The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: pheonix on January 28, 2013, 10:36:44 pm
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our terrier has pulled a muscle in his leg and is currently covered by petplan's free 4 week insurance as he was microchipped 3 weeks ago. although it was a cheap vet bill, it was nice to know he was insured!
i think i will continue to insure him as he may need an xray if he doesnt improve in the next week., and incase he turns out to be an accident prone dog.
i foned up petplan to get a quote insure him for the next year...blimey ...i just couldnt get off the fone...so much pressure to commit there and then. the guy on the fone must be on commission as he was desperate for me to sign up with them . i just wanted terms via post or email to read through and i would fone back the next day but he wouldnt take no for an answer.
in the end i just had to rudely hang-up.
does £25 per month seem reasonable for £4k vet bills per year?
i definitely want 3rd party incase he bites anyone as we are on a farm and have customers coming up and strangers/dogwalkers wandering around BUT petplan wont cover 3rd party if i work from home, which i do as i live on a farm. seems a bit odd. i do have business insurance but this doesnt cover dog (bites) either.
can anyone recommend an insurance company that will give 3rd party for farm dogs and be reliable for covering vet bills?
thans
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How old is your dog? We took out insurance on our dog ten years ago...it started at £8 per month and has gone up and up each year....this year (she's now 11) its £38 per month!!!! A big expense but in our case it did cover a £1200 medical bill two years ago.
Shopping round for a quote for our 1 year old dog now but they all seem to be around the same amount.
:dog: :dog:
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What about talking to NFU about farm insurance for the third party bit and just putting £20 or whatever a month into a 'vet bills' saving account.
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Pet plan are great for paying your vets without any questioning as are the kennel club insurance. There have been problems in the past with NFU refusing to pay up and owners having to pay up front then try to claim it back ( very difficult in some instances ). Shop around asking them all to send out leaflets then push one to the other for a cheaper quote for a similar package. Be firm, you just want information sent out. I rang around several and back around the best quotes again until I got a good deal.
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I am with Animal Friends. I have the lowest cover and I think its £6.85 per month.
My dog needed some diagnostic work that cost £350 and they paid out very quickly with no quibble.
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I pay about £12 a month I ink for my 4 year old JRT. Needed to claim once before, and now having to do t again :( So glad I have cover - £300 for x rays! Am with More than and they have given me the best customer service I have ever had with any insurance company.
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We've just uninsured our dogs and cats - we now pay the same amount into a savings account. We were paying £70 a month for two dogs and two cats. Because the dogs and one of the cats are elderly, no new insurer would take them on.
However, our dogs are 12 but in good health. IF either of them needed some major invasive surgery or something, we'd have to make a call.
Our house insurance covers third party liability for pets.
On the other hand, Tess ruptured both cruciate ligaments (each a year apart) and the ops cost £2500 each - covered, of course, by insurance.
Is it a coincidence that the operation cost the same as the insurance limit?
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the dog is 4 mths old. petplan will insure for life so if he injures himself in the same place repeatedly he wont be excluded.
i insured my other dog for 8 yrs with e&l without claiming - mainly for 3rd party as she was terrible at running away and chasing cars, but now shes has finally stopped (touch wood) as old age has caught up so its cancelled.
my friends dog is 4 and has cancer, but luckily shes insured and is having chemo - anyone following emmerdale?
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Our insurance is about £25 per month for our 7 year old Flattie. We took on the previous owners cat when we moved here (he moved 4 miles away but didn't keep her in so she kept returning) and she is not insured. Now we have another pup, we are thinking of doing the same as Rosemary and stopping the insurance and saving the money in a "pet vet bill" account instead.
My sister uses a vets that has its own insurance scheme. £15 per month which covers any treatment needed at the surgery but not at any external specialist centres. It also covers boosters and wormers.
My sisters 12 month old Flattie had cancer. She wasn't insured but paid for chemo. Poor girl was very ill during it and died anyway :'( . Sister wished afterwards that she hadn't had the treatment. Is it very successful in dogs ??? .
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Although we do not insure our dogs I did think the best way is to make an "insurance" bank account that you do not touch (bit like me saying I will stock up on wine) That way the money is always yours...find one with a good interest rate, and change it if there is a better deal. I think insurance is great unless you have more than one pet!!
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When we had our 1st border, we insured him through petplan and the premiums slowly increased until it was over £300. with an excess of about £75
A couple of years ago we decided not to renew and now that we have two dogs we have a dog fund, should we ever need to have any major treatment.
Luckily we have found a really good vets and they aren't too pricey. fingers crossed its the right decision
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the 4 weeks free insurance has a £75 excess and the yearly quote has a £100 excess. the vet bill yesterday was £28.
my friends dog had swollen neck glands and was given 4 weeks to live, she started chemo 2 weeks ago and so far so good, the lumps have reduced. she is only 4, so a big shame.
we have 3 middle-aged dogs aswell who luckily have been healthy and sensible.
