Having always said I will never not have my dogs insured I am now thinking about changing my mind. I know how quickly vet fees can mount up, but while I've got money in the bank I am seriously thinking of not insuring Hamish, Lottie and Hattie.

As you will know I've sung the praises of AXA, saying they haven't hiked up the premiums at renewal (which they haven't for the last 3 years). This year things have gone up A LOT!

I had 2 renewals beginning of February, Winnie's went from £214 to £284 (not too bad) and Hattie's from £254 to £447.

Just had Lottie's (£347 to £629) and Hamish's (£358 to £720). Both being over 8, there are hardly any other insurers willing to cover them.

The only one that is still reasonable is Esme's at £173.

Last years total was £1,347, this years £2,255!

So, anyone insuring with AXA, or thinking about doing so, BEWARE!

I am with petplan and for my five dogs it is about £150.00 I woulnt be without it or go elsewhere, I have been with petplan since 1981 and never had a problem with payouts, I have had a few over £1000.00. I couldnt be without this anymore than my car insurance. I know people think the excess is high but every insurance has excess.

It's the doubling of the premiums that I feel is unreasonable. Unfortunately I have had to make a number of claims over the years so, like I say, I know how vet fees can mount up and am loathed to cancel, but to have a jump of £900 a year......

If only my income kept up with that rate!

tadog, how do you insure 5 dogs for £150 a year? i was quoted £276 for one schnauzer!! mind you, she is 8 but even so it was expensive.

i'd be pretty sure its £150 a month ;-)

I'm in the same boat.  I cancelled my M & S insurance after it went up to £100 a month for 2 dogs!  I've only ever claimed for Sasha once and never for Warro!!

I'm not insured at all at the mo, but am considering whether to self-insure or to try someone else.

We've just cancelled our Petwise insurance; over the last 9 years of dog ownership we have paid out £5000 in premiums and got back £2000 in claims. And they have an upper limit for claims on all but the highest tier of insurance. The premium has just risen again because one of them is nearly 9 years old. I know that's when you might start to need it and I'm not entirely happy, but hubby is in charge of finances, he has a high earning job, and he says that we can just have a 'virtual' insurance account that we put money aside into each month, and anything that was so horrendously expensive that we might not be able to afford it would be way over the ceiling for claims anyway.

whats self insure?

> whats self insure

Basically - not insuring. However, it usually refers to people who have insured, but then stop as they consider the premiums have just got too high. Mostly applies to people with more than one dog. Some people open a separate savings account and pay into it monthly and then pay out of the account any vet fees. In my own case, I have two dogs. Six years ago I was paying £50 per month premiums. We stopped paying them saving £600 a year - £3600 in six years. The only vets bill we have had in that time (that would have been covered by insurance) was a minor eye op for my 12 year old dog which was £420 - so we have saved a lot of money in six years. People with more dogs COULD save a lot more. It's a bit of a gamble, but we can afford to pay out any way. However, there is no point stopping your insurance if you are unable to save (and not spend the money on other things) or don't have sufficient spare cash to payout on unexpected bills.

thanks daisy that explains it

I was thinking of doing this where is the best savings rate to put the money into.

Look here Martin Lewis

You need to pick an Easy Access account so that you can take the money out quickly. You also need to know whether your vet will give you a few days credit to get the money out (unless you have a credit card that will take a, perhaps, large amount) :) :)

tadog, how do you insure 5 dogs for £150 a year? i was quoted £276 for one schnauzer!! mind you, she is 8 but even so it was expensive.

My payment is £150-00 per MONTH.

I think for many with over 3 dogs, insurance has had to come down to weighing up the chance of illness/accident and finance and how you feel your chances are in sparring against s*ds law.

My mother always gets away with not insuring her dogs until the latter quarter of their lives (mind you she has always had over 5, 7 at present) if those dogs have come from a healthy lineage, her opinion is they won't get ill? There is always the chance of accident or illness but she keeps a credit card handy for emergencies though to be honest she has never had to use it, I've never claimed on my insurance either, but always think knowing my luck I would cancel and then my girl would probably break her leg, so never do. :-D

I must admit I take her advice with my cats though, they are only insured when they get to 10 years and I've never once had to claim prior to that age, usually not for years after either.

It's personal choice and personal chance whichever way you go. :-)

> It's personal choice and personal chance whichever way you go

If we get another dog, we will definitely insure it at least for the first couple of years :)

> (unless you have a credit card that will take a, perhaps, large amount)

I have a credit card that I keep for vet bills.  All my vet visits get paid with it.  Fortunately, I have a high enough credit limit to cover the few higher than average emergencies (meaning in excess of £1,000.)

