pet insurance increase premium by 75%

[alisonrushton]

hi

 

Not sure if anyone can answer this here as related to pet insurance. But I am asuming insurance is pretty much the same weather house/pet or car???????

 

My renewal came through today and they have increased my payments by 75% - can they do that

 

They stated that is because the number of claims for older dogs has increased therfore as my dog falls in to this category my premium has gone up!

 

So from £340 I now have to pay £600 a year which means out of the £1000 insurance my dog is covered for each year I actually only get £400. He is an old dog and prob only got another year left but he cost us around £3000 a year in vet bills so that extra is going to make a huge difference.

[honeybee13]

Hello. They would probably be able to do this, but I guess the place to check is your policy document to see what provisions it has. Our policy promises cover for life, but not the cost. We've also paid more for older animals.

 

I expect you'll have some other comments.

 

My best, HB

[Mwynci]

Sorry, but they can. Your other option is to look around.

[alisonrushton]

Looking around isnt an option unfortunatly - when you take out a new policy it never covers excisiting conditions.

 

75% is a little steep! - I have asked them to provide me with the statistics for the number of older dogs for the last 4 years so I can see if they can justify this increase - I was told I could not have this. So I asked if I was just suppost to take their word...for which they replied yes! surly under the freedom of information act I should be allowed acess to this information.

[hightail]

If I've interpreted your figures correctly you have £1k cover and are paying out £3k a year in costs. I'd suggest that the increased premium may not be worth it for an old dog if you are serious that he's not got much longer. I don't mean the dog isn't worth it, more that you can possibly look for savings in his treatment. Pet owners get very annoyed when a vet's first question is 'is the dog insured' because they think this means the vet won't bother so much with an uninsured animal. It can be more true that unnecessary tests and treatments are foisted upon the poor animal.

 

Firstly, are you absoloutely sure that everything your vet 'prescribes' for your dog is a prescription item? Vets don't tell you that much of what they sell you can be bought OTC at much less than they charge. Next, is your dog on long-term medication? If so have you checked the costs of buying this elsewhere with a private prescription from your vet? The vet will charge you for the prescription but can prescribe in one go for up to six months and the savings can be amazing. I have even known vets price match rather than lose the custom once they realise you are knowledgeable. This site http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/Compendium/Overview/ lists every veterinary medication licensed in the UK and its category. POM-V means Prescription Only Medication-Veterinary. Anything else is OTC (Over The Counter). If your dog is on any 'special' diet you can make huge savings by checking prices online rather than buying from the vet and it would be delivered to your door. Manufacturers love to call their foods 'veterinary' or 'prescription' when they are no such thing and can be bought by anyone from a number of suppliers.

 

I know it involves a bit of research and extra effort but you could easily end up saving more than you'd get back from insurance for this elderly dog.

[Mwynci]

Top notch advice from hightail.

A request for your file under the data protection act (freedom of information if for public files) would not provide their workings out, it will provide all details held about you, or refering to you, the rest can be blacked out. They would be giving away date too senstitive for release i.e. they way in which they calculate their premiums, and wouldn't want these open to competitors.

If their any good they will ask an underwiter to phone you to go through the premium and explain their calulations.

[alisonrushton]

Hi thanks all for your replys

 

Yes we have started looking at cutting down costs - are vets do like to try and squeeze every penny out of you - but we have been with them for so long and he is old you just tend to stay with the one you know.

 

He is on regular painkillers - we have found these on the net at a cost price - more than half of what the vet charges us - we now ask for the prescription and buy else were - even with the prescription cost we are saving £20 (the vet will not write us a repeat perscription - even though he has been on these of a long time and will prob be on them till the end) so we have to pay for the perscription every month but maybe another vet would do us another one.

 

He is on cartropen injections one a month- also the vet charges us a consultation fee each time ???? if we can get these on prescription - I am a nurse so ? could administer.

 

The main cost is his hydrotherapy every week which he loves and really helps so we cant make any savings there

 

May be time to change vets after all

 

 

we are now waiting for a manager to ring us back from the insurance company - i still just find it so hard to justify such an increase but any suggestions welcome.

[honeybee13]

I hope you get a good outcome from this and will be watching with interest, as we have elderly cats. I've read about the problem of vets not doing a prescription so you can order online, but don't know of a way around it. I would like to!

 

My best, HB

 

PS to Hightail. You've given two really ace pieces of advice today about insurance, have you thought about posting your own money-saving tips? I'm not being sarcastic at all and I'm sorry if you already have and I didn't notice.

[hightail]

Very kind of you to say so Honeybee. I have written a review of pet insurance to try and explain the different types. Other than that I'm no expert in anything - just a miserable penny pinching old bat and this I'm happy to share with you all as relevant subjects come up

[hightail]

He is on cartropen injections one a month- also the vet charges us a consultation fee each time ???? if we can get these on prescription - I am a nurse so ? could administer.

 

Going to depend very much on what you're charged and what dose the dog is getting. I see no difference between you administering this and the thousands of pet owners who are taught to inject their own animals with insulin so it will all be about cost. It comes in 10ml vials and I'm guessing you'd have to throw any remainder out - shelf life is something you'd need to check. If your vet prescribes this for your dog then he must give you a precription to use with another supplier if you choose. Does the vet do anything else when you go in - even listen to the dog's heart? If he does then you may be scuppered as he'll rightly be able to claim he needs to examine the animal before each application. If he simply gets the injection ready and administers it then there's no reason you can't take over.

 

Here's a link - don't know if it's the cheapest as I was just checking the product would be available to you.

http://www.viovet.co.uk/p1792/Cartrophen_Vet_Injection_-_10ml/product_info.html

[alisonrushton]

no they nver check him over - except to see how his hips are doing - I think we have all realised that he is just getting progressivly worse and although the long term use of drugs may shorten his life its all about giving him quality.

 

so he goes in - asks if hes ok and administer

 

thanks for the link

[hightail]

I am now very interested in what your vet charges you. I've looked at it a bit more and the shelf life is 28 days from first use. Now if one dog he treats is on this medication with monthly treatments the vet will have to discard the rest. That's one huge incentive to prescribe it over other drugs such as cheaper NSAIDs for any dog with arthritis who comes through the doors even if it isn't the best indicated option. Smart move by the manufacturers and marketeers!