# Pet insurance is it worth it.



## john doe

Was just wondering what peoples opinions were on the subject. I have a bulldog and have insurance for her. She is very healthy and thankfully never had to go to the vets for anything serious that i know can occur with this breed. My insurance doesn't pay out until after £80 which is well over the normal cost of a visit to the vets and makes me wonder if its really worth having it as the things she needs from the vet I have top pay for anyway? Thoughts please?


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## RAINYBOW

It totally depends on a persons financial situation 

If you are in a position to find large sums of money (potentially thousands) at very short notice then Insurance could be a waste of time fopr you. Alternatively some people prefer to set up an emergency fund that they pay into monthly for occasional vets bills.

Run of the mill visits to the vets aren't coverred by Insurance but i can assure you an emergency OP that has to be carried out at short notice on a Bank Holiday and you are talking serious cash and these things happen all to easily and alarmingly often.

Illness and Injury can come from no where. My cat recently cost me £450 just from a punch up with another cat where he came off slightly worse and he was Insured so some of it was coverred by because he was so old most of it wasn't :scared:


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## Mese

we paid insurance for years for our old lad (now sadly passed) and tbh it was a total waste as he was a healthy dog until the last couple of years of his life. and the small amount that was needed for his pills etc we paid anyway as it was under their excess 

So for our three dogs now we have a bank account set up that is strictly for vets bills. 
You have to be strict with yourself though ..... every month we put a set amount in , we treat it like its any other 'bill' that we get monthly , so we arent tempted to not pay it one month , and its agreed that the only time we can dip into it is for vets bills
works just fine for us :thumbup:


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## magpie

If a person can afford to pay hundreds or potentially thousands of pounds for an unexpected accident or illness, then insurance probably isn't necessary. But for anyone who doesn't have that kind of cash then yeah, insurance is totally worth it.

I've only worked in a vets for about 4 months now, but I've already seen far too many animals pts because the owners can't afford treatment


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## storm_summer

I believe that pet insurance is worth it we had an unfortunate event with our samoyed when he was younger he ate something without our knowledge which caused him problems rushed him down the vets and £350.00 later we had been given 3 different types of tablets to give him some paste for him to take sensitive food for a week, the vet submitted our claim on our behalf and 4days later we received a cheque back from our insurance company less our excess of £70.00

So i believe it is worth it. but everyone has their own opinion


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## gwyndog

I never had pet insurance with any of my older pets and always found the money somewhere. One did have a bad accident and lost a leg, but we came to an arrangement with the vet to pay monthly. But we did take it out with the newer pets, but we didn't carry on with it for very long. The first time we tried to use it we found out the vets didn't accept payments from the insurance companies direct, so we had pay up front and claim the money back ourselves. So what was the point of the insurance if you haven't got the money to pay the vet in the first place your no better off, it makes the insurance a worthless bit of paper. The vets said they were haveing too many problems with the insurance companies not paying up, often they were having to wait 6 months, hence they changed their policy. I know a lot of people use their credit card and hope the insurance pay up before they have to pay the card off, but a credit card is something that we've never had. So we also opened another bank account and transfer money monthly that we only used for vet bills.


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## poppydog1

I have insurance for my ESS she is 2 and so far has had a stone removed from her stomach @ £400 and an on going ear op so far costing £420 if i had plenty of spare cash i would not bother but as we are on a tight budget paying the £11 a month is easier.


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## shazalhasa

As I was doing my car insurance yesterday, I looked up the cost of pet insurance and was gobsmacked when I saw the premiums for what was actually covered. To cover just one of my dogs would cost well over £100 a year  Most didn't cover a pay out in the event of death and only covered 1 year of treatment, if the dog had the same problem again it would not be covered. The excesses ranged from £80-100 so again made me wonder if it is even worth it as most small things wouldn't be covered.

I have 5 dogs, to cover them all would cost me around £650 a year and when I think of their lifestyle... they aren't able to get out of the garden, when they do go out they are mostly on a lead unless on the fields with no other dogs around. I don't allow them to sniff poo that isn't their own, they don't play with other dogs unless it's one I know. So what would I be paying the insurance for ? Are they likely to get run over in the living room ? Are they likely to get into a serious fight with one of their toys ? Could they catch a virus from my computer ?

