Pet Insurance

[salome2001]

Forgot the mention: no policy will cover a pre-existing condition - and most have a waiting period after you take out the policy before they will pay out on a condition (such as 14 days). So you can't discover your dog has arthritis, run to the internet and buy a policy and think you're covered. You can't crash your car and then try to take out fully comp insurance to cover it- same thing.

If you switch companies after making a claim, the new company won't cover the condition either.

[veggiechicken]

Thanks Salome. That's really helpful

[salome2001]

Thanks Salome. That's really helpful

don't tell the RCVS, I'm supposed to be "non practising" at the moment

[veggiechicken]

Don't know who you are, do we

[Gadget]

My dogs are insured with Animal Friends. Where to go for life time cover is a hard one. If you have a pedigree dog then I would. If its a more hardy bred or a mongrel then maybe not. Some dog breds are very prone to certain conditions which can be very expensive long term

[Glutton4...]

Personally, I would NEVER EVER EVER use any Insurance Company with the initials EE and EL. They trade under different names, but always with the same initials. They are very disliked in the Horse world, but I believe they are in other markets too. Total @r$€h0l€$ and almost NEVER pay out.

[salome2001]

Personally, I would NEVER EVER EVER use any Insurance Company with the initials EE and EL. They trade under different names, but always with the same initials. They are very disliked in the Horse world, but I believe they are in other markets too. Total @r$€h0l€$ and almost NEVER pay out.

as i said...

[Gadget]

I have insured my horse for years with E&L, had some big claims including 2 loss of use (different horse) never had a problem with them . I think the have sorted themselves out now

[Glutton4...]

Well done, Gadget! There had to be one, I guess!

[Mikey]

Some very positive comments and thanks VC for Seahorses other thread, that was really helpful.

Its a bit of a minefield which is what I thought it would be, obviously the insurance companies benefit if they don't have to pay out, and they work on the basis that most people don't claim. It did occur to me that pet insurance might be a modern day phenomenon. I wonder have vets bills gone up disproportionately as a result of the increase in insurance.

I'm cynical I know...the reality is that pets today like humans have many conditions which don't kill them but cause them an uncomfortable life without the proper medication. Plus vets are so much better at diagnosing treatable conditions that in the past might have seen the animal put down.

[Mikey]

Different track altogether, but does anyone have a homemade bitter mist recipe, my puppy max seems to be quite fond of the radiator pipes which concerns me immensely!!

[VirginVegGrower]

Different track altogether, but does anyone have a homemade bitter mist recipe, my puppy max seems to be quite fond of the radiator pipes which concerns me immensely!!

I would not advocate using that Mikey - he needs lots of chooey things like nylabones, that are hard for his nadgy teeth. Put some furniture up against it pro tem or pop a radiator cover over. I have them on mine, so the dogs don't burn themselves. They like hot spots. Gently discourage with a simple command of "no" or "leave" but keep to just one command, not a mix and pull him away as you say it. Then distract with a toy or a treat and give a "good boy" command in a reassuring tone. Keep reinforcing it as they soon get the idea. It's the behaviour you need to understand and correct. Otherwise you will be spraying everything mate

[Beanz]

My advise would be to go for the best you can afford as opposed to the cheapest. We had the Kennel Club own brand at first which was great but you pad top dollar. After a few years we swopped it for one of the supermarket ones - big mistake! OK as long as nothing goes wrong with said dog but a nightmare if it does- limited amount per year, looked for any excuse not to pay out, etc, etc.

[Tinabalerina]

[QUOTE=Beanz;1145805]My advise would be to go for the best you can afford as opposed to the cheapest.

Definitely agree with this! Our dog was perfectly fine, not ill. One day his back gave out, just like that, no warning. Of course it was at night so "out of hours". We went to the local vet who thought it was a slipped disc, referred us to a specialist unit in Guildford (about 1.5 hrs away) as an emergency. They had a team of MRI specialists waiting for us who whisked him off immediately for a scan. Unfortunately the disc had burst with such force it had crushed his spinal cord 😢
As he was quite old it wasnt fair to put him through months and months of rehab so we decided to let him go peacefully and not even wake him from the anaesthetic. Hardest decision ever made, he wasnt even ill, impossible to comprehend at the time but the spinal unit staff were fantastic, even at 1am on an Easter sunday.

Total cost 2.5 grand!

Anything can happen at any time, you never know whats around the corner without any warning.

We had just changed our insurance to Tesco and had only paid one months instalment but they paid out no quibble. They did however refuse to pay the £80 euthanasia fee which made me laugh after paying two and half grand, but no insurance company will pay that.
They also dont cover any fees for burial/cremation either.

Get the best you can, you dont want to have to say goodbye just because of costs, you'll probably always regret it.

[VirginVegGrower]

M and S paid my euthanasia fee, so sorry I have to disagree.