Increase your dogs insurance please …

[TwyfordM]

I think it’s easy to forget how quickly vets bills add up and how much vets prices have increased.

I took out an insurance policy on my dogs a couple of years ago and scarily - a £3k limit goes nowhere now. That’s the price of the MRI now
It wouldn’t have changed the decision I made with my dog recently, but being quoted £7.5k for surgery was a bit of a wake up call.

Will be increasing Lucy’s insurance limit to £10k as well as when I take out insurance policy for my new pup, making sure I take out the highest limit going.

Don’t get caught out! I’ve been lucky with my dogs over the years and only dealt with minor issues that didn’t even need the insurance for

 

[Tiddlypom]

Good reminder.

Bills for small animal investigations and treatment seem to rack up faster and higher than for horses .

The other thing that I picked up from your thread was that you were left in the lurch over the weekend re the insurance co authorising and/or guaranteeing the emergency MRI. I was appalled on your behalf that the ins co and the vets do not have 24/7 link up to confirm your cover, so that you had to wait for a weekday to get that confirmed.

Insurance is for peace of mind that big bills will be covered, and that should apply whether the animal needs to be seen in regular or OOH.

We self insure, but are able to afford to. The premiums for small animal insurance seem to be very high - they should provide a service to back that up.

 

[TwyfordM]

Good reminder.

Bills for small animal investigations and treatment seem to rack up faster and higher than for horses .

The other thing that I picked up from your thread was that you were left in the lurch over the weekend re the insurance co authorising and/or guaranteeing the emergency MRI. I was appalled on your behalf that the ins co and the vets do not have 24/7 link up to confirm your cover, so that you had to wait for a weekday to get that confirmed.

Insurance is for peace of mind that big bills will be covered, and that should apply whether the animal needs to be seen in regular or OOH.

We self insure, but are able to afford to. The premiums for small animal insurance seem to be very high - they should provide a service to back that up.

Was a nightmare with the whole OOH thing still a bit shocked over that but it was a vet thing rather than insurance thing!
Something you don’t even think of until you find yourself in the situation.

Will definitely be putting away some money I can access in an emergency if needed. But it’s a huge amount to find out of nowhere, thankfully Pip was comfortable at home on the meds and managed to pee but would have been very different if he wasn’t!

 

[honetpot]

I think you have to look at insurance as just a breathing space, but really you have to question the vet and your self at what is the outcome you want to achieve, if its quality of life is that MRI or expensive surgery going to make that animals life liveable.
I had a large lump taken off the chest of my dog, did I want a biopsy, no, because I had already decided that they were not going to have extensive treatment. It cost £800 and full activity five months with no discomfort, the day she was unwell was the day she was PTS.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Good reminder.

Bills for small animal investigations and treatment seem to rack up faster and higher than for horses .

The other thing that I picked up from your thread was that you were left in the lurch over the weekend re the insurance co authorising and/or guaranteeing the emergency MRI. I was appalled on your behalf that the ins co and the vets do not have 24/7 link up to confirm your cover, so that you had to wait for a weekday to get that confirmed.

Insurance is for peace of mind that big bills will be covered, and that should apply whether the animal needs to be seen in regular or OOH.

We self insure, but are able to afford to. The premiums for small animal insurance seem to be very high - they should provide a service to back that up.

I agree we self insure but if I needed a policy I would only buy one from a company that has a emergency helpline.

 

[TwyfordM]

I think you have to look at insurance as just a breathing space, but really you have to question the vet and your self at what is the outcome you want to achieve, if its quality of life is that MRI or expensive surgery going to make that animals life liveable.
I had a large lump taken off the chest of my dog, did I want a biopsy, no, because I had already decided that they were not going to have extensive treatment. It cost £800 and full activity five months with no discomfort, the day she was unwell was the day she was PTS.

