we have pet insurance with petplan and hopefully we never have to claim on it. as we have a labrador and sometimes as they get older they have problems with their hips. as you know vet bills can be very expensive so hence the insurance. also, lets put aside ailments as above and think about your dog getting knocked down by a car ( perish the thought ) but here the insurance will cover the vet bills too. money well spent i say.
I know its not the thing you want to hear when you have just got a pup but be careful and read the small print on the insurance documents. We had a labrador and when it came to her having to be put to sleep due to renal failure. None of this was covered. We had to pay for her injection, cremation seperatly and all other costs. Not very good when we thought we were covered with her pet insurance! All the best
i’d go for pet plan. they insure for life and mean it. so companies insure for only a year so if your dog get a life long illness they will only pay until the end of that year where as petplan will pay for the rest of their life
both my dogs are insured with petplan
I have pet insurance too. i have for over 5 years i got with my akc reg. its great it works very well and it has really come in handy. example my dog was ran over she had to have surgery its was 8000.00 insurance paid nearly all of it. it save us a bunch.
At first i was kinda iffy about pet insurance. But then i went and got it cause i thought it would be best for my pet in the long run. I went to Banfield @ Petsmart for my puppy. I got her insurance at around 8 weeks. I pay roughly 21-22/month for the Basic plan. (The cheaper plan is 16.95) There is also a one time fee they make you pay. It covers everything from basic vaccinations, to exams, evaluations, they even spay/neuter your pup when it is 6 months. There are alot more things that it covers. Check out your local petsmart for more info. I cant tell you everything, just gotta visit petsmart. Good Luck
PetPlan is one of the best although it is more expensive than some others. Beware of the cheaper versions as they tend to limit a claim to about £2k – if your dog has an accident the bills are likely to exceed this (scans can cost hundreds of pounds on their own let alone the treatment itself). I went for the more comprehensive cover as to be honest, I didn’t ever want to make the choice of whether to stop treating my dog because once the cover is used, I have to start paying myself – I don’t have thousands of pounds. With Petplan you don’t have to make that decision as the cover limit is much higher. The key as always is to read the small print. I have claimed through Petplan and they paid up straight away. Some would argue that pet insurance is a complete waste of money as by the time a diagnosis is made of something serious like cancer for instance, it is often too late for the pet to be treated successfuly. However, I do have a friend whose pup broke his leg and it cost thousands to put it right due to complications etc – the insurance paid all of the costs so for them, it was worth having the cover. As with all insurance, you hope never to have to claim – it is peace of mind.
i got insurance for my duke too. i went through insurance line here in australia. it cost me $4 a week and i have $6000 of insurance for him. it also includes free kennels if i go into hospital and cant look after him, i have already spent $4000 on vet bills for duke in the short time ive had him, thats why we now have insurance, i only have emergency insurance for duke cause we have many emergency vet trips.its more expensive for full insurance.its the best thing i could have done, now i wont be stressing on how to find the cash to help my dog.the only down side is you have to have the cash up front at the vets, then the insurance company sends out your money afterwards.
I would reinforce what some of the others have said. Ensure your dog is covered for life – many policies only pay out for a 12 month period for any one condition.
Expect the cost of the policy to reflect this though – life cover is not cheap.
When I first started insuring my dog there was no life cover with the company I dealt with – one of the big names! When he developed cancer they paid out thousands with no quibble at all but I have had to fork out for the treatment he has had after those 12 months elapsed and it can come to quite a tidy sum! Just be aware.
I am insured with Pet Plan, however a friend of mine has insurance with one of the Supermarkets, you should do more research.
My latest dog has had big problems, although the premiums are about £36 per month I have had more back than I have paid in premiums. The downside is that when some vets know that a dog is insured, they offer unnecessary treatment, like why don’t we do an exploritory As an experienced (old) pet owner I am aware when this is not necessary. Vets often look at the profits rather than the dogs welfare, unfortunately insurance tempts them to do this. There are some wonderful and caring vets, if you know your vet its OK.
