CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Health => Insurance => Topic started by: Bella & Poppy on January 12, 2013, 09:50:56 PM
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Hi,
After speaking with a fellow COLer the other day he mentioned that he pays a lot less than me for what seems to be a similar policey.
We are with petplan and have a lifetime policey with i think 7k cover - our premium for this is £30 a month (or £60 because we have 2).
What do you pay and who are you with?
Jon
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We pay about £20 with John Lewis for 7k lifetime cover.
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I'm with NFU and have lifetime cover for both dogs, £60 excess per claim, and can claim up to £4K for each and every condition every year (not £4K to cover everything each year) with no time limit on the number of years you can continue to claim for any condition/illness. I pay a total of £67 per month for the 2 dogs.
William costs about £45 per month. He's 8 and I claim about £200 per year for Optimmune Ointment and opthalmic check ups for Dry Eye, which is a lifelong condition. I had to pay the excess on the very first claim 3 years ago but haven't had to pay it in subsequent years. I've also claimed for other things over the years, around £2.5K in total, much of it when he had a MRI scan and physio and hydrotherapy when he was diagnosed with lumbosacral disc disease nearly 4 years ago. I couldn't change William from NFU even if I wanted to (which I don't) because nobody else will cover his pre-existing disc and eye conditions.
Louis costs £22 per month. He's 3 and so far I haven't had to claim anything for him.
Edited to add - Louis is entire and his premium would be cheaper if he was castrated.
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AXA insurance - lifetime cover £7000 - have 4 dogs and pay on average £13 per dog. Eldest dog is 5 years and none of the dogs have had any significant claims - only one dog has needed treatment for an eye trauma. :D
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AXA here as well. Lifetime cover up to £7000, total for three dogs, £34 per month.
The cost of pet insurance does vary considerably, depending on where in the country that you live.
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Axa here too. £11 a month for £7k lifetime cover. Mum just got a quote for little Jade at £10 a month.
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Axa here...£14 for Erin who is 7 and £9 for Tilly who is 1
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I am with AXA too, £10.30 per dog each month for lifetime cover.
I was with Kennel Club (Agria) and it was over £30 per dog, it just got to the point where I could not afford to keep paying it. I have never tried to claim of AXA but Kennel Club in fairness were a very good company. I guess time will tell if I made a mistake by changing or not.
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We are with petplan and have a lifetime policey with i think 7k cover - our premium for this is £30 a month (or £60 because we have 2).
We are with Petplan, lifetime policy, 7k cover, costs us £44 something (not quite £45) for 2 dogs aged 3 and 7.
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We're with petplan and are paying £37.59 a month. We've claimed £5000 in total the last 12 months for 3 separate and totally unrelated incidents - Jan 2012 emergency surgery for a blockage followed by 5 nights at Langland Animal Hospital Bristol £3000. Our renewal was in May 2012 and it went up £2 a month. In Sept Barney had a very bad stomach - vet thought he'd eaten a dead rat £400 and then in Oct he developed Uvetis and has been going to a specialist eye hospital in Leominster - just had a cheque for £1676. To date they've paid out promptly and without question each time.
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We're with petplan and are paying £37.59 a month. We've claimed £5000 in total the last 12 months for 3 separate and totally unrelated incidents - Jan 2012 emergency surgery for a blockage followed by 5 nights at Langland Animal Hospital Bristol £3000. Our renewal was in May 2012 and it went up £2 a month. In Sept Barney had a very bad stomach - vet thought he'd eaten a dead rat £400 and then in Oct he developed Uvetis and has been going to a specialist eye hospital in Leominster - just had a cheque for £1676. To date they've paid out promptly and without question each time.
I pay £40 a month for Brodie (aged four) with PetPlan and again have used it a lot in the last year (not quite £5000, thankfully, sounds like Barney had an even worse year than Brodie ;)) mainly for two separate conditions. One was persistent ear infections that took months to sort out and a few trips to an expensive specialist; another was for a pricy bout of pancreatitis that left her in the emergency vets over the weekend. I've put a lot of claims in over the years and never once been questioned. They even paid for the vet to take a few of her teeth out when she was a year old, which I believe other insurers can be fussy about.
They are very expensive though :-\. Brodie will be five soon so we have a few years of price rises ahead of us.
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Animal Friends, lifetime with a 7k limit per illness, £90 excess. £147 per annum for Milly which rose after a £700+ claim to £180 per annum at the last renewal.
Chaz started off a few months ago with Animal Friends on the same coverage at £190 per annum.
We've only had one claim which was queried for a pricing error by our vet (The total of the claim was £22 less than it should have been) but the revised claim was still paid within 7 days.
So, £370 pa, or just over £30/month for two dogs, one 3 years and one 7 months.
