If you wrote your car off you can't walk in a garage the next day and walk away with a car and expect them to wait for the insurance so what's the difference? I bet it would be a lot longer waiting on a car insurance company to pay out on a write off than a pet insurance paying out on a claim.

I have insurance for all 3 of my dogs yet it's not all it's cracked up to be. One is with Pet Plan and because my vets endorse Pet Plan, they will claim directly from the insurance company without me paying a thing (except the excess). For the other 2 dogs, I have to find the money upfront.

When Jessie broke her toe in August I was faced with a bill of £260 on the first visit. Now, it may not be alot but for somebody who has no savings and no credit card, it was an amount I simply couldnt afford. The vets did say I could pay bit by bit but fortunately, my Mum lent me the money.

Once your insurance limit is reached or you simply dont have the money to pay upfront, thats when insurance becomes useless IMO.

If my vets bills were going into the thousands then I would be faced with the very tough decision of potentially having that dog PTS.

Isn`t that what already happens, if you write of your car,the insurance i not going to pay the retailer the money for a new one, they will pay your claim to you.

Its up to you when you then replace it.

Not sure why the "insurers and vets" make it a joke.

Some vets will deal with the insurance company direct, others dont, its how it works , its not a sham or anything under hand.

I agree with the bold, but many vets will allow you to wait or pay installments till your insurance pays out, then you can pay off the debt in full.

If they still qualify for council tax benefit then they will be able to register for PDSA but they only provide care for one pet.

Just like everything else in life - you manage how you can.

Not all and if you dont have one that does.....its useless. I cancelled insurance because they would pay direct but no vets would accept that. Hence left to pay out anyway before having to claim back....pretty useless if the point for some people is they have it in case they need thousands paid out at once.

A girl I spoke to recently, her dog had been hit by a car. She took him to the vet and said that she would need to pay in installments. They said we need a £600 deposit - which she didnt have so they told her a cheaper option was to have the dog PTS.

Difference is, its a living being and you dont always have the choice of saying, well, I dont know if this will be paid out yet so its ok buster - you just cant have surgery/vet treatment even though your in agony suffering bloat.....you just have to wait. If you dont have the money to pay...

I know that some people must let their bill be thousands though and then bump it off - personally I dont think thats any good as you would want the vet in the future surley?!

You know circumstances change but what? They can SORN the car, sell it even - surley you dont suggest people just dump their pets the minute they are skint? Just because they took on a responsibility then a change of unexpected circumstances leaves them 'living on the breadline' I know only a couple of people that could afford to pay thousands upfront - does that mean its only them that should have a dog? If everyone thought that it would soon become the 'elitists' only that could be dog owners.

Some people simply dont have that option. The belt is so tight its suffocating them and thats without insurance, they are struggling to feed their pets and kids never mind insurance.....if the moneys there its there and if its a situation they are planning on finding a way to get out of then I dont see why their dogs should be subjected to rehoming just for them to get treatment when the home they are in is otherwise a good one in a temporary bad situation.

Muttzrule - no one is saying vets should work for free but some are so overpriced in comparison to what they could charge (and still be making a tidy profit) that to tell someone to kill their dog for treatable injuries rather than take the risk of their client not keeping up with installments is just as rediculous and immoral when the amount of profit is huge and they do have the ability to charge at a more affordable cost while making money still...

The puppy fund i had built up has been transfered in to my ozzie fund ..lol

I can't always understand how people don't know if treatment will be covered i've always known what my policys will cover and what they don't. Even putting that aside if my dog had something like bloat the last thing on my mind would be whether the insurance would pay out my dog comes way before worrying about whether i'd get the money back.

Not sure what you mean about people letting their bill be thousands so can't reply to that bit.