Is your dog insured and if so how do you find it?

[kirstyl]

I've just taken on a dog from Dogs Trust 3 wks ago and she is currently insured by Petplan for free for 4 wks. Having checked how much it will be to continue insuring with same company I am now thinking is it worth it!! I do insure my horse, but don't insure my cat. Would love to hear what other dog owners do!!

 

[soloabe]

I always insure my dogs!

Its been so worth it in the past because to be honest when a surgery came up for my brittany at £8000 i wouldn't have been able to afford it and he would have had to be PTS.

Don't listen to anyone who just tells you to put the same you would be paying away in a savings account.

 

[Luci07]

I dont because the cost when I rang around for insuring 2 staffies was £55.00 per month. Explanation - "because of the breed". Muchas gracias!

 

[numptynoelle]

I got my pet insurance thrown in for free when we renewed our house insurance I know people have had good experiences with Tesco insurance if that's any help? Definitely think it's worth having anyway!

 

[paulineh]

I always Insure my dogs.,

Jack my eight year old Springer Spaniel is insured with the NFU and I would not be without it. He has arthritis in his elbow and 2 years down the line and the NFU are paying for all his treatment which includes pills, x-rays (including an MRI) a twice weekly trip to a Rehab center, where he has hydrotherapy, laser and tread mill treatment.

The NFU even pay my travel to the rehab center.

I can not say how thankful I am with the NFU

 

[Wishful]

All the vets at OH's work insure their dogs... even though they have staff discount, and can do stuff themselves out of hours and thus not have to charge their time (only drugs used)! That would suggest it's definitely worth it.

FWIW Pet Plan are about the most expensive there is, ours is Direct Line, who are almost as good according to the people who deal with getting money off them. Make sure you get insurance which covers conditions for life.

Staffies wouldn't surprise me as being expensive to insure because they'd be relatively appealing to steal, and have a tendency to get into fights and need stitches, which costs for the GA. Think they'd also be big enough to have some of the cruciate risks of a larger dog, but are small enough to live ages - not a great insurance risk...

The major difference with horse insurance is that life of condition cover still exists, and as such you aren't paying through the nose to cover very little of the animal. I'd lean towards self insuring a horse (public liability through BHS gold membership or similar) but would definitely insure a dog.

 

[kirstyl]

Thank you! Thats really interesting to hear. I shall have to bite the bullet and get some quotes tomorrow

 

[dingle12]

I have insured our pup with Marks and sparks worth shopping about for prices argos is also very much like marks and sparks. Pet plan was way too expensive.

 

[Puppy]

What breed have you got? Some of them (like my old GSD) do cost a lot, but as I'm currently claiming a small fortune for my horse I would never again risk having a pet without it tbh. My little dog is mongrel, so cheap to insure, and I have have her with NFU, (discount as they're who I have the horse policy with too). She costs me about £13 a month just for vet bills (life coverage) and liability, as I'm not remotely interested in getting any money back if she dies.

 

[Henny]

I am insured with argos, think its about £15 per month and they just paid out on a claim very quickily. I hhave up to 7k cover and also if you get an ongoing condition it doesnt get excluded you just have to pay your excess for that condition each year

 

[Grey_Eventer]

not sure who we are with, but they are useless! will find out so you can avoid.
as posted above our dog had to have allergy tests (£250) we tried to claim but apparently because we didn't claim when we bought her its not a valid claim... but we couldn't claim when we bought her because a) we didn't know she needed it and b) when we found out we didn't know what treatment she would need...
they also wont let us claim for her to be done despite her having a high risk of getting that disease thing that i can't remember the name of.
grrr

 

[BigRed]

I have to say I did not insure my dogs. Then at the beginning of the month my puppy got trodden on by my horse - £299. Two weeks later my old dog decided she couldn't breath and it turns out her heart murmur has progressed to congestive heart failure, it cost £600. Sadly she didn't make it, but the point is I had to find nearly £1000 this month for dog vet bills. if you can afford the insurance it's worth it. My lurcher only costs £9.99/month with Tesco's. When we pick up the whippet puppy next week I will probably cover her too.

 

[kirstyl]

I have a 3yr old lurcher bitch. PDSA seem quite reasonable. Anyone had to claim from them?

 

[sarahmac]

i have always insured my dog i am with Stoneways i was with sainsburys but they put it up to 20.50 where as stoneways is 12.50 for the same cover,i would love to insure my 2 cats but no one will insure them as they are both 13 years old

 

[Bop!]

Don't use M&S, they seem to offer fair insurance for a good price but as I have recently found out, their underwriters have changed and you are now covered for a much narrower range of treatment options. My ESP is having hydrotherapy for dodgy hips and this is not covered. Am also led to believe that the premium jumps quite significantly once you have claimed. Am stuck with them now but wish I’d gone with NFU like I did with the horses.

 

[Nudibranch]

I use More Than (because I used to work for them), their ethos is based on good service rather than price slashing. I pay 14.99 a month, that's for a pedigree dachshund which isn't the cheapest breed to insure. The first year I got 20% off as I had my buildings and contents with them as well. There are no exclusions after a claim and they've paid out twice on the same problem, so seems pretty decent so far, touch wood.