Nahhh complete waste of money to me. I have enough to take care of them if something did happen, why waste it on something that might never


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## AlbertRoss

shazalhasa said:


> Nahhh complete waste of money to me. I have enough to take care of them if something did happen, why waste it on something that might never


If you have loads of money - you are right. If you don't and one of your dogs develops a problem then you could be facing a bill of multiple thousands. I was quoted £12,000 for a heart op on a puppy - and there was only a 20% chance of success.

What if one of your dogs fell downstairs and fractured a vertebra? Potential bills of thousands for treatment plus ongoing expenses for pain killing drugs...

Not all insurance policies cost a fortune. And pretty much 99% of people who ever need to claim are glad they had them.


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## magpie

If you've never had an animal get seriously ill or injured, insurance probably does seem like a waste of money. People always think that it'll never happen to them. 
But I bet the folks who do have insurance when their pet gets sick are bloody grateful that they have it, and the folks that don't are kicking themselves for not bothering.

I would rather 'waste' money on insurance than be put in the situation where I'd have to decide if I can afford to have my animals life saved.

Edited to add: It's also definitely worth going with a reputable company - there are some out there that question every little thing and don't pay out for months, and it's those kind of companies that vets won't deal with directly.


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## Spellweaver

I agree with the folks who have said you probably need insurance if you are not able to put your hands on large sums of money in a hurry. With five dogs and two cats, our insurance bill each month is quite hefty and I have thought of doing what Mese does, and just putting it in the bank. It may or may not cover vets fees, but it would certainly go a long way towards them.

However, the one thing that stops me doing that is that most insurance companies now include a third party cover. Now in today's litigous society, that could save us hundreds of thousands if one of our animals were to inadvertantly cause an accident, for example, and the person/people injured decided to sue us.


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## Stephny691

Our monthly payment is nearly £30 and the excess is over £100.

Our dog is epileptic and the tablets cost us about £200 a month, plus every 3 months she needs blood work which bumps that month up to £500-£600.
We've had over £13,000 in insurance for Flo in almost 7 years (I think,myabe bit more maybe bit less, I cannie be bothered to do the maths).

Even if we put that £30 a month into a bank account for her, that wouldn't pay the tablet bills no way, no how! So that system would be pointless (for us, in our position, for other people that may work perfectly).

Honestly for me, pet insurance is a complete peace of mind. I got both my cats insured and found out 6months ago my Raggie has a heart murmur, which is going to cost a fortune in the future BUT she has insurance! So I can afford it. 

Love pet insurance, expensive, but for me the peace of mind is worth every single penny.


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## Bratpack

I only got insurance for my beloved Tess when we moved near a main road, and that mainly for the peace of mind if she ever got out. However, when she developed a fast-growing malignant tumour at 8 years old I was extremely grateful to be able to consider a life-lengthening operation for her (cost £2500), which gave her 6 pain-free months and us time to enjoy being with her before the inevitable. Even if I'd been paying in the same as the premiums each month it would have not got near covering the op. 

We've also had our "money's worth" from insuring our new unruly pup Coco (well, she's 3 now), as she had recurring kidney infections/cystitis in her first year, and also cut her leg badly, needing emergency out-of-hours stitching under anaesthetic (£300!!)

So, it's expensive if you don't "need" it, but potentially very cheap if you do.


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## RAINYBOW

I have to say honestly i have always had my monies worth out of my Insurance and have always been glad to have it when i have needed it. The times i have had to use it the most important thing was being in the vets room discussing how to make my animal better rather than worrying about the cost and if i could pay it


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## bird

As others have said, if you are able to lay your hands on a wad of cash within in a very short period of time. Then yes pet insurance is probably a waste of money. But if you are unable to do this then insurance, in my eyes, is a must. My sisters dog broke two toes and leg jumping up at the letter box and got a bill of £1000+ to put the leg right (this is going back about 5 years so god knows what it would cost today). A friend has recently had to have his cocker spaniel operated on because he managed to eat part of a dishcloth and it got stuck in his tummy. Without insurance they would have struggled to find the £1600 it cost for the operation to save his life.
Bit of a no-brainer for me really.


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## john doe

Spellweaver said:


> I agree with the folks who have said you probably need insurance if you are not able to put your hands on large sums of money in a hurry. With five dogs and two cats, our insurance bill each month is quite hefty and I have thought of doing what Mese does, and just putting it in the bank. It may or may not cover vets fees, but it would certainly go a long way towards them.
> 
> However, the one thing that stops me doing that is that most insurance companies now include a third party cover. Now in today's litigous society, that could save us hundreds of thousands if one of our animals were to inadvertantly cause an accident, for example, and the person/people injured decided to sue us.


With regars top tp cover my neighbours staff whilst let of his lead to walk from the car to the front door of their house spotted my other neighbours cat, after a short fight and a lot of screaming from the dog owner. The cat was found having run off bleeding a lot and had to have its front leg removed. The dog owners apologized for the incident and paid for the operation the cat needed and claimed the money back on their house insurance under the public liability section of the policy.


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## Guest

Depends!
Two major factors

One. If you dog is unfortunate to be struck with one of the many conditions whereby expensive medications and surgical procedures and needed throughout the dogs lifetime to keep it alive.

Two. Does the insurance you have provide adequate cover should your pet contact one of these illnesses, i.e an annual policy is near on useless should the dog need treatment for the same condition for the remainder of its life, cos the very most you are going to get out of them is a years treatment!

From my own experiences I go very badly burnt, Treatment over a two and a half year period costing in excess of 11k = the insurers paying out something in the region of £800, A sad fact of life with most insurers, if there is a loophole they will find it!


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## shazalhasa

AlbertRoss said:


> If you have loads of money - you are right. If you don't and one of your dogs develops a problem then you could be facing a bill of multiple thousands. I was quoted £12,000 for a heart op on a puppy - and there was only a 20% chance of success.
> 
> What if one of your dogs fell downstairs and fractured a vertebra? Potential bills of thousands for treatment plus ongoing expenses for pain killing drugs...
> 
> Not all insurance policies cost a fortune. And pretty much 99% of people who ever need to claim are glad they had them.


I do understand what you are saying, but just to put you in the picture about a couple of things that you mentioned. My dogs are not allowed upstairs unless it's for a bath and then they are carried both up and down the stairs.

If any of mine were in so much pain that they needed to be on drugs constantly then it would be kinder on them if they were put to rest. It's all too easy to rely on the payouts from insurance to be a hero but it doesn't help the poor dog and doesn't really give him or her any real quality of life... my dogs mean far more to me than keeping up appearances I'm afraid


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## AlbertRoss

DoubleTrouble said:


> Depends!
> Two major factors
> 
> One. If you dog is unfortunate to be struck with one of the many conditions whereby expensive medications and surgical procedures and needed throughout the dogs lifetime to keep it alive.
> 
> Two. Does the insurance you have provide adequate cover should your pet contact one of these illnesses, i.e an annual policy is near on useless should the dog need treatment for the same condition for the remainder of its life, cos the very most you are going to get out of them is a years treatment!
> 
> From my own experiences I go very badly burnt, Treatment over a two and a half year period costing in excess of 11k = the insurers paying out something in the region of £800, A sad fact of life with most insurers, if there is a loophole they will find it!


If you only take an 'annual' or 'per condition' cover then that's what you signed up for. If you take a 'lifelong' cover then your insurance company will pay out all the time.

If you want to know the difference click the link in my sig which has a whole thing about the differences.

I cannot stress enough that you have to look at what the policy provides - not how much it costs. Sure, a lifetime policy generally is more expensive - but it does mean that they'll go on paying out.


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## AlbertRoss

shazalhasa said:


> I do understand what you are saying, but just to put you in the picture about a couple of things that you mentioned. My dogs are not allowed upstairs unless it's for a bath and then they are carried both up and down the stairs.
> 
> If any of mine were in so much pain that they needed to be on drugs constantly then it would be kinder on them if they were put to rest. It's all too easy to rely on the payouts from insurance to be a hero but it doesn't help the poor dog and doesn't really give him or her any real quality of life... my dogs mean far more to me than keeping up appearances I'm afraid


And you can guarantee 100% of the time that not one of them would ever manage to get upstairs by themselves? Even so - I used that as a simple illustration. Suppose you dropped a kettle of boiling water? Or one of your dogs got at a bottle of bleach?

As for the constant drugs - I had a GSD who had a condition where her spine progressively fused. This meant that as it moved up her back it put pressure on her nerves - which caused her pain. For six of her eight years (until she finally lost the use of her back legs and was put to sleep) she had daily pain killers. She was, without doubt, the happiest dog I've ever owned. She had six years of glorious life - it certainly wouldn't have been kinder to have her put down.

Because of the way that the treatment worked so successfully I would have found a way to pay for it myself. But the drugs, the regular check ups, etc. were all paid for by her insurance. They paid out far more than I paid them in premiums.

Your dogs may be insulated from the outside world and from all dangers. The vast majority of dogs aren't. And the vast majority of owners can't afford vets bills that can run to thousands of pounds.


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## shazalhasa

AlbertRoss said:


> And you can guarantee 100% of the time that not one of them would ever manage to get upstairs by themselves? Even so - I used that as a simple illustration. Suppose you dropped a kettle of boiling water? Or one of your dogs got at a bottle of bleach?
> 
> As for the constant drugs - I had a GSD who had a condition where her spine progressively fused. This meant that as it moved up her back it put pressure on her nerves - *which caused her pain. For six of her eight years* (until she finally lost the use of her back legs and was put to sleep) she had daily pain killers. She was, without doubt, the happiest dog I've ever owned. She had six years of glorious life - it certainly wouldn't have been kinder to have her put down.
> 
> Because of the way that the treatment worked so successfully I would have found a way to pay for it myself. But the drugs, the regular check ups, etc. were all paid for by her insurance. They paid out far more than I paid them in premiums.
> 
> Your dogs may be insulated from the outside world and from all dangers. The vast majority of dogs aren't. And the vast majority of owners can't afford vets bills that can run to thousands of pounds.


I think you missed the point, my dogs are NOT ALLOWED upstairs  when I go upstairs to do housework and the like, the furthest they will go is to the bottom step, they KNOW that they are not allowed any further. When I am out of the house they are safely contained in the kitchen by means of a baby gate. My kettle is positioned right next to the sink but I know how to hold it and no I never fill it right to the top. I do like to think that my dogs have some level of intelligence but I'm afraid I have to admit that it doesn't go so far as to enable them to open the cupboards and have a good rummage through to the back to reach the bleach.

I don't know how you look after your dogs but I know how I look after mine... rules, boundaries and limitations 

I was totally horrified to read that you kept your dog on painkilling drugs for 6 years  6 years !!!!! You don't know that these drugs were actually working, unless you had a speaking dog, how could you know ??? A dog will wag it's tail and appear happy and excited even when they are in immense pain.

When I first read your post I was very surprised that any insurance company would even cover a GSD for the problems you say yours had but then I noticed your signature :lol:


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## coconut

This is my story on pet insurance. Our beautiful Newfie was covered for 4 years of her life with pet insurance. 2months prior to her getting ill the insurance company put up the annual cost making it nearly £50 a month. (In all fairness it was top of the pops insurance covering everything.) Well with hard times descending on us i decided to cancel the policy and look around for something less expensive but with enough cover should anything happen to her (She had never been unwell and had only seen the vet for vaccines) Lo and behold she was diagnosed with lymphoma and although I had found another company she had not been insured for long enough for them to pay. We ended up paying for her treatment ourselves which ran to about £1500. It was a stretch but gave her 5 months extra of quality to her life.

We were lucky in the fact our vets were brill and kept the cost down knowing we weren't insured but I think we had exceptional vets.

