I'm with M&S and AXA, all lifetime cover up to £7000/year.
My 11-year old lurcher pays £159/month with M&S.
My 8-year old saluki pays £63/month with M&S.
My 6-year old American cocker pays £38/month with AXA.
My 2-year old English cocker pays £18/month with AXA.
Both the M & S insurances seem really steep!!!
They are - VERY! But as both dogs have (expensive) pre-existing conditions that could go into the thousands if they go wrong (again) or get worse, I haven't got a choice but stick with them. Actually, the £63 doesn't worry me too much yet, but my lurcher's is totally excessive...
Phew - I'll say!!! I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but if anything were to go wrong at that age, I think the kindest thing would be to let her pass away peacefully
I would agree if Dylan wasn't well and was like an old dog (and that was certainly true with my 11-year old Pyrenees at the time when I dropped his insurance cover), however, Dylan could give any 2-year old a run for their money. He is as fit as a fiddle, runs daily for an hour together with my other dogs and you would never in a million years know that he will be 12 years old next month (and that's something I am very proud of)! So there is no way that I would not give him any treatment he could have at this point!
Insured or not, I don't get any unnecessary stuff done on my dogs and always take their individual circumstances into consideration... but Dylan is most certainly not at a stage yet where I would refuse treatment just because he is a certain age!!! Next year might be a different thing and every year when insurance renewal comes up I make a new assessment on the status of health of my dogs and reconsider the level of their insurance cover... this year, it isn't time yet to make any changes in his insurance cover.
I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday who has two dogs, both in middle age, and she said that when their insurance started getting expensive (but nowhere near as much as yours ) they cancelled it and started to put the money into a savings account instead. The amount saved has well covered any vets bills so far. I sometimes wonder if that would be a better idea when dogs reach a 'certain' age!
Indeed, only if Dylan's other cruciate goes which is a real chance as it was already damaged three years ago, it will cost me several thousands again to fix... no way can I save that amount of money within a reasonable amount of time. And there is no way that at this moment of time, I would refuse him that treatment as he would come through it and recover from it with no problems despite his age and benefit from it for (hopefully) many years to come. So insurance is the only way for me.
I do however also put a small amount away into a savings account that pays for yearly vaccinations and excesses that are not covered by insurance. Any excess then stays in the savings account.
I would probably have cancelled it by now anyway
Not an option for me, I never want to be in the situation where I have to refuse my dogs treatment just because I can't afford it! It has happened to friends of mine, and I couldn't cope with that. So I prefer to go without holidays, smoking, drinking, new clothes and lots of other things to afford insurance and whatever else I need to pay for my dogs!
And here's a video of Dylan - my oldie - taken last week... Why would I want to put this fit and healthy boy to sleep in case of expensive treatment just because of his age on paper?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EykgW43vViY