hi all, my gorgeous border collie pup will be 10 weeks on thursday and was wondering wheres the best place at the moment for pet insurance, i have had a look at pets at home and they want £15-25 a month!!!!!! seems very expensive, any ideas??? thanks

That sounds very cheap to me

You get what you pay for,some only cover conditions for a year or to a certain cost

It depends what you want, I put money away each month as paying for multiple dogs got very expensive

I pay £28 with Pet Plan for my youngest. Once she has calmed down a bit (maybe in ten years time ;-) ) I will stop the insurance cover and do what I do with the others. I put money away each pay day for vet bills. Apart from a broken toe, bad gashes due to jumping over barbed wire a couple of times, and a caesarian, I have been very lucky in that I haven't needed insurance. However, I wouldn't be without it for my youngest one. She acts first then thinks about it. Then goes and does it again. :rolleyes: How I haven't needed to go to the vets with her I really don't know.

Sounds cheap to me too. You really need lifetime cover a lot of policys stop paying if you go over you limit in the year. I am looking0at more than and animal friends both around 28 punds for my flat coat or 40ish for pet plan or kennel club. Search on here for threads on insurance for more detailed info

In my experience it's well worth getting puppies insured immediately as you are generally excluded for anything arising within the first 14 days of cover.  In your case your pup will be 12 weeks before her cover really starts - plenty of time to get into trouble so act quickly!

Check the small print and 'benefits' carefully - cheap insurance is likely to have big holes in the cover offered.  Some policies are life long whilst others are capped at one year.  The monies paid will be limited but some pay up to £7.5k others just £1k.

Some of the bigger insurance companies offer several tiers of cover so have quite good comparison explanations.  Policy docs are all available to view online and it helps to imagine a scenario when comparing cover.  Allergies is quite a good one to 'play' with as it often requires lifetime treatment, or look at possible health concerns in your breed. 

Self insurance is ok if you have the funds but I calculate that it's only really worth it once you get to 3 dogs or more as the level of risk improves.  Aim to have immediate access to a minimum of £500 in the fund at all times.  I would always insure a pup for at least a year (poss 2) til I was more confident or knowledgable about its general health.  One of my dogs costs me £43.99 per month for lifetime cover, another on a more limited cover costs me £21.27 (both M&S).  The youngster costs £24.14 per month for Platinum lifetime cover with Homebase.

All of my last litter have gone with Animal Friends. Large breed lifecover with good benefits/levels...£23per mth.

They also allowed my owners to start cover at 7 weeks so they were covered when they left at 9 weeks.

I agree with dogs a babe - be sure that you are aware of the great differences in what you get.

I insure all my pups with Petplan before they leave me.  While some folk will say they are too dear - the vets won't charge you first as they know that such a reputable company will pay up.  With some insurance companies, you pay the vet and claim the money back.  Some emergency situations will set you back megabucks, and not many of us have the odd couple of grand put by.

Hi, I did lots of research and comparisons when looking to insure my 8week Bullmastiff.....and I agree with others on here Petplan may appear a little higher but the cover is excellent and not a lot hidden in small print and excess either.....worth the extra few quid to save on the worry!

I receive money saving expert news letter regularly (Martin Lewis). Suggestions for dog and cat insurance - gocompare, comparethemarket. Search both and get quotes from 22providers. Then Aviva and Direct Line which they miss,then quotezone.

I do like the KC insurance, especially for the first year, it is expensive, but generally less so than PetPlan and also does lifetime cover too.

hi jack,ive got mine insured with argos pet insurance,theyre on the top cover,platinum,i think,and its about 14 pounds a month for jess,two,and 12 for gwen,6 months,ive used them for my dogs for about 8 years,and never had a problem with them.

That actually sounds really cheap to me. I had quotes from £45 to £127 when I shopped around for my puppys insurance. I went with Petplan eventually for £57 a month - DH grumbles that we could get the whole family on Bupa for less but it will be worth it if anything happens to her

I have looked at few  recently and have just decided to go with animal friends and probaly change the others over to them as well. £28.oo for fcr pup and same for 4 year old gsd lifetime cover £6k per annum  to a maximum of £40k per condition in the dogs life time,  and dont require vaccinations but do not cover for diseases that could be vaccinated against if you choose not to vaccinate. Anything ive missed
Currently with MoreThan same cost but only covers up to £7k in the lifetime of the dogs
Also fixed excess of £99 or £69

Tesco pet insurance is fantastic.

I have 3 pugs insured and it costs me 27 quid for all three and thats with the extra benefit and life time benefit :) £4,000 per eligible condition and no limit on the amount i claim aslong as the policy remains active :) £60 excess

Ive claimed with a previous dog for over 3k in vet bills when he broke his legs in a car accident and they paid out very quickly :) Plus there vet line 24 hour is helpful.

wow they quote me 33.00 pm for just the pup

It's too expensive for mine, but for those that are already paying a lot for their insurance have you looked at vetsmedicover? They offer most breeds at £21 a month.

Mine are with healthy pets, basic cover, Less than £20 a month for all 3 girls :-) They've always paid out straight away too, no quibble.

Your postcode makes a difference too. I'm with Animal friends life time cover with my Dobermann and it's £15.73 a month..best deal I have found

For £15-25 a month you should be able to get top end, life time cover insurance for your pup. This isn't expensive, but to find the best deal you are going to have to go on-line and do price comparisons. Different insurance underwriters take into account different risk factors so what is cheap for one person might not be for you because (for example) they live in the country and you live in the city or because they have a large breed and you have a medium breed etc. I use Animal Friends and haven't found cover to beat it for a few years. KC and Pet Plan would charge me nearly double for comparable cover, but that is because they hold my postcode against me :-)
Think of it this way: £25 x 12 = £300 a year's worth of premiums. If your pup required a general anesthetic and treatment for a fairly minor thing like a cut that needed stitches, or removal of a grass seed from her ear, or removing something from her stomach that she has chewed up, you would easy get more than your £300 back from the insurer when you come to claiming for the vet care. If she broke a leg or something more serious you would be looking at bills into the £1000s. Makes the insurance look cheap when you think of it that way!