Do you have pet insurance for you cat/dog?

Do you have pet insurance for you cat/dog?

Poll: Do you have pet insurance for you cat/dog?

Total Members Polled: 127

Always : 68
Did initially : 7
Did after a while : 2
Never: 32
Waste of money : 16
Great value: 13
Dog: 27
Cat: 36
Author
Discussion

Smiler.

Original Poster:

11,752 posts

230 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
What do dog/cat owners on PH do?

Any horror stories of companies wriggling out of a claim (whilst maintaining the N&S rules obviously) wink

illmonkey

18,204 posts

198 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Always had it. £10/month has saved me 3 lump sums of £1k+.

It's annoying that insurance companies won't insure existing conditions. It forces you to stay with the same company, which allows them to bend me over.

Simpo Two

85,450 posts

265 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
'Never' and 'waste of money' are effectively the same thing.


illmonkey said:
Always had it. £10/month has saved me 3 lump sums of £1k+.
Never had it. Not paying £10/month has saved me £2,880!

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

255 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
No. Veterinary fees are so ridiculously cheap here, it is pointless. A relative had a hernia operation for a Chihuahua not a week ago, and it cost 40 quid. That included all the meds, overnight stay, etc.



Coco H

4,237 posts

237 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Initially I only had it for a horse - got a 6k bill once. No for the cat - when he was run over luckily it only cost about £250.
Dog - got from day 1 - we got the lifetime vets fees cover which is much more expensive. Having looked at what the various policies covered we ended up with the most expensive version but having had a dog with a lifelong condition in the past etc decided to stomach the extra £15 a month.

K77 CTR

1,611 posts

182 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Always, last year they paid out £6500 towards one cat and in the last two months have claimed £400, definitely worth it here.

If anyone is thinking of using petplan, send me an email as I have some vouchers for you.

illmonkey

18,204 posts

198 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
'Never' and 'waste of money' are effectively the same thing.


illmonkey said:
Always had it. £10/month has saved me 3 lump sums of £1k+.
Never had it. Not paying £10/month has saved me £2,880!
I've had pets for 5 years, so its so far cost me £600 and I've got them to pay out over £3k, so I'm quids in. Its also £10 a month rather than £1k lump sum. I know I'd rather forgo a few pints a month to not have the worry of needing to have £1k available.

telecat

8,528 posts

241 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Minnie's Story is posted elsewhere. Suffice to say that to go from a 4 to a 3 legged cat was about £2000!!!!

SPR2

3,182 posts

196 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
I have been very lucky and have had no insurance.
Apart from a hysterectomy and cancer on my old dog from which she died at 13 and a half naturally 3 weeks after diagnosis, teeth cleaned and a couple of other times on my present one who will be 13 in April I have been very satisfied with what my vet has charged.smile

omgus

7,305 posts

175 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Did originally but don't have it now, if my two get ill then it will cost me but when i cancelled it i genuinely couldn't afford the money and they are pretty healthy beasties so it has never really come up since.
The younger one has been cleaned up by myself a few times after scrapping but nothing that warranted a trip to the vets.

Munter

31,319 posts

241 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
So far we are "winning" on 1 cats policy, and "losing" on the other.

But between our cats and a guy at works cats, we were up about 10% last time we tried to figure it out.

What we can't work out is how they make any money on it.

Simpo Two

85,450 posts

265 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
illmonkey said:
I've had pets for 5 years, so its so far cost me £600 and I've got them to pay out over £3k, so I'm quids in. Its also £10 a month rather than £1k lump sum. I know I'd rather forgo a few pints a month to not have the worry of needing to have £1k available.
In that case you're the winner. I have £1K available so I can afford the odds-on bet if it goes wrong. And in fact, so should you, in case your roof falls in etc.

I know dogs and horses are more expensive to fix than cats but presume the premiums are proportionally higher, so the odds are probably the same.

y2blade

56,108 posts

215 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Yes for CAT, DOG and HORSES yes


No for the fish wink

Jasandjules

69,910 posts

229 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
When it went up to £220 pcm we cancelled (for three dogs).

RB Will

9,664 posts

240 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Have had it for the dog from day 1. Never had any trouble with them paying up.
Do wonder sometimes if it is worth it in the long run but it makes me feel better to have it there just in case.
I know a lady who has 3 large dogs who has a separate bank account that she puts what would be insurance premiums into to use for any vets bills. She has about £6k saved up in there at the mo so is quids in but as we all know if 1 or 2 of those dogs has a serious problem then that could all go very quickly.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,386 posts

150 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
It's a myth to think that it you don't claim on your insurance, you've "lost". You haven't lost, you're paying for peace of mind and that's what you've had.

I've paid for house building insurance for years and never claimed. But if I didn't have it, I'd never go out, and I'd keep a bucket of water in every room in case of fire. That wouldn't be much of a life!

Simpo Two

85,450 posts

265 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
TwigtheWonderkid said:
It's a myth to think that it you don't claim on your insurance, you've "lost". You haven't lost, you're paying for peace of mind and that's what you've had.
My financial adviser says things like that.

No, to me £20K out and £16K back is a loss of £4K.

littlegreenfairy

10,134 posts

221 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
I know they are bunnies but we've never insured them because at £30 a month between them, a high excess and no real dental cover it wasn't worth it.

We've had £1500 of bills for them this year but its all dental which wouldn't have been covered anyhow. Not bad for 5 years.

littlegreenfairy

10,134 posts

221 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
I know they are bunnies but we've never insured them because at £30 a month between them, a high excess and no real dental cover it wasn't worth it.

We've had £1500 of bills for them this year but its all dental which wouldn't have been covered anyhow. Not bad for 5 years.

andym1603

1,812 posts

172 months

Thursday 3rd January 2013
quotequote all
Always had big dogs so insurance is a no brainer. The small annual premium is nothing compared to a vet bill.