Pet insurance renewal
Discussion
Pogull (aka his furyship) is due renewal on his pet insurance. Renewal arrived from the supermarket where 'every little helps' at £25/month with a fixed xs of £100 very similar to last year .
Tried the usual suspects for comparison and very little seems comparable as they don't do fixed xs policies, they are all £50 + x % of the total treatment cost. Also seems there are limited companies who will insure him now as he is over 10 years old. Anybody know of any fixed xs policies worth looking at?
I/pogull have been lucky, whilst he is knocking on a bit now (13) he has only ever had 3 unplanned trips to the vet. twice for his teeth and once having had an epic battle with the neighbours cat where they both kicked the s
t out of each other. I am tempted by the lower premiums with the variable xs but would rather not have a significantly bigger xs for the sake of a few quid a month.
Any help would be appreciated.
Shep
Tried the usual suspects for comparison and very little seems comparable as they don't do fixed xs policies, they are all £50 + x % of the total treatment cost. Also seems there are limited companies who will insure him now as he is over 10 years old. Anybody know of any fixed xs policies worth looking at?
I/pogull have been lucky, whilst he is knocking on a bit now (13) he has only ever had 3 unplanned trips to the vet. twice for his teeth and once having had an epic battle with the neighbours cat where they both kicked the s
t out of each other. I am tempted by the lower premiums with the variable xs but would rather not have a significantly bigger xs for the sake of a few quid a month.Any help would be appreciated.
Shep
Edited by shep1001 on Saturday 15th December 18:04
I'd say try PetPlan. They offer cover of new conditions for life, i.e. if he develops something during the policy he'll still be covered for costs relating to that in subsequent years. Most other pet insurance put exclusions in for stuff in subsequent years so you could end up having to foot large bills if he ends up needing ongoing treatment.
You may pay a bit more than you are now but if my cats were 13 I'd probably rather pay a little more per month knowing that I'm covered if one or other of them ended up with an ongoing condition. A lot of vets can claim bills direct from PetPlan minus the excess too, saving you from having to pay out then fight the insurance company to reclaim your costs. We were able to do this when our Snowy had toothache and needed an extraction.
You may pay a bit more than you are now but if my cats were 13 I'd probably rather pay a little more per month knowing that I'm covered if one or other of them ended up with an ongoing condition. A lot of vets can claim bills direct from PetPlan minus the excess too, saving you from having to pay out then fight the insurance company to reclaim your costs. We were able to do this when our Snowy had toothache and needed an extraction.
I've cancelled my PetPlan.
My rationale being that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
My rationale being that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
Mobile Chicane said:
I've cancelled my PetPlan.
My rationale being that that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
We've had over £11k out of Petplan, our Springer is just over 4 years old. I know many people "win" but we could never have afforded to treat ours - we've paid over £3k ourselves in this period because we only have £4k per annum cover which funnily enough PetPlan won't extend! My rationale being that that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
The worst thing in the world is trying to work out how on earth you can afford to have your pet treated.
...and ours has been RAW fed since she was 8 or 9 months old.
I would always go with lifetime cover but for a 13 year old dog it may be less of an issue.
Piglet said:
Mobile Chicane said:
I've cancelled my PetPlan.
My rationale being that that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
We've had over £11k out of Petplan, our Springer is just over 4 years old. I know many people "win" but we could never have afforded to treat ours - we've paid over £3k ourselves in this period because we only have £4k per annum cover which funnily enough PetPlan won't extend! My rationale being that that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
The worst thing in the world is trying to work out how on earth you can afford to have your pet treated.
...and ours has been RAW fed since she was 8 or 9 months old.
I would always go with lifetime cover but for a 13 year old dog it may be less of an issue.
I'd rather spend the money on flea treatments, worming and vacc. boosters - stuff that PetPlan don't cover anyway - and feed him proper food rather than be tempted to skimp on that in order to fund insurance I might never need.
Unfortunately, it is a question of one or the other.
Mobile Chicane said:
It is difficult - and I feel as guilty as Hell - but Bob is a 10 year-old cat who seems pretty healthy.
I'd rather spend the money on flea treatments, worming and vacc. boosters - stuff that PetPlan don't cover anyway - and feed him proper food rather than be tempted to skimp on that in order to fund insurance I might never need.
Unfortunately, it is a question of one or the other.
We're about £288/year I think for the Petplan cover for our two cats. We've had them just over a year now. A couple of months ago our eldest cat Snowy had to have a tooth removed. Total bill was just over £400. Even minus the excess we're still better off over just one year than if we'd just taken the hit, plus he's covered for any re-occurrence of Gingivitis in subsequent years.I'd rather spend the money on flea treatments, worming and vacc. boosters - stuff that PetPlan don't cover anyway - and feed him proper food rather than be tempted to skimp on that in order to fund insurance I might never need.
Unfortunately, it is a question of one or the other.
I understand that pet insurance is an additional expense on top of things like worming, flea treatment, vaccinations etc. but given you have to pay that anyway (since it's not included in the cover) then why risk having to make a choice between paying potentially thousands to save an animals life and having to have it put down because you can't afford to pay it?
This is just me but personally I couldn't look my cats in the face knowing that if they got really sick or injured that I wouldn't be able to have them treated.