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I saw this article yesterday but forgot about it, it may be of interest to the OP:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/pet/9796798/My-pet-insurance-premiums-rose-by-40pc.html
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Forgot to mention that Barney is nearly 4
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Animal Friends, lifetime with a 7k limit per illness, £90 excess. £147 per annum for Milly which rose after a £700+ claim to £180 per annum at the last renewal.
Chaz started off a few months ago with Animal Friends on the same coverage at £190 per annum.
We've only had one claim which was queried for a pricing error by our vet (The total of the claim was £22 less than it should have been) but the revised claim was still paid within 7 days.
So, £370 pa, or just over £30/month for two dogs, one 3 years and one 7 months.
Just a quick update......
Milly's renewal has just come in. It was £180 last year and has risen by £10 to £190. We submitted a £60 claim a few months ago for a checkup on her eye condition which was a continuation of a previous £700+ claim so no further excess to pay. It was credited to our bank within a week.
Bob.
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I'm also with Axa but pay £27 per month (in London) for a young dog. Prices vary massively - but then again so do vets' fees. If my insurance only goes up £10 next year (for the whole year) after two claims (£455 refund - so far) then I'll be very happy!
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Hi
Just had my insurance renewal through for Oscar we are with M&S Premier cover we were paying £32 a month for him it has now gone up to £40 :fear2: I'm thinking of changing, but not sure who to go with?? any ideas??
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Hi
Just had my insurance renewal through for Oscar we are with M&S Premier cover we were paying £32 a month for him it has now gone up to £40 :fear2: I'm thinking of changing, but not sure who to go with?? any ideas??
I'd shop around as there is a huge difference - just make sure you get lifetime cover, and of course, the new insurers won't cover any existing conditions or anything resulting from a previous condition - for example, if you dog has hip dyspasia, arhtritis in the hips in later life won't be covered.
We have been with Pet Plan for our previous dog and for Ozzy - not the cheapest, but we were paying £47 a month for Cassie (our previous GR, who went to the bridge last July) as she had epilepsy, but we were claiming over £260 a month for her medications, we paid £90 per condition per year in addition to the monthly premium. We never had a single claim rejected and they always paid up promptly. They even paid us their max death payout (£500) when she had to be PTS after an accident.
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I've just changed to AXA for my two, it's just under £30 per month for £7000 vet's fees per condition with lifetime cover, for both of them :o I would highly recommend going for the best cover you can get. I wish that I had gone with them last year, I paid the same for much less cover with Sainsbury's. When my puppy had to two operations for elbow dysplasia and have £4200 of treatment, I only had £3000 cover per condition :-\ I had to find the £1200 and I will never be able to get cover for his elbows again.
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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.
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I pay £26 a month with petplan, which is 7k of cover and a lifetime policy. Heariing what everyone else has said it would probably be cheaper to look at axa, however it just sounds so easy with petplan as my vets will claim directly from them! Touch wood Belle hasn't had any vet trips other than routine ones yet!
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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!!!
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Our renewal has just come through from Argos,it's now £50>month for Ruby who is 5.
We can't change insurers as she has a pre existing eye condition,which we claimed a consultation fee for appox 2 years ago and haven't claimed since.Thieving g*its >:(
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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... :o
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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... :o
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 sometimes wonder if it's fair to put them through too much treatment at that age. But then, I couldn't afford all those insurance payments, so I would probably have cancelled it by now anyway. 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!
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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!!!
Blimey yes - my insurance is about £37/month for an 11y old cocker with Petplan (I then pay 20% of all claims because of her age but still worth it)
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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!!!
Blimey yes - my insurance is about £37/month for an 11y old cocker with Petplan (I then pay 20% of all claims because of her age but still worth it)
Wow and I'm £40 a month with PetPlan and a five year old dog! I wonder how they decide their prices. I have tried to contact them about that 20% but never heard back from them... Still, feel slightly better after reading some of the amounts here :o.
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8 year old William is £45 per month with NFU, lifetime cover, max. £3,000 per condition per year (not £3,000 in total for all conditions each year). William has lumbosacral disc damage and Dry Eye, both diagnosed a few years ago. I claim about £200 per year against his 6 monthly ophthalmic check ups and daily Optimmune Ointment for his eyes. When his back problems started I claimed about £2,000 back in one year for a MRI scan and physio.
3 year old Louis is also with NFU and has the same level of cover as William and I pay £22 per month for him. So far I haven't had to make a claim on his insurance.
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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... :o
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 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EykgW43vViY)
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Love the video of Dylan :luv: and I totally agree that age alone isn't the only consideration when considering treatment. My first Cocker was still fit enough and enjoying life enough at 14 that I gave the go ahead for some surgery, fairly minor admittedly. He came through with no problems, although recovery took a bit longer than it probably would have done when he was younger.
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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!