Yeah I know what you mean, but sometimes there can be a very good chance of an outcome that will give the dog a normal good quality of life. My uncles puppy for instance, jumped out of my aunts arms as she was carrying her upstairs (staffy so strong breed and she wasn’t expecting it from a 12 week old puppy!) very unfortunate accident that lead to her breaking her hind leg in three places. Thankfully insured at the time, had surgery to pin and fix the leg which was quite specialised in a young growing pup, worked a treat and she went on to have a happy and healthy life and was PTS for completely unrelated issues in her teens. Cheaper option to amputate it may have had the same results but still a fairly hefty bill from what I remember.

Had they not had insurance/the funds to cover either. Only other option would have been to PTS a otherwise healthy 12 week old puppy because of a non life threatening injury.

I’ve made the decision to PTS all my animals based off the outcomes from treatment (pips multiple issues meant it was only dragging out the inevitable, Barney no treatment could have saved him, Tinks was just old age catching up)
But if I had the same issue with Lucy, say a year down the line with a healthy dog and I was faced with surgery with a good outcome but not having the funds there to do it. That would break my heart

 

[Redders]

Just be careful with this as some insurers will view it as a ‘new policy’ and therefore will not cover what has been treated prior to the ‘new policy’ (value increase) so you could end up with things not covered - just something to bear in mind!

 

[Chucho]

We just changed our insurers to an unlimited cover premium for this reason. We lost the dear boy in my avatar in March to a bizarre and unusual and frankly horrible situation. We are in Canada and the cost of treatment is $$$ compared to the UK. We could afford to self-insure two dogs in the UK but not cover one here. In 4 days he racked up $25,000 of costs... way over his annual payout limit and we had never envisaged that there could ever be a need to spend that much on any animal in one go. Or that we would ever agree to do it... I've always been of the mindset that you let them go as if it's going to cost that much it must be going to cause a lot of suffering. In the end, it wasn't even the surgery that was required that was the problem, it was the aftercare in hospital that cost a small fortune. When we went for surgery the vets had thought the problem was X, it turned out to be Y and costs went through the roof. As he was on the table at that point we felt we had to give him a shot at recovery. If we and the vets had known the actual issue he would never have been operated on, but as it was we made the decision we thought was right at the time and I think now I'd always want to have the choice rather than know that I'd had to let one go due to affordability. Or worse, let them go after successful surgery because the aftercare took longer and cost more than expected. As it was we said goodbye to him a few days later due to complications, but I'd make the same decisions again if I had to. Now in the comfort of knowing the costs will be covered!!

 

[tinselbobs]

Thankfully we have a £10k a year limit for Roxie, and lifetime cover for conditions, but you’ve reminded me to check their weekend contactability! Who were your insurers?

 

[TwyfordM]

Thankfully we have a £10k a year limit for Roxie, and lifetime cover for conditions, but you’ve reminded me to check their weekend contactability! Who were your insurers?

Tescos, they were absolutely fab no issues with weekend/OOH contact. It was the vets themselves who didn’t have a finance team in on the weekend

All I had to do was call up and give them permission to speak to the finance team and give the finance team the details for the policy and they handled the rest. Was super easy and by the time I had reached the vets, it was all sorted and the direct claim was in and approved.

Will be sticking with them thanks to the ease from their end, but not sure what the solution is in terms of all the referral vets expecting at least 50% of the treatment up front on a weekend/OOH.

I would never have found nearly £4k if he needed emergency surgery on the weekend.
I always have some money put aside for emergency vets, but I don’t just have £4k sitting in a bank account for emergencies, and I doubt most people would!

When Madam had colic and I had to rush her in on a bank holiday to the vets practice, without insurance cover (excluded due to prev episodes) vets answer was - don’t worry about the financial side right now. We can look at payment arrangements. Just focus on getting her through tonight.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Tescos, they were absolutely fab no issues with weekend/OOH contact. It was the vets themselves who didn’t have a finance team in on the weekend

Ah, I had thought that the problem was with the ins co side of things. Well done Tesco.

That is still a salutary warning to those who insure that you may need to find ££££s at very short notice if your animal is sick or injured OOH to pay direct to the referral vets before they will see your animal.

I am still appalled by that. The nature of a referral vets is that animals come to you from a wide area with owners that are unknown to you. There needs to be finance team cover OOH to deal with insurance.

 

[AmyMay]

Thankfully we have a £10k a year limit for Roxie, and lifetime cover for conditions, but you’ve reminded me to check their weekend contactability! Who were your insurers?

Yes, I had £10k on Daisy and Jack. I self insure now as the premium rocketed for Daisy once she reached 8.

 

[fiwen30]

Insurance is something I’d never thought of or really known about, and now my lot are all too senior and have too many existing conditions; but it’s absolutely something to invest in for future family members.

I was very fortunate to have been able to pay in cash when my boy needed a TPLO for his ruptured cruciate 3 years ago - only because I’d been left a small inheritance, rather than being a person with lots of income/savings!

It took a year on 2 incomes to save up the same amount for a 2nd op, just in case, and so far it’s not been needed. He is now 12, and I’m aware that that money will probably be for PTS rather than a 2nd op, which is sad but at least it’s there.

 

[Esmae]

I think it’s easy to forget how quickly vets bills add up and how much vets prices have increased.

I took out an insurance policy on my dogs a couple of years ago and scarily - a £3k limit goes nowhere now. That’s the price of the MRI now

That is a hideous price. I had an MRI for myself last year privately and the cost was £450. I think someone is taking the mickey honestly.

 

[TwyfordM]

That is a hideous price. I had an MRI for myself last year privately and the cost was £450. I think someone is taking the mickey honestly.

Yep, I was quoted £1k about 6 years back for the same scan on the pony. £2.8k at both Fitzpatricks and RVCS on a weekday £3.5k on a weekend

 

[MurphysMinder]

I have 7K of cover on mine. One of the little ones had to have a CT scan and fairly hefty leg surgery in 2021, estimate for scan was around £1000. I actually don't know how much it was in total cos vets claimed direct from insurers. I am lucky that my vets do their own OOH so presumably would claim direct again, I think the outsourcing of ooh is one of the main reasons everything is so expensive now.

 

[equinerebel]

I've had a similar experience recently with my cat. Went in as an OOH emergency to a different practice (outsourced) at £275 - just to be seen !!!!!!!!!! Had a £4k annual limit which, it then turned out, only partial covered hospitalisation, medical waste etc etc etc

I thought I had decent cover, but I have had an expensive lesson.

PS - I also had the OOH vet/finance issue. Which is not ideal when your pet is being seen as an emergency

 

[splashgirl45]

I have £7000 lifetime cover on one of mine with PetPlan but it his now going from £490to over £600 and I’ve had no claims since 2020, he is only 6 and is a small terrier so life expectancy is longer than a bigger dog. I’m going to see if I can add him on my other 2’s insurance if it is a lot cheaper. I am tempted to let it go for this year and cancel completely next year and rely on my credit cards … I am really undecided and have got to sort it out in the next week

 

[Ratface]

I had to find £800 for two clinic visits for the late King Kevin Kat - one a steroid injection which my vet thought might reduce his stomach tumour, the second for pts and cremation the following day when the tumour burst and he was howling in agony, and I took him straight back and was with him when he was euthanized.
As I left, the administration team said that I had to pay in full, there and then. I was in floods of tears at that point, and said that I would speak to them the following day. I did, and told them that I didn't have immediate access to that amount of money, but they would be paid in full as soon as possible. They were, within a month, but they were not tactful and I made a formal complaint about it.
They sent me a paw print, which was not requested. I hated it and told them so.
I've got Petplan cover for Carrie Cat, who's 12. £22.20 pm. It covers euthanasia and accidental death. Given that she's an indoor cat, it's adequate. I hope.

 

[wren123]

Gosh, I've just checked and my 50 minute long mri with contrast including report by consultant radiographer was £720 last year, that was near london.
I appreciate that dogs have to be sedated or aneathisized but still!

 

[lizziebell]

Also worth noting, some insurers automatically increase excess once a dog (cat) reaches a certain age. We have ours insured with PetPlan and although we have had excellent service when we’ve needed to claim, it is rather a piss take that once they reach a certain age the excess is the normal excess PLUS 20% of the bill, and this is on their best cover for life policy.