Having experienced it I would recommend insurance if at all possible because it was a very stressful time watching her go through this and then having to find money on top made it all the worse
There are plenty of decent policies around. I know because I was checking them all ealier this year.


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## nfp20

Pet Insurance is always a waste until you need it and then its worth its weight in gold. If your not going to have insurance then I would at least put a monthly amount away into a bank account so that if the worst should happen you could still afford treatment.

Healthy or not accidents do still happen.


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## Spellweaver

shazalhasa said:


> If any of mine were in so much pain that they needed to be on drugs constantly then it would be kinder on them if they were put to rest. It's all too easy to rely on the payouts from insurance to be a hero but it doesn't help the poor dog and doesn't really give him or her any real quality of life... my dogs mean far more to me than keeping up appearances I'm afraid


This is a bit of a generalisation - lots of dogs need regular treatment for lots of things other than just pain relief, and can live long and normal lives if they have regular treatment. We had a cocker spaniel who had erythema multiformae and it used to const us £80.00 per month for his drugs (this was back in the 80s/90's so would be much more than that now). Providing he was kept on his tablets, he lived a normal, happy life, with no pain and no symptoms - he died from old age at 17.


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## Spellweaver

john doe said:


> With regars top tp cover my neighbours staff whilst let of his lead to walk from the car to the front door of their house spotted my other neighbours cat, after a short fight and a lot of screaming from the dog owner. The cat was found having run off bleeding a lot and had to have its front leg removed. The dog owners apologized for the incident and paid for the operation the cat needed and claimed the money back on their house insurance under the public liability section of the policy.


That's good, and if your house insurance policy allows you to do that, then you would have to take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to just save the money each month or take out an insurance policy. I must admit I was thinking of the kind of litigation where someone is trying to take you for all they can get - but again, I guess it depends on what kind of other insurances you have.


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## kazschow

I have 2 chows, both have EPI and Hypothyroidism, a min of £150 month each for meds. Plus twice yearsl full blood profiles. My girl had suspect chrohnes, and has coelics disease, she also has two slipped discs and an undiagnosable neck prob (had mri's xrays etc all non conclusive) My boy had TPLO surgery last year... without pet insurance I donlt know how I would manage. I do pay just over £1000/ year in premiums, but I claim way more back.

As for leaving dogs on long term meds, without it, my pair would simply be dead!!! Instead of living the happy lives thy currently do. My girl was on pain meds and steroids for three years solid, again without it she would have had no quality of life. I new she wasn't being harmed by these meds because we did a full small animal profile every couple of months to moitor her organs, thankfully, she's only on occasional prednistalone or Rymadil now.

But as I say without pet inusrance, I honestly don;t know where my dogs would be right now


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## *WillsTillsBills*

john doe said:


> Was just wondering what peoples opinions were on the subject. I have a bulldog and have insurance for her. She is very healthy and thankfully never had to go to the vets for anything serious that i know can occur with this breed. My insurance doesn't pay out until after £80 which is well over the normal cost of a visit to the vets and makes me wonder if its really worth having it as the things she needs from the vet I have top pay for anyway? Thoughts please?


Hiya 

I have 3 bulldogs, and don't own insurance, but I put away a hefty amount a month for them (about £250) this is purely because, when wilbury was a puppy he had awful eye problems and he has a very sensitive stomach, overall it cost us in the region of £3000 in just over a year. A year later touch wood and I haven't had a single problem with any of them  and because of this we had a nice holiday with the money with the dogs 

One small thing I do suggest is trying to find a vet that has a back ground with bulldogs, we found this out the hard way by spending so much money...we found that as soon as he was switched over to a vet that knew bulldogs, all of his problems were solved 

Hope this helps a little


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## john doe

We have a local vet who used to deal with my friends boxers. She was a professional breeder. They gave me their details when I got leia and they've always been very good when we've taken her there.


