Is There Any Benefit Of Pet Insurance?

[YudiTisI]

I wanted to know about pet insurance as why we should take such a insurance?

[rockyracoon]

Well, if you don't want very expensive vets bills for starters. My dog had an infection in his paw, the total for that was £1200. My mum's dog damaged a cruciate ligament, that cost £3500.

[Tilly2]

I have insurance for both my dogs and they are covered if they get injured or become ill.

[Zacs-Master]

You could ask the same about any (non legal requirement) insurance. It's good to look up the particular health risks of your particular breed. For instance, some breeds are very prone to hip problems in later life and you may find that your policy doesn't cover for this.

[FredPuli43]

Useful, but read the small print. Some of the rules verge on the unreasonable; requiring the insurer to be notified within a day of the illness or injury occurring , for example; and all policies have various exclusions for age generally or for individual breeds beyond a certain age

[China Doll]

My cat is insured. I sometimes wonder if it's worth it but my dads cat has developed a chronic condition and I know that if this happened to my cat then I would not be able to afford vet bills without some insurance. I have a policy that covers him for life rather than just 5 or 10 years which some policies specify.

[ladyalex]

We had insurance for several years for our cats, but gradually realised that it was not good value for us.
Our cats both had illnesses which were long term and the insurance paid for the initial testing and medication for the first year, then nothing.
As they fortunately did not deteriorate much, vets bills were mainly for their annual boosters and exams...which are not coveed by insurance....and for the aftermaths of fights with other cats...which always seemed to come in just below the excess.
We eventually decided that the excess was way too high (it goes up every year) and instead of insurance took the option of paying a set amount each month to the vet. This can be used for every bill, we can stop it whenever we want and can have the unused money back whenever we want. We can also vary the amount we pay .
This has worked out much cheaper for us, so I'd say, get insurance for a kitten or a young cat for a couple of years, then consider whether it is an ill cat or a well cat, a fighter or less fighty or an accident prone one.

[chrissa1]

Goodness me, yes!! Unless you are financially very comfortable, the costs for operations or treatment for cancers etc, are horrendous.

[factor-fiction]

It depends whether it's horse or a goldfish.

[Purple_Popple]

Life is a risk. Insurance play on 'the fear of what may happen' - its just peace of mind. However I have never ever had any pet insurance and had animals all my life. I dont intend to start now. Doesnt mean I love my animals any less, but i agree with Zacs, before you embark on having any pet do your research first. Preventative pet care at home you can do yourself and nip problems in the bud, I check my pets daily, groom them, make sure they are all wormed and de-flead, quick check on ears, eyes, mouth, tail end (top to toe).

[chrissa1]

What about accidents Purple_Popple? Could you afford a major operation?

[Prudie]

I'm interested in this as it depends what they will pay for. Funny I thought YudiTisl might come back with his own advice ;-)

[Purple_Popple]

Like I said, life is a risk, accidents do happen...I cross that bridge when I come to it - god forbid. No one can forsee the future either. Any friends i have had who have had pet insurance have complained about the various legalities and small print on what they will and will not pay out for and its been a nightmare on the majority of cases. What did people do in the days before insurance ?

[rockyracoon]

Prudie, so did I, I was almost certain some obscure financial services would come along and advise us. The day is still young!

Purple, you're right, my mum and dad had never insured any of their animals, but when they got Amber from Battersea, I begged them to get it, they did, and a month later she went own a ditch, hurt herself and needed an op. They would have got theirselves into debt to pay for it.

[lilacben]

Well I would say yes after having a dog with breast cancer and operations also tablets ect. And another dog with bad allergic reaction ,tests and tablets. Where as I now have a 12 years old dog who has had no claims at all yet. But it is good to know I have insurance should I need it. Operations do not come cheap. Nor do x rays/scans. If it is a dog I would say go for it.

[ummmm]

They put their pets to sleep.

[factor-fiction]

I too was expecting a link to the best pet policy, but it's turned into a useful discussion

[Prudie]

And if you're going to do it then do it when they're young. At well over 7rs I couldn't get my cat covered when I tried several years ago. It didn't matter for a long time but I have spent over £1000 on her since October.

[tiggerblue10]

Having gone through what I have over the last year with both Tigger (who has now passed on) and Blue, I would definitely recommend it.

[ZedBloke]

strange question, I can only assume that you have had some sort of bad experience with pet insurance. Anyway I find it very necessary for several things including vets bills but also potential legal costs.

[flip_flop]

Any responsible pet owner should consider pet insurance an absolute necessity unless, of course, you are comfortably well off enough to pay for all fees.

I've only used pet insurance once - about 10 years ago for my now missed Labrador, and the bill came to about £4k. At the time I didn't have £4k laying around to shell out, so the insurance was vital. If I didn't have the money, what would I have done? Had him put down?