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Some years ago the lovely vet we used to have allowed us to pay him a fixed sum every month. We had horses,dogs and cats. The fund built up and went down as various treatments became necessary. If more vets did this then the parasites called 'insurance companies' would go out of business. Any interest made on the money held by the vet would be a perk for him/her.
I recently lost my little dog after 12 years. He was the healthiest little thing apart from the end when his heart packed in. My bill was £75. If i had paid for pet insurance they would have had over £3000!! and i would have still had to pay the final costs.
We just put away a fixed sum every month now equal to the premium of one horse/dog. After all if you are handing it over as a direct debit you can put it into a savings account.
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That's an awful lot for a youngster, but be careful - he now has a recorded ongoing condition and you may find if you change insurers they won't cover that leg.
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Is it a coincidence that the operation cost the same as the insurance limit?
Absolutely not.
I have mixed feelings about the pet vet insurance. For sure, since everyone started insuring their pets, vet bills have gone up exponentially.
In the 80s I worked out that my average veterinary expenditure, excluding vaccinations and wormers, was £50 per annum per pet - so I put that amount in a fund each year. I had a major op done on a run over cat, with several days hospitalisation and quite a bit of extraordinary care, done for under £200. More recently, it cost me over £200 for a night callout to the surgery, emergency treatment - not an op - overnight care and some meds. :o And when Skip broke the tiny bone in his elbow, I was quoted over £1200 just for the operation - admitedly a 'bionic' one. A cheaper and much more practical operation was suggested when I said no. ::)
So as an owner who doesn't insure for veterinary fees, my feeling is that my costs have gone up enormously. to the point where I do consider having veterinary insurance as I could well be faced with a truly agonising decision one day.
However, I suspect that without the insurance companies, much of the treatment that is now available to pets would never have become widespread, because many many owners would have made the alternative decision and it would not have been financially viable to develop the drugs and operations.
So it's a double-edged sword.
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That's an awful lot for a youngster, but be careful - he now has a recorded ongoing condition and you may find if you change insurers they won't cover that leg.
Not only that, but the original insurer may put up the premiums to an impractical level - while still upholding their promise to 'not exclude the condition'... ::)
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I used to insure my lab she was our first dog so thought we should. She's 9 now and never made a claim and stopped the insurance 3 years ago as premiums kept rising. We have 4 dogs now and I am of the thinking that it is obscene the amounts of money that get spent to keep a dog alive. If any of them get ill that will result in a bill of thousands they will be put down no question, it's only a dog.
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I used to insure my lab she was our first dog so thought we should. She's 9 now and never made a claim and stopped the insurance 3 years ago as premiums kept rising. We have 4 dogs now and I am of the thinking that it is obscene the amounts of money that get spent to keep a dog alive. If any of them get ill that will result in a bill of thousands they will be put down no question, it's only a dog.
I kind of agree with you BB - I suspect a lot of animals get treatment "because they can" and it's not in their best interests AND people feel under pressure to try everything before saying "PTS".
I used to have insurance for Smokey, my pony, but the premiums were shy high and the one time I wanted to claim they wouldn't pay up. I have liability insurance and accident insurance but I've tld the vet never to suggest taking the horse to the Dick Vet for anything - if it's that bad, it's a bullet. Saw so many horses carted off to the Vet school when we were in livery; none ever came back and the owners / insurance had bills of thousands of pounds.
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Vets these days seem to take is as the norm that you will have insurance so start offering different treatments which often don't actially work, so then suggest something. I always ask for the expected cost before they start any (apart from any pain relief) and then make my decision whether to proceed or not.
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I met a trainee Vet at a wedding last year. He was rubbing his hands in expectation of starting work. He joked that he hated pets but loved money. We told him of our vet bills here in France and he said that they do not make enough money.
The savings account for Vet bills is a great idea and saves frustration with insurrance companies when the animal has a recurrent problem or has been excluded from various treatments or investigations. If you have a "pet passport" then a trip to france could save a few bob :-J .
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I do agree with Rosemary, I have never had pet insurance for any of my dogs. Yes out current darling cost about 800quid last year when she had her op, courtesy of someone dumpingtheir rubbish in our lane..., but we figured that we had her for 5 years and would have easily paid that in insurance already. I would always ask for a quote and am a firm believer in deciding what's in my dog's interest not the vet's and insurance industry...
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That's an awful lot for a youngster, but be careful - he now has a recorded ongoing condition and you may find if you change insurers they won't cover that leg.
i havent made a claim tho - does it stay on his medical record? we are not quite sure what he has strained but if it doesnt improve he will need an xray. i told petplan about it before i went to vet as i was sure the bill would be expensive, and i wasnt sure how to pay if he was insured.
i have 2 days to decide but before the petplan policy expires.
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I haven't been,even looked, on here in months but now I'm back on will probably while away many more hours that I don't have!
