Pet insurance

Andso · 19-10-2017 9:35pm #1

My dog got sick recently and spent a few days in the vets. The bill came to €650 which I gladly paid but just made me think is pet insurance worth it. I have a very lively 2yr old springer spaniel

irishlady29 · 19-10-2017 10:00pm

I'm interested to hear people's views as well. Recently adopted a 2nd rescue. In thoughts about weather I should get insurance. Don't have it for the first lady and she has cost us a fortune.
If new pup gets sick and we claim of insurance, will the premium go up the following year?

Kerry25x · 19-10-2017 10:04pm

We have pet insurance but this week is the first time we've had to submit a claim after our dog had a small injury. Will be interesting to see how easily they pay out...

cocker5 · 19-10-2017 10:09pm

Depends on what insurance company you are with. We’re with Allianz for the last 12 years and have found them excellent - really quick payments etc.

Just on getting insurance they will ask for full medical on your dog - anything pre existing won’t be covered (same with any insurance policy in fairness)

Over the years we’ve had to make claims here and there ... this year to date it’s over 2.8k .. as our guy is older we have a €100 excess plus we get 65% back - but still so so worth it - we would never be without!

cocker5 · 19-10-2017 10:10pm

irishlady29 wrote: »

I'm interested to hear people's views as well. Recently adopted a 2nd rescue. In thoughts about weather I should get insurance. Don't have it for the first lady and she has cost us a fortune.
If new pup gets sick and we claim of insurance, will the premium go up the following year?

Just on this .. our policy for our cocker was €350 last year .. claims this year to date over €2.8k.. new policy came out recently.. our policy is now €370 still worth it and very much needed imo!

fennor72 · 19-10-2017 10:29pm

Definitely worth it. We always insure our pets with Allianz. A few years ago we had to have 2 MRIs and spinal surgery done on a dog. Along with 6 months meds the bill came to nearly 9k. All covered by the insurance. It's a god send.

tedpan · 19-10-2017 10:31pm

I had a policy for my Old English Sheepdog for his first year. He had to have surgery, they covered everything, it was all very smooth until the renewal. The premium was 250eur in year 1, the renewal was 750eur. I tried to insure my second puppy (same breed) they were looking for 550eur and allianz wanted â‚¬650 with no prior claims.

We decided to just pay as we go and forget about insurance. If we have to sell a leg, I would for my dogs and cats.

tk123 · 19-10-2017 10:31pm

11k+(!) in claims now for Bailey so yes - very glad i have insurance! Ours has gone up €20-30 max per year (Lucy has had minimal claims and there was a couple of years it didn't go up at all)even with all his surgeries until this year when it went up €200 after a few routine claims and a big €2500-3000 one BUT... it went down €100 which was obviously a mistake so they got it back out of me this year which I can't blame the for lol!

We're with allianz - sign the form at the vets and cheque in 2 weeks. Depending on the bill we can just pay the excess (and our 35% since Bailey turned 7) and direct claim.

One thing OP anything you've gone to the vets before taking out insurance can be seen as pre-existing illness. If the dog has say a gastro bug they may not cover digestive issues again. If they broke their leg before taking out insurance they may not cover claims for that leg again etc etc - the same as if you took out health insurance for yourself.

Also another thing to keep in mind - referral vets will usually expect you to pay up front if you don't have insurance. When jaw-gate happened and Bailey was in the first week (for imaging etc to prep for the surgery) they quoted 1k and second it was 2k - I just had to sign the forms. The same week Bailey was in there was a FB campaign trying to fundraise for a dog who's owner couldn't afford to pay (up front) for whatever surgery it needed.

lazeedaisy · 19-10-2017 10:37pm

Sammy is 9 next month and has always had health insurance, Rossa had it right up to her death nearly 2 years ago, and Terry has it 5 years now, this year, I only have the boys, since our new Greyhound was 9 and had been a racing dog, so could not insure her.

