I'm considering stopping paying insurance some time in the future.
I'm thinking of putting a lump sum into an account, and then paying the same sum as the insurance into that account rather than paying it out to a company.
How much would you think that lump sum would need to be, to start me off and cover all eventualities ?
TIA

When you stop to think about it a LOT depends on the breed.
A simple 7 days of antibiotics costs a huge amount more for a Newf or Leo than for a Westie or Toy Poodle,  a basic op for anything again is far dearer for big dogs even to the dose of anaesthetic used and the amount of bandage on a wound, after that I suppose you would need to consider the various health problems known for the particular breed,

I did similar in a cat and my gsd.mainky because the premiums became so big. I choose to have a credit card to use of needed and put aside the equivalent of the monthly proun for my cat and around 100 pounds for my whispa
Significantly  less than the monthly premium . He was 10 when I cancel.the insurance.  It's a total gamble bit with my cat we had enough in the.pot over the months for.all his treatment.
Whith whispa we did use the credit card .
I think it's down to what u can afford to put aside as well as.the premiums and either way is a gamble.  Mine we older than yours and expected life span shorter I suspect

As said before, when down to just two, not having carried insurance before (other than for our first, years and years ago now), I took quotes from several companies.  Given that one of mine isn't an at risk breed, I was shocked at the premiums quoted, and particularly the 'excess' which could have meant I'd pay the routine vet bills PLUS the monthly premiums.  On that basis, I didn't opt to take insurance much as on reflection, maybe it would have helped with my Basset - not that I don't doubt much of what's been wrong with him in the ensuing years, wouldn't have been covered.  These days, the bills go onto my CC which I do clear every month.   Good intentions, re opening a specific dog bill account, may not always happen, from experience

For me it comes down to two things: how much a sudden bill might cost (can you afford it if the savings haven't built up enough first?), and how strict you will be about putting money aside.

It's insurance every time for me because I can't afford sudden bills and I'm terrible at reliably saving money!

I have never had health insurance for my dogs, and have fortunately never needed to cover a major health problem. We are down to two dogs these days, but couldn't have afforded to both insure and compete when I was keeping six or eight of the little dears. It does worry me a little when I hear of really expensive procedures that are now becoming available, but the older my two get, the less relevant that becomes. I am a Dogs Trust supporter, so do have the benefit of their Third Party cover - peace of mind in case the cover provided on the household policy turned out to have a flaw.

I would say a lump sum of not less than £5,000
but it’s of course not possible to see into the future. I’ve not really had any unmanageable bills with my dogs in the past and don’t have insurance, but veterinary expenses are becoming prohibitive for many people.
My current two are another matter and have unexpectedly cost us £7,000 in the last 3 years

> but veterinary expenses are becoming prohibitive for many people.

No kidding!    Apart from whelping costs in the past, my vet bills were really generally minimal - and if we did have a bad patch for some reason, our then vet was happy for us to stage pay, knowing we'd hold back on our food rather than not pay her!

It's all changed in recent years with some unexpectedly high bills (or is this how things are these days?) which have been emptying our Savings account alarmingly.  And it's the VAT on bills that finishes me, would that something could be done about that!   When on a fixed income, vet bills are a huge worry but at the time we bought our two current hounds (one will be 11 and the other 10 in a week or so) our savings were always there to cover the unexpected.  With interest rates virtually nil now, and these increasing costs, with one at least, I'm getting seriously worried about where we go in the immediate future with these ongoing vet costs.  I know for sure, these two will have to be our last which is very sad to think about.

cost strongly influenced my choice of breed.  the other breed I like have massive forums all about their many ailments - it finished having the breed for me as the costs in vet bills could be horrendous. It decided me against a breed I like.

One of mine broke it’s leg in a freak household accident which wouldn’t be breed specific.

I have the dogs bank account but I also insure my pups for the first year of their life. It seems to me this is the time when accidents could more easily happen while they are young and inexperienced, plus should an unexpected genetic issue transpire early in their lives this would be covered too (my breed is considered healthy and no tests are routinely done).

These days it is easy to save, you can set up your own account so that every month "the insurance payment" gets transferred to your dogs bank account automatically. Just like any other monthly payment yo others. You'll just need to forget about the dogs account that it even exists so as not to be tempted to raid it

>One of mine broke it’s leg in a freak household accident which wouldn’t be breed specific.

That is an important thing to consider.  It's not always about breed.  I lost my cross two years ago to fibrosarcoma in his face.  Non breed specific and cost a couple of thousand.  It would have cost significantly more if it had been recognised in time to do anything but palliative care, apart from the diagnostic MRI.

My oldest dog now (again a cross) has had a bulging disc since she was 4 or 5, as well as severe arthritis in her front feet, and now I suspect something else - maybe cancer, maybe a heart issue.  All non breed specific again.

My previous oldie had spondylosis, arthritis, hip dysplasia, bulging disc, larangyeal paralysis, chronic bronchitis and at the end, liver cancer - and again, none of those breed-prone.  She was a dobermann.  So even with the pure breeds, it's not necessarily the known risks you need to protect against.

I know the unforeseen is not 'breed specific', but fact is insurance companies do load their premiums based on breed specific conditions.   When I took the quotes on my two, different breeds, it was more than obvious!

It's down to risk and certain breeds do have higher risk of some conditions therefore more likely to need a payout

In the end insurance is a business

Unfortunately we cant get no claims bonus on pet insurance in most cases . I believe there is at least one who does but cant remember who
My lot would have lost their no claims years ago lol

> My lot would have lost their no claims years ago lol

    Well my Whippet probably wouldn't.

I think it depends really on what you can afford. For me I could budget and pay for an illness that needed monthly meds but finding a large amount (in the thousands) for an accident would be difficult.
When my old dog became too expensive to insure I took out Tesco accident and injury policy (policy is up to £3k, not huge but a decent chunk) that also included 3rd party. I think it was a mere £7/month.

> I know the unforeseen is not 'breed specific', but fact is insurance companies do load their premiums based on breed specific conditions.

Absolutely - I just wanted to highlight that breed risk shouldn't be the only thing taken into account when deciding whether to insure or not.

I've often thought about doing this but never had the courage to, for younger dogs.  When dogs reach 10-11yo and I know I wouldn't put them through major surgery for anything, then I do stop the insurance because I know I can cover the costs for the remainder of their lives (and the insurance gets stupidly expensive). 

I also insure young dogs (1-2yo) with a for life policy and then switch to an annual policy to age 10 - again, because the premiums go up.

Thanks for your replies.
She's a 7 year old toy poodle, so could have another 10 years to go yet.
We are paying out £26 per month and have , thankfully, never had to claim on it.
I've got £6000 saved  that I could very easily fritter away, but I'd rather use it for a purpose. So I'm going to put that in a 'dog' account and pay the £26 into that instead.

Does anyone know if that would be enough for, as an example, X-ray and operation for a broken leg or MRI scan, operation and treatment for cancer ?

The most for one treatment which included MRI and an op for cancer was £6000 but that was a few years ago now

Other treatments along the way have been under that . I am guessing that our current Bill's for ongoing immunotherapy and the treatment before that would.be now be above that amount. The mri we had more recently was I think around 1000 bit would need to check

My premiums excluding allergies are £100 pm on a fcr and I put away another 50 each month for the allergies.  No wonder I am broke !!.
Imo it would be a fair start but it's really guesswork. Maybe also a credit card for an emergency  ?

If u do decide to cancel your insurance u can join  the dogs trust very cheaply which will give u 3rd party cover for any issue that could arise if your dog was accused of causing damage or injury   I think its about 12 pounds pa. Well worth it if u dont have other cover

I had a dog need an MRI and spinal surgery (prolapsed disc) at Fitzpatrick's.  My insurance annual max was £5K and it was just over that.  I paid the bit over.