Dog Insurance

[Kevin Yeandel]

Hi

Does anyone know of a dog insurer that does high excess and low monthly premium?

I want to insure 4 dogs (2 puppies and 2 x 6 year olds) and so-far see this being near to £200/month.
In the past I've drawn from a kitty and no insurance.
I'd prefer to dip into my kitty to meet a high excess with a low monthly rate.
e.g. have an arrangement where I'd have to pay the first £2,000 of something serious rather than £180 excess towards a problem but not found one on line that is set up this way.

Thanks for any advice.

Kevin

 

[Ozzy]

I think my animal insurance cost more than my motorbike insurance, and the vet bills always seem to be just under the excess threshold every time!
Anyway, second tag of the day for @Frank the Insurance guy but if there are other members involved in insurance they need to make themselves known, I just see Frank popping up in conversation a lot so his name sticks

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Not the answer to your question, but £200pcm into a separate bank account over the lifetime of the dogs would cover a lot of vet's bills.

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

Thanks @Ozzy , but not my area of expertise.

However, I had a good look around for my dog at renewal and can't remember seeing anyone that would look at a high excess in return for a lower premium.

As @Financial-Modeller suggests, perhaps better pocketing the £200pm instead.

 

[WaveJumper]

Good luck with that I spent over two weeks looking for new cat insurance seems premiums for pet insurance have gone through the roof. I think the insurance companies have jumped on the fact a lot of people have gone out and bought pets during lockdown and they making hay whilst the sun shines. Again probably no help to you but after all my searching I ended up with Tesco's pet insurance. Good luck with your quest

 

[Kevin Yeandel]

Agreed. I saved upto £10K then had a very sick dog so that was £1,200 in tests but I was prepared to remortgage if I had to.
Think I might buy some Etherium, Bitcoin, or Binance ****** with the money instead.

 

[WaveJumper]

Agreed. I saved upto £10K then had a very sick dog so that was £1,200 in tests but I was prepared to remortgage if I had to.
Think I might buy some Etherium, Bitcoin, or Binance ****** with the money instead.

Or maybe some new Coinbase shares even

 

[KAC]

We've given up on dog insurance and just pay the vet bills now. By the time you have deducted the excess and the "self insurance" %, it just wasn't worth while. Having said that, a month or so after we cancelled, we ended up with a bill for £5K for laryngeal paralysis. Think that the insurers have seen that people have ben prepared to pay many thousands for mongrels/designer dogs (Sorry e.g. Cavapoos) since lockdown and have decided to cash in as well.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Why would you want a dog now
When I was growing up if a dog was in too much pain shoot it
Dog bites passerby shoot it
Dog attacks sheep shoot it
Dog kills chicken shoot it
Dog shags everybodys leg wack it over the nose
Dog shags vicars leg shoot it

Now all this can be covered with 3 grand a year what a joke !

Do what I do get a big bag of bird seed from Mole Vally Farmers and feed the birds in your garden

 

[BustersDogs]

Hi

Does anyone know of a dog insurer that does high excess and low monthly premium?

I want to insure 4 dogs (2 puppies and 2 x 6 year olds) and so-far see this being near to £200/month.
In the past I've drawn from a kitty and no insurance.
I'd prefer to dip into my kitty to meet a high excess with a low monthly rate.
e.g. have an arrangement where I'd have to pay the first £2,000 of something serious rather than £180 excess towards a problem but not found one on line that is set up this way.

Thanks for any advice.

Kevin

Insurance stops being viable at about 3 dogs, unless you have plenty of money imo. Pet insurance isn't like car insurance, you can't choose to go to high excess, low premium, but you can chose a limited cover policy, which will keep premiums lower.

I recommend getting the two puppies insured for lifetime cover for both your puppies for the first 2/3 years of life, and the bottom level of cover for the older dogs.

Lifetime cover is the most expensive, but it's the best, and if they come down with a health problem that will affect them for life - the insurance will cover it as long as you keep the policy (and as long as the company keeps running, so don't pick supermarkets or banks ime). So depending on what breed, will to some extent help you to know what potential lifetime problems they might have. After they get to a little older, you can lower the cover.

Maximum benefit is sort of like a high excess, they will only pay out so much per year, per condition, then it resets. 12 month cover will only cover something for 12 months, then NEVER AGAIN. So that would be more suitable for your older dogs.

