Dog insurance

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Spiffing

Original Poster:

1,855 posts

209 months

Sunday 29th March 2015
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Direct Line have increased my policy by £10 a month to just over £50 for a 5yr old collie who has claimed a couple of times for injuries, but no on going ailmemts and refuse to budge when I rang them. Tesco is less than half the price with £20 less excess and very slightly less maximum (£7,500 per condition rather than £8,000). Had a look at reviews which complain about policies increasing, but this will happen with any provider. Any feedback on them or recomemdation s for others would be great.

KFC

3,687 posts

129 months

Sunday 29th March 2015
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Spiffing said:
Direct Line have increased my policy by £10 a month to just over £50 for a 5yr old collie who has claimed a couple of times for injuries, but no on going ailmemts and refuse to budge when I rang them. Tesco is less than half the price with £20 less excess and very slightly less maximum (£7,500 per condition rather than £8,000). Had a look at reviews which complain about policies increasing, but this will happen with any provider. Any feedback on them or recomemdation s for others would be great.
Be careful when changing policies as even with no ongoing injuries a new injury could be deemed related to one of your old claims, and they could refuse to pay out.

Tesco might seem cheaper, but 6 months down the line you could be looking at 6 x £20 notes you saved, and a £3000 vet bill they're not going to pay.


Monkey boy 1

2,063 posts

230 months

Thursday 2nd April 2015
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After having recently lost two dogs in 6 months I was really glad that I had insurance. Though one policy did not cover the entire cost of vets & referal bills.
First dog to lose was our 3 year old Hungarian Vizsla last August. Stupid thing ate some bedding them had to have an op to remove it from his stomach & intestine. Then he contracted Septic peretonitis, which finished him off. He was covered for £7500 per condition (£45/month with More Than)and the bill came to just shy of £10,500. We had to pay Excess of £75 plus 10% and on top of that the difference between the total & what we were covered for. irked
The next was our 7 year old Greyhound. She was covered for £5K. (£28/month with a company called Paws & Claws) She was Diagnosed with a brain tumor last month and straight away that was £3K. Luckily though the insurance covered that one no probs with only a £75 excess and no percentage add on.

Since then we have got another Vizsla and he is insured to the hilt. We are paying about £47/month for £16K per condition for life. No doubt that will go up next year.

I know we complain about insurance premiums for our animals, but after losing two in such a short space of time I am really glad we had some. Though I would have prefered to have the dogs still with us.

Vets know we love our animals and I am sure they hike the prices up to suit. Insurance companies have to up their premiums because the vets charge extortionate prices. Also be very wary of what they charge you for. Our pervious vet over charged us nearly £600 for items which we hever had and only threatening them with a court case did they back down and admit guilt.

DWS

657 posts

217 months

Thursday 2nd April 2015
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Have you tried Petplan? We have had great service from them.

jock mcsporran

5,001 posts

272 months

Sunday 5th April 2015
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We have cover with Legal and General for our now 1 year old Springer. Cost was £20/month and no issues with service after a £700 vet bill for eating a tiny stone which blocked him up. Renewal has gone up by £5/month, probably because of the vet bill.

Spiffing

Original Poster:

1,855 posts

209 months

Monday 6th April 2015
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Spoke with a really helpful chap from the insurance company who was apologetic about the increase. He couldn't do anything and said that if he was faced with this increase on top of an already high policy he would move. Nice to have an honest response. I'm moving, but setting up a direct debit transferring the difference every month to an unused savings account. That way if something does crop up that the new insurers reject for sone reason I have this to fall back on.

gemini

11,352 posts

263 months

Monday 6th April 2015
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Stick £40 a month in an account.
Sod the ins companies!

Spiffing

Original Poster:

1,855 posts

209 months

Monday 6th April 2015
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No way! My last dog racked up over 12k of vet bills in his life, I don't have that kind of money.

ehasler

8,566 posts

282 months

Monday 6th April 2015
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Petplan are well-regarded in not increasing premiums a huge amount once you've made a claim. So although pricey initially compared to others, they may well end up being better value in the long term.

If you check out my profile, there's a link which might be of some use in comparing different policies.

Spiffing

Original Poster:

1,855 posts

209 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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2 days before my current policy stops the pooch has been throwing up all day and has diarrhea full of blood. Looks like we will stay with our current provider. Vet appointment booked by the way.

KFC

3,687 posts

129 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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gemini said:
Stick £40 a month in an account.
Sod the ins companies!
I knocked an escaped dog over in my Porsche. I think the repair bill was 7k euros or so. The dog was huge (rottweiler sized) and it survived. Even with cheap vet bills here it'll have been four figures no doubt.

Whats your plan now, when you owe me 7k, your vet want 1500 or they're going to put your dog down, and you've got 6 x £40 in your account that you set up earlier in the year laugh

gemini

11,352 posts

263 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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I suspect you'd have to wait for it!

KFC

3,687 posts

129 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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gemini said:
I suspect you'd have to wait for it!
Whats going to happen to your dog while I'm waiting? Is he going to wait too?

gemini

11,352 posts

263 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Put like that you are quite right!

Id sort the dog first, pray on your love of animals by asking yu to wait, then get round to you later :lol:


KFC

3,687 posts

129 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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gemini said:
Put like that you are quite right!

Id sort the dog first, pray on your love of animals by asking yu to wait, then get round to you later :lol:
I don't live in the UK so I don't actually know what would happen to be honest. If you pitched up at a vet with a smashed up dog and said I want you to fix it but I can't pay you today I've no idea if they'd open you a line of credit?

boxst

3,699 posts

144 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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Tesco were okay with me, although I didn't realise how expensive Vet bills could be. My Policy is £11/month for a Yorkshire Terrier and he had an operation that was £3,500. This cheap policy only covered £2,500 per condition + £60 excess. They very quickly gave me the £2,500 back.

This was only a few months ago, so I'm not sure if they will hike up the premium.