I'd be really worried if Toby was not insured. In the last few months, he has had about three tummy upsets, each one being just within or just over the excess amount so we haven't made any claims. Last week, he had another tummy bug and the bill was just over £76. The excess is £65 (and the vet charges £5.50 to fill out an insurance claim form) so it wasn't worth making a claim. What we have been doing though is putting coins into a jar to cover something like this. There was £50 in it last week so I only had to pay £26. OK so I'm paying an insurance premium every month but to me, that's a financial safety net if anything seriously expensive ever crops up.