I use insurance which covers up to £10k in a year on any one illness/accident. I know with the higher premiums as he gets older we might only break even or even be at a loss, but I still think it's worth it. Not having to find £3-5k for an unexpected op is what it's all about. I don't want to make that decision not to help him based on the money.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Self insurance is ok, especially if you’ve got the means to spend a few thousand, until it isn’t.
I’ve been with PetPlan for decades, and tried other companies off and on as various pets have come and gone.
I had one dog develop detached retinas, that was a near £10k bill to keep some of his eyesight. Could have had the eyes removed I suppose, would have been much cheaper, but not a great outcome for him.
I had another dog diagnosed with epilepsy when a few months old, fortunately she was with PetPlan and they covered the treatment/meds for the next 9 years.
Personally, I wouldn’t be without pet insurance, and I’ve found PetPlan whilst not the cheapest the easiest company to deal with come claim time.
One of my mates is a small animal vet, he rates PetPlan too, the claims side for the practice is also very good. The vet industry has been undergoing a lot of corporate takeover stuff, a large percentage of practices are now owned by a small number of huge companies, and like everything the last few years costs have rocketed. At the same time, treatments have progressed as well, the Cambridge based eye specialist my dog was referred to an example, an amazing place but not cheap to access. Again, personally, I’d want my dog/s to have the option of getting whatever treatments were available and not have to consider cost as a part of that process.
I’d rather they didn’t get ill or have accidents at all of course, but if they do I don’t want to be thinking about money.
Exactly that.Originally Posted by Tooks
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Can't fault Petplan. Have our BSH cat insured through them. No quibbles, direct payments or settled within 5 days. Premiums very, very reasonable, and not hiked up year on year. They've been faultless and very compassionate in these past few months with our cats untreatable cancerous tumour :-(
Been with Petplan for 25 years with 2 Weimaraners and they have been faultless with handling claims.
they are expensive but I've had back more than I've paid in treatments; and there have been a lot.
Sadly lost the latest dog a couple of days ago and even then, spoke to Petplan and they were brilliant. Cover cancelled the day of PTS and can claim for anything outstanding up to a year.
once he was past 11 (I think) you pay 25% towards the claim and the excess, but he wracked up thousands with a variety of things over the years and they never faltered or queried the claims.
I misread that as your BHS/British Home Stores cat - fortunately I have a friend with BSH cats, so was able to quickly re-order the letters in my head to get what you were actually saying. But I'm very sorry to read about your cat's condition - very sad :(
Used to be with ManyPets for tne first couple of years after getting a puppy. They were fantastic but the renewal for year 3 was a bit pricey so switched to Waggel. I find the most useful feature of both the ability to get a quick video consultation with a vet for free through the app. When the dog looks slightly off-colour, always reassuring to get some free advice rather that pay for the vets.
As our dog gets older and the premium rises I'd be tempted to do what others do and pay monthly into my own "self-insurance" fund.
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