Is your dog insured?

This article talks about the different types of dog insurance that exist...

yes would not be without insurance

Sorry, can't have other forum links here, I too have insurance, wish it was better now!

All our dogs have always been insured

Dempsey's the first dog I've insured - and I'm so glad I did. Vets bills have topped £5000 in 3 years!

Definitely, wouldn't be without it

Mine are but be very very carefull. My ex had riley with direct line and has just cancelled it and changed vets as well after a very frustrating 3 weeks.
Riley is a staff cross mastiff rescue, we know he spent some time with the rspca when his first owner died but thats about it on history. When she got him he had a bit of a limp which went away within a week. His diet was changed and he turned into a healthy happy boy and with proper excersise muscled up nicely. This was back in feb this year. One of the first thing claire did was register him with the vet got him vacinated and health checked and all seemed okay.
Three weeks ago we were out on a walk and marley and him were doing there usual wrestling when we noticed he was limping. We thought it was just a strain but two days later he was holding his leg up towards the end of walk. So straight to vet next day and this is what happend.
Vet said poss hip or ligament probs and asked if he was insured. Claire said yes so instantly they said he would have to be sedated and xrayd...fair enough but this was going to cost 500 quid. Then they suspected ligament and said it was going to be a 5 grand op plus the xrays to make sure. They also said they couldnt do both on same day so it meant him going under twice. They then looked through his history and found that when she first took him in the vet had noted the limping but had made no check on it. Now they showed there true colours and said they would need a note from the insurance company stating that they would pay up before the op went ahead...cant remember exactly whats its called. So after much phoneing back and forth between vets and insurance company the insurance company wanted a full history on riley...impossible as he was a rescue with only a rspca recrord from when he was a pup and then a two and half year gap until she got him. To make it worse when the insurance company contacted the rspca they had no record of him but claire being claire had noted a number down when she was chasing his chip out which they eventually used to find his records. Then at the end of all of this the insurance company refused to cover the op because of the gap in his history and that the vet had noted a limp. To be fair direct lines customer services were top notch but the policy makers should stick to cars. This was a dog in pain for 3 weeks and not a dented bumper..
Thankfully there is a good outcome. She has a new policy with "more than" who will accept gaps in history. She applied for and got a credit card within days. On friday she registerd riley with a new vet recomended by guys on our nightly dog walk. Took him in today for the leg and explained that insurance wont cover any ops. The vet examined him and said ligament straight away as it felt like popping bubble wrap. They want to xray to make sure but if it is they will operate same day. So tomorrow hes going in for xray and op at a cost of 1.5k all in.. Claire is elated as one she can finaly fix her boy and two for alot less than the 5+k of the origonal cost.
Sorry this is rather long winded but i just wanted you to get the full story of what can happen when making a claim. Be carefull and if you rescue make sure any gaps arnt a problem.
Now i just have to keep claire occupied tomorrow while her boy has his op.

Sorry for all the spelling mistake i posted all that from my mobile...damn fat fingers

Who are they now insured with?

yep both of mine are insured

janey wrote:

Who are they now insured with?

Riley is now with "more than" but my two are with direct line but will switch when cover ends as much better deals out there now. As ive had from pups i have a full clean history but i just switched vets as well as i was same as claire.

I think that the thing to make sure of is that you get Whole Life insurance from the start, otherwise you will have to renegotiate each year and there will come a time (around 8 years old to the best of my recollection) when the insurance company will say that your dog's too old. Whole Life insurance is more expensive though, and even then it will have caps on total expenditure.

Kuchar is insured (Whole Life!) and I'm glad he is because on 1st September we had to take him to the emergency vet at 4am when he had been distressed for several hours then went off his back legs. The vet kept on - we need to do this, that and other test - can you pay, can you pay. Yes, do whatever is necessary we said, we have insurance. Yes but can you pay NOW? Fortunately, I could by temporarily raiding my overdrafts.

The bill for all these tests and out-of-hours etc came to over £500, and Direct Line paid up without demur (and we all know how insurance companies can try and wriggle so top marks to them) just over £400 (excess plus some small print etc).

So although I wouldn't be without insurance, be aware that it's not plain sailing if you've got it (and it took over 6 weeks to get most of my money back!)

Yes one of the first things we did

Yes!! Both of mine are insured.. Flynn who's 13, had over £2000 last year due to cancerous lump removal and another condition, he's with More Than, has been since he was 2 years old. Rolo is insured with John Lewis, again, life time policy. The peace of mind it brings when at 3 am your dog has collapsed on the floor and you know you need to get to a vet there and then, is unbelievable and I couldn't sleep at night without it

I am insured with vets4pets life cover! £21 a month for our staffie Bruce !
They pay the vet direct, no upfront fees except excess.

I wouldn't be without Insurance.
2.5 grand for one of my cats that was atttacked by ..... Yep you guessed it a blooming bullmastiff / staffie cross! Owners a complete idiot!!!!

Any fellow Australians that can recommend good insurance for my little Ruby girl?

I'm with RSPCA.. They have 3 levels of cover. Look them up online and they will send you a info pack to read through, you still have a month before anyone will cover her, so look around and check a few out.. I know GIO also apparently have a good pet cover plan

Koda is but didnt have the basic as only covered for a 12 month treatment of illness and then you pay for any treatment after with the upgraded one shes covered for the duration of illness however long so she is covered..

Yes Solly is insured for health and Third Party. I think it should be compulsory for all dogs to be insured Third Party, if the worst were to happen and your pet bit someone or caused a road accident the bill with compensation for the latter could run into millions.

Anne

We have insured Rocky with Argos Pet Insurance on a Lifetime policy. The premium is £15.24 per month.

We were previously with PetPlan who wanted £22.50 per month for the same cover.

With Argos we went for the Platinum Policy which should pay out £7,000 in vet fees, £2 Million in 3rd Party Liability and with £65 excess per incident.

Hope this helps. Wouldn't be without insurance tbh. You just never know when you may need it.

We have Duke insured with Argos .

it's a big risk not having in surance these days, vet bills are nothing short of outrageous!

I originally went with pet plan but they were quite pricey, it was only when i came on here and someone said the same thing so i'm now with argos life cover. pet plan weren't impressed when i left, although it was in the cooling off period. tough luck, don't charge OTT prices then.

I've got Lifetime cover with MoreThan, £13 a month

I use petplan, the only reason I'm using them for this first year is we had a months free cover and the rescue centre where Percy was born gets a percentage of my renewal fee x