You can also insure for accident only, so if they break a leg, you would be covered, but if a cruciate ligament goes, you would not be. You should have third party liability whatever though, and you can get that for £25 per year just by joining Dogs Trust.

You also might want to consider that the more people use technology as part of animal medical care, the higher insurance rates are going to be to cover those people who want to get a bionic leg for their dog, or treat them for cancer to keep them a few months longer (I know people who have spent in excess of £40000 on their dogs cancer treatments, which extend life, not cure the cancer sadly).

Best bet is to speak to a broker (not an online comparison site) to get something a bit more tailored to your needs.

Having owned multiple dogs for many years, yes I have had a couple of stonking big vet bills, but they were still cheaper than insuring all the dogs for all their lives.

 

[Kevin Yeandel]

Insurance stops being viable at about 3 dogs, unless you have plenty of money imo. Pet insurance isn't like car insurance, you can't choose to go to high excess, low premium, but you can chose a limited cover policy, which will keep premiums lower.

I recommend getting the two puppies insured for lifetime cover for both your puppies for the first 2/3 years of life, and the bottom level of cover for the older dogs.

Lifetime cover is the most expensive, but it's the best, and if they come down with a health problem that will affect them for life - the insurance will cover it as long as you keep the policy (and as long as the company keeps running, so don't pick supermarkets or banks ime). So depending on what breed, will to some extent help you to know what potential lifetime problems they might have. After they get to a little older, you can lower the cover.

Maximum benefit is sort of like a high excess, they will only pay out so much per year, per condition, then it resets. 12 month cover will only cover something for 12 months, then NEVER AGAIN. So that would be more suitable for your older dogs.

You can also insure for accident only, so if they break a leg, you would be covered, but if a cruciate ligament goes, you would not be. You should have third party liability whatever though, and you can get that for £25 per year just by joining Dogs Trust.

You also might want to consider that the more people use technology as part of animal medical care, the higher insurance rates are going to be to cover those people who want to get a bionic leg for their dog, or treat them for cancer to keep them a few months longer (I know people who have spent in excess of £40000 on their dogs cancer treatments, which extend life, not cure the cancer sadly).

Best bet is to speak to a broker (not an online comparison site) to get something a bit more tailored to your needs.

Having owned multiple dogs for many years, yes I have had a couple of stonking big vet bills, but they were still cheaper than insuring all the dogs for all their lives.

Thanks for this - very useful and thought provoking. Thanks to everyone for their contributions too. I think I'm going to go to the dogs trust for the third party insurance, possibly insure the two pups on lifetime cover and continue to grow a stash for the older dogs.

 

[Kevin Yeandel]

Why would you want a dog now
When I was growing up if a dog was in too much pain shoot it
Dog bites passerby shoot it
Dog attacks sheep shoot it
Dog kills chicken shoot it
Dog shags everybodys leg wack it over the nose
Dog shags vicars leg shoot it

Now all this can be covered with 3 grand a year what a joke !

Do what I do get a big bag of bird seed from Mole Vally Farmers and feed the birds in your garden

Then end up with an ASBO for all the pigeons and and seagulls you attract to the neighbourhood. Unfortunately my old mum feeds the birds to excess, its got embarassing visiting her!

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

Lifetime cover is the most expensive, but it's the best, and if they come down with a health problem that will affect them for life - the insurance will cover it as long as you keep the policy

I have avoided Lifetime cover for my dog. Reason being that the lifetime cover applies as long as you keep the policy going - my concern is that if you have a large claim, you are forced to renew the policy year on year with that one insurer. What if the insurer offers renewal at such a huge increase in premium (due to the claims record), therefore making it no longer affordable - ie. you are paying for a lifetime policy now, that you may not afford in the future!

Would be interesting to see if anyone has claimed under a lifetime policy where the dog needs long term costs paid - what happened at renewal time? Were you offered a reasonable renewal premium?

 

[matlob]

We have lifetime cover and the policy jumped up massively after making a claim.
They have you over a barrel. If you don't pay it a new company won't normally cover an existing condition.

 

[The Byre]

We have horses and we have dogs. I just pay the vet bills as they come in. Animals are like humans - feed them properly and they don't get ill.

Proper fences for both and you don't have any problems - and go to a farmers' vet practice and not one of the icky-poo shops for poodle owners!

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

We have lifetime cover and the policy jumped up massively after making a claim.
They have you over a barrel. If you don't pay it a new company won't normally cover an existing condition.

Thats what I thought, thanks for confirming! I'll stick to policies with only 12 months limit for any claim.