I'm not judging anyone so please nobody take offence, just my own feelings on the subject.
Mobile Chicane said:
I've cancelled my PetPlan.
My rationale being that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
That rationale only works if you effectively have the money to self insure, you keep the £14.65's and if you end up with a £2000 vet bill 4 months in then it was a losing gamble.My rationale being that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
If money was tight I think you need to do the exact opposite of what you've done - keep the insurance policy live. If you had to cancel it to save £15 then you're going to be completely screwed if he gets hit by a car tomorrow and you spent the £15 on raw beef and dental chew sticks...
icetea said:
Mobile Chicane said:
I've cancelled my PetPlan.
My rationale being that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
That rationale only works if you effectively have the money to self insure, you keep the £14.65's and if you end up with a £2000 vet bill 4 months in then it was a losing gamble.My rationale being that PetPlan is a commercial enterprise, in which far bigger brains than mine will have calculated the likelihood of them taking my money, as opposed to me taking theirs.
Money is tight, and I reckon the £14.65 a month spent on pet insurance would be far better spent on preventative treatments and the best quality (raw) food so that Bob stays healthy.
If money was tight I think you need to do the exact opposite of what you've done - keep the insurance policy live. If you had to cancel it to save £15 then you're going to be completely screwed if he gets hit by a car tomorrow and you spent the £15 on raw beef and dental chew sticks...
Insurance works best for the financially stretched, not the well off. If I was rich I'd cancel all my non compulsory covers. If my house burnt down, I'd just have it rebuilt and pay myself. But I can't afford to rebuild my house from my savings, so I insure it!
My cat got hit by a car this time last year, cost approx £9k to sort out. The main problem was a wound which was failing to heal, I had the hard decision to make when I hit the insurance limit as he'd got so far. If I wasn't insured I'd have had no choice but to put him to sleep for what was no more than a wound 
He's now insured with pet plan who have a 12k limit rather than the 6k limit he originally had. Don't want to face that issue ever again.
He's now insured with pet plan who have a 12k limit rather than the 6k limit he originally had. Don't want to face that issue ever again.
After raking up alot of bills with my 2 dogs, first dog had 10k spent on him. Lunkily it was for 2 unrelated conditions and my ins paid out straight away. I used the same company again, they are not the cheapest but did not quibble at all over paying for my current dog and they have covered physio and chiropractorfor a leg and back injury on top of the usual vet treatments. I'm not well off at all, but would always make sure I went without something to make sure my dog is covered.
Spiffing said:
I'm not well off at all, but would always make sure I went without something to make sure my dog is covered.
Yep this - for most of us finding £15 a month or even the £30 it costs for our dog isn't hugely difficult - even when neither of us were working we managed to drop other things to enable us to insure the dog. ...and then in our position we have still end up paying the extra when we hit the limit of cover that's been hard enough but as said above, we'd have been having to make the decision to destroy our Springer for perfectly treatable conditions.
To anyone weighing up the cost of pet 'insurance', I'd say, read all the small print and weigh up the facts.
Remember that insurance is a commercial undertaking, carefully calculated by insurance actuaries to ensure they take your money rather than having you take theirs.
My scenario: PetPlan 'Essential'. The only cover PetPlan were prepared to offer, since Bob is ten years old.
It offers a maximum of £3k per condition, in total, with an excess of 20% of the total cost of treatment.
However, paying out at all is contingent on having annual vacc. boosters (which I'd do anyway) plus an annual dental check (which I'd also do anyway) - the cost of which aren't covered.
At £14.65 per month in premium for a maximum payout of £2,400, PetPlan can fk off. I don't live near a busy road, and Bob's teeth are kept in good nick with a proper diet plus preventative maintenance.
I'll save the £14.65, and put it in a tin.
Remember that insurance is a commercial undertaking, carefully calculated by insurance actuaries to ensure they take your money rather than having you take theirs.
My scenario: PetPlan 'Essential'. The only cover PetPlan were prepared to offer, since Bob is ten years old.
It offers a maximum of £3k per condition, in total, with an excess of 20% of the total cost of treatment.
However, paying out at all is contingent on having annual vacc. boosters (which I'd do anyway) plus an annual dental check (which I'd also do anyway) - the cost of which aren't covered.
At £14.65 per month in premium for a maximum payout of £2,400, PetPlan can f
k off. I don't live near a busy road, and Bob's teeth are kept in good nick with a proper diet plus preventative maintenance.I'll save the £14.65, and put it in a tin.
Mobile Chicane said:
.
At £14.65 per month in premium for a maximum payout of £2,400, PetPlan can fk off. I don't live near a busy road, and Bob's teeth are kept in good nick with a proper diet plus preventative maintenance.
I'll save the £14.65, and put it in a tin.
Great idea. When he has a serious condition after 2 months, you'll have £29.30 to put towards the bill, instead of the £2400 you would have had. Shrewd move.At £14.65 per month in premium for a maximum payout of £2,400, PetPlan can f
k off. I don't live near a busy road, and Bob's teeth are kept in good nick with a proper diet plus preventative maintenance.I'll save the £14.65, and put it in a tin.
Yes, insurance companies will make a profit accross the board. And why not, it's a business. They wouldn't do it otherwise, it's not a charity. But they will make big losses on a minority of policies, and yours could be one of those.
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