My OH while spitting feathers at the insurance renewal price (£50) also said this but i think it isn't always a safe solution.I said to him imagine Ruby were to develop cancer and need chemo,or some awful illness that required expensive meds every month,a broken bone,investigation of some sort e.g MRI scan,the vets bill could run into thousands and a measly £50 per month savings isn't going to cover that type of situation unless we save for many years (1 year= £600 ) in the mean time leaving her without cover.
I just couldn't/wouldn't take the chance.
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Gemma is with PAH with lifetime cover for £19. But staffy poppy, I have to stay with tesco £36 with £60 excess. no one else will insure her unless i agree to £99 excess plus 15% of costs. Poppy is 11 years old and never had a claim
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Am with Pets at Home. Their cover is very good and it's lifetime. I pay £21. Though unfortunately I discovered when 1st getting Mollies and then renewing it - it is like car insurance - it's a postcode lottery. I couldn't understand initially why people were getting deals so much better than I had when I had a young dog etc.
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... it is like car insurance - it's a postcode lottery. I couldn't understand initially why people were getting deals so much better than I had when I had a young dog etc.
That is one of the reasons mine are so high. A London postcode probably makes my premiums one of the highest in the country... >:( Hopefully when I move to Norfolk later this year, my pet premiums will drop considerably. :D
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Lurchergirl - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend with what I said about stopping insurance. I would never suggest a dog be PTS purely due to it's age. I quite agree with everything you say, and if you can afford the insurance, well, that's fine, but I still think the amount you are paying M & S is excessive. But, I suppose, if the dogs had pre-existing conditions before you took out the insurance then maybe that accounts for it. I don't know many people who have changed insurers after a condition has been diagnosed. I know of lots of owners with dogs with serious, ongoing conditions who pay far less than that. We ourselves paid only £47 a month with Pet Plan for our 5 year old GR who had epilepsy, and we were claiming in excess of £260 a month for drugs alone, plus several thousand pounds for special investigations at the AHT, plus regular blood tests to check drug levels etc. The List just went on and on. We just paid £90 a year excess for each condition in addition to the monthly premiums.
As to the conversation I was having about saving the money in a savings account. We were talking about normal, healthy dogs with no conditions and not many vet visits apart from the usual. We were saying that most of time the vets visits occur when they are puppies and then when they get old - I suppose what we were saying was that if, during their adult years when they didn't require much in the way of treatment, you saved what you would pay in insurance, then it would cover conditions that might occur in old age. Of course that's barring accidents and serious illnesses, and was just an idle conversation in general terms!
Right - I'll stop digging now and go and hide in the hole I've dug for myself, ph34r and keep my thoughts to myself in future. ;)
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As to the conversation I was having about saving the money in a savings account. We were talking about normal, healthy dogs with no conditions and not many vet visits apart from the usual. We were saying that most of time the vets visits occur when they are puppies and then when they get old - I suppose what we were saying was that if, during their adult years when they didn't require much in the way of treatment, you saved what you would pay in insurance, then it would cover conditions that might occur in old age. Of course that's barring accidents and serious illnesses, and was just an idle conversation in general terms!
It doesn't even take a serious illness for the bills to add up. Brodie (5) has had a year of one ear infection after another. Before that she was relatively healthy, although she has always had slight problems with her ears. It took three visits to a very expensive specialist to sort it out, which came to about £1000. That doesn't take into account the cost of month upon month of treatment and ear drops at our own vet. I haven't added up how much that cost, I dread to think what it would come to ph34r.
I did once think of cancelling and putting money into an account, but wouldn't dare now - especially with her episode of pancreatitis. I'll just have to keep paying and hope it doesn't get too high ph34r. I have started an account to put a little money in, to take care of that 20% I will need to pay once she reaches a certain age :-\
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Lurchergirl - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend with what I said about stopping insurance.
Appology accepted, though it did make me quite upset. The thought of putting a dog to sleep when faced with high vet bills purely based on his age is not nice.
... but I still think the amount you are paying M & S is excessive.
And I so agree! But what can I do... Dylan had TPLO (cruciate) surgery three years ago, the other cruciate is also damaged, but so far holding well... that might change any day though. If that needs surgery too, it will come to several thousand pounds if you include preliminary investigations and rehab (the first one was around £6000). He also has a few dry discs in his back. They are so far not causing any problems at all and possibly never will, but if they do, it could also become expensive - though back surgery is probably not something I would consider for most dogs. He's also hypothyroid, though that is well under control and not expensive to treat.
Dylan is one of these dogs that the insurance has earned absolutely nothing out of. He has had near enough 30 anaesthetics in his life time; stitches after accidents and bite wounds, lump removals, knee surgery... He also had exertional rhabdomyolsis (exercise induced muscle breakdown resulting in kidney failure) which is something sighthounds can get. Luckily he was treated quickly and effectively, so there was no lasting damage from that. It cost around £800 to hospitalise and treat him though.
