Older cat insurance

[Misty9]

I had a quick look but couldn't see anything recent - is it worth getting insurance for an older cat? I've just adopted an 11yo moggie and it's looking like annual premium of £400 plus at least £120 per condition per year. Or a cheaper premium but copayment of 20% per condition... Seems a lot, but so are vet fees I know! She doesn't have any preexisting conditions.

Oh, plus excess of at least £99

You need to be looking for a lifetime insurance plan. Yes, they are a bit more expensive monthly. But it’s worth it.

You’ll probably find that most policies have an annual excess and then, once they’re over a certain age, you cover around 10-20% of each visit.

It seems really expensive. But the older your cat gets, the higher treatment costs can be. Lifetime means that your cat is always covered for a condition, which can become more likely the older they get.

I know some will disagree with this view, but it’s worked out financially for me so far.

What pp said :) and actually that's not a bad premium - I pay £54 a month for my two who have just turned 8, they've been on a lifetime insurance since I rescued them at six months. Full expect to be paying £35 each a month by the time they're 11 - but although it seems expensive, it's definitely worth it for ongoing or recurring conditions because the amount you can claim resets each year, plus for accidents and emergencies I wouldn't be without it.

I took out insurance last year for my FIV + cat after weighing up the pros and cons, although he’s younger. Glad I did as he needed £1000 worth of dental treatment in the last few months. Our previous cat’s final illness was £4000 - accrued over a long weekend.

I chose Bought by Many, with the most comprehensive option and they have been very good so far, I can’t fault them.

My almost 8 yr old is £30 a month for lifetime insurance through petplan. Before his brother died in March it was £56 a month for the pair of them.

They definitely have had their money's worth from pp though.

My 11 month old is £16 a month for same policy.

My last cat lived to 20 and cost my insurance company at least £10,000. She would have died at 10 years old without insurance.
She lived very well until 20 and only really became very ill 2 days before her death.
My new cat is 11 years old and I have her insured for accidents only i.e broken leg, car accidents. I'll use my savings for any chronic illnesses.

The insurance ultimately means you don’t have to really factor in finances when you make decisions about your cats’ care, so some people feel it’s worth it for peace of mind.
Feline medicine is quite advanced nowadays so cats are living until their early 20s and many live for years with chronic conditions, but it does mean that over their lives they do rack up a lot of medical costs. I’d definitely recommend a lifetime policy so it pays for their whole life (not just a year after diagnosis)

Yes I'd have been brilliant with my cat. We've had huge claims. They don't ask for co payment. Just the excess.

It is lifetime policies that I'm looking at. @Shehasadiamondinthesky is there a reason you're only insuring for accidents this time? I was thinking I might be better off putting the same amount of money away, then at least I don't lose it!