I had my older (Rescue) lurcher Blue insured for the first few years with Pet Plan as from my experience working in vet practice knew they are very reliable and pay out quickly with no hassle, also got a reduction for working in a vet practice. The premiums went, in 4 years from £12 + to about £24. So when I got my newest lurcher pup (another rescue who had been dumped with her sister starving at 6 wks) I spent ages on,line looking at options. Finally went for the Co-Op.I pay £11.50 per month I'm not sure off hand the amount of cover I get but it's enough to cover major surgery, illness etc plus 3rd party legal expenses & all the usual. I cancelled Blue's insurance with Pet Plan and as she's around 11 now almost impossible to find cover. BUT my vets have a scheme where I pay£11 monthly which covers boosters,worming & flea treatment for the year (although I don't agree with yearly boosters or preventative flea treatment, would treat if they got fleas) but for an extra £1.99 get a good level of insurance cover for accidents (not illness) As I'm more worried about accidents it suits me very well. At her age any very expensive treatment/ongoing for illness would have to be considered at the time.
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well i just looked online and the cover i wanted is £17 pcm not £25 as the guy on the fone wanted me to sign up to - even with the 10% online discount - its still a big difference. i couldnt see a policy for £25 anywhere on the website. neither can i see the £100 excess as its £90 on-line. bizarre! maybe fone and internet policies are different ?
the wee dog is still limping even after painkillers and anti-inflammatories so i think we will go the insurance way for the first year. i dont know how he hurt himself cos we'd only been to the beach for 20 mins.
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When we got our GSD we decided to take out insurance and had just received the form to apply when he had his first fit. The insurance company then wouldn't insure for epilepsy only other illnesses or accidents (unless he had an accident due to having a fit) so we decided not to bother. In his last years he was costing £70 a month for medication for epilepsy and rheumatism, which is a lot more than the insurance would have cost.
He died nearly four years ago and we only have one pet dog now - the other two are a working guide dog and retired guide dog so all vet's bills are paid by GDBA - who is 10 years. She's never been ill apart from ear canker once and mange once, so all she costs is for her annual check up and boosters. I think it's swings and roundabouts with pet insurance. You just don't know what is going to happen. I do know though, that if anything happened that was going to cost a fortune, we would have to think very carefully.
Our vet does, however, have a sign in the waiting room which says that if you can't afford the treatment tell the vet beforehand so I think they will allow paying bills off gradually.
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often the bill comes down when the vet knows you are not insured!
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I trust our vet and I am sure he does not suggest un nesessary treatment or tests. I usualy send pups off with the free insurance for a few weeks, however, they are not always good at paying out.
I had some pups advertised and a lovely lady wanted one but they had gone, I said our next and our last litter would be the next year from our other female, she did not want to waite so bought a pup from elsewhere, I saw photos and it looked a bit too thin for my likeing, it turned out to have a condition that stopped it being able to feed, the vets operated but it still did not work so the pup was eventualy PTS, they then saw my pups were due and have bought one, he is a big wonderful healthy boy but they still have not had the money fromt the insurance for the other pup and it was over 18mths ago and more than £4,000 .
I did however not bother with the insurance for 2 pups the stud dog owner had as he had loads of dogs, one of those pups went to a vet with an estate in St Andrews so no prob but the other went off to London and it turned out to have a little lump on his head, now both me and the stud dog owner would have left that for a while as a lot of fat pups get little lumps, it however should be checked out, but anyway, they had it removed and we both had to share the cost of travel etc.....I felt so sorry for the little chap as I thought he was going to some one local and would have happily taken him to our vet and kept him until he recovered....It was not too costly but could have been.
I am in shock as I just found out that my little Yellow male pup ( that went to the estate in St Andrews) is owned buy a Billionaire............I know the game keeper that works for him and he said how well he is doing and already walking to heel...I am so proud, hope i get some piccies.!!
and I only got £400 :thinking:
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I am a breeder member of the DBI (Dog Breeders Insurance). All pups leave me with 12 weeks free insurance and I receive loyalty vouchers.
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We use pet plan for each of our 5. We have found them to be superb. No quibbles, they just pay up.
One dogs premium is covered each month by his need for a specific supplement - it really works for us.
On balance, I think we actually get our money back, especially as they are covered for life ( ask about this)
An awful lot of policies, stop at 8 yrs or 10 ...just when alot of problems are going to naturally start occurring.
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Just wanted to add....... Double check if they will cover you for his leg. They may refuse on the basis of an existing illness but as it is may be deemed as a continuation on an existing policy it might be covered.
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we got "covered for life" with petplan, is continued cover so he is covered. just under £20 pcm. probably just for the first year unless hes accident prone. thanks for the advice.
i have a question about farm insurance too but will start a new thread :excited: :-*
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I left pet plan as my two dogs insurance went from £15 each to over £25 and now I a with Animal Friends and pay £6 a month for my 9 year old black and tan and £4.75 for my terrier and i have public lib and £5k over so a good deal ... And I got 2 mearkats !
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how did u get the meerkats??? i have to sort my house insurance soon too so major opportunity...lol :roflanim: :excited: