I'm beginning to feel forced into cutting back on my dogs because of insurance renewals.

I've just received the renewal for my youngest 2 and the monthly dd will be £42.25 per dog. Neither have had any claims and last year I was paying £28 each. With this in mind, the other 3 cost £32.50 each so I'm dreading their renewal as my bitch had a calcium deposit removed. I simply cannot afford the increases. I'm currently with vets medicover and the following is covered:

Lifetime cover:
£10, 000  illness cover  + £10, 000 injury cover,
£750 complementary treatment,
Dental care,
£1 million liability,
£80 excess + 15% of claim cost for dogs over 8, cats over 10,
Death benefit up to £1000,
Loss by theft/straying £1000,
Advertising/reward £250
Boarding fees £200,
Prescription food up to £200,
Cover abroad up to 3 months.

To be honest I know I could put the monthly dd to one side and use a credit card or get a bank loan to pay for illness and treatment and even my sister would bend over backwards to help if the worst ever happened. I went with lifetime cover because of the number of life long health issues concerning GSDs such as HD, diabetes, epilepsy, ED etc so Iknow the money will run out before the year is out if I am unfortunate enough to have to deal with any of these on a lesser policy. The other reason for cover is the liability.  I know my dogs are well mannered and behaved but I also sleep better knowing that should my worst nightmare ever be realised - I'm covered. But if, theoretically in the future, my 9 yr old dog attacked a child and I was sued, would I need to pay 15% of the claim? Or is that just for illness/injury?

I'm so confused. There are people paying £20 odd for cover and mine just seems astronomical. I know they may have basic cover or lower category dogs. We manage with economy brands, secondhand furniture and washing threadbare carpets so that our dogs can eat raw, have everything they could need and want and be covered by insurance. Its a choice we made and are happy but this is beginning to tighten like a noose :( any advice? Help!

You can get public liability cover with membership of the Dog's Trust. I can't remember how much it was, but it was very little.

Hope that helps. :-)

I got my renewal for the one dog that I insure (the other can't be insured)  a couple of weeks ago, and was amazed to find that it hasn't gone up at all! I have never known this to happen before.

I think i read here Morethan was the cheapest. Have a search it may show the thread i was referring to.

Having said that my shih tzu isn't much cheaper 38.65 for first month then 37.18 thereafter. Pretty hectic for a breed that has no health test reqs. And is so young.

This is also life cover (more on the health side for me as last dog had a lot of probs).

Last suggestion would be a broker?  your dogs are clearly your primary concern so it must be so difficult. Good luck.

Thank you for the advice. I called my broker today for a breakdown and thought I'd post for the benefit of others in the same boat. According to the broker at VIP the premiums have gone up because the underwriters have changed. Vetsmedicover have also pinched a high ranking memeber of the petplan panel, who is bringing in changes to try and make VM as superior/popular as PP.

The rise is due to the 10, 000 injury + 10, 000 illness as opposed to one amount for both. However as the changes have been quite sudden and the increase quite high, VM are now offering an alternative level of cover. £6, 000 + another 6 instead of 10 at £33.80 pm. But, if you go with the lower policy, you cannot change over to the premium one. You also cannot decrease cover if you have had a claim on the policy - however broker did state that any issues are passed on to VM before renewal and they MAY consider 1 off claims depending on amount paid out.

My broker does not deal with tesco, sainsbury's, asda type policies because they only do limited to illness cover. The other option was PP at £36.54 for £7,000 but do not cover preexisting nor will they take on pets over 5/6 so my boys would need to stay with VM or go elsewhere. I could cancel their policies and start again but claims will not be covered for preexisting unless not made in a 24month period after 1st claim.

I am seriously considering lowering the cover for 3 of the dogs. My boy and 1 bitch may possibly have to stay at £42+ as both have a claim. The brokers are pet insurance specialists instead of all round brokers so do trust their actions. It will either be this or public liability with dogs trust.