It cost me 550 to insure them in the end this year and, in all the 9 years, I've never had to make a claim, but I have struggled hard to pay the monthly insurance, but would be afraid not to pay it.

It gives peace of mind,

CeilingFly · 19-10-2017 10:41pm

We're with Allianz too - possibly could get a cheaper one, but vet says they are best to deal with and our vet will bill them directly if we ever have a claim.

This year it was about €240 (cross breed) but worth it for peace of mind.

Nody · 20-10-2017 12:27pm

To put things in context OP of all insurance companies I've read about here on boards the one name that always comes up with praise is Allianz. There are other cheaper options inc. once we're now allowed to name but so far Allianz simply appears to be the best option you'll find between charge, vets getting paid timely and simply not BSing you around.

irishlady29 · 20-10-2017 1:38pm

Interesting read. Thank you all for the replies. Think insurance is the way to go. Thanks folks

BlueTopaz · 03-03-2019 1:11pm

Andso wrote: »

My dog got sick recently and spent a few days in the vets. The bill came to €650 which I gladly paid but just made me think is pet insurance worth it. I have a very lively 2yr old springer spaniel

Hi, just a warning regarding Royal Sun Insurance. My cousins dog, who is a Bichon Frise developed a cataract on his eye last year...the specialist and operation fees came to over €2000. Anyway, she had the dog insured since he was 4 months old. They refused to cover her, saying that thes eye issues are a 'recognised issue' with the breed. Anyway, long story short, she complained to the Ombudsman, who upheld her complaint, and they eventually had to pay. Problem now is that they more rhan tripled her premium, so she can no longer afford it. She just has to hope that a cataract doesn't in his other eyes, and is putting aside à few euros savings just in case.

Xofpod · 15-08-2019 3:54pm

Folks, is Allianz still considered the best company for dog insurance? Have a new rescue dog, 3 year old, and really not aware of the insurance market

ILoveYourVibes · 15-08-2019 7:47pm

Don't get a pet without having pet insurance. And make sure you know what you are and are not covered for.

GET YOUR PET INSURED YOUNG or they won't take them. And get them insured before they get sick.

We have aviva pet insurance. Not sure I think they are the best though. But ours has had numerous things wrong so we cant change him as it would be tough to get someone else to insure him.

alie · 15-08-2019 7:53pm

We had a springer and im sorry i never had pet insurance, when we got our collie cross we took out Allianz pet insurance, I havent had to claim yet.

cocker5 · 15-08-2019 10:44pm

Xofpod wrote: »

Folks, is Allianz still considered the best company for dog insurance? Have a new rescue dog, 3 year old, and really not aware of the insurance market

Allianz is the best for numerous reasons .. cover, direct claims, pay out etc

mymo · 16-08-2019 11:31am

I've never had pet insurance, I put money aside in a separate account.
Last year I used some of the money to buy my new pup, there's still plenty there. I put away less that what I was quoted for insurance for 2 dogs per year.
My dogs are 11, 10 and 15 months, my cats are 18, 15 and 5, we lost our 6 year old girl in Feb.
Even with a cruciate surgery and bladder stone surgery(dog 11), kidney failure (cat 18) and 3 cases of pup trying to poison herself by eating plants, and various other illnesses, I've still money left. I know you never know what can happen.
There's always the credit union too.

Richard tea · 16-08-2019 4:47pm

Op if you can afford E300+ a year for the next 10 to 16 years then take out the insurance. Keep in mind a claim can push the premium up a few 100 per year depending on costs. Ask yourself if you can still afford a premium of E1000 approx if the premium increased due to a claim. Keeping in mind if you claim then no other insurer will cover that condition etc.

Or you could put a little aside each week in the event of a incident or sickness and hope it covers that.

Or lastly ask yourself how much you are willing to borrow to pay for treatment or ongoing conditions.

ILoveYourVibes · 16-08-2019 6:28pm

Richard tea wrote: »

Op if you can afford E300+ a year for the next 10 to 16 years then take out the insurance. Keep in mind a claim can push the premium up a few 100 per year depending on costs. Ask yourself if you can still afford a premium of E1000 approx if the premium increased due to a claim. Keeping in mind if you claim then no other insurer will cover that condition etc.

