Pet Insurance

I have insurance for my dogs with pdsa & dogs trust, luckily haven’t had to make any claims yet but it’s really cheap and they accept most breeds which I found quite hard to find as I have an XL bully and French bulldogs x

Oh my gosh she is beautiful 😍 We use Direct Line for ours. They have been absolutely fantastic. We have 3 dogs, and 2 of them have cost nearly £15k between them in surgery and post op rehab (hydrotherapy). They paid the vets direct, didn’t ask any questions, answer the phones quickly and always fab customer service. For the hydrotherapy, we did have to pay upfront and then claim back, but they paid it back into our bank account within 3 days. For the surgeries though, they paid the vets direct. Honestly can’t recommend them enough x

We were with manypets for 3 years and then ours increased from £44 to £58 per month and we have not claimed anything. We shopped around and went with Napo. Many people who own Labradors also switch from ManyPets to Napo and happy with the service. We now pay £34 per month with £12,000 cover. You don't have to, but if you want, you can use our referral code for Napo. We will both get a £30 Amazon voucher. https://www.napo.pet/join/gBQ1orGS

Not a dog, but we have our 16 year old cat insured through The Insurance Emporium. We claimed once (for about £2500) and they paid the vets directly. The monthly cost didn’t go up after we claimed, which we also found pleasently surprising. Do also check that your vets will also accept direct claims from the insurance company, as this isn’t always the case.

We save up a pet emergency fund and self-insure

We have been down the road for paying for cancer treatment for a dog in the past and it was not cheap!

Pet plan are excellent and always approved by any vet you go too.. no one else is approved by any vet and they provide a first class service

Mum has pet insurance for her lil pomchi cross Chihuahua dog, but I can't remember who she's with. My mum said that she's had to insure her lil pomchi cross Chihuahua dog as either a pomchi or Chihuahua as it's cheaper to insure her by one breed than the other. My mum was advised by the vets to insure her lil pomchi cross Chihuahua dog as either a pomchi or Chihuahua.

@Jade all well and good doing so but this would require a quite large amount of savings before having a dog, as there could always be an unforeseen emergency while saving/ just after youve spent a huge chunk on a first or separate emergency vet trip, altho vet bills where you are may be more lenient which would make sense as payment plans are very very very rarely available anymore due to laws around them. Having paid out hugely for an emergency op and then had a second emergency relating to the op two weeks later i was very glad i insured via pet plan (altho probably not the best just the most universal! