John Lewis dog insurance has just gone up to £121 a month!!!
Discussion
Mobile Chicane said:
My approach to this is adopt, don't shop.
Feed your animals the best food money can buy, and after that it's fingers crossed. I'm staggered by the number of people who are quite happy to shell out huge sums a month in terms of 'insurance', then feed their pet the cheapest s
ttiest food.
I firmly agree with the adopt part, but not too sure why it has any affect on insurance. Unless you take the horrendous price of some fashion accessory breeds into account.Feed your animals the best food money can buy, and after that it's fingers crossed. I'm staggered by the number of people who are quite happy to shell out huge sums a month in terms of 'insurance', then feed their pet the cheapest s
ttiest food.Our dogs food bill is bigger than their insurance, and their insurance isn’t cheap.
Our Staffy cross(Ooma) and our Beagle Cross(Grizz) are both with Petplan about £90 a month i think.After i trapped the tip of Grizz's tail in the front door he had a £1000 worth of treatment.
In 2016 Ooma had a small hole in between her toes,after biopsy and surgery she ended up with no fur on the underside of her jaw and something spreading to her ears too. 18 months later 3 different specialists and over £3500 of treatment she is on the road to recovery but not yet fully recovered,the first consultation with the vet who has put her on the road to recovery was £990 .
Petplan have always paid promptly and been very easy to deal with.
In 2016 Ooma had a small hole in between her toes,after biopsy and surgery she ended up with no fur on the underside of her jaw and something spreading to her ears too. 18 months later 3 different specialists and over £3500 of treatment she is on the road to recovery but not yet fully recovered,the first consultation with the vet who has put her on the road to recovery was £990 .
Petplan have always paid promptly and been very easy to deal with.
Just to say that we've always taken great care with our spoodle's diet.
Re insurance, given the total absence of any sort of reward for customer loyalty in this industry, it's looking like the solution may well be chopping and changing every year between reputable companies to take advantage of the 'introductory discounts'. Which is a ridiculous plan really.
Re insurance, given the total absence of any sort of reward for customer loyalty in this industry, it's looking like the solution may well be chopping and changing every year between reputable companies to take advantage of the 'introductory discounts'. Which is a ridiculous plan really.
Blackpuddin said:
Just to say that we've always taken great care with our spoodle's diet.
Re insurance, given the total absence of any sort of reward for customer loyalty in this industry, it's looking like the solution may well be chopping and changing every year between reputable companies to take advantage of the 'introductory discounts'. Which is a ridiculous plan really.
Just be aware that only works if you have no medical history, issues that you have to disclose (and they will usually want a medical history sent to them). If there is (even an eg ear infection) a new insurance company will 99.9% exclude anything to do with ear infections and often anything to do to with the ear at all. Some will drop the exclusion after a year if you wrote to them to confirm no ear issues for a yr (requires a vet letter) some it will be a permanent exclusion. Re insurance, given the total absence of any sort of reward for customer loyalty in this industry, it's looking like the solution may well be chopping and changing every year between reputable companies to take advantage of the 'introductory discounts'. Which is a ridiculous plan really.
Rosscow said:
I've given up with pet insurance.
Save your money - literally. Stick £100 a month into a savings account. I wish I had done that 10 years ago, would have saved me serious cash and would have had money if needed as and when things cropped up.
Seriously thinking of doing that will nearly all my ‘insurances’. Dogs are £900 a year, insurances for all the gadgets, white goods etc are £450, daughters contract phone is £144 Save your money - literally. Stick £100 a month into a savings account. I wish I had done that 10 years ago, would have saved me serious cash and would have had money if needed as and when things cropped up.
So £1500 a year altogether.
Got to keep car and bike and house insurance though.
King Herald said:
Rosscow said:
I've given up with pet insurance.
Save your money - literally. Stick £100 a month into a savings account. I wish I had done that 10 years ago, would have saved me serious cash and would have had money if needed as and when things cropped up.
