Who insures their dog?

catembi

catembi

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As per title, really... I've had my rescue rottie for a month now and am thinking about insuring him. However, PetPlan has quoted me £37 per month for the privilege...and that's with a multi-pet discount.

Does this sound about right? I was surprised as Adrian's (horse) insurance is £58 pm & he's insured for £8.5k death, plus £5k per incident vets. It just seems a lot for a far smaller animal.

I'm fully aware of the need for horse insurance - the late Catembi clocked up a total of £16.5k with PetPlan. However, I was surprised that dog insurance is so expensive.

Any thoughts, things I could exclude that I'm not likely to need, etc?
 
I started Jazmine off with Petplan and now 6 years on they have put hers up to £45 per month! Hardly ever claimed either, however, when you do it is worth it as you say. New puppy Layla will most likely stay with petplan but Bailey is with More Than. Bonnie cat also with More Than. I probably should move Bailey to pet plan now and get the discount - if it proves worth it. Horses are both with pet plan also. They are expensive, but good to deal with when you have a problem I have found.
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I insure my dog. I only did so a year ago when he was 10 years old. I have had him from a pup but never bothered when he was younger as I thought that he would most probably need the vet for accidents as opposed to illnesses and it would be cheaper to just pay a one off cost if he did have an accident.

He is a mongrel and so is less pre disposed to any hereditary illnesses that pure breeds can get.

I only started insuring him as he got older to cover him should he get any illnesses which would require expensive medication or long term treatment. It gives me peace of mind to know that I can look after and care for him properly but not get myself in debt should he need a lot of treatment.

I am with M&S who are brill (although I haven't yet claimed) They were one of the few providers that would insure old dogs and my vet recommended them. I pay £27 per month which is less than yours and that's surprising. I would have thought even taking into account that the rotti is a pure bred, it wouldn't be that much.
 
The thing is, they look into the problems associated with certain breeds, and base the premium on that. I don't know any thing about Rotties, so I couldnt comment on the possible illnesses that are common, but I should think that the mere fact it is a Rottie will up the premium......

My oldest weimaraner's (who is 13) premium is about £30 a month I think, but that is on the budget plan, as anything over £3k is prettu much going to kill her anyway
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I'm with PetPlan too.
My pedigree Border collies are £23 a month while our cross breed is £13 a month.
As Maisy said they take into account known hereditary problems, they may also charge more for the "agressive" breeds as you are covered for 3rd party liability? Seems silly but it sounds like something an insurance company might do!
One of my collies has already claimed about £2,000 ad he's not yet 2, but a bit of a maniac!!
I've found with Petplan the premiums don't go up so much each year but the excess can if you claim.
 
All my dogs are insured with Petplan and Thank God we did!! Our Ridgeback has had cancer and cost a fortune for surgery and ongoing treatments. She is fine right now. Rotty bitch had a shoulder problem, again costing a fortune for X-rays and on going treatments and my little man, male rotty, is just recovering from his 2nd TPLO (cruciate ligament op) each of which cost around 2,500!! So yes imo get insurance!!
 
Both of mine are with Petplan now - I have never insured dogs ever before, but after paying out in the region of £3,500 this year for canine vets fees I thought it would be sensible
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The premiums are around £20 a month each for two greyhounds aged 2 and 5 respectively.

BTW LOL about someone saying that their mongrel is less pre-disposed to hereditary conditions etc - I would just point out that it has to have ancestors from some breed, so who is to say it wont pick up the genes with the hereditary condition in?
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Im with Sainsburys and pay around £12per month, its cheaper if they are not a pedigree or proper breed!! They have been brilliant, i made a claim and it was very hassle free etc and my premiums did not shoot up come renewal time.
 
QR - Acolyte - Well if any of his recent ancestors even sniffed a pedigree you could knock me down with a feather, he's an odd looking thing!! :
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I have both mine insured with more than.
the lab is £14 a month and she's 2
the great dane is £12 a month but she's not on such a good package. putting her on to the same as the lab was going to be around £28 a month
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forgot to say the dane is a year old
My horse is with petplan and is £16 a month so I also found the dog insurance steep
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[ QUOTE ]
QR - Acolyte - Well if any of his recent ancestors even sniffed a pedigree you could knock me down with a feather, he's an odd looking thing!! :
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LOL
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You should see my greyhound mind you, she is supposed to be registered and everything but looks like a dalmation cross
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Bless them, they are gorgeous whatever they look like
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Both my dogs are insured with Petplan. Both cost £30 per month, life cover. One is a staffie, the other a GSD. Petplan have paid out almost £6,000 on my staffie, he's had 3 operations in his short life, he's only 3. One recently for a crutiate ligament and previous to that 2 operations on both elbows, he has ED. Wouldn't dream of not insuring them.
 
Off subject perhaps, but the healthy (regarding not carrying hereditary genetic diseases) mongrel is statistically proven to only be true for the first cross between two pure-breeds, and maybe in wild dogs where no owner interferes in the breeding. So HEAR HEAR to ACOLYTE, a mongrel could carry a hereditary genetic disease, just as well as a pure-breed, owning a dog from second or more generations of crosses is no health-guarantee, and even first generation mongrels are just as likely to get an "old age" disease, as a pure-breed.

That it still could be cheaper to insure a mongrel (at least in Sweden), has more to do with that the insurance companies statistic shows that people who either owns a mongrel, regardless if they live in a city or out on the countryside, OR owns a pure-breed and lives out on the countryside, simply are less likely to take their dogs to the veterinarian = less cost for the insurance company. The last statistic I saw, showed that the mongrels that were taken to the vet, was just as likely to need treatment as the pure-breeds.



