Dog insurance or not?

SarahSassy · 08-10-2009 11:43am #1

Do you have pet insurance? Is it a good idea? Which company are best to deal with?

Apologies for all the questions but I am brand new to this and have just gotten a pedigree choc labrador pup. We live in Dublin.

jen_23 · 08-10-2009 11:49am

Oh how lovely. What's the pups name? do you have any pics

Pet insurance is a fabulous idea!! I have it for my samoyed I think it costs about 17euro a month with allianz.
It's already paid for itself. I had to get a fecal sample sent off and it covered that

You just need to pay the excess which with allianz is 75euro.

It's also reassuring to know that if he gets into an accident operations which could cost thousands are covered, if he gets lost I get money to help look for him e.g. flyers and if he develops a lifetime disease he's covered for that too

I think the general consensus is allianz is the best. There are a few others but I think the package with allianz is slightly better and worth it to be honest.

Crazyivan 1979 · 08-10-2009 11:57am

It's a great idea. I think it's only allianz that do it. Cos the excess is 75 euro it mightn't pay for the little things, but it'll will pay for itself down the line, with bigger breeds like labs that are prone to joint porblems in later life. But get it now, cos it won't cover exsisting conditions. My fella ben had a dry skin condition before we got the cover, so it won't cover anything to do with dry skin now. But it has been invaluble for things like cut paws, ear infections and the like.

Good luck with the pup!

star-pants · 08-10-2009 11:59am

+1 for pet insurance -- seriously if anything happens the bills can be insane and you'll be glad of insurance.
I'm with allianz too and excess is 75€ but as said for bigger things that'll be good.

funkyjebus · 08-10-2009 12:04pm

Pet insurance is a must. If your dogs need a major operation, your looking at a couple of thousand. If you don't have, you loose your dog.

As an insurance broker, I shopped around, checked the policy wordings and Allainiz are by far the best in Ireland. Cost about 220e a year for a pedigree. Buy online as it is the cheapest way. You can also up your excess to lower the premium, however i wouldn't advise this as the premium savings are nominal.

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 12:07pm

i'm also with Allianz fr both my lab/boxer cross and German Shepherd,but as we got them both from the pound and have no way of knowing if they are full breed they are both down as x-breeds - saves a lot of money, unless you have a pedigree for your dog put it down as a x-breed

SarahSassy · 08-10-2009 12:12pm

Thanks all.

His name is Leo (Leonidas) and is a treasure.

funkyjebus · 08-10-2009 12:18pm

Do NOT do as Paul91 says.

If your dog is a pedigree, you must insure it as one. Insurance is based on the principal of utmost good faith. If you say and insure is as a cross and a incident gives rise to a claim (a large one, lets say over €1K) the chances are they will do a little research before they pay out. the first thing they check is its pedigree.

If you have been found to be lying, they have the right to refuse to pay the claim, and void the policy as a whole without returing the premium paid.

Again, due to my profession, I assure you i know what I'm talking about. Pay the extra 20 -40 euro a year to insure your claims will be paid. I've no problem with people bending the truth with insurance (i do it myself), but lying about its pedigree is easily found out.

SarahSassy · 08-10-2009 12:20pm

I assume you have to use his formal title/ name for the insurance. We have sent off the documents but dont have full confirmation back yet.

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 12:22pm

funkyjebus wrote: »

Do NOT do as Paul91 says.

If your dog is a pedigree, you must insure it as one. Insurance is based on the principal of utmost good faith. If you say and insure is as a cross and a incident gives rise to a claim (a large one, lets say over €1K) the chances are they will do a little research before they pay out. the first thing they check is its pedigree.

If you have been found to be lying, they have the right to refuse to pay the claim, and void the policy as a whole without returing the premium paid.

Again, due to my profession, I assure you i know what I'm talking about. Pay the extra 20 -40 euro a year to insure your claims will be paid. I've no problem with people bending the truth with insurance (i do it myself), but lying about its pedigree is easily found out.

I did not say lie about it's pedigree, i said if you don't have one, i.e. a rescue dog, then you don't know if your dog is a pedigree, just cos it looks like a west highland don't mean it's dad isn't a cairn for instance.

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 12:23pm

Paul91 wrote: »

unless you have a pedigree for your dog put it down as a x-breed

please read

funkyjebus · 08-10-2009 12:27pm

@ John91

SarahSassy wrote: »

Do you have pet insurance? Is it a good idea? Which company are best to deal with?

Apologies for all the questions but I am brand new to this and have just gotten a pedigree choc labrador pup. We live in Dublin.