Or you could put a little aside each week in the event of a incident or sickness and hope it covers that.

Or lastly ask yourself how much you are willing to borrow to pay for treatment or ongoing conditions.

Treatment for our dog would have cost over 10k. He was fairly young too.

finno · 10-09-2019 12:41pm

I have my dog insured with Allianz. I got my renewal and it
is gone up almost 70 euro. I haven't made any claims.
Has anyone else gone up this year?

I think it's a bit much and am thinking of canceling my insurance with them.

Alun · 10-09-2019 12:43pm

How old is the dog? I know that for our cat it went up automatically once she was over a certain age.

Lesalare · 10-09-2019 12:44pm

Deffo get pet insurance. My cat cost me close to 10K a few years ago in Aus. If I didn't have the money they would have put her down.
She's too old now to get insurance but I dread to think if I didn't have those savings at the time

finno · 10-09-2019 12:46pm

Alun wrote: »

How old is the dog? I know that for our cat it went up automatically once she was over a certain age.

He turned 3 in June

Outkast_IRE · 10-09-2019 12:47pm

Dont have pet insurance, have been lucky that with my 13 year old border collie , that the only major expense has been a very recent eye removal for glaucoma/tumor which came to €600.

If i was getting a new pup , i think i would get insured as its peace of mind.

finno · 10-09-2019 12:50pm

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Dont have pet insurance, have been lucky that with my 13 year old border collie , that the only major expense has been a very recent eye removal for glaucoma/tumor which came to €600.

If i was getting a new pup , i think i would get insured as its peace of mind.

I have him insured with no claims and it's gone from 221 euro to 297 euro.
Just think its a bit of a jump in price.

cocker5 · 10-09-2019 1:48pm

finno wrote: »

I have him insured with no claims and it's gone from 221 euro to 297 euro.
Just think its a bit of a jump in price.

Honestly €297...while a lot ......it is not a lot in the scheme of what could potentially claim in one year... you just never know OP ... IMO its worth it for peace of mind.. please god you never need to use it

this year we claimed €4,000 for our guy... you just never know

tk123 · 10-09-2019 1:58pm

My girl's bill was 1000 in the last 2 months o_O. Thank you Allianz(!)

Choc Chip · 10-09-2019 3:12pm

Much as there are some high payouts, I'd assume that insurance premiums will (on average over the whole insured population) be higher than payouts because insurance is a business. I doubt the investment part of their business is subsidising the premiums, but happy to be corrected on that if someone has access to accounts.

I had a big increase from Allianz this year, and adding my other dog onto it more than doubled the premium (he's younger, I have his full medical history, and he is a statistically healthier and longer-lived breed). I MAY have had a temper-tantrum and stopped the dogs' insurance.

However, it depends on your capacity to deal with the downside risk - I'm happy that I'm putting money away and that if an emergency happened I could cover it (I wouldn't be happy, but I could cover it). If I wasn't able to do that, or if I was more risk adverse, I wouldn't take that risk.

em_cat · 10-09-2019 6:51pm

Our vet charges us less than average in things that get reimbursed as he knows that he’ll get paid quicker than he would if we didn’t have the insurance. But we’ve also been using them for nearly 15 years and have always settled our bills in a timely manner. Pretty sure it’s not standard practice but I’m grateful for the gesture.

However, even during the recession we forwent everything except mortgage & insurances, otherwise we’d never have had the money to cover some of the orthopaedics surgeries ours have needed over the years.

em_cat · 10-09-2019 7:13pm

Our vet charges us less than average in things that get reimbursed as he knows that he’ll get paid quicker than he would if we didn’t have the insurance. But we’ve also been using them for nearly 15 years and have always settled our bills in a timely manner. Pretty sure it’s not standard practice but I’m grateful for the gesture.

However, even during the recession we forwent everything except mortgage & insurances, otherwise we’d never have had the money to cover some of the orthopaedics surgeries ours have needed over the years.

12-09-2019 10:12am

who are best for Dog insurance or is it like everything else, shop around and see what's on offer?

cocker5 · 12-09-2019 10:33am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

who are best for Dog insurance or is it like everything else, shop around and see what's on offer?

No it’s not about what’s on offer, it’s about policy T&C’s... excess, max claim amount per year etc, direct claiming , exclusions etc

From experience I had found Allianz to be the best .. been using them for over 14 years and no issues, have had substantial claims over the last 4 years .. quick repayment etc

Cheapest is not always best .. you need to ensure your comparing like with like

Varta · 12-09-2019 10:50am

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Don't get a pet without having pet insurance. And make sure you know what you are and are not covered for.

GET YOUR PET INSURED YOUNG or they won't take them. And get them insured before they get sick.

We have aviva pet insurance. Not sure I think they are the best though. But ours has had numerous things wrong so we cant change him as it would be tough to get someone else to insure him.

Take a look at some of the quotes for procedures quoted by some posters, then look at the cost for similar procedures pre Allianz introducing and pushing pet insurance. The difference is staggering. Pet insurance, like human health insurance, is a licence for certain people to charge outrageous amounts of money and recommend procedures and treatments that are not necessarily required. Unfortunately, the genie is now out of the bottle.

tk123 · 12-09-2019 11:00am

Varta wrote: »

Take a look at some of the quotes for procedures quoted by some posters, then look at the cost for similar procedures pre Allianz introducing and pushing pet insurance. The difference is staggering. Pet insurance, like human health insurance, is a licence for certain people to charge outrageous amounts of money and recommend procedures and treatments that are not necessarily required. Unfortunately, the genie is now out of the bottle.

Have you any examples?

They're doing pet insurance at least 16 years because I got insurance for my cat 16 years ago... it's not unreasonable for prices of anything to go up in that amount if time? Sure how much was a packet of crisps when you were a kid compared to now like?

cocker5 · 12-09-2019 11:34am

Varta wrote: »

Take a look at some of the quotes for procedures quoted by some posters, then look at the cost for similar procedures pre Allianz introducing and pushing pet insurance. The difference is staggering. Pet insurance, like human health insurance, is a licence for certain people to charge outrageous amounts of money and recommend procedures and treatments that are not necessarily required. Unfortunately, the genie is now out of the bottle.

I don't agree with this at all I'm afraid... your vet can recommended a procedure, its up to the pet owner to do their own research and then decide if they wish to proceed... procedures are not carried out without approval.. from my experience. I don't believe vet charges outrageous prices when they know you have pet insurance... the prices are the prices... while agree they can be expensive they are linked to overheads, expenses, profit required etc same as any business

Varta · 12-09-2019 12:13pm

cocker5 wrote: »

I don't agree with this at all I'm afraid... your vet can recommended a procedure, its up to the pet owner to do their own research and then decide if they wish to proceed... procedures are not carried out without approval.. from my experience. I don't believe vet charges outrageous prices when they know you have pet insurance... the prices are the prices... while agree they can be expensive they are linked to overheads, expenses, profit required etc same as any business

I never said that they up the price if they know you have insurance, I said that they upped their prices when insurance came in and became widespread. Even if vets had not increased their prices, the cost to the pet owner would have gone up anyway. Prior to insurance the pet owner would have paid the vet a fee for treatment, let's say €5, with insurance, the pet owner pays the insurer a fee, let's say €1, and the insurer pays the vet €5, that is now a total of €6 compared to the previous total of €5. This extra charge is borne by the pet owner, therefore veterinary bills have become more expensive. Add to that the loading by veterinary businesses since the introduction of insurance and you begin to see what it is all about. BTW I specifically say vet 'businesses' because it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a vet in practice for themself. These vet businesses are driven by profit. They have board meetings about how to increase profits. They run campaigns to increase profits. And they are aided and abetted by Allianz and other insurance companies in doing this. Rest assured, every bit of advice you hear from an Allianz endorsed vet will have a profit motive. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, the genie appears to be out of the bottle.

Alun · 12-09-2019 1:18pm

Varta wrote: »

Prior to insurance the pet owner would have paid the vet a fee for treatment, let's say €5, with insurance, the pet owner pays the insurer a fee, let's say €1, and the insurer pays the vet €5, that is now a total of €6 compared to the previous total of €5.

Not sure where you're getting that from. I pay my vet directly and then claim back whatever I'm due, which is never 100% with own-risk and the percentage rule they apply to older pets.

Varta · 13-09-2019 5:41pm

Alun wrote: »

Not sure where you're getting that from. I pay my vet directly and then claim back whatever I'm due, which is never 100% with own-risk and the percentage rule they apply to older pets.

You are forgetting about the premium you pay. The premium is an additional cost to the treatment of the pet that wasn't there previously.

Choc Chip · 13-09-2019 6:33pm

Not to drag this off-topic, but I genuinely dont think vets overcharge on the whole. Have a look at the cost of a hip replacement for a dog compared to a person and the animal is a staggering amount less.

Varta · 13-09-2019 8:14pm

Choc Chip wrote: »

Not to drag this off-topic, but I genuinely dont think vets overcharge on the whole. Have a look at the cost of a hip replacement for a dog compared to a person and the animal is a staggering amount less.

The high cost of a human hip replacement is also an issue. And one that has been driven upwards by the involvement of insurance companies. Insurance is a gamble. Some people are more risk averse than others and are therefore more willing to pay or pay more to have cover. That's fine. The point I made is that insurance companies moving into the pet healthcare market drove up the cost of veterinary care for pet owners, as they did in the area of human health.

boomerang · 14-09-2019 10:26am

lazeedaisy wrote: »

our new Greyhound was 9 and had been a racing dog, so could not insure her.

Just FYI, I know she was too old to insure in any case, but I had no problems getting insurance for my ex-racing rescue grey with Allianz.

boomerang · 14-09-2019 10:34am

Would I recommend insurance? Hell yeah! Unbelievable peace of mind.

Just don't feel gypped if you don't need to claim - consider yourself lucky!

There will probably be a rise in the cost of your premium year on year as your pet ages and their risk of disease increases. I don't think that your premium will necessarily rise if you've had a claim. That's not been my experience.

Also agree Allianz are the best - they have never quibbled with me, very transparent, easy to deal with over the phone and have always paid up promptly.

All my dogs have been insured but my rescue grey has been the most expensive. Orthopaedic surgery a few years ago was €1400. This year, treatment and hospitalisation for two strokes, blood tests, MRI and CT scans ran the bill up into the thousands again. She is 10 so I had to pay the first 35% of treatment myself. Without the insurance however I could not have afforded this gold standard of care.

Taiga · 18-09-2019 9:30pm

Hubby had griped at me the last couple of years because we were paying for dog insurance and he reckoned it was a waste of our meagre resources. He's so glad I didn't listen to him as the bill in total this sad year was 1400, Allianze paid it no problem. We insured the new fella as soon as we could. It was such a relief.

We could manage to put away some money weekly and keep it aside just in case, but to be honest we'd dip into it constantly because there's always something. If it's not the car, it's a new fridge, maybe a broken washing machine or the kids need something.

We pay it monthly so find that handy. We don't mind now if we never have to claim. In fact I hope we don't. After being on the down side, I don't care how long we pay and don't need to claim.

As an aside, with the random crap the new pup eats I'll be amazed if he gets through puppyhood with no vet drama!;)

AndrewJRenko · 15-05-2021 8:43pm

Choc Chip wrote: »

Not to drag this off-topic, but I genuinely dont think vets overcharge on the whole. Have a look at the cost of a hip replacement for a dog compared to a person and the animal is a staggering amount less.

Generally I agree with you. We paid €250 for a spinal MRI for a teenager and €1700 for a cat MRI, which did identify a particular problem. Fortunately, insurance covered both, though Blue Insurance refused to pre-authorise, so I had to pay out for the cat and hope they would pay up in the end, which they eventually did.

Gael23 · 16-05-2021 11:04am

Out vet advised us against it because he said insurers put you through every hoop possible to avoid paying.
He told us to save the money in the credit Union and always have a contingency fund for unexpected vet bills.

tk123 · 16-05-2021 12:38pm

Gael23 wrote: »

Out vet advised us against it because he said insurers put you through every hoop possible to avoid paying.
He told us to save the money in the credit Union and always have a contingency fund for unexpected vet bills.

Your vet is wrong in the case of Allianz - I’ve never had an issue with claims and I don’t know anyone who has. I’ve heard stories about other insurers but it’s the same with your car or house insurance - some companies are better than others.

Sheep Shagger · 20-06-2021 9:40pm

We've recently got a pup and signed up for the monthly vet plan at €18 pm which covers a lot of things think we've saved a fair bit already with vaccinations etc.

Am I right in thinking these really only cover day to day expenditure and if an operation etc was needed thats where insurance would come in?

From what I can see insurance doesn't cover day yo day stuff, do people pay for both or is it a case of you have insurance for an older dog only?

Cherry Blossom · 20-06-2021 10:14pm

These vet plans are a bit of a gimmick for the vets benefit mostly. All they cover in most cases is vaccinations and one check up a year. The checkup comes free when I get my yearly vaccinations done. Different vets have different plans so you’d need to check with your own vet what it covers.

Insurers will not insure older dogs that have not been insured before. I always insured young horses and pups for the first year as these are more accident prone/ likely to eat something needing surgery to remove etc. After that I put the value of the insurance premium aside for a rainy day. When I started doing this I had three horses and two dogs so I would have been spending a sizeable chunk of money on pet insurance. I have never dipped into my pot for routine appointments, neutering, teeth cleaning etc. And my pot now exceeds the maximum payout an insurer will make for any one condition. Actually for treatments that would cost that amount I’d be seriously considering recovery time by the pet and how much pain and suffering would be caused during that time. A lot of posters wouldn’t agree with me here but I’m of the opinion that there are a lot worse things than death both for humans and pets alike. I’m a supporter of assisted euthanasia in humans for example.

Anyway, I digress. If you can’t afford to pay out for a big operation on a pet or are not good at saving, you should have pet insurance. It’s one thing having a pet euthanised to alleviate suffering but entirely another to have a pet euthanised because you can’t afford treatment for them.

AndrewJRenko · 23-06-2021 8:49pm

Gael23 wrote: »

Out vet advised us against it because he said insurers put you through every hoop possible to avoid paying.
He told us to save the money in the credit Union and always have a contingency fund for unexpected vet bills.

We're paying €10 per month for our 1 year old cat on Blue Insurance. We've already claimed over €2k (mostly MRI) and expect to claim more than €2k more over the summer for surgery, bringing us over the €4k lifetime cover limit.

It would take a lot of tenners in the credit union to get to €4k. I'm hugely relieved that we were able to do the right thing to get her problem diagnosed and hopefully fixed up, without worrying about money.

Sam W · 23-06-2021 8:54pm

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

We've recently got a pup and signed up for the monthly vet plan at €18 pm which covers a lot of things think we've saved a fair bit already with vaccinations etc.

Am I right in thinking these really only cover day to day expenditure and if an operation etc was needed thats where insurance would come in?

From what I can see insurance doesn't cover day yo day stuff, do people pay for both or is it a case of you have insurance for an older dog only?

I have both the pet plan and pet insurance for our Cockapoo.

The pet plan is a bit excessive but it’s good to be able to bring the dog to the vet for whatever small issue you find and don’t have to worry about doing online research yourself. It covers only unlimited checkups though and not treatment, so you still have to pay for scans, surgeries and drugs, which is where the insurance comes in.

Pet insurance

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