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## Malmum

My dog has just had a hip replacement at the cost of £5,000, without pet insurance I don't know what i'd have done. My monthly payments are £17 at the mo and I expect them to rise dramatically next year. Even if it soars to £50 pcm it'll still be worth it for me. He's covered by Argos platinum and has been since a pup and is now two and they have paid for all his medication as well as 12 sessions of hydrotherapy. My excess is £60 per condition. They are prompt payers too.


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## sequeena

If you've not got a big enough bank balance to cover vet fees/surgeries etc then insurance is essential!


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## swarthy

shazalhasa said:


> I think you missed the point, my dogs are NOT ALLOWED upstairs  when I go upstairs to do housework and the like, the furthest they will go is to the bottom step, they KNOW that they are not allowed any further. When I am out of the house they are safely contained in the kitchen by means of a baby gate. My kettle is positioned right next to the sink but I know how to hold it and no I never fill it right to the top. I do like to think that my dogs have some level of intelligence but I'm afraid I have to admit that it doesn't go so far as to enable them to open the cupboards and have a good rummage through to the back to reach the bleach.
> 
> I don't know how you look after your dogs but I know how I look after mine... rules, boundaries and limitations


I know this is an old thread, but I am absolutely astonished by parts of this statement.

You can place as many rules, boundaries and limitations as you want on a dog - but at the end of the day, they are a dog, not a human (and some of these are more than capable of breaking the rules and boundaries without a lot of effort) - and dogs are several levels below that in the 'thinking' stakes.

That's not demeaning dogs in any way - but ultimately, they are animals that despite domestication, retain most of the basic instincts that nature equipped them with, meaning that however well trained they might be, the capacity to behave in a manner out of the ordinary remains.

I find it offensive to think that someone can be considered irresponsible and not caring for their animals in the right manner because they incur an injury.

We've always had insurance, and never claimed, and when we hit 6 dogs, sat down and seriously discussed whether to retain it or not, and we decided to do so.

Not particularly long after that, an almost un-noticeable incident of a 'crash' between our youngest boy and eldest girl didn't really make a significant impact at the time; a few days later we realised our girl was slowing down a little and just didn't seem right -despite veterinary intervention, within days had deteriorated to partial paralysis and extreme pain. She was operated on the following day with an idea of, but no guarantee what the problem was.

She had ruptured a disc in her neck - with all the debris spread throughout the spinal column - 2 weeks and £2.5K later, if it hadn't been for the shaved bits, you would never know there had been anything wrong.

Without the insurance paid directly to the specialist - there was no doubt my girl would have been PTS - I am an avid believer in not wanting an animal to suffer - and was given assurances of a 95% chance of a full recovery.

Fast forward a couple of months and a couple of my girls were on the beach - without warning, my best show girl went lame - despite her lameness, she still bounces around in her usual happy manner like an 8 week old puppy and now has intensive physio and supplements at a cost of around £160 to £200 a week and we now have the capacity to continue the intensive exercise regime using a bike (owner on the bike not the dog) - but again, there is no way we could have taken advantage of this treatment without insurance.

Neither of my girls are in any pain (yes, a dog can be happy in pain - but there is a big and visible divide between a happy dog in pain, and a dog free from pain) - and if the day comes when they are clearly in pain I will make the right decision, but until that point, both of them enjoy pain free happy active lives - neither of which would have been possible without insurance.

A friend of mine considered giving up insurance - but is eternally grateful she didn't - her boy was within weeks of an almost certainly being PTS with a seemingly untreatable condition (and if I am truthful in her shoes I probably would have made that decision) - however, just 6weeks later, he is well on the road to recovery, back in the showring and winning, and bar needing a little more weight and the remnants of a shaved tummy, you would never know there had been anything wrong with him.

==========================

The point is, it doesn't matter how well you care for your dogs, the unexpected can and does happen - and unless you have considerable reserves then for all but the most affluent, insurance is is a necessary evil.


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## Guest

Just suppose your pet were in a bad RTA!
that alone would tell me that pet insurance IS worth the monthly outlay!

Another way to look at it is the public libility aspect! And god forbid should your pet ever cause one!


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## AlbertRoss

The PDSA have recently said that vet's bills have risen by 60% on average over the past 3 years. They claim that the average road accident will cost £850 (but I think they are using cheap vets at that price.)

It's quite simple - if you can afford the vet bill for an unexpected event, which may run into thousands, don't get insurance. If you can't afford that sort of bill then why aren't you insuring your pet?

Yes, pet insurance is expensive but premiums are increasing simply because vet bills are rising so much. It's a vicious circle.


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## kirksandallchins

My house nsurance covers me for 3rd party liabilty - and as the dogs are my "property" this covers any damage/accidents they may cause. You could also become a member of Dogs Trust for £20 and be covered
Dogs Trust - Dogs Trust Membership

With a lot of insurance companies you have to pay the vet first then reclaim the money. There is no guarantee the insurance company will pay out or pay the full amount - if they can find an excuse not to pay they will, after all they are a business who needs to make a profit to survive.


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## AlbertRoss

kirksandallchins said:


> My house nsurance covers me for 3rd party liabilty - and as the dogs are my "property" this covers any damage/accidents they may cause.


I think you better check that with your insurer. It's almost guaranteed that unless they specify that they'll cover you for 3rd party incidents caused by pets - they won't.



> You could also become a member of Dogs Trust for £20 and be covered
> Dogs Trust - Dogs Trust Membership


If you only want 3rd party - this is a good option.



> With a lot of insurance companies you have to pay the vet first then reclaim the money. There is no guarantee the insurance company will pay out or pay the full amount - if they can find an excuse not to pay they will, after all they are a business who needs to make a profit to survive.


Only partially true. The insurer will abide by the policy. That's what it's there for. Unfortunately, most people don't read the policy before buying and subsequently find that they aren't covered. I've only come across 2 companies that have genuinely tried to avoid paying (or 'invented' treasons for not doing so). That's why I set up my website - to only feature insurers that would pay out and wouldn't be a hassle. But the bottom line is that the pet owner must make sure that they are insured properly and they can only do so by reading the policy - preferably before they take out insurance.


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## paddyjulie

insurance everytime for me now

Ozzy was not insured he cost us somewhere up to £3000 trying to treat him our next trip was going to be to Edingburgh hospital which i would not like to imagine how much that would have cost us..it would have been a lot...he was not insured this was out of our own pocket

about 4 months after he died Mavis became seriously ill..thankfully we had taken insurance out as we had learnt our lesson previous..as we would then had to pay out another £1500 out of our own pocket again..

it is so worth it, if your dog becomes seriously ill...especially if you have lifetime cover

juliex


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## Aly12

I would never be without insurance for my dogs. When Molly was only 9 months old she was seriously ill and had to go into Glasgow vet school for 4 days as she was diagnosed with Addisons Disease. I only had the insurance for 6 months so had only paid about £60 premiums and had to claim approx £1000 then and have been claiming for all blood tests and tablets since and Molly will be 4 next month - the insurance for Molly has only gone up to £12 per month from £9. When we got Konnie we also took out insurance for her - hoping not to have to use it but as I said I wouldn't be without. Have been paying Konnie's insurance now for 10 months and thankfully never had to claim (hope I never do as that would mean she was ill)


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## vipergirl

In my experience it is definitely worth it! I had pet insurance with Protect Your Bubble for my Rottwieler, unfortunately she attacked another dog when she escaped from my garden. Thankfully the insurance means I was covered for the damage to the other dog. I wouldnt have been without it!


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## Paws Dawson

Having a dog that cost my insurance very nearly £5k this last year I would always say it was worth it for anyone that wouldnt be able to find that kind of money quickly.

I now pay a sky high premium for one of my dogs each year but i save up and pay the total up front because its my peace of mind that should anything happen with his health issues he is covered and can be treated no matter what time of the week or what wages i have available... or not as is usually the case.


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## hazel pritchard

I think insurance is worth it, earlier this yr my sisters dog had an accident and the vet bill was £6000,


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## The3DChis

I defo think it is worth it, you just never know what's round the corner.
I feel much better knowing mine are insured.
Vet bills are crazy!


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