Sarah points out clearly in her op that she is aware it is a pedigree, anything else is a lie. In your case you have insured it to the best of your knowledge, which is fine. I'm not having a go, mearly spreading my wisdom to anyone who might take up your post wrongly.

@ Sarah - Do you mean using his cert name, no you use whatever name you use on a daily basis. once you apply docs usally take about 3 working day, but you are covered from the date you sign the application under law.

RangeR · 08-10-2009 12:29pm

We have pet insurance for our Nufi. We would have been lost without it. Already paid out about €600 in medical bills this year alone.

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 12:33pm

funkyjebus wrote: »

@ John91

Sarah points out clearly in her op that she is aware it is a pedigree, anything else is a lie. In your case you have insured it to the best of your knowledge, which is fine. I'm not having a go, mearly spreading my wisdom to anyone who might take up your post wrongly.

No worries, I posted "unless you have a pedigree for your dog put it down as a x-breed" in respect of other people who may read the thread and have saved dogs from the pound, or taken on x-breeds, as i said unless you have a the paperwork for a pedigee dog why pay the extra costs.

funkyjebus · 08-10-2009 12:41pm

John91 - Just to point out, even if you don't have the paperwork, but your dog is a pedigree and you are aware of this, is a legally a breach of a contract condition. This could cause major problems as any vet invoices will state the dog a such. While i understand it may be hard to prove you knew your dog was a pedigree, Allainz will try, and possible succeed. Allianz will happly spend e1500 proving you knew in order to escape a claim of e1000.

But your are right if in real doubt, I'd put it down as a cross and argue it come a claim, if need be.

TechnoPool · 08-10-2009 12:50pm

Just Looking at the Allianz site now, where it sayes excess and there is different Numbers to allocate?

what does it mean?

I guessing it means that i pay everything under 75e and the insurance covers the rest?

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 1:07pm

the excess means you pay the first €75 and the insurance will pay the rest, bare in mind it doesn't cover "normal" vets bills, i.e. yearly vaccinations

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 1:12pm

funkyjebus wrote: »

John91 - Just to point out, even if you don't have the paperwork, but your dog is a pedigree and you are aware of this, is a legally a breach of a contract condition. This could cause major problems as any vet invoices will state the dog a such. While i understand it may be hard to prove you knew your dog was a pedigree, Allainz will try, and possible succeed. Allianz will happly spend e1500 proving you knew in order to escape a claim of e1000.

But your are right if in real doubt, I'd put it down as a cross and argue it come a claim, if need be.

My vet has my dogs down as boxer cross and german shepherd cross - i'd be interested to know how an insurance company could prove otherwise, as i don't know whom there parents are -blood tests? - might be worth a claim to get the insurance company to do that then i could get a pedigree from the IKC based on the insurance company's findings

- only messing

funkyjebus · 08-10-2009 1:17pm

funkyjebus wrote: »

You can also up your excess to lower the premium, however i wouldn't advise this as the premium savings are nominal.

Put excess at €75. The higher the excess the lower the annual premium is. The excess is the first amount of each and every claim that you pay.

Eg: if you put ina claim for €1000 and have a €75 excess, allianz will cover €925 of the claim.

As i said leave it a €75 as the savings in upping the excess are nominal.

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 1:21pm

funkyjebus wrote: »

Put excess at €75. The higher the excess the lower the annual premium is. The excess is the first amount of each and every claim that you pay.

Eg: if you put ina claim for €1000 and have a €75 excess, allianz will cover €925 of the claim.

As i said leave it a €75 as the savings in upping the excess are nominal.

I agree with you there sir

YOURFACE! · 08-10-2009 1:27pm

Absolutely get pet insurance! We found out last week that my beloved GSD has hip dysplasia

We have had her insured since the very beginning and I'm so glad we have. All of her meds are covered and if she does need a hip replacement its covered by Allianz. Definitely a worthwhile investment both financially and piece of mind.

funkyjebus · 08-10-2009 2:08pm

Paul91 wrote: »

My vet has my dogs down as boxer cross and german shepherd cross

Thats my point, in this scenario your sorted.

Although I wouldn't put it past an insurer to do DNA testing on a dog if it was disputable and the claim was high enough!! They wouldn't need the parents to tell if it was pure pred.

But yes, I think we can all agree, if your are a prudent dog owner, you need insurance.

Paul91 · 08-10-2009 2:11pm

funkyjebus wrote: »

Although I wouldn't put it past an insurer to do DNA testing on a dog if it was disputable and the claim was high enough!!

we'll hope that day never comes

Dog insurance or not?

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