First of all I would like to think I’m a responsible pet owner and I do currently have pet insurance for my dog. But after spending £600 in the last 4 weeks of him and not being able to claim any of it back on his insurance I’m wondering, is pet insurance worth it? My pet insurance is currently £40 per month, life time covers 6k per illness per year, £100 excess and doesn’t cover out of hours unless life threatening. Every time I need to go to the vet it’s either just under £100 so can’t claim, or it’s like tonight and an emergency and I’ve to go to out of hours and spend £400. Am I best just putting money aside every month into a dog savings ac rather then pay for insurance or is the insurance worth it should anything big and awful happen? I have now paid £1800 in insurance since I’ve had my dog and have never been able to claim on it due to their terms and conditions! What does everyone else do?
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We don’t insure our cats and rabbits but we put the equivalent in a savings account if possible each month. They have a sizeable bank balance for a bunch of freeloaders with fur 
Yea between the insurance/the food/the toys/the 3 beds/the endless cuddles especially after late night run to the vets, I’d love to be reincarnated as a dog/any house animalWe don’t insure our cats and rabbits but we put the equivalent in a savings account if possible each month. They have a sizeable bank balance for a bunch of freeloaders with fur
The price of my dog's insurance was increasing each year and it was more than 50 a month so I went to accident and 3rd party liability with is about 8 quid. I never needed treatment so I would probably put it on the credit card .
Insurance may be invalid now as their annual booster vaccines are that overdue due to the pandemic.
Insurance may be invalid now as their annual booster vaccines are that overdue due to the pandemic.
I tried pet insurance for a year when I had my 3 dogs, but soon realised what an absolute con it was. Too much small print to read, too little in the way of pay outs and far too much red tape.
So what I did instead was put money into a Dog Account each week/month and that paid for their vet bills. The money soon mounted up and back then, gaining a little interest too.
There are too many insurance companies out there willing to take our money off of our hands for the most trivial of things.
Insurance we need - car insurance (obvs), house insurance (buildings and contents) life assurance (to leave to loved ones, if you so choose).
In my opinion, all the rest of the insurances are a complete waste of money. Take the insurance they try and con you out of on white goods. Most white goods these days don’t last for more than 5 years anyway, so you would be better off just buying a new washing machine/dishwasher, etc! Sorry have gone off on a tangent!
My son proudly insured his dog-£60 a month-all singing,all dancing insurance-all fine
i was on the phone to him when he saw/I heard the dog get hit by a car
the bloody insurance had only ran out 3 days earlier and he hadn’t seen the email!
£260 to have the dog checked over-he’s fine-turns out staffs bounce-he was just dazed with about 3 cuts to his head and elbow
son got his granddad to check over the policy and it all came out in the wash that he wouldn’t have been covered due to the time/dog wasn’t on a lead/son wasn’t paying 100% to him as he was on the phone to me with one eye on the dog rather than both eyes
(they where in a quiet area,not many cars go down it-he had let the dog go for a pee,the dog had ran under a bush,ignored my son whistling to come back and ran out in front of the (thank god,slow moving) car)
my sons cancelled the whole thing and just puts the dogs ‘pocket money’ in an account just for him ‘just in case’
i was on the phone to him when he saw/I heard the dog get hit by a car
the bloody insurance had only ran out 3 days earlier and he hadn’t seen the email!
£260 to have the dog checked over-he’s fine-turns out staffs bounce-he was just dazed with about 3 cuts to his head and elbow
son got his granddad to check over the policy and it all came out in the wash that he wouldn’t have been covered due to the time/dog wasn’t on a lead/son wasn’t paying 100% to him as he was on the phone to me with one eye on the dog rather than both eyes
(they where in a quiet area,not many cars go down it-he had let the dog go for a pee,the dog had ran under a bush,ignored my son whistling to come back and ran out in front of the (thank god,slow moving) car)
my sons cancelled the whole thing and just puts the dogs ‘pocket money’ in an account just for him ‘just in case’
We had pet insurance with Argos for our cat and we actually won out of that, once they started paying for her I guess they couldn’t reasonably stop and we definitely got more than we paid in. Our vet was actually shocked and on the first occasion she had become really unwell and needed an op they advised us it was unlikely the insurance would pay out but it did. I definitely feel we got very lucky but that being said I feel like most insurance is just a scam and if I got a new pet I would take out insurance again but I think I would also save some money just in case.
Never thought about putting money into an account, rather than insurance - such a good idea!
I have insurance for my 2 cats they've Tesco, think I pay about £14 a month for both.
