Just been sent my renewal notice for 2 cavaliers....
Last year £360 for the pair
This year £827 for the pair.

No claims ...no changes!!
Just spoke to a rep who says that I'm lucky.. some have gone up by over 200%.

Reason.....excessive vet charges...very topical

That is criminal we are with healthy pets, but I will be finding a cheaper Ins company it's getting silly

I have just tried the Kennel Club insurance and they are half the price...same cover!

The program said Vets charges had tripled in the last 10 years.

Just had 2 renewals for More than 7 year old has gone from 17.99 to 31.99 and 8 year old from 18.99 to 34.99. Ridiculous. Over years only had minor claims. Looking for an alternative now. I have 8 dogs insured and cant afford that sort of hike. may have to opt for lesser premium.Even if its not lifelong cover. Any thoughts?

As Ive just written.... the KC's own insurance was half the price.

Have had both of ours with the KC insurance since pups, both have made claims, the younger in excess of £3,000 in his first year alone and the elder £2,000 last year after he was paralysed for five days. They have always paid promptly with a follow up letter and the cost this year has only gone up by less than £4.00 a month. Would recommend them.

OMG the KC just quoted £66 for the dog that Morethan quoted 31 for. That was  taking off all higher options. Amazing how it can all vary ;-(

Don't understand, as ours are around £30 a month each, both have had claims & have always believed that our breed was very high to insure.

Ive made claims amounting to 5000 pounds with pet plan premium. Paid out every time and only goes up a couple of pounds a year.
Unfortunately they go up as pets age, unlike your no claims on cars! (unless your with direct line cars!!).

I also recently had a renewal for my two cockers from Healthy Pets - doubled from £35 per month to £70.  That's more than all our other insurance (two cars, contents and building) put together!  I switched to AXA, which is costing me £26 and is a better policy. 

I did make a claim last year, but it was for an accident, so can't see that the dog in question is increased risk in any way.  I wasn't happy at all with the way they dealt with the claim, either.  Long story, but we had to cancel a holiday because the dog needed surgery.  The insurance is supposed to cover holiday cancellation, but they refused to pay out for the full cost of the holiday cottage, because I was there with my husband (naturally) - they just paid half. AXA say that they cover you and any other family member living at the same address in that kind of situation.

That seems an awful lot of money a month. I have 2 , male dog aged 4 and bitch 15 month. Both are £9 a month each, I have claimed on both and have had excellent service. The limit to each illness is £5000 and excess is £70 plus 10% of final bill. I wonder if post code has a bearing on premiums.

Age is definitely a factor.  The £26 I mentioned is broken down into £10 for my two-year old dog, and £16 for my seven-year bitch.  I believe that from the age of seven, the premium starts to increase.  I'm sure postcode also comes into it - we lived in York previously, and are now in the Cotswolds, vet fees were definitely cheaper up north. My parents were paying more for their bitch when they lived in London and it went down when they moved closer to me.

I had the same thing with Healthy Pets earlier this year.  I had moved to them around three years ago and at the time their underwriters were AXA and the premiums were very reasonable.  However, since they changed underwriters I've noticed increases each year.  I have had several claims for two of the three dogs insured by them.  Last years premium was £972, this year it jumped to just under £1400. My 9 yr old boy, who I had never made a claim for, went up from £400 to over £800 per year. I shopped around and found AXA Direct moved to them (with the exception of one of the dogs due to an ongoing condition).  My nine year old's premium is now £380 which I consider to be reasonable.  Hopefully the premium won't rise too much next year.

Ah I did wonder, as we used them for the boy we imported in partnership a few years ago.

I can't afford Insurance for five dogs, just pay up as and when, ad use credit and money put aside for the dogs.

I believe it was Pet Plan that told us at a seminar that statistically if you Insure more than two dogs you will pay out more than you will ever need to claim.

Have to say none of my dogs have ever cost in claimable Vet care in their lives more than what an older dogs annual insurance would cost.

As a breeder another incentive to try and breed healthy dogs.

How much of the tripling of vets fees in the last 10 years is down to more pets being Insured.  If only 1 in 3 or 4 are insured now how much more will fees go up if Insurance take up increases?

I've had my renewal notice from Healthy Pets today and was shocked that not only has the premium increased from £20.76 to £40.14 a month but they have increased the excess per claim from £50 to £75 and for any dog over the age of 5, you also have to pay 25% of the claim.

This is getting stupid.  Loads of people will end up not insuring their dogs. :-(

The same problem we have with More Than. It seems they all follow the same trend as is often the case with Insurance companies.

Yes, just noticed the other thread on More Than insurance.  Maybe the insurance companies should start querying soaring vet bills rather than just accept them and loading up the insurance premiums?

Virgin have also put up my Rottie's premium from £25 to £44 a month, no claims so I've cancelled.

If the insurance companies alienate people who make few if any claims in this way and they cancel their insurance, won't do much for their profits will it?  Maybe this is already happening and is another reason why premiums are going up so much.

Wrote to Healthy Pets to cancel the insurance.  Told them I was particularly concerned that doing an online quote on their website for a same age, same breed dog in the same area was around £10 a month less than I was being charged on renewal and there was also no mention of having to pay 25% of any claim for dogs aged 5 or over; also that Axa who are now underwriting Healthy Pets are giving a better cover quote on their website for nearly half the price.

Both these comments were ignored in their reply confirming I was cancelling the insurance. :-(

I am also with Healthy Pets dog insurance, my premium has increased but not as much as yours.

Two important pieces of information for you all though;

1. Vets rising fees are having a big impact on all pet insurers (recently mentioned on TV).
2. Whether you claim or not is irrelevant, pet insurance does _not_ work like car insurance. The premium is is made is more to do with age, breed and post code etc..

I saw an article on this and found it to be true. If you check the Healthy pets website http://www.healthy-pets.co.uk/ there should be details on this.

Most people on here are reporting 100% increases in their premium with Healthy Pets, and a change in the policy where 25% of the claim has to be paid by the policyholder if the dog is over 5 years old (which seems young enough that this is not a clause to mitigate against claims by elderly dogs).  I just can't believe that vet fees have gone up by that much in the space of a year - that's certainly not my experience. 

There will come a point where people will simply stop insuring their dogs.  I would not pay the £850 a year for two healthy dogs, aged 2 and 7 that I was quoted on renewal by Healthy Pets and would put the equivalent amount into a savings account for my dogs each month, and take out a simple public liability insurance elsewhere.  They are also not justified in charging as much as the likes of PetPlan when the product they offer is far inferior.

I would not pay the £850 a year for two healthy dogs, aged 2 and 7 that I was quoted on renewal by Healthy Pets and would put the equivalent amount into a savings account for my dogs each month, and take out a simple public liability insurance elsewhere

That is what I am doing as well Rosemarie.  I could have insured my dog elsewhere more cheaply but to be honest, I have lost confidence in them as a group and it isn't like you can just change each year like car insurance because any previous conditions will then not be covered.