Pet Insurance? Is it money for old rope?

[Mrs Coach]

I haven't had pet insurance for my old moggie, although I looked into it when he was about 8, it would have been £15 a month (£180 a year) back then, more probably now he's 14 - but as he's never been insured, the companies wouldn't take him on now anyway.
So I would have paid out about £2k in his lifetime - and the same for his sister too (who just passed away recently after a short illness, which wouldn't have been covered anyway!) and in their lifetimes, I've only paid out about £500 in vets bills between them.

Getting a new kitten in a couple of weeks time, and it will only be about a tenner a month to insure her. Was I just really lucky with my old two? Would you recommend getting pet insurance?
I know this is nowt to do with football, but you chaps are knowledgable on most things in life (or pretend you are!).

Cheers,
Mrs C.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

yes, it is money for old rope - you've "done the math" yourself - don't bother with it...

 

[wehatepalace]

I've got insurance for both my dogs (more than are very good) I pay about £10 each a month. I would definitly reccomend it. My older dog had to have an op on his leg last year and all in with his hydro therepy the bill has come to nearly 2.5K. So yeah I reckon it's worth it ! The insurance will also pay out if it's lost or stolen and will even stump up towards rewards and posters and things

 

[Starry]

We have insurance for three of our seven dogs. Of the four without two are too old now, one we never meant to keep and haven't got around to it and the other has a pre-existing condition and I cannot get her covered anywhere.

We only pay about £24 a month on a group policy for them and that covers everything.

We absolutely do have insurance for the horses, we have had a vet bill just recently that is £6k. Not sure what the deductible will work out but one of my daughters pony's is having his back manipulated and massaged and that costs £175 a week which is all paid for by insurance.

We haven't worked it out for a year but the last time we did we came out on top after all the bills were weighed up against what we pay in insurance.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

The tabby who disappeared on the day of the Crewe away game last season and died had been on thyroid tablets for about 3 years at approx £1 a day. The insurance only covered her for the first year and after that we paid the bills. Also apparently although some companies say they cover up to so many £'000s vets bills, some mean this in TOTAL over the life of the policy and the original cover does not renew each year. So check exactly what the policies are covering. Also the level of the excess will vary hugely and affect the cost of the premium.

It depends what your attitude to risk is. If you want the certainty that some of the vets bills will covered, buy the insurance. If you think can afford to effectively self insure (ie don't buy a policy and pay the bills yourself) then fine. However you may want to find out how much your vet charges for various treatments which the cat may need, ie thyroid, injuries from car accident, various other illnesses etc etc. The costs of ongoing treatment can creep up and up almost unnoticed. Vets don't come cheap.

For pre-exisiting conditions, forget it - no company will touch the risk given that for them it is 100%. That isn't insurance but is effectively compensation.

http://www.fabcats.org/
http://www.cats.org.uk/

I have currently got a quote of about £16 per month from Petplan for 2 kittens. For grown cats don't expect change from about £90-100 pa each for insurance. As they get older the risk of them developing some sort of problem increases, so either the cost will rise or no company will take the risk on.

Personally I think alot of insurance is a scam (although I have got pet insurance) - the example of extended warrantees, payment protection for loans, travel insurance promising £umpteen million health cover which is way above what anyone would need (even in the USA) and mortgage protection come to mind. Companies will find any excuse not to meet claims if they can.

You might be lucky and never need to claim - but you might not...

 

[Slowhand]

We only pay about £24 a month on a group policy for them and that covers everything.

Who do you use for insurance?

I have a joint plan for my two springer spaniels and it costs me £60 a month!!

 

[Starry]

Who do you use for insurance?

I have a joint plan for my two springer spaniels and it costs me £60 a month!!

Pet Plan but we also have all our horses on them as well and have just added rider insurance for my daughter, so annually they see a huge chunk of change from us and I talked them into some discounts.
I was with Animal Friends before and that was about £42 for the three dogs on a fairly middle of the road policy.

 

[Yorkie]

I wouldn't get pet insurance. My old cat died last year aged 21 and apart from when she was neutered, never cost me a penny.
My male cat has just had an op for his teeth which cost £242 but that is the first op that he's had as he was neutered when we got him aged 1 from a cat rescue place. He is 15.

I think the insurances are a con.

 

[wehatepalace]

I wouldn't get pet insurance. My old cat died last year aged 21 and apart from when she was neutered, never cost me a penny.
My male cat has just had an op for his teeth which cost £242 but that is the first op that he's had as he was neutered when we got him aged 1 from a cat rescue place. He is 15.

