Petplan Insurance

Al1944

Al1944

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Just received renewal documents for insuring our dog - he's 10 years old this year which might be relevant.

The annual premium has increased by approx £35, which is about the norm each year, but the excess has changed drastically. Last year the excess was £75 for each ailment. This year it is £115 PLUS 20% of the vet's bill!!

Not sure if it's age related or the fact that he's a Staffie X.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has noticed a similar increase.

Al
 
Hmm...interesting.. who is that with.

To make an informed decision you need to know up front costs. A vet bill could be £100 or it could be £4000.
 
I can understand the amount increase due to age and possibly claims history but the 20% is crazy...
 
It was exactly the same when our last dogs both turned 10, except our premium doubled rather than going up by just £35 and I think our excess went to something like £150 plus 20% of the bill.

I can't remember who we were insured with, but we gave up on it after that and invested the money we would have paid in insurance into a savings account for doggy emergencies instead.
 
Try Tesco pet insurance, when I was getting quotes last year they were around 50% cheaper for better cover (less excess etc)
 
Was with Tesco last year (or rather, the dog was). She turned 10 this year and the premium went up an extra £25 per month.

So the premium would have been something like £500 per annum for two or three grands worth of cover. So we're self-insuring and have had a stern word with the dog.
 
Thanks all. Looks as if it is age related then.

Whether to have insurance or not is a difficult one. My neighbours had their pet insurance renewal a few weeks ago and decided not to bother. On Saturday evening they were having a barbecue. Their pooch decided to jump up and grab some meat off a plate. The meat was on a wooden skewer! Half of the skewer was bitten off and was swallowed along with the meat.A Saturday night emergency op and the dog is fine, but it cost £900! Conversely, a friend of mine inherited a Jack Russell after his father passed away. The dog lived to the ripe old age of 19 and only saw a vet when he had to be put to sleep. Fortunately, the JR was never insured, but if he had been..........

I'm pretty cautious so will probably accept the increase!

Thanks again,
Al
 
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When we first got cats we could not decide whether or not to get insurance
I decided not to get it but put the money away each month in case one of them needed the vet so far we are quids in:)
 
Our reasoning was that at around £1000 p.a. for two dogs (even without the ridiculous 20% excess), the money was far better off in savings than going to the insurance people.
Doesn't take long for it to build up to a level where there's enough to cover most eventualities and given that the dogs lived to 19 and 21 respectively and never needed any treatment other than when they made their final vets visits, I'm far happier with that sat in the bank than lining someone else's pockets.

It's now been re-labelled as the doggy emergency fund for our new addition instead :)
 
SarahLee said:
Our reasoning was that at around £1000 p.a. for two dogs (even without the ridiculous 20% excess), the money was far better off in savings than going to the insurance people.
Doesn't take long for it to build up to a level where there's enough to cover most eventualities and given that the dogs lived to 19 and 21 respectively and never needed any treatment other than when they made their final vets visits, I'm far happier with that sat in the bank than lining someone else's pockets.

It's now been re-labelled as the doggy emergency fund for our new addition instead :)
Click to expand...

yes that's what I meant to say :)
one of our cats lived to be 20 and even with the 2 operations that she had we were still better off putting the money aside into savings:)
 
We are with Morethan, our lab is 10 and our excess is £90 + 20% of the bill.

We discovered he has heart problems last year and Morethan are paying out £200 every six weeks for his heart meds and have been for the last 10 months, at the mo his premium is £40 a month but is due renewal soon and will be the first one since theyve been paying out so i think we are in for a shock, but what can you do :shrug:

Our JRT X is £20 a month but he's only 3.
 
Once a pooch hits 10 the premiums and the excess skyrocket, and it only gets worse. You may get cheaper, but watch the small print re what is and isn't covered.
We wound up paying more per month for our old girl than we did for car and home insurance combined, and never ever claimed.
She's gone now. I miss her. :-(
 
I've gone down the self insurance route mainly because most policies won't cover an injury acquired whilst the dog is working - and that covers training as well!

However - I am about to get a squiddly little policy for about £10 pm to cover third party incidents.
 
The increase is normal.

My dog turns 14 this year, insurance are currently paying out something like £50 a month in meds and the premium came through today at £70.

We thought about knocking it on the head, but then I came to my senses, If we knocked in on the head we still pay £50 a month for meds... and then some for the regular checkup, regular scan etc.

So for the extra £20 we are going to stay insured.
 
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