Seriously thinking of doing that will nearly all my ‘insurances’. Dogs are £900 a year, insurances for all the gadgets, white goods etc are £450, daughters contract phone is £144 Save your money - literally. Stick £100 a month into a savings account. I wish I had done that 10 years ago, would have saved me serious cash and would have had money if needed as and when things cropped up.
So £1500 a year altogether.
Got to keep car and bike and house insurance though.
Our Staffie's insurance has just renewed with Sainsbury's at £70 a month, which is a lot but he's had multiple £3k+ claims in the last few years due to a herniated disc, spinal cord injury and lots of arthritis, so seems pretty reasonable and saving the £70 a month wouldn't amount to enough over the year to cover the costs if he continues to need as much vet attention as he has in the last few years.
The pre-existing condition thing also means we're kind of locked into Sainsbury's for the remainder of his life (he's 10 this year).
£121 a month does seem pretty steep!
The pre-existing condition thing also means we're kind of locked into Sainsbury's for the remainder of his life (he's 10 this year).
£121 a month does seem pretty steep!
I have a 6 year old French bulldog, premium last year with JL was 1100ish I think, this year the renewal came to 2K+.
In doing some research it's apparent that once the dog turns 7 they view it as a much higher risk and therefore the premium goes up. I didn't pay the 2k by the way, reduced it to about what it was last year by taking a massive excess. Historically I've never claimed for anything except major issues where the vet costs can get to 2,000 or more real quick. When he was a puppy he ate a needle and thread which had to be removed £1500 and we didn't have him insured at that stage.
He has a calcified joint in his spine which every so often flares up and I keep him insured just in case that needs surgery which would likely be 5K or more.
In doing some research it's apparent that once the dog turns 7 they view it as a much higher risk and therefore the premium goes up. I didn't pay the 2k by the way, reduced it to about what it was last year by taking a massive excess. Historically I've never claimed for anything except major issues where the vet costs can get to 2,000 or more real quick. When he was a puppy he ate a needle and thread which had to be removed £1500 and we didn't have him insured at that stage.
He has a calcified joint in his spine which every so often flares up and I keep him insured just in case that needs surgery which would likely be 5K or more.
Rosscow said:
I've given up with pet insurance.
Save your money - literally. Stick £100 a month into a savings account. I wish I had done that 10 years ago, would have saved me serious cash and would have had money if needed as and when things cropped up.
That's what I did on my 2 cats. Then one broke his leg 3 weeks after I decided to stop the insurance. Save your money - literally. Stick £100 a month into a savings account. I wish I had done that 10 years ago, would have saved me serious cash and would have had money if needed as and when things cropped up.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
That's what I did on my 2 cats. Then one broke his leg 3 weeks after I decided to stop the insurance.
Unfortunately my black Lab Jasper had to be put to sleep as during an operation to ampute his left front leg due to a nerve issue it was found the issue was worst than first thought. The final bill is over £7000 run up in about 6 - 8 weeks in total thankfully with pet plan meaning my contribution won’t be huge.Think long and hard about affordability if tempted to cancel insurance. I don’t know what we’d have done without it other than get into debt.
BlueMeganeII said:
Unfortunately my black Lab Jasper had to be put to sleep as during an operation to ampute his left front leg due to a nerve issue it was found the issue was worst than first thought. The final bill is over £7000 run up in about 6 - 8 weeks in total thankfully with pet plan meaning my contribution won’t be huge.
Think long and hard about affordability if tempted to cancel insurance. I don’t know what we’d have done without it other than get into debt.
Fortunately we could afford to deal with stupid bloody cat. But all this "put the money aside and pay as stuff happens" overlooks the possibility of something happening before you've put much away. Think long and hard about affordability if tempted to cancel insurance. I don’t know what we’d have done without it other than get into debt.
Lets face it, pets, especially dogs, are now one of the family. So we go the extra mile to pay for them when they are ill. We are soft buggers and the world of vets milks us for it ... so premiums go up.
My own circumstance.
Car insurance for an MX5 with turbo £300 or so per year for a car costing about £5000.
House insurance for a £600k house about £400.