I think the insurances are a con.

Do you feel the same about car and house insurance ?
I can see where you are coming from but when the big bill comes in surly insurance would have been worth it ?
For instance My wife does three day eventing and her horse broke it's pedal bone and snapped a tendon and the vets bills including rehabilitation, remedial shoeing etc came to nearly 10k! now I certainly don't have that kind of money so without insurance it would have meant the bullet
that just proves that insurance is worth its weight in gold !!!

 

[Yorkie]

Do you feel the same about car and house insurance ?
I can see where you are coming from but when the big bill comes in surly insurance would have been worth it ?
For instance My wife does three day eventing and her horse broke it's pedal bone and snapped a tendon and the vets bills including rehabilitation, remedial shoeing etc came to nearly 10k! now I certainly don't have that kind of money so without insurance it would have meant the bullet
that just proves that insurance is worth its weight in gold !!!

Car insurance is a legal requirement and house insurance is cheaper than pet insurance.

Obviously with an expensive animal like a horse then insurance would be desirable but for moggies then I would say no. As I have shown with two of my old cats, it has been cheaper not to insure them.
I have also had a couple of dogs in my lifetime - a rough collie (Lassie type) who died aged 12 with a brain tumour - put to sleep after diagnosis so not costing very much and only costing jabs and worming up to that point, and a mongrel labrador type dog who got run over aged 8.

 

[Yorkie]

The main problem I have with insurance for cats is that companies generally won't insure them after they reach the age of 8. Most cats reach 15 so there is only half of their lifetime that can be covered by insurance.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Who do you use for insurance?

I have a joint plan for my two springer spaniels and it costs me £60 a month!!

Do you also burn tenners on an open fire when the weather turns a bit chilly by any chance?

 

[Rangdo]

Pet insurance is a gamble like any other insurance. If you never use it you will see it as a waste of money and if you get a hefty vets bill you'll be glad you had it. My mum has had bills in excess of £1000 for pets in the past.

I insure both my cats with Tesco for £9 a month which I consider to be worth the punt.

 

[Yorkie]

I may be considered hard hearted but if one of my cats was going to cost over a grand then I would have it put to sleep.

 

[Rangdo]

I may be considered hard hearted but if one of my cats was going to cost over a grand then I would have it put to sleep.

But thats the point isn't it? If it was insured you wouldn't have to.

 

[Yorkie]

But thats the point isn't it? If it was insured you wouldn't have to.

Have you read how many get out clauses there are?

 

[Race]

Definitley go with some kind of insurance! I never had my dogs insured and have no idea why as everything else we have is insured! Our Weimaraner has cost us £3k this past year in pills, scans and god knows what else as he's been diagnosed with a heart problem and now it requires a hefty prescription each month. Our Spaniel had a short illness in June and that cost £500 in vets bills but she had to be put down in the end. It was something I never thought of until they got ill so its best to have some kind of policy in place!

As far as I am aware Yorkie once an animal is insured it's insured for life, it doesnt run out once it gets to 8 years old. Insurance companies just dont take on animals over the age 8 as I suppose they consider them too old by then.

 

[Yorkie]

I suppose I have the attitude that my cats have been free (Fluff invited herself when she was a kitten) others have been rescue cats so therefore if an illness is too expensive then I go and get another rescue cat.
Maybe I have just been lucky.

Dogs are far more expensive of course.

 

[Rangdo]

Have you read how many get out clauses there are?

Yes and thats what I was saying in my first post. It's a gamble same as any other insurance. You look at the cost and what you are getting and either you take the chance or you don't. However, what is certain is that if, as you say above, you got to the point where you had to put your pet to sleep purely because the cost of the vets bill was too high you'll wish you had.

Personally I chose to take it as I have two bloody hyperactive cats who are constantly sticking their noses where they're not wanted and I'm glad I did as I've already had two visits to the vets in the first twelve months. Paid off for me.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Our kid's cat (Buzza) is now nearly 11 and we've not had any expensive vets bills to date; annual vaccinations and worming tablets only. Looked at pet insurance when she was a kitten but took the decision not to and pay any bills ourselves. Insurance cost now, with individual illness cover up to £2500 and a £50 excess looks to be around £90-100pa.

Coincidentally, the little darlings have now moved out, just when it might get expensive.