Our GSD had the disease common to german shepherds
Ferunculitis- can be a killer – but we caught it in time and she was cured. She would not be here today if we did not have her insured. The cure took time but in the end the cost was £8000 of which we had to pay the first £100. Make enquiries
and find one to suit your pocket but definitely insure
I payed out thousands of pounds over the years I wish I had put it all in an account instead.
I cancelled my insurance after 7 years have had nothing but expensive vet bills since!
I now put money by just in case we have any more accidents.
my mother-in-law is with PetPlan, and whilst they were great when the dog was young, the premiums now the dog is old and needing to claim for stuff is huge….she is not happy with them and the way they have been with her.
We are with another company, best to do your research, but first you need to check with the vets you will be using which companies they accept as not all vets accept all insurers.
You should make sure that the policy does NOT have a 12-month limit on treatment for specific conditions. Look for a maximum benefit per condition.
Also look for a policy that will keep your pet on cover after your pet is older than 8 or so – many companies only offer restricted beenfits or come off cover.
Finally – watch out for policies with high excesses or those that have a co-insurance excess i.e. a percentage of a claim.
im insured with pet plan and my dog got ill with colitis ,had to pay vet bill which inc,antibiotics ,consultation,and about 9 tins of food it came to £74,but my excess was£80,so they wont pay for it.
Hi – my dog has been insured since she was very young and we have claimed every year for various illnesses and accidents. She is nearly four now and her latest treatment cost about £2000 so we were really glad we insured her. Check out what the excess is if you have to claim and whether the insurance company will let you send the bill straight to them. Some companies make you pay upfront and then claim it back. Have heard petplan are really good but we got a much better deal with NFU. Hope this helps.
we have pet insurance with petplan and hopefully we never have to claim on it. as we have a labrador and sometimes as they get older they have problems with their hips. as you know vet bills can be very expensive so hence the insurance. also, lets put aside ailments as above and think about your dog getting knocked down by a car ( perish the thought ) but here the insurance will cover the vet bills too. money well spent i say.
Hi,
I know its not the thing you want to hear when you have just got a pup but be careful and read the small print on the insurance documents. We had a labrador and when it came to her having to be put to sleep due to renal failure. None of this was covered. We had to pay for her injection, cremation seperatly and all other costs. Not very good when we thought we were covered with her pet insurance! All the best
Tess x
i’d go for pet plan. they insure for life and mean it. so companies insure for only a year so if your dog get a life long illness they will only pay until the end of that year where as petplan will pay for the rest of their life
both my dogs are insured with petplan
no we have got a dog had him insured for two years and he recently injured himself they paid out straight away
I have pet insurance too. i have for over 5 years i got with my akc reg. its great it works very well and it has really come in handy. example my dog was ran over she had to have surgery its was 8000.00 insurance paid nearly all of it. it save us a bunch.
At first i was kinda iffy about pet insurance. But then i went and got it cause i thought it would be best for my pet in the long run. I went to Banfield @ Petsmart for my puppy. I got her insurance at around 8 weeks. I pay roughly 21-22/month for the Basic plan. (The cheaper plan is 16.95) There is also a one time fee they make you pay. It covers everything from basic vaccinations, to exams, evaluations, they even spay/neuter your pup when it is 6 months. There are alot more things that it covers. Check out your local petsmart for more info. I cant tell you everything, just gotta visit petsmart. Good Luck
PetPlan is one of the best although it is more expensive than some others. Beware of the cheaper versions as they tend to limit a claim to about £2k – if your dog has an accident the bills are likely to exceed this (scans can cost hundreds of pounds on their own let alone the treatment itself). I went for the more comprehensive cover as to be honest, I didn’t ever want to make the choice of whether to stop treating my dog because once the cover is used, I have to start paying myself – I don’t have thousands of pounds. With Petplan you don’t have to make that decision as the cover limit is much higher. The key as always is to read the small print. I have claimed through Petplan and they paid up straight away. Some would argue that pet insurance is a complete waste of money as by the time a diagnosis is made of something serious like cancer for instance, it is often too late for the pet to be treated successfuly. However, I do have a friend whose pup broke his leg and it cost thousands to put it right due to complications etc – the insurance paid all of the costs so for them, it was worth having the cover. As with all insurance, you hope never to have to claim – it is peace of mind.