 

[UKSBD]

I'm a cat person not a dog person

I've had cats all my life.

Only one of them hasn't reached 13 in the past 30 years (run over)

If I took one to the vet and the vet told me there was something wrong with it and it needed an operation costing £500+ I would probably have it put down.

The most I've spent on a vet bill was about £300 and it only survived about another 2 months.

Call me callous but I can't justify spending more than £500 on a sick cat

 

[Mr D]

We have horses and we have dogs. I just pay the vet bills as they come in. Animals are like humans - feed them properly and they don't get ill.

Proper fences for both and you don't have any problems - and go to a farmers' vet practice and not one of the icky-poo shops for poodle owners!

Its not the 'feed them properly' part that is usually the issue.
Its injuries, its genetic problems, its catching something from other dogs....

One of my neighbours his dog jumped from his step - about 4 inches - and damaged tendons in two legs. £7k later the dog has mostly recovered. Feeding was fine, just going from the house to the driveway did that!

Had a cat once who developed kidney cancer. Feeding him wasn't the problem - medication and treatment would have been several grand over his remaining expected lifespan and would not have been pleasant for him.

 

[KAC]

Thanks for this - very useful and thought provoking. Thanks to everyone for their contributions too. I think I'm going to go to the dogs trust for the third party insurance, possibly insure the two pups on lifetime cover and continue to grow a stash for the older dogs.

We have Dogs Trust membership for that reason as well

 

[Ozzy]

If I took one to the vet and the vet told me there was something wrong with it and it needed an operation costing £500+ I would probably have it put down.

OMG
One of our cats was hit by a car and the bugger survived. Had to take him to the vet, with my then very young daughter begging they can safe him can't they daddy. I knew as much as I was hoping he couldn't be saved and going to night night's would be cheaper, I'd have to be prepared to remortgage the family home to save the cat. Thankfully the vet bill was manageable without needing to sell a kidney.

 

[UKSBD]

One of our cats was hit by a car and the bugger survived. Had to take him to the vet, with my then very young daughter begging they can safe him can't they daddy.

I wouldn't make that mistake.

I would go on my own and come back saying;

"the vet thinks it's kinder to just let little Tiger go to sleep"

Off course I asked for a 2nd opinion, off course I said costs doesn't come in to it.

 

[simon field]

My business partner has two dogs, a boxer and a french bulldog. Plus horses.
Over the years, some of the stories he’s told me about vets & insurance has made MY blood boil and I don’t even have pets!

They’ve had to second guess and question various vets, extortionate charges (latex disposables? That’ll be £3.50 a pair please)
& unnecessary procedures so many times it’s unreal. Enough to make me wonder who knows who and who’s scratching whose back. Vets especially seem to aim to profiteer when people are emotionally vulnerable. I’m sure they’re not all the same.

 

[chickenlady]

My business partner has two dogs, a boxer and a french bulldog. Plus horses.
Over the years, some of the stories he’s told me about vets & insurance has made MY blood boil and I don’t even have pets!

They’ve had to second guess and question various vets, extortionate charges (latex disposables? That’ll be £3.50 a pair please)
& unnecessary procedures so many times it’s unreal. Enough to make me wonder who knows who and who’s scratching whose back. Vets especially seem to aim to profiteer when people are emotionally vulnerable. I’m sure they’re not all the same.

Whereas a vet can just ask a cat where it hurts? 5/6 years at vet school does not teach you to talk to animals unfortunately. Medicine is expensive. We just don't recognise it because we are shielded by the National Health Service. Got a boil? Go to the doctor, it's free. Got a cat bite abscess? Go to the vet - charge you for the consult, charge you for the treatment because there's no NHS for animals. No NHS - you're not going to the Doctors for a boil - you're back to the middle ages with hot cloths or you'd pay for a consult and then a realistic price for treatment.

Pet insurance is very expensive. I had a whole of life policy for my dog who died suddenly at 13.5 years. It was costing £45 per lunar month at the end - it started off at about half that. I never quite got my head round why it was so much more expensive towards the end of his life as he was so much closer to dying. I never made a claim as he was amazingly healthy and I wish I'd just put it into Premium Bonds or something or maybe taken the Emergency cover - a friend's dog died horribly while chasing a ball and impaled itself on something straight into a vital organ - nothing the vet could do in that case but what if it had missed the organ?

