Cat insurance: Does anyone bother?

[Andrewd]

Originally Posted by rescuecatsrule

Dylan's insured with Tesco pet insurance (good thing he is really because of how many fights he's been in)

Cost about £3000 when he got injured through fighting with a rat and the cat fight injuries he's had have cost so far about £500.

Just thought I'd mention it so you can compare what it would cost to insure against what vets bills your cat/s are likely to incur

Beauty, with her treatment, we didn't have insurance for her and altogether it probably cost about £2000-3000 for all her treatment. Excluding the costs to have her PTS.

Here's who we are with: http://www.tescopetinsurance.co.uk/

Wow, £3000 injury from fighting a rat? It must have been huge!! It’s becoming very apparent that having insurance is a necessary precaution. I have tried to use the price comparison websites but its quite hard to distinguish which company is actually the best for what I want. I notice that some of the more specialised pet insurers do lifetime cover which could be a good route to go.

Originally Posted by yola

Vet costs can mount up very quickly. Costs for insuring a healthy young cat can be quite low and as long as you keep the insurance going it shouldn't rise too much (I had mine 'capped' so it didn't rise as the cats grew older).

I personally would recommend it. When my first CP persian got an intestinal blockage the operation and associated treatments cost close to £2000; the insurance paid all except the £15 excess!

*edit to say, yes like everything else it's a calculated risk. Your cat may never need treatment and you may never have to claim!!

That is pretty amazing; from what I have heard Persians are quite prone to having a few problems though? I think your right and it’s a calculated risk, I just don’t want to be stung with a £3000 bill.

Originally Posted by yola

Angie, this was my previous insurer; E&L (originally called Equine and Livestock). They were excellent until Balie hit age 12. Then for no reason I received a really shirty letter stating that as I had missed a payment (I had not), they were cancelling his insurance. Well I do know the reason - they obviously have a policy of not insuring over a certain age
So I got shirty back and moved all my cats to Animal Friends which is an ethical insurer.

I typed in E&L into Google and found that they didn’t have many good reviews. They were a strong possibility until I saw them.

Originally Posted by Elaine

My old fella Winston never had insurance, he never had a days illness until hye reached the age of 18, then he was diagnosed with CRF. I spent thousands over the next 2 and half years, I regret a penny but it was costly.

I recently lost a young puss at the age of 5 and a half years. She was insured and thank god she was as in just over 3 weeks I spent more than £700 at the vet, which the insurance has re-imbursed minus my excess and she was also under a specialist at the Edinburgh vet school which the insurance pays direct, that bill is around £2500 to £3000.

So all in all, I think insurance is worth taking out as we never expected Eva to become so ill so suddenly. Sadly we lost her but it wasnt for the want of trying, if I didnt have the insurance I wouldnt have been able to get her the specialist care.

Yeah, that’s true. The only question now is with who and of what level of cover? I think were looking for a policy that strikes a good balance between a good level of cover and cost. It’s all rather confusing stuff to be honest. Tesco looked ok, but nothing special for the money compared to some others.

Thank you for all your replies

[Elaine]

I am with Pet Plan. The policies I have for my pets are the Covered for Life Budget plan. This gives me up to £4000 vet fees per year with an excess of £70.
I have to say that this is the first time I have made a claim and they have paid out very quickly with no quibble unlike bloody car insurances

[angieh]

That's the same policy that I have for Kizzy and Pip. They do seem to pay out promptly and with no quibble - and my vet practice will bill them direct if needs be.

[niki71uk]

my older cat isnt insured.i never really thought about it,but as he has had flea allergies,i then couldnt insure him. my dog is insured and so is my younger cat,even tho she doesnt go out,

was i silly to insure the indoor cat???

both the younger cat and the dog r on one policy,its cheaper apparently,about £25 for both together

[Elaine]

No, not silly at all Niki, you just never know when or if you might need it. xxx

[niki71uk]

i guess lol,she has escaped a few times,but not gone far thank goodness,dont think she'd run away anyway,or let anyone pick her up lol.she's a very nervy cat,from being a kitten and she's nearly 2

[MrsH]

We have Healthy Pets whole of life Gold Plan for our 2 cats and the spaniel which will pay up to £7500 per condition. It was recommended by other cocker spaniel owners but since we took out our policy some are finding their premiums have gone up rather a lot. I've heard very good things about Greenbee (John Lewis)

[pinklizzy]

Imogen is insured. Some people thing it's odd that I have my animals insured when I work in a veterinary practice
However, because of the job I do I see so many cases of people having to make decisions on the care their animal receives based on cost.
Obviously this is a major consideration and I would never want to push someone into treatment that will put them into a massive debt but I wanted to know that Imogen or Darcy could be referred for any treatment they needed, without having to worry. I know there is no way I could put enough into a savings account to be able to pay out thousands for treatment ( and most referral centres require payment upfront if you don't have insurance) They are both with Petplan.
I do however bang my head on the desk repeatedly when trying to fill out the claim forms

[calismum]

I don't have cats at the moment but my dogs have always been insured - I use PetPlan.

Cali has had numerous claims:-
emergency spay due to a pyometra -£2500
emergency surgery due to intestine blockage (swallowed a stone!) - £3000
severed bicep tendon with referral to specialist - £4000
Ongoing undiagnosed neurological condition resulting in referral to Vet School in Glasgow/MRI scan/Spinal tap/X Rays etc/Pain clinic referral/acupuncture - £5000 +

All in all no matter what they raise the premium to and no matter if I never claim again the insurance is a small amount compared to what they have paid out.

I have never had a query from them, no refusal, and prompt payments.

When I add that to the claims I have made for the other dogs I'm probably never going to be out of pocket.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Andrewd

Wow, £3000 injury from fighting a rat? It must have been huge!!

His leg was torn open then when the stitches came out the wound burst open again.

You never know when you'll need to claim, we didn't know Dylan was going to fight with the wild rats!