i got insurance for my duke too. i went through insurance line here in australia. it cost me $4 a week and i have $6000 of insurance for him. it also includes free kennels if i go into hospital and cant look after him, i have already spent $4000 on vet bills for duke in the short time ive had him, thats why we now have insurance, i only have emergency insurance for duke cause we have many emergency vet trips.its more expensive for full insurance.its the best thing i could have done, now i wont be stressing on how to find the cash to help my dog.the only down side is you have to have the cash up front at the vets, then the insurance company sends out your money afterwards.
I would reinforce what some of the others have said. Ensure your dog is covered for life – many policies only pay out for a 12 month period for any one condition.
Expect the cost of the policy to reflect this though – life cover is not cheap.
When I first started insuring my dog there was no life cover with the company I dealt with – one of the big names! When he developed cancer they paid out thousands with no quibble at all but I have had to fork out for the treatment he has had after those 12 months elapsed and it can come to quite a tidy sum! Just be aware.
My parents have that plan for their dog, and I haven’t heard any complaints about it! I say go for it!
Insurance is a very good thing to have!!! No matter what its on!
I am insured with Pet Plan, however a friend of mine has insurance with one of the Supermarkets, you should do more research.
My latest dog has had big problems, although the premiums are about £36 per month I have had more back than I have paid in premiums. The downside is that when some vets know that a dog is insured, they offer unnecessary treatment, like why don’t we do an exploritory As an experienced (old) pet owner I am aware when this is not necessary. Vets often look at the profits rather than the dogs welfare, unfortunately insurance tempts them to do this. There are some wonderful and caring vets, if you know your vet its OK.
Our GSD had the disease common to german shepherds
Ferunculitis- can be a killer – but we caught it in time and she was cured. She would not be here today if we did not have her insured. The cure took time but in the end the cost was £8000 of which we had to pay the first £100. Make enquiries
and find one to suit your pocket but definitely insure
The down side is never claiming like I did.
I payed out thousands of pounds over the years I wish I had put it all in an account instead.
I cancelled my insurance after 7 years have had nothing but expensive vet bills since!
I now put money by just in case we have any more accidents.
my mother-in-law is with PetPlan, and whilst they were great when the dog was young, the premiums now the dog is old and needing to claim for stuff is huge….she is not happy with them and the way they have been with her.
We are with another company, best to do your research, but first you need to check with the vets you will be using which companies they accept as not all vets accept all insurers.
You should make sure that the policy does NOT have a 12-month limit on treatment for specific conditions. Look for a maximum benefit per condition.
Also look for a policy that will keep your pet on cover after your pet is older than 8 or so – many companies only offer restricted beenfits or come off cover.
Finally – watch out for policies with high excesses or those that have a co-insurance excess i.e. a percentage of a claim.
im insured with pet plan and my dog got ill with colitis ,had to pay vet bill which inc,antibiotics ,consultation,and about 9 tins of food it came to £74,but my excess was£80,so they wont pay for it.
Hi – my dog has been insured since she was very young and we have claimed every year for various illnesses and accidents. She is nearly four now and her latest treatment cost about £2000 so we were really glad we insured her. Check out what the excess is if you have to claim and whether the insurance company will let you send the bill straight to them. Some companies make you pay upfront and then claim it back. Have heard petplan are really good but we got a much better deal with NFU. Hope this helps.