I would say that overall, he has cost me and my insurance around £20,000 - so you can imagine that I will not take any chances with him re insurance!
But, I suppose, if the dogs had pre-existing conditions before you took out the insurance then maybe that accounts for it.
He didn't have any pre-existing conditions when he went with M&S many years ago (only accident/bite wounds incidents which don't count as pre-existing), but he has had a lot of treatment since and yes, that will account for some... as does my London postcode... and the fact that lurchers are considered high risk by many insurances due to being very prone to accidents that cost a lot of money to fix. :'(
My saluki has also had several accidents that cost a lot of money to fix, e.g. inhaling a grass seed, nearly cutting off a toe, deep cuts etc. Then he has unfortunately a dry disc in his back, in his case symptomatic. At the moment controlled with food supplements and herbs, but that might change in the future as it is a degenerative disease.
My spaniels however are the ones that balance everything. My American cocker had some expensive bills when he was younger due to hypothyroidism and resulting allergies, but this has been under control for years now and he is fine without causing any vet bills. Skye is under investigation for hypothyroidism, but is otherwise healthy as well and neither of them have ever had any accidents or other illnesses... :shades: and I hope it stays that way. ph34r :D
So the moral of the story is... if you don't want any high vet bills, don't get a sighthound! LOL
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Just got my youngest cocker's renewal through and it's gone up by just a few pennies. Phew. :D
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jarv is with M&S and his insurance is £47 per month....they are expensive but have always paid my claims within 3 weeks and have been very good so far ;)
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... it is like car insurance - it's a postcode lottery. I couldn't understand initially why people were getting deals so much better than I had when I had a young dog etc.
That is one of the reasons mine are so high. A London postcode probably makes my premiums one of the highest in the country... >:( Hopefully when I move to Norfolk later this year, my pet premiums will drop considerably. :D
I wouldn't bank on it (literally and figuratively!). I have today cancelled my Marks and Spencer Pet Insurance policy for my 11 year old cocker Cassie. This may sound irresponsible but it has just risen from £70.20 per month to a staggering £104.79 and I live in Cumbria, one of the lowest premium areas in the UK. What is even more infuriating is that this amount appears to have been cynically calculated to cover the cost of absolutely all the drugs she needs to cope with her chronic liver and eye problems and still yield M&S a small profit. Meanwhile, I am left paying this huge sum plus a £70 excess and the first 20% of veterinary costs which actually adds up to more than the cost of going it alone. When I started this policy, it offered no-excess, full payment protection. Of course, Cass was young and healthy then and didn't need it. As soon as she began to show the early signs of a chronic condition, the conditions became harsher and harsher. Now, when she is uninsurable by anyone else, the underwriter slaps on a premium that makes cancellation almost inevitable. I might add that we recently got an online quote from the same company for a totally fictitious spaniel of the same age and it came to £30.75 a month. What is the point of insurance that simply dumps you when the going gets rough? I am now prepared to take my own chances. If Cassie's liver/pancreas problems flare up again, there is very little we can do to save her regardless of cost. Her drugs keep her alive and on the day they no longer work, I hope I will have the courage and love to say goodbye quickly. So I have simply added third party cover to our household insurance for a few pounds and will meet all the other vet costs from our limited income. But it wasn't supposed to be like this. How I wish I had gone to one of the other companies - like PetPlan which has been brilliant with our other dog, despite a couple of really steep claims - from the very beginning.
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You could always insure with someone else cheaply. Although that wouldn't cover any pre-existing conditions, it would cover for anything new. Example: I changed my Pyrenees (RIP) from M&S to AXA at 10 years old. This meant that his pre-existing condition which was arthritis and an occasional limp (meaning that everything for that leg was excluded of course) were excluded and I paid for that. BUT he went on to have a major reaction to Previcox (used for his arthritis/limp) that caused him bad digestive issues, which cost several hundred pounds to treat, later his liver went also and he developed cognitive disfunction and was on a nutraceutical for that - all paid for by the insurance as none of those were pre-existing conditions (and they paid for the house call to put him to sleep too!). :D The insurance premium came to "just" £30/months compared to £110/month before... It was so worth it. (I have also changed one of my younger dogs that is hypothyroid and has food allergies. I now pay for all that medication - which luckily isn't expensive - but his new insurance will pay for everything else should he need it.)
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Good advice - thank you. I'll investigate. I have also just discovered that I can get 3rd party liability cover from Dogs Trust even more cheaply than on my household insurance which also gives me the added security of knowing they will take care of my dogs if anything happens to me. I'm really impressed - it's quite a bargain for £12.50 (£25.00 for under-60s). I've already made provision in my will but it's really good to have back up in case my carefully planned arrangements unravel.