Insure, or not?

[Jane and Sara]

Insurance is hugely expensive, especially with multiple dogs! I was wondering what you all do. I insure but am wondering whether or not to stop and just save the money for emergencies - if I did that could I just get third party insurance somewhere?

[elmuervo]

It's and interesting question really . . . I suppose it depends upon how willing you are to take a gamble, or how lucky you feel. You could win big, or lose big.

I for one would always insure, but that's probably because my dad was an insurance broker so I was indoctrinated from an early age. I'm very risk-averse! ;D ;D ;D

Jo
x

[Aoj]

I would always insure - yes it costs me £53 a month for the three dogs but that only works out at £636 a year. One emergency or one course of treatment can easily come to that so to my mind it usually pays for itself at least once a year.

[krissibaby]

In all my animal owning years, i never insured.......until my Siamese cat ( Sadly passed away now) had to have his leg amputated......with all the hospitalization (they tried to save the leg at first), then the final operation, it cost just over £1000!

I already had Krissy and Bobby, and another cat, and it was then i decided to get them all insured. Krissy had a terrible infection in both anal glands, and had quite a bit of treatment which cost £200, but i got it all back quite quickley (Tesco Insurance), and when poor Bobby died so suddenly from Meningitus, again, i was reimbursed. I would recommend insurence, and for my three dogs, it costs £50 per month.

[Houndlover]

I have 10 dogs and they are all insured. My lot would have cost me this year somewhere in the region of £5,000 - 5,500 as I have had a catalogue of one thing after another, so I am VERY glad that I insure.

[Nettie]

I think it depends on the age of the animals and whether you could afford to pay the big bills if they come in without insurance. Since 3 of our animals who were insured went past the age of 10 it just wasn't worthwhile for us, large monthly premiums plus £120 excess plus an extra excess of 30% of the cost of treatment. We are also in the fortunate position in that we would be able to find the money to pay vet bills.

[vickyb]

Sept 29, 2008 6:48:45 GMT -5 Nettie said:

I think it depends on the age of the animals and whether you could afford to pay the big bills if they come in without insurance. Since 3 of our animals who were insured went past the age of 10 it just wasn't worthwhile for us, large monthly premiums plus £120 excess plus an extra excess of 30% of the cost of treatment. We are also in the fortunate position in that we would be able to find the money to pay vet bills.

I think Nettie sums it up, it comes down to whether you can afford a big bill and don't assume it will only be one dog at once, it's sods law that things come together and at the worst time. I once had Trix in for X-rays one monday and River in for a lump removing that turned out to be cancer in the next, totally unexpectedly.
I insure all 3 and it's £55 a month for them which isn't bad at 12, 11 and 3 , just changed to AXA, £50 excess but obviously pre existing things not covered. I did agonise over what to do as my previous insurers put excess up ridiculously, but decided to go with peace of mind. We have had a few trips to vets now out of hours which starts at £100+ per consultation without treatment .. Insurance means I don't have to think about paying for treatment.
Vicky

[Princess C]

Matilda is not insured (nor was Betty but they were both taken on as oldies and with so many pre-existing conditions it wouldn't have been worthwhile or would have been prohibitively expensive )

The other four are, although with Scout and Otis both ten, I don't get quite such good value for money for those two now!

I can afford to carry any costs for one uninsured one, but that's about it, I dread to think what would happen with my luck if the others weren't insured

[wendysgreys]

I havent insured mine and have had horrendous Vet bills in the past with Worzels cancer treatment coming to well over £1000 alone..However I am single now and just cant afford the extra expense so if anything major happened I would beg steal or borrow the money to get by-without the extra insurance bill per month I can afford to put a little bit by just in case.
I think its a matter of personal choice and how much you can spare really.My GSD never ever went to the Vet,maybe greys/lurchers are more prone to problems?

[Jane and Sara]

I think I'm too much of a coward not to insure! Pet Plan want £77 per month for my three with a £90 excess - sods law the bills are usually just less than that. Maybe I should shop around although I have had bad experiences with companies not paying in the past and Pet Plan do seem to be very quick and reliable. I have some savings but not much income - so am trying to cut my outgoings a bit!

[Aoj]

Jane, I am with More Than and they gave me a 20% multiple dog discount when I added Brodie last month. I have a £75 excess. It will depend on the ages but Georgie (8) is £24, Tyler (5) £15 and Brodie (2) £16

[stussy]

when i had my 3 (now left with one of them) i didnt have them insured, i worked out i would have paid out about £9k in insurance in the time of owning them, in reality they cost me about £3k including a couple of nasty emergencies

I do worry if we had a major problem that it would be expensive, and am weighing it up for our pup at the moment

[Deleted]

I would always insure. My last vet trip with Cleo a few weeks back was over £400, and when I had Merlin his treatment ran into thousands - almost £1,000 just on his MRI. I would hate to think I could have been worrying whether I could afford what he needed on top of worrying about his illness.

Nettie is right - if you can afford a big bill it's okay, but most of us can't and these days vets bills can be enormous.

[Nettie]

Just wanted to add that we worked out that we are saving £1000 a year in premiums by not insuring. Since we stopped insuring that is a saving of £3,000 and in that time between 5 animals we would probably have been able to claim back about £250 after excess in the same period so that still means £2,750 in the 'savings for the vet' coffers.

[annar]

i insure all of mine with axa with £50 excess even for oldies, in the past 6 years of insuring ive claimed probably about £15,00 to £20,000 in vet fees so well worth it and we wouldnt be able to find money for bills if they wernt. anna.x.