The Lemon Fool

Has anyone got a rule of thumb on when to stop insuring a dog?
Current premium £79 a month for a 5 yr old flat coat retriever.
Just paid £1,000 for 7 X-rays, I will get most of that back from the insurers, but next year's premium will be higher.

You're paying nearly a grand a year for a 5 year old dog? Wow, prices have risen.

It depends on a lot of factors (as do the premiums) but if you can swallow a £5k bill without worries then at that rate I'd self insure, or at least put a large (like £1k) excess on if it halved the premiums.

I have a monthly plan for ours, £16 which covers a couple of vet visits a year, flea and worm treatments, vaccinations, and 10% off other fees. Above that we've spent £300 or so on a few tests and a prescription a couple of times a year for painkillers. We're in a different window to you though, our dog is at least 15 and not too active, so the potential for accidents and incidents is lower. Also she's getting too old to operate on (we discussed some lumps but the vet said there was more risk in an operation than in leaving them), so to be honest if anything serious happens to her then we'd probably call time and donate the operation fees to the RSPCA.

Paul

DrFfybes wrote:You're paying nearly a grand a year for a 5 year old dog? Wow, prices have risen.

It depends on a lot of factors (as do the premiums) but if you can swallow a £5k bill without worries then at that rate I'd self insure, or at least put a large (like £1k) excess on if it halved the premiums.

I have a monthly plan for ours, £16 which covers a couple of vet visits a year, flea and worm treatments, vaccinations, and 10% off other fees. Above that we've spent £300 or so on a few tests and a prescription a couple of times a year for painkillers. We're in a different window to you though, our dog is at least 15 and not too active, so the potential for accidents and incidents is lower. Also she's getting too old to operate on (we discussed some lumps but the vet said there was more risk in an operation than in leaving them), so to be honest if anything serious happens to her then we'd probably call time and donate the operation fees to the RSPCA.

Paul

I do not own a dog but if I did I would be thinking of what is the worst thing that could happen (in terms of medical fees I mean) Obviously if it were just the sort of stuff that is mentioned here, then there is no point in any insurance because you are just 'swapping dollars' with the insurers. Set up your own fund and contribute the premiums to it and self insure would be my aim. That way you save the inevitable admin costs by the insurers and any of their profit, but I guess you need to have some liquidity to do that.

Dod

OhNoNotimAgain wrote:Has anyone got a rule of thumb on when to stop insuring a dog?

Never stop, because you never start. Self insure.

OhNoNotimAgain wrote:Has anyone got a rule of thumb on when to stop insuring a dog?

Never insured a pet but I know from the tales of horror recounted by a local couple just what bills they can run up... their Pyrenean was in the habit of eating non-edibles and the cost of multiple removal operations ran into five figures before it expired.

Which mag have just published a feature on pet insurance, summarised here which may be of interest.
Their 'dog' premium tops out at £695.

V8