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Pet insurance for puppy

Posted: Thu 26 Feb 2015 17:50
by Brian
We are getting a new puppy next week, have had up to 16 pedigree cats in UK before move here Sept 2013, sadly reduced now to 10 but they are not insured as Pet Plan would not maintain cover. Fell puppy should be covered as cats are indoor only but puppy will obviously 'out and about' albeit on lead. Anybody any previous experience/advice? Vets have given us one leaflet which looks reasonable.

Posted: Thu 26 Feb 2015 20:18
by martyn94
How hypochondriac are you as the owner of a dog? I tend to calculate that insurance is a bad value when my propensity to claim is markedly less than that of other insured persons. Which in France, and for pooches, seems pretty much axiomatic.

Posted: Thu 26 Feb 2015 20:42
by Brian
Hi
Not hypochondriac at all - perhaps you have not had a pet where 5 years cancer treatment was required (originally 6 months life expectancy given by SMH Liverpool) or where due to negligence by vet, £5K of Pet Plan cover used up in one year for another animal. Experience indicates better to be prepared for small amount of premium compared to potential vet costs for major unpredictable occurrences. How many pet owners can necessarily lay hands on £5K by putting premium equivalent aside each month?

Posted: Thu 26 Feb 2015 21:23
by martyn94
Brian wrote:Hi
How many pet owners can necessarily lay hands on £5K by putting premium equivalent aside each month?
Almost any pet owner who can afford to up sticks and move to the P-O with 10 cats. Which is no reason not to insure if you are sufficiently risk-averse. But you know that about yourself far better than any of us could claim to do.

Posted: Thu 26 Feb 2015 21:34
by CPB
Hi. I don't know myself. I have a dog but she is not insured (we did insure her in puppyhood but when we moved here is became very expensive - long story I won't bore you with and this I decided not to insure her). One place which may be worth trying in addition to the leaflet you have from your vet is a local dog club. I imagine they can point you in the right direction (if no one else here can).

Posted: Fri 27 Feb 2015 09:23
by Kate
Having recently (Mon Dieu, over two years ago, but still feels like recently) lost a much loved dog whose last years as a diabetic were very very expensive - tho worth every penny - we have been thinking along the same lines for a while. The few we've looked at have been much more expensive than England and full of small print....It's the kind of thing that you keep putting off until the day that you actually need it, by which time it's too late! I would be very interested too if somebody could recommend a policy that was tried and tested.

Posted: Fri 27 Feb 2015 09:46
by sue and paul
When we got our Golden Retriever puppy years ago, in UK, we got insurance, as we'd just lost an uninsured dog with a mystery illness which cost us over £1k, and we still had to have her put to sleep as she was suffering too much and not getting diagnosed.

When the GR started to have a hip problem we had the vet treat him under the insurance. Then the insurance added a clause to our poilcy refusing any further claims for hip problems. We brought him to France with us, aged 9, and didn't re-insure, and we found the vets' fees here quite reasonable, compared to their "licence to print money" in UK.

So, all I'm saying is, read the small print, because your policy, should you find one in France, may not be worth the paper it's written on

Posted: Sat 28 Feb 2015 10:07
by Pearsonb
My cat went through several operations for cancer at great cost to me. I wouldn't do it again. She never really regained strength after the first operation and it would have been kinder to her to have her put down at that point.

Pet insurance

Posted: Wed 18 Mar 2015 21:16
by MountainGal
From what I know about pet insurance in France, it does tend to be very expensive and with lots of get-out clauses. Be very careful to read all small print and clarify points with the insurance company before taking any out.