Insurance or put money in an ISA for "that big bill"

[Sara750S]

Ok so Toby is 1 and bless him I hope he is around for another 10, 11, 12 years or beyond.

In that time I know his pet insurance premium will go up so have made a vague calculations that in 10 years we will have paid in circa £4000.

So do I keep paying that or do I put it in an ISA and if dont use, even better?

[JulieM]

Classic dilemma which you'll never know the answer to until after the event!

All I'd say is that my Florence is fit as a fiddle and hasn't been ill at all- she's 18 months old. But ate a plastic milk bottle lid whole a few months ago- total cost £1750 to get it removed as it couldn't come out naturally either end- they had warned us it could be more if it had been more difficult to remove. Fortunately we had insurance and were covered. For me it made me realise that random things can happen to them at any time and that vet costs are VERY expensive!

Good luck with your decision- and whichever way you go I hope you take the right bet

[ollie nathan's mum]

A crystal ball is needed

[Maria n Dennis]

Insurance every time for me. I was considering the same as you , Dennis was 20 month old had had no problems at all and out of the blue was paralysed due to a blown disc , the MRI scan was £1800 alone , surgery the day after another £3000 ish in total claimed over £7000 for that time. On his 3rd birthday the same happened again costing over £6000 all claimed on is insurance.
Now I would never have been in a position to pay for this having not been insured I don't have a credit card I could have used he simply wouldn't be here now. His insurance is £20 a month through greenbee John Lewis i can claim £7500 each year and I pay £13 a month for Douglas through John Lewis and can claim upto £10500.

[vixen]

I have had my girls insured since bringing them home.
I have never claimed in almost 5 years and I was thinking that 'if' I had another dog, I wouldn't bother insuring but just put the money away into a savings account.
Well, just this week out of the blue, Marley started limping and after a visit to the vet, she has to go in for an x ray as they suspect a torn cruciate ligament  .  The x ray alone I have been told costs over £200 and if she does need an operation that could run into thousands  
I am hoping that this is not the case but it is so reassuring to know that whatever is wrong with her leg, she will be able to get the treatment she needs.
It would be horrendous if your dog needed treatment and there wasn't enough money in the 'pot'.
So yes, for me insurance all the way - just to know that my dogs will get the treatment they need and it won't be governed by how much I can afford.

Having said my opinion on insurance, years ago I had GSDs and dog insurance was rare.  When I took them to the vets for treatment, I could always afford it  .  I really do think that vets have put their bills up as they know insurance will cover most of them.   When I registered at a new vets, the first question asked after name, age and breed was whether they were insured  .  

[michelle123]

I have this debate every year and I work in insurance ! 

For mine I pay about £45 per year for both - I dont claim mainly because the things that I am back and forth to the vets with arent covered (pre existing skin & ear complaints)

What swung it for me this year was seeing a number of dogs who had had back problems all within a short space of time, which undoubtably would be expensive and not something that you can exactly put off. 

[vixen]

For mine I pay about £45 per year for both  

That is cheap    I pay about £30 a month for my two girls.

[maddy74]

After having Willow so poorly of late and specialist being so expensive but so worth it I would never be without insurance.

[debbiedaywalker]

Definitely Insurance - fingers crossed (and everything else) that you don't, but you might get more than ONE big bill! I would also be tempted to dip into a ISA if some other emergency cropped up.

[8 Hairy Feet]

I vote insurance
After having huge vet bills with The General;
Surgery for cancer and tail amputation.
I don't want to be in that situation again.
steffxxx

[PennyB]

Insurance for me as well - I currently have 9 policies out with petplan - but it is peace of mind.

A few years ago Wilf was ploughed into by a much larger dog that sent him flying in the air and he twisted a she did it - he was in pain and limping - while it wasn't a huge problem for him as time went on it bothered me. Upshot was he'd got whiplash. He was eventually treated at a vet clinic that specialises in rehabilitation of animals after injury or surgery (or even extremely overweight or much older pets as it can affect their mobility).

While Wilf's condition is no longer acute we still go once a month for 'maintenance treatment' (a vet consult then acupunture and water treadmill), which is really only possible because of insurance - some wouldn't bother but I believe in time he would get less mobile - physio reckons he's acting younger every time she sees him. He still gets pain in his lower back but then like some of us with these sort of injuries it never goes away completely. [Mind you the dog warden's dog flattened him a month ago - Wilf has a habit of wanting to be with the 'big boys' on the park then he gets flattened if he's not careful LOL - and so I got an 'emergency' appt with referral vet who said she was surprised he could walk as well as he did.]

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I haven't had insurance this first year but I'm now tempted. This first year I put money into a savings account, I think this next year I may look into insurance AND putting some in a savings account (for stuff that isn't covered).

[PennyB]

It also gives you more freedom to choose as well, e.g., more specialist vets, as there are basic treatments and then there are the more expensives ones (my cat cost over 3000 but it could've been the wait and see approach which was perfectly valid as he'd already had surgery but the margins were quite small because its right in the back of the neck and he's a slim cat, or MRI and further surgery by a specialist - this I believe has meant he's still here 3 years on) - my vets give you a plan of options for everything.

[SteveB]

We have gone down the road of putting the money into an account, as fed up with being rippe off. But we have noticed that since we have changed our vets and told them that we are not insured the prices have dropped dramatically on routine medications that we have for one of our older GSD. Also we had Lulu and Tia vaccinated at the same time and it cost the same for both of them, what it would of  cost for one of them before. Tia was a little bit late so had to have the full course as well with Lulu only having the booster. I do believe on some occasions when the vet hears the magic word insured  £ notes appear in their eyes. Another example was the £800  charged for Troy (gsd) when he had a fight with an adder and lost. Spoke to somebody else and their dog had the same treatment uninsured and paid just over £250.
In 4 months after saving four dogs and two cats premiums we have in the account nearly £500. So fingers crossed within a couple of years we should have a healthy balance.
In fairness if we only had one or two pets we would of probably stayed insured but having the menagerie (and Andrea constantly thinking we could fit another Cocker in   ) and a bit of luck to build the balance up, we have decided to go down this road.

[Patp]

I agree with Steve B the more pets you have the less financially viable insurance is!

Jinley is our only insured pet (my 2 tortoises were insured for the first 3 years - but as they live to well over 80 the cost when I added it up would be ridiculous).  I would hate to think that she needed treatment and I couldn't afford the very best and had to make do locally. 

Pat