i learnt the hard way about insurance my cat got ran over and we had filled the insurance forms in but not sent them back,he had broken his pelvis and smashed his back leg.his leg was beyond repair and i had a tough decision to make,lose the leg or lose the cat.i decided on amputation and the cost£1000 i didn't have that kind of money but luckily my mum did.since then he has been insured and we have made several claims including a food problem where if he eats something he shouldn't his back breaks out in to sores and has to be treated,being a cat you can't stop him eating stuff
my dogs are insured and have been since the day i got them,both suffer with severe food problems and would have cost a fortune.this month i have paid around £600 at the vets between the 3 of them and had the lot back
my 11 month old staffx is a rescue dog and when i got him from his foster home she advised insurance.i was doing it anyway but thought it was good of her to mention it.it is nice not to have to be in the position i was with my cat where i nearly lost him due to a lack of money
i am with pet plan and have had no trouble with them

Perhaps I will look at one of the cheaper insurence companies then. I am with Petplan and went with them as they cover for life but it is so damn expensive! Currenty pay nearly £30 per month for two moggies and Ernie.

I know that if I go with the cheaper companies they will not coverthen for life the the chaces of one of them having to have meds for life I doult to would be £30 a months worth!

I suppose everything is a risk really.

I think you have to calculate your individual circumstances carefully, when dogs are young the premiums and excess are both low and it is well worth insuring, as dogs get older the premiums and excess can make insurance uneconomic.

I don't think I could take the risk of not having Brandie insured. If I had a vet's bill that came to thousands of pounds I would have nowhere to get that money from
It can seem like a waste of money when you never seem to use it, but I think it's worth it just for the one time that you might have to.
Plus if I saved the money each month myself I'd still feel that that was a waste to have it just sitting there not being used.

I can't afford to insure DUd and can't afford the massive vets bills either. we are basically gonna have to hope he doesn't get ill before we leave uni. Basically we didn't want to be in this position, but it could have ben much worse for dudley. We are only just covering ourselves now for day to day living - there is no way we could afford insurance - especially since the way I see it, it doesn't appear to cover all that much, and there's excess with most insurers - which we couldn't afford - and if you have no excess the premium goes up! :S I just can't afford vets for dudley - so I think he'll have to take his chances until we're earning. of course - because we're not on benefits (being students - even though we get less than most people on benefits) we get no help from the pile of horse wee that is the PDSA. So yeah - I don't like them XD

xx

That isn't strictly true!

Well, I was paying about £9.90 with Tesco, with a £50 excess, and I pay £10.65 with M&S, with no excess!
I would rather pay the extra £1, than pay £50!

Yes yes yes yes yes!

I have always insured my dogs and never a year goes by without me putting in a claim.

Why didnt you get any help ? I thought they would help anyone ?

I don't bother any more despite having three Dalmatians. It is not commonplace in Ireland and the vets are cheaper as they know most people are paying out of their own pocket. Their perceoption of UK vets being cheaper is that it is because "everyone in the UK insures their pets" so they rack up the charges.
I now work for an insurance company - which is VERY profitable. Now work out if it is worth it to the customer..... I would say only if you are unlucky. Insurance comnpanies exist to make a profit first and foremost so the balance of probability over all is that they will pay out less than they take. As already stated, lots of elements of vets costs are not covered and if you put away the equivalent of the premiums you either have a means to pay unexpected bills - or another dog (no no! forget the last bit!!)

I would now advise people to always have the dog or cat insured if it is a pedigree at least up to the first year. I had 3 cats who were just mogggies and they hardly ever had to go to the vets and when they did it was never for anything that would have exceded the excess. My akitas weren't insured and were only ever at the vets for the fights they had with each other. If i had had insurance for those two it could have come in handy for the public liability cover! When i got my 2nd shar-pei i decided to get insurance because his father had died on me after only having him for 2 months and it was suspected that chad had the same thing, although i didn't tell them that. I tried several and they got to the bit about breed then said sorry we don't insure shar-peis. The only one that would was HSA who charged me about £15 monthly 6 years ago. They paid out about £2500 then kept saying they hadn't had the premium, the bank said they hadn't taken it so i paid it by cheque for a while then gave up it was obvious they didn't want to insure him anymore. The main diagnoses had been done so i paid the next few grand over the next few years for his medication. Although when he died after an operation for cancer i was left with a £650 final bill. I insured morgan and bonny as soon as i got them. Morgan is with E&L who i find pay up quite fast. They cover things like if your'e pet bites you or catches a burgler you get a reward.
Bonny is with sainsburys who will pay for things like a behavorist, and overseas quarantine,repeat tick and worming treatment or loss of certificate and its for every trip too. Hers will also pay for personal property damage or damage to her kennel or basket. They are not always very fast at paying out but they do pay. This year i got a reduction in premiums to £10 monthly. Even though i claimed £250 for cherry eye operation when she was 3 months old and then a persistant kennel cough later when it still didn't go they were wormed for lung worm and this too both paid out under the same illness. I think that came to about £120 each after excess. Although i must say the m&s one sounds worth looking into.