The insurance company I use (which happens to be the biggest one on dog insurance over here), have also placed mongrels in the category which only have life-insurance until 8 years of age, together with the majority of the pure-breeds, but f. ex. Collie, Rough or Smooth, have life-insurance until 10 years of age and f.ex. Finnish Lapphund, Norwegian Buhund and Västgötaspets (Swedish Vallhund) have life-insurance until 12 years of age. And that's the insurance, as I understand it, that they count on NOT needing to pay out on especially often, which makes me believe that more insured mongrels die before 10 years of age, than Rough Collies f. ex.



from Sweden.
 
Certain breeds..............carry certain health prob...i.e rotts, commonly suffer cruciate probs, and bone cancers......PETPLAN re fab for all round cover......they settle up front and have high payout limits and cover for ;ife.

I board a little westi.they insured him, but did not check the small print, it was cheap.so they went with it......as westis do commonly suffer skin problems....he does too......he is ahving allergy tests...they alone will be £600, they have been informed, he may also need monthly injections.very expensive.......and the insurance only cover the condition for 12 months...they are guttered....he also has problems with his ears, again only covered 12 months...........it's now going to cost a fortune for them to treat him for life
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PETPLAN is fab......but if u scout around, make sure an ailment is covered for life, not a 12 month period.
 
Mine are both insured; my older dog with petplan and my younger dog with Tesco.

Petplan charge me about £25 p/m for my 8yr old whippet, this is despite her having had several claims for skin tears (paper thin skin she has!) and a major claim for a disc prolapse about a year ago. They still cover any ongoing treatment I want for her as well - for example I'm hoping to get her some physio in the new year and claim for that.

I insure my younger dog with Tesco cos they are much cheaper and she is a much hardier strain of the whippet breed. However, she will be switched to petplan when she turns 5 and then stay with them for life.

I think the premiums must be based on the breed like others have said, £37 p/m is a lot for insurance. Petplan are the best but it might be worth shopping around for a cheaper option as your dog is still quite young.
 
As someone else said, the premiums are worked out by breed, age and postcode (for things like theft) so a rottie is more likely to have things go wrong whereas a lurchers premiums are quite cheap. They haven't worked out yet that a lurcher is THE most accident prone dog on the planet!
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I don't insure anymore though I used to. It's just too expensive with 4 dogs and whilst it was worth it on occasions I found most of the vet bills came in a whisker under the excess, so as well as paying £55 insurance (for 3 dogs) I was also paying vet bills on top. I figure I'll get the money somehow if it's really needed
 
I'm with direct line for my Labrador and pay £11 per month (that's with a multi household discount though).
So far Freds had 5k worth of treatment for his knackered elbow. That obvouisly means the premium will go up at renewal and the elbow, if not whole leg, will be excluded but i still wouldn't be without insurance.
 
Mine(GWPs, Mum and daughter) are with Tesco up to £5K and it is only £20 something a month for both.
We had a claim with Mum early this year but it didn't affect the premium when I re-insured to add puppy on and the claim was paid fairly quickly so I can't fault them.

SWW, why will you change to PP when she turns 5?
 
My dachshund is with More Than and has been since a pup. They paid out straight away when he had a blockage recently, and will cover him forever. Their annual claim limit is quite high too. Not bad for £11 a month, given dachshunds can be prone to back and eye problems.
 
My hound is with petplan and they always seem really good, much better than the people my horse is insured with!
 
Thanks, guys...I've just this second insured both the dog & the cat with Tesco's for...£26 per month for both of them!!! Went for the higher vet bills amount, having read your experiences.

I am honestly amazed that doggie vet bills can be as expensive as horsey ones and v glad I found out on here before I found out the hard way.
 
I just did a quote with more than for my old girl.

For her as a Basset x yearly would be £278
but as a Labrador x yearly would be £239


Seeing as her Mother was a Basset & her Dad a Labrador. I can put her as either. So I know which I would be listing her as!

My Pedigree lab's quote is £153 a year!
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Maybe the difference could be that pedigree (= registered) Labrador would have to have been bred according to the health program for the breed, such as parents with good HD result etc. But with a Labrador X the insurance company presumes the parent have not fulfilled the breed requirement (bad HD score) or haven't been checked?

On other hand if it had been a Swedish insurance company, that example still wouldn't quite make sense, because something that often comes as a surprise to owners of a insured mongrel in Sweden, is that they only cover HD faults that needs treatment, when both parents have fulfilled the breeds health program or, in case of a mongrel, fulfilled the breeds health program for their respective breed.



from Sweden.
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Very glad that my Weimaraner has been insured since she was a puppy - in her first 6 months she cut her ear twice, and had to have GA 3 times to have stitches put in (silly animal!) Lab is also insured, but he isn't so accident prone, but its nice knowing that you have the back up if you need it. Mine are both insured with Tesco
 
We had a GSD from a pup who we got from the Dogs Trust (RIP Emmy), she had loads of problems throughout her life but the dogs trust paid all her bills, thousands and thousands. We never got around to insuring our lab and she was always fit and sound until two years ago when a disc in her spine herniated and two ops at AHT in Newmarket plus three MRI scans cost us in total £8500. She's worth every penny but our two young labs are insured this time, just in case !! We're with More Than who I found give the best cover for the best price £11.99 per month each dog. Had to claim within months when we found we had a pup who is like a hoover and had to be cut open to retrieve everything but the kitchen sink from her little tummy. It cost £1200 and More Than were brilliant, very quick and no fuss. Hopefully we won't need to call on them again but the monthly premium hasn't gone up as a result of that claim
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