Pet Insurance

ClubMan said:
Exactly - so saving the premiums might (a) cover your costs anyway and (b) leave you with a lump sum if nothing happens. Insurance should really only be taken out for eventualities that would give rise to costs that you would be very hard pressed to cover yourself (e.g. the house burning down) not for lesser expenses. I would imagine that the chances of having vet bills of €500+ every year for pets would be unlikely so to insure at such a premium seems crazy to me.
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To be honest clubman in our case with pedigree dogs who already have had problems and problems which will keep coming back I just prefer the safety net of insurance - I just don't want to be caught short - i.e something bad happens to dog and I can't afford lump sum cos I haven't saved it or I saved it but spent it!.

bit of the topic but well before insurance for pets was invented - approx 10 years ago we had an amazing cat - anyway one day he came home with a small cut in his paw - as the days progressed small cut turned into big cut and so on -so one night cat kept falling around the place - really weak. Took him to emergency vet in Castleknock at about 2 in the morning - she didn't know what it was but kept him in on a drip - he remained here for about 3 weeks - the charge was about 40 (pounds) per day for drip and various tests. she then rings and says cat needs to go to Ballsbridge Vet College for more tests. They kept the cat for 2 months - turns out it had feline leprosy - paw healed cat came home - ran off one month later! Anyway back then this was huge money for my parents . Over the years we've had a number of incidents (expensive ones) with pets so when we realised you could insure your pet we jumped at it. €500 with a good vet won't get you that far - tests and operations for animals are hugely expensive so I think we'll keep up the insurance. Only thing that does really annoy me is that your premium never goes down unlike car insurance - Pet gets older - premium gets higher :rolleyes:
 
I know very little about pet insurance, but this seems expensive. Is there community rating on these animals? Do you pay the same premium for a healthy young dog as an old sick dog? If it's risk adjusted, it's probably bad value. If it's not risk adjusted, then you should not insure younger, healthier animals, but you should insure the older sicker ones.

There was a company selling it door-to-door some years ago and apparently there were very few claims.

Brendan
 
I know this is not the norm but our lab costs well over €500.00 some years in vets bills. Shes had both crucia ligaments done (one in the college of surgeons, Dublin so a nice big bill), stomach problems, hip problems - she'll need a hip operation next year and she has an eye problem at the moment which might need laser surgery. A complete accident prone dog and shes only 6! So we've got great value for monety with Pet insurance. My other dog only had to use it once but the lab makes up for it. I wouldn't be without it.

As far as I know Allianz is the only one.
 
Nolan said:
I know this is not the norm but our lab costs well over €500.00 some years in vets bills.

So we've got great value for monety with Pet insurance.
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What are your actual yearly vet bills and insurance premiums for the last few years?
 
My premium for 2 large dogs is €383.88 per year, goes up an average of about €20. per year. Vets bills average out at about €600 - €1,500 / year. The labs hip operation will be well over €1,000.
 
Fair enough - in your specific case you seem to be doing well out of having the insurance. Do the claims not affect your renewal premiums or is that accounted for in the €20 p.a. premium increase? Others may not benefit to the same extent from having such insurance and might be better off keeping the money and "self insuring".
 
clubman I agee with you, unless you have a dog like mine its not worth it. As I said my other dog has only used it about twice in 4-5 years. They've never once queried the vets bills or notified me of any changes to the policy. I think when they reach a certain age the premium will go up (have to check that).
 
Just got hit with 180 quid bill for a blood test for dog - paid first 60 of it because of pet plan - vet reckons dog has diabetes - me thinks this is gonna cost a few quid! :rolleyes: - Pet plan definitely worth it!
 
Insurance last year 110 euro for dog.
Dog diagnosed with heart problem mid-way through policy, and will be on medication for rest of life
Claimed 400 euro back thus far

This years premium is 139, so no they don't really hit you at renewal time
 
I thank my lucky stars I got my Labrador insured.

6 months after I took it out the policy I discovered she had arthiritis in one hip.
She was put on medication which costs €42 per month - my premium is €16 per month.

Then the silly dog did in the cruciate ligaments in both knees in an effort to take the pressure off her hip. Cost of operations in excess of €2k. she's recovering nicely now so all the trouble was worth it.

Yes, there are normal vets bills on top of this. I think non animal lovers don't understand how much our pets mean to us. I pay VHI for my kids......the dog is part of the family too & means so much to us all.

I don't begrudge a cent spent on my Pet insurance.

In answer to someones comment. You cannot insure a sick animal. They will only be accepted when given a clean bill of health by the vet. I presume it's the luck of the draw. The premiums they get for pets that don't need to claim subsidise the ones that do.
 
Does anybody know about pet insurance for rabbits? I only know about Allianz and they don't insure rabbits...
 
maswala said:
:p
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Maswala, it looks to me like there's a load of insurance discrimination going on against Irish rabbits. If the rabbit was English (s)he would have no trouble getting cover, eg www.phapet.com cover not only rabbits, but rats and gerbils too!

My favourite UK company, though, is www.petprotect.co.uk whose insurance is "only available to the owners of dogs, rabbits, chinchillas and guinea pigs living in the United Kingdom"!!

Chinchillas? :confused:

Any way Maswala, if you can't get insurance for your Irish rabbit start a campaign - don't take this lying Watership Down.
 
Could anyone who has pet insurance advise me please? I think my 5 year old dog might have cateracts, I know that the operation wouldn't happen until much later, if it is. I don't have insurance, but if I bring her to the vet now to check it out, would it count as a pre-existing condition?

Thanks,
Titch
 
I don't like that fact they only insure dogs up to their 8th birthday - for new dogs anyway. I took two rescue dogs, one 9 and the other 10 and I can't get them insured at a stage in their lives when health problems are likely. Maybe we need a VHI for pets?
 
I just got a letter from Allianz to renew my pet insurance (2 maltese dogs, both microchipped and vaccinated to their eyeballs). My premium is up by over 40 euros. Decided I'd try and shop around, have found 123.ie are doing pet insurance, premium looks good - I can insure both of them for Accident Only for €140 p/annum, Or I can get the Premium Pet Plan that covers everything with a low excess for €314.84. Divide that down by 2 (per dog) and thats €157.42.

Personally I prefer the security with my babies so I'll be going for the Premium Plan. Its the same as Allianz however its cheaper. Its about time Allianz got a little competition :)
 
There's also petinsure.ie (based in Cork) - I'm a customer for my non-pedigree cat and found the premium cheaper than Allianz.
 
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