I was considering cancelling it a few years back and decided to renew one more year then decide. A few months later one of my cats broke her leg (assumed RTA but noone saw) and needed orthopaedic surgery. Her bill came to just over £3k and thankfully tescos covered it all except the £120 excess. So I'm a big advocate
I was considering cancelling it a few years back and decided to renew one more year then decide. A few months later one of my cats broke her leg (assumed RTA but noone saw) and needed orthopaedic surgery. Her bill came to just over £3k and thankfully tescos covered it all except the £120 excess. So I'm a big advocate
My uninsured cat had an accident and cost us £1500. We panicked and took out pet insurance for them, never claimed a penny as nothing happened to them since so we cancelled it years ago and put the money we would spend on insurance into savings. They can currently do about a grands worth of damage to themselves
We do this there is more in his account than mineWe don’t insure our cats and rabbits but we put the equivalent in a savings account if possible each month. They have a sizeable bank balance for a bunch of freeloaders with fur
We have never had dog insurance, as we also found that it wouldn’t cover the things needed and so was essentially a waste of money. We also wouldn’t claim for certain things as it would push the premium up, so end up paying it anyway.
My family all have dogs and none have insurance as we can’t see the value. My brother did have for his dog, but when she needed long term medication (medicam) it wasn’t covered so they had to pay anyway, so stopped the insurance.
My family all have dogs and none have insurance as we can’t see the value. My brother did have for his dog, but when she needed long term medication (medicam) it wasn’t covered so they had to pay anyway, so stopped the insurance.
I’ve never understood pet insurance. Got a ragdoll kitten in October and the vets have been trying to sell me Petplan when I took her for her injections! Had to take her recently as she had suspected conjunctivitis (turns out she wasn’t washing her face properly so I had to bathe her eyes twice a day, the little princess). Cost me £60 for the appointment and £120 for the injections/flea worming.
I also have a 6 year old Cavalier King Charles with epilepsy who is on medication that we collect each month. But I guess they don’t insure on pre-existing conditions? Good idea to put money away each month!
I also have a 6 year old Cavalier King Charles with epilepsy who is on medication that we collect each month. But I guess they don’t insure on pre-existing conditions? Good idea to put money away each month!
We have a pedigree kitten, and she has insurance (bought by many) and also pay for a health care plan - it worked out more economical for her first year as it includes all jabs and boosters, discounted spaying and a free microchip. Unsure if we will continue it when it needs renewing....
With the insurance, we’ve not yet had to claim but our neighbours who recommended bought by many to us have had to in several different situations and they’ve always been paid.
we decided to get the insurance and the breed she is are prone to kidney issues, so decided that long term it’s worth it, as the medication can be expensive. She’s an indoor cat, so we pay less than £10 a month
With the insurance, we’ve not yet had to claim but our neighbours who recommended bought by many to us have had to in several different situations and they’ve always been paid.
we decided to get the insurance and the breed she is are prone to kidney issues, so decided that long term it’s worth it, as the medication can be expensive. She’s an indoor cat, so we pay less than £10 a month
I joined the healthy pet club with my vets. It costs £14.99 per month. It covers flea/worm treatments and vacinations and boosters. You get a free check up with the vets twice a year. These visits I pick up teatments and get booster vacinations. Healthy pet club does save me money. I would recommend this to anyone who has a pet that needs flea/worm treatments and vacinations throughout the year. The money includes it all.
Paid 8 years of pet insurance then tried to make a claim. They said it was a pre-existing condition due to the written notes on the puppy check 8 years previous. Absolute BS. I now put the money away in the bank and I wish I had done this from the very start. Not only would of I covered all the vet bills there would be loads extra.
We didn’t have insurance for our last cat, we adopted him at the grand old age of 12 and decided to suck it up should anything happen. We ended up with a £3,500 vet bill this year.
However, I wouldn’t have change it. Most policies only insure up to a certain amount per illness/incident so I’m not sure we would have been any better off.
My husbands aunt runs a pet sitting business and has lots of animals herself, she never insures her animals on that basis and just saves for them.
However, I wouldn’t have change it. Most policies only insure up to a certain amount per illness/incident so I’m not sure we would have been any better off.
My husbands aunt runs a pet sitting business and has lots of animals herself, she never insures her animals on that basis and just saves for them.
My dog is insured, for my horse however I have public liability and some external damage coverage but not colic or anything else as I doubt id put him through it anyway. My mums dog is now not insured as nothing on his body is covered pretty much and we always find a way to pay for things. He’s just had £3000 cruiciate surgery his other leg was covered by insurance but now other one gone. I’d rather put money in bank and know I do have backup of credit card if needed.
Never had insurance on any of our dogs, but luckily in a very fortunate position that we would as a family be able to pay upfront for any treatment for our current dog! And would without a second thought, he’s our baby 