Pet Insurance

[rdd1952]

Having just taken our dog to the vet for her annual check up and paying a $506 bill for tests and medication (had a slight ear infection and heartworm tablets), I was wondering if others have pet insurance. I've never really considered getting it but checked pricing today and it's expensive.

 

[ian]

good topic, as it may soon be compulsery for every dog in GB to have pet insurence. I think its a good idea, it will put vet prices up though. I know everytime we take Bailey to the vets the first thing they ask is whether he's insured (and they do put more money on insured dogs). The main reason the govenment are thinking of bringing it in id due to the dog bites that are happening, its going through Civil courts and costing way to much. If insured then it goes through insurence rather than courts.


In England pet insurence isn't to expensive, i pay £11 a month, through Diect Line insurence, he's 5 years old now and we must have claimed a good £2000 (he was an accident prone pup) back from them.

 

[rdd1952]

(and they do put more money on insured dogs)

In England pet insurence isn't to expensive, i pay £11 a month, through Diect Line insurence, he's 5 years old now and we must have claimed a good £2000 (he was an accident prone pup) back from them.

That's the problem, that they charge more which seems to almost makes it a waste of money.

I looked it up for our dog, a 8 year-old mixed poodle, shih-tzu. For full coverage it was over $50 per month and that only pays 80% of "customary charges". So if the customary charge for a procedure is $100 and the vet raises it to $140 because you have insurance, the insurance company pays $80 (80% of the customary charge) you end up paying the $20 for your part of the $100 plus the additional $40 so if actuality, you only saved $40 (from the $100 it should have cost) which isn't even enough to cover a month's premium.

Of course, insurance in general, whether it be life, medical, auto, etc. is a rip-off (just my opinion) that we can't live without.

 

[PJPJ]

Don't forget that the price will go up every year.

Mine goes up each year. Last year was a ridiculous 50% rise. This was mainly for two reasons, they had just decided that this was a special breed so incurred an additional charge for this and he is now over 7 years old so got penalised for that too.

Currently over £700.00 per year.

I've only ever claimed a couple of hundred on it too when he was 2 or 3.

 

[VickiandKev]

I have all three of my dogs insured - my eldest costs me £16 to insure monthly and the other two are £25 together per month (they're with different insurers).

Personally, I have not claimed on any of these policies yet, but it's peace of mind. If one of my dogs (God forbid), ran into a road and got hit by a car or simply broke a leg doing something stupid on a walk, I can't guarantee I will have several grand lying around to pay for their veterinary care. Whereas I know I will simply have to pay my excess and my insurance will cover the rest.

It's a good idea, and certainly if you don't have big lumps of money lying around, but can spare a little each month, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[ian]

I used to belong to a working lab forum, which the majority of posters were American and they used to complain about the insurance prices all the time, $50 to insure a dog is pretty expensive. Whats that about £35 in English money, thats about the price of my life insurance cover. You can pay a lot over here for insurance, but the average tends to be £10-£20 a month for dog cover. I know someone that has 5 dogs, he doesn't insure them, but its gonna cost an arm and a leg to insure all of them.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Really, it depends how much you reckon you're going to end up paying in vet bills. At $50 per month, that's $600 per year- more than the vet bill. And unless you've got a dog with very frequent health problems, it seems to me that you're pretty certain to be paying in a lot more than you're getting out. Especially if they only pay 80%.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Vets are also just human.... I know my daughter (for one) has often given in to the tears of many a family when the choices are presented of the bill will be xxx amount, then the family tearfully opts to rather have the animal put down cause they will not be able to afford the treatment.... Now, I ask you??.... She has the ability to fix it, why would she put it down... So, with her, you can get away without insurance.... your pet will be fixed.

 

[AdAndrews]

Regarding the idea for compulsary insurance for dogs in the UK, I think this is a terrible idea.

It wont solve anything, as the law obiding citizens that will buy the insurance mostly dont have the aggressive dogs that cause most of the damage, these belong to the worse off(majoritly) people who will say that they cant afford insurance for their (aggressive)dog(s).

Our country sure is full of great ideas....

 

[ian]

^^i can see ya point, in theory it is a good idea, but one of my thought was, who is going to Police it? cos the Police have enough on there plates.

 

[rdd1952]

I know my daughter (for one) has often given in to the tears of many a family when the choices are presented of the bill will be xxx amount, then the family tearfully opts to rather have the animal put down cause they will not be able to afford the treatment

That is really the only justification I can come up with to consider the insurance. I can handle the annual check ups at $500 (although that to me seems ridiculously high as I can get a physical for less than that) but the major injury or illness is what the insurance would be for, pretty much for the same reason we carry health insurance on ourselves. I can't imagine having to make the decision as to whether to treat our dog or having to have her put down strictly because of money but I'm sure it happens every day. I guess for me, it would just have to go on a credit card and pay as I could.

 

[ian]

see, again i think we're quite lucky in England as we have a charity called the PDSA which, will cover vets bills if you can't afford them. A bit like an NHS for pets, you do have to qualify for the free treatment though.

 

[Night61]

i have been looking into this. we have three cats and one dog, but currently our vet doesn't take it.

 

[Floyds mum]

good topic, as it may soon be compulsery for every dog in GB to have pet insurence. I think its a good idea, it will put vet prices up though. I know everytime we take Bailey to the vets the first thing they ask is whether he's insured (and they do put more money on insured dogs). The main reason the govenment are thinking of bringing it in id due to the dog bites that are happening, its going through Civil courts and costing way to much. If insured then it goes through insurence rather than courts.


In England pet insurence isn't to expensive, i pay £11 a month, through Diect Line insurence, he's 5 years old now and we must have claimed a good £2000 (he was an accident prone pup) back from them.

£11 ? i only pay just over £9

 

[Floyds mum]

At the end of the day it is worth it having a pet insured cos then if you do have to take them to the vets it takes alot off your mind, my dog is undergoing treatment and the price is near £800 as it stands and i pay about £9 a month and the first £60 then the insurance cover up to £1000 roughly.