Hi,i was annoyed to find my pet insurance has gone up 6 pounds,on renewal,and changeover to a different company(argos pet insurance to Royal and sun alliance).Jess is only 3 and it has gone up from 11pounds from when I first took it out as a puppy,which might not sound like a lot,but my pension has only gone up 4 pounds,and I have two other dogs with them,and Ive never claimed.My fear is if it carries on escalating,I might not be able to afford it,what will it be when they get older?!I was chewing over whether to,a,pack it in,save the money,and rely on a credit card for emergencies,or b,downsize to less cover.Theyve got us dog lovers over a barrell really!Still,theyre no doubt not in it from the goodness of their hearts!Anyone else on a limited income,what do you do?thanks.

I agree, it is shocking how much pet insurance has escalated. however i would not be without mine. I have three with petplan at almost £100.00 per month. the other I pay AXA just under £100-00 per YEAR, diff breed, same cover. cant change the girls that are on petplan now due to prev claims.

I am limited income, however cut other things so my dogs have the best food/insurance.

It is a bit like gambling, a crystal ball would come in handy.
My daughter in the past year had one dog use up the £4000 insurance and then had to credit card another £4000 for treatment, which is ongoing. Then one of her other dogs has also nearly used up their £4000, so if the whole lot had been credit card she would have mounted up debts of a good £12000 this year, and that would take a lot of paying back and chances are there would be more vets bills to add to this as it is ongoing.

I on the other hand have been lucky, I have one oldie with AXA and cannot move her as nobody else will offer lifetime insurance at her age now, and one terrier that I have moved to PP. Neither have ever had a claim and in this case I would have been better off having a credit card instead of insurance payments.
You're damned whichever way you go I think.

Our vet nurse has a good way of doing insurance, when they're young, she has them on the cheap policy, once they hit 6 or 7 she up's it to the premier policy, obviously it's a chance that a young un' won't have much going wrong, but if you have multiple dogs and a restricted income, it's not a bad method.

> to,a,pack it in,save the money,and rely on a credit card for emergencies,

This is what I have done since going to multiple dogs.  As most of my dogs at any time are veterans insurance is prohibitive, and it is only the older ones (if unlucky) that ever need anything beyond non claimable treatment.  Luckily I have a breed that is generally fit and healthy into old age.

thanks everybody! I ll have to have a think(ouch!)

7 out of our 9 are insured, top level cover as if it's going to happen to anyone, it's going to happen to me. The major things we have had happen - Hip Dysplasia, then breaking the same leg on which a hip had been replaced 7 weeks later, and Epilepsy (twice) - happened with  3 separate 3 year olds so would rather cover from puppyhood to just entering old age (10/11 years) and then pay for the oldies ourselves as when they might need treatment.

Agree it is very much a gamble. I was a dog owner for 20 years without insurance - and would have been way out of pocket if I'd had it as never needed to claim - but then had a bad year plus gradually going into multiple dogs convinced me that the law of averages would not be on my side.