Dog insurance ====> for a dog worth about £5 down the Korean butchers ==> £550
Guess what, dog is not insured this year.
My granddad loved animals, Sam the cat got run over and he nursed it back to health, not many vets in those days, but as the whole world was shooting people to pieces in two world wars it did not matter.
I guess not many people here have insurance on their gold fish or guinea pig compared to those on cats and dogs. The problem here is that people get too emotionally attached to cats and dogs and therefore a ready market springs up. There is no solution until people can say "you are fantastic" but you are not worth the money". That has to be said before AND after your pet comes a cropper.
Harsh but true?
My own circumstance.
Car insurance for an MX5 with turbo £300 or so per year for a car costing about £5000.
House insurance for a £600k house about £400.
Dog insurance ====> for a dog worth about £5 down the Korean butchers ==> £550
Guess what, dog is not insured this year.
My granddad loved animals, Sam the cat got run over and he nursed it back to health, not many vets in those days, but as the whole world was shooting people to pieces in two world wars it did not matter.
I guess not many people here have insurance on their gold fish or guinea pig compared to those on cats and dogs. The problem here is that people get too emotionally attached to cats and dogs and therefore a ready market springs up. There is no solution until people can say "you are fantastic" but you are not worth the money". That has to be said before AND after your pet comes a cropper.
Harsh but true?
Gandahar said:
Lets face it, pets, especially dogs, are now one of the family. So we go the extra mile to pay for them when they are ill. We are soft buggers and the world of vets milks us for it ... so premiums go up.
My own circumstance.
Car insurance for an MX5 with turbo £300 or so per year for a car costing about £5000.
House insurance for a £600k house about £400.
Dog insurance ====> for a dog worth about £5 down the Korean butchers ==> £550
Guess what, dog is not insured this year.
My granddad loved animals, Sam the cat got run over and he nursed it back to health, not many vets in those days, but as the whole world was shooting people to pieces in two world wars it did not matter.
I guess not many people here have insurance on their gold fish or guinea pig compared to those on cats and dogs. The problem here is that people get too emotionally attached to cats and dogs and therefore a ready market springs up. There is no solution until people can say "you are fantastic" but you are not worth the money". That has to be said before AND after your pet comes a cropper.
Harsh but true?
Entitled to your opinion obviously and I am just as entitled to say that I cannot agree with your take on the responsibility of another living creature in your life.My own circumstance.
Car insurance for an MX5 with turbo £300 or so per year for a car costing about £5000.
House insurance for a £600k house about £400.
Dog insurance ====> for a dog worth about £5 down the Korean butchers ==> £550
Guess what, dog is not insured this year.
My granddad loved animals, Sam the cat got run over and he nursed it back to health, not many vets in those days, but as the whole world was shooting people to pieces in two world wars it did not matter.
I guess not many people here have insurance on their gold fish or guinea pig compared to those on cats and dogs. The problem here is that people get too emotionally attached to cats and dogs and therefore a ready market springs up. There is no solution until people can say "you are fantastic" but you are not worth the money". That has to be said before AND after your pet comes a cropper.
Harsh but true?
Vets do not milk vets offer a service that owners can choose to take or not. Already explained how it works before.
Rabbits can be insured, smaller creatures not so much as we generally are more limited in what we can do for them.
And as for comparing the price for a dog in Korea etc I see what you were 'trying' to convey but it is a ridiculous comparison.
And who are you to tell someone how emotionally attached they should or shouldn't be to their pets.
It isn't that you choose not to insure, I've not reinsured my cat this year due to cost but not because I am suddenly emotionally detached from her.
Gandahar said:
The problem here is that people get too emotionally attached to cats and dogs and therefore a ready market springs up.
As Bex says, you're entitled to your opinion, but personally, I don't view emotional attachment to a pet as a 'problem'.Maybe that's why I've spent many thousands on my many pets (both insured and uninsured) over the years. We are all entitled to set our own priorities and spend our money the way we see fit.
As for vets costs going up - it's probably more to do with the advancements in treatments available and the fact that people are willing to do more to keep their pets well and alive for longer.
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