to his claims for chronic conditions.

Check that the yearly limit isn’t limited by condition e.g. can you claim the full amount for any one or multiple claims irrespective of what the illness or accident is.

It’s not the initial lowish costs which would worry me, more the annual increases.

We’re with PetPlan which wasn’t the cheapest initially as a pup, but they don’t penalise you for claiming on renewal. This means they take the breed average to calculate the annual premium, rather than basing the cost on your own claim record.

My dog has Addisons Disease which costs £££££ to treat, but his premium only went up £5 a month after a year of claiming £3k.

Yep, I’ve actually done some research. Agria has been voted by which several times because its renewal cost is relatively low. Apparently other insurance companies who have a lower premium almost double on renewal.

The advice I’ve been given is to stick with Agria because they are one of the best out there.

And yes you can claim the full amount on one claim if required.

Just check any small print to make sure they don’t cap the price they will pay for individual things. I got caught out with my 10k lifetime cover policy recently when dog needed an emergency vet and they’d only pay £750 of the 2k bill. Every single thing was capped, so they’d once pay £22 for a blood test, £130 for a consultation (it was £360 for the consultation), so much for a 24 hr admission. And very sneakily this information was in a seperate document to my policy booklet so I had no idea. Avoid Animal Friends.

I bought lifetime insurance for ours - she's 6 now and it's £800 a year - just gone up. That is petplan.

Out of interest, what's the monthly cost? We don't insure as we have savings, but vet fees are getting insane.

ETA, I work one of my dogs.

For our puppy it’s £38.00 but that’s because I’m also paying to protect the cost of her as well as she wasn’t cheap!

I’m really happy with the cover and Agria as a company, they seem to come up top on most things. I’ve purposely gone higher so she’s insured up to £12,000 a year x

Dog is almost 2 and we pay £61 currently. Haven’t had to claim yet thankfully!

I just asked Agria for a quote for my puppy and it was £78 a month for a terrier! I could add copayments and reduce the cost down a bit. Hate to think how much it would be as he got older. Even petplan is only £42 I think.

Really?! Does it have pre existing issues? Or is this new puppy? That seems really high!

New puppy, no conditions. That was 12k of lifetime cover with no copay.

Mine is 10% or treatment costs which is probably why mine is cheaper

Thanks. I'll stick with savings!

That sounds a lot, unless it's a breed known for health issues from a young age. The first year is usually a tempting offer! I've used several companies over the years, currently with Sainsbury's, though they don't cover working dogs unlike our previous ones. Lab is four, £7500 cover, £95 excess, premium c£430 (plus £45 Nectar points, so really under £400).

I used PetGuard for my working dogs.