 

[matlob]

We moved house and vets

Our dog was on the same drug but the cost was four times as much as the old vet. 100 instead of 25

They definitely just expect people to pay without questioning it.

Always triple check what they are charging and check online. Sometimes cheaper to pay the vet for the prescription and then order yourself.

 

[Fagin2021]

I'm a cat person not a dog person
Call me callous but I can't justify spending more than £500 on a sick cat

You're callous.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Same here, cancelled lifetime cover for my French bulldog and only pay for liability and accidents £5 month. That has to do. Started cheap year 1 under £20 but went up to £80 in year 3 without ever making a claim.

Reading the tos on most insurances for their lifetime cover shows they can cancel you within 30 days for no reason and bumb up any premium to no limits.

Not spending £80 month for no guarantee that they renew policy.

 

[Mr D]

Whereas a vet can just ask a cat where it hurts? 5/6 years at vet school does not teach you to talk to animals unfortunately. Medicine is expensive. We just don't recognise it because we are shielded by the National Health Service. Got a boil? Go to the doctor, it's free. Got a cat bite abscess? Go to the vet - charge you for the consult, charge you for the treatment because there's no NHS for animals. No NHS - you're not going to the Doctors for a boil - you're back to the middle ages with hot cloths or you'd pay for a consult and then a realistic price for treatment.

Pet insurance is very expensive. I had a whole of life policy for my dog who died suddenly at 13.5 years. It was costing £45 per lunar month at the end - it started off at about half that. I never quite got my head round why it was so much more expensive towards the end of his life as he was so much closer to dying. I never made a claim as he was amazingly healthy and I wish I'd just put it into Premium Bonds or something or maybe taken the Emergency cover - a friend's dog died horribly while chasing a ball and impaled itself on something straight into a vital organ - nothing the vet could do in that case but what if it had missed the organ?

Vets however do learn to listen to the animal. What is the reaction from this? From that?
Bend a broken leg on a cat and see the reaction. Yes that leg hurts.
Its often obvious even to those who don't own an animal.

Just like your GP will also listen to your body when doing an examination of you, not just the words you say.

Makes telephone diagnosis so much harder.

The pet NHS by the way is, for us poor people, certain charitable groups. PDSA used to treat our cats when we were younger. Free.

 

[RobinBHM]

Not the answer to your question, but £200pcm into a separate bank account over the lifetime of the dogs would cover a lot of vet's bills.

I used to have insurance for my Portugese Podengo dog -its rare in this country so premiums are high

once the renewal got over £600 I stopped insuring and started saving the money instead.

my reason was that, whilst in theory my dog would be covered for any health issue at all.....that would only last until the I had to renew and the premium wouldnt be affordable.

So after doing some sums, I worked out that saving in the early years would help to have a decent lump built up for the future, when health issues are inevitable.

 

[RobinBHM]

We have lifetime cover and the policy jumped up massively after making a claim.
They have you over a barrel. If you don't pay it a new company won't normally cover an existing condition.

that is exactly the reasoning that made me decide to save money instead of paying insurance.

 

[BustersDogs]

Thats what I thought, thanks for confirming! I'll stick to policies with only 12 months limit for any claim.

Well you have to weigh it up. If the annual cost of your meds is more than the cost of the insurance, why wouldn't you keep insurance up?

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

Well you have to weigh it up. If the annual cost of your meds is more than the cost of the insurance, why wouldn't you keep insurance up?

If the annual cost of meds is more than the insurance, that would change at renewal of the policy - Insurers, knowing the meds costs, will make sure the insurance premium will at least cover those costs.

 

[The Byre]

Our dog was on the same drug but the cost was four times as much as the old vet. 100 instead of 25

They definitely just expect people to pay without questioning it.

That's why I say go to a farmers' vet and not to some inner-city icky-poo boutique for Labradoodles! Farmers question the prices every time!

 

[MikeJ]

As with any insurance...

Take out what you legally have to.
Insure anything you can't cover the cost of.

For everything else, insurance is a waste of money. I wouldn't insure my house if my wife didn't insist on it.

 

[BustersDogs]

If the annual cost of meds is more than the insurance, that would change at renewal of the policy - Insurers, knowing the meds costs, will make sure the insurance premium will at least cover those costs.

Well that' s not how it appears to work in practise. I know there was a scandal as people had dogs PTS when insurance companies tried to withdraw from the market. They couldn't afford the meds that the insurance was paying for. So the insurance costs must have been lower than the treatment costs.