With having a lot of dogs, even though I work full time, and quite long hours, my monthly income is much less than what I would pay out in insurance!

While there are months that I can't clear my bill totally, I do cut back all unecessary expeditures, and clear as fast as I can.  My worst year was over £7,000 in vet bills, but that was a particularly nightmarish year.  I actually average £4,000 a year in vet bills as the norm, including all my boosters.  It varies though - last year was just over £4,500.  But I remind myself that insurance would be way over that figure.

I don't drink, or go out for meals.  I packed up smoking because I needed to cut back on outgoings, and I would never cut back on dog costs.  While some folk would not want that, we all do what is right for us.  And my dogs are my greatest pleasure in life.  And when a dog needs treatment, I can't just leave it until I have saved up the money!

I am with Direct line and have been for 9 years. Touch wood i have never had a problem with them paying out -i have made lots of claims!
I pay £30 pcm per dog and i think thats very reasonable.
Our bitch had two new hip joints each claim was £3000. £80 excess. Our dog on the other hand, well the page is not long enough to list all of his aliments. We nearly lost him last year from a ruptred bladder he had over 30 stones in his bladder and 8 in his uretha. I think that bill came in just over 2k. Numerous tablets and x-rays for arthritis, acupunture, poorley toes- he is allergic to concrete! The list goes on.but my point being my ins payouts have out weighed the ins premiums. Its always a relife to know that the ins will help you out however i do find it annoying that i have to stump up the bill and then claim it back through the ins company. I have just put in a claim for our Bitch just short of £4000 - so lets see what happens!  
   

if we get another dog, we will definitely insure it at least for the first couple of years :-)

Why only for the first couple of years? IMO it is in the later years that things 'may start to go wrong'

However third party insurance should be made compulsory for everyone.IMO

> Why only for the first couple of years? IMO it is in the later years that things 'may start to go wrong'

Probably should have said we 'might' insure for the first year or so - but then again we might not :)

> However third party insurance should be made compulsory for everyone.IMO

Our household insurance covers us for third party claims.

> However third party insurance should be made compulsory for everyone.IMO

Same as Daisy here.   In fact I only just renewed the house insurance today, and had it confirmed.  Did it over the phone, telling the kid that spoke to me that if I ever had a break in there would be no evidence left.

Told him that I have so many dogs that an intruder would be eaten.   :-)  :-)

Well, it lightened the day!  Third party must come with a lot of the home covers I'm guessing.

Looking at this from the INSURERS point of view, it's a win-win situation.   They insure dogs because on average the figures favour them.  Most dogs are healthy most of the time, once they get to the age where they are likely to start costing money insurers either hike the fees right up or rufuse to insure them.  If you have to make a claim your insurance bill will go up so they make the money back.  If lots of people make claims - everyone's insurance goes up a lot regardless of whether they made a claim or not.  Insurers still don't lose out.

Meanwhile pet owners still have to pay out for routine visits, minor illnesses and anything not covered in the small print.

If you are paying out 1500 a year in insurance over 10 years and never make a claim (and lots do) then you will have spent 15,000  on top of your routine and small/uninsured vets fees   

Or alternatively you could have put that money away in an instant access account to cover your bills and have SAVED the amount :-D  Simples :-D
(A linked credit card would provide emergency cover during the years you are building up the account and for emergency situations)

I think it's like Carrington said it's a case of sparring against S**s Law.

I went through this same conundrum a few years ago and cancelled the insurance. Sure enough Lottie became hypothyroid during that time, and as you will know has to have daily medication and annual blood tests, which are not covered on my current insurance.

I think while Esme's premium is cheap and Winnie's is reasonable I am going to keep their policies, but with the 200% increase of the other 3 I will put away £150 a month into a "pet fund" and take my chances. I already have a credit card specifically for the dogs food, vet fees etc. and have a good relationship with my vet.

I have or will have atotal of 5 animals including the cats insurance will be costing me this year in the region of £90 pm. You are right that maybe with higher excesses it may be the time to consider if insurance is worth it. However the last couple of  years have been very expensive not due to illness but accidents including a referral for a broken leg that would not heal so still unsure

I have just been quoted £348 per year for a 2 year old Golden with no previous claims.This is with M & S. This is another hike this year. I have got a quote from John Lewis which gives lifetime cover £10000 p/a for a pemium of £217. I shall be cancelling the M & S. and moving to J.L. My vet & I both think that insurance companies do not actually WANT to insure dogs, that's why they keep inflating the premiums, even for healthy dogs.

Mine isn't insured currently, but from a pup he was insured with KC insurance at a cost of £564 then the second year went up to £636.....now he's not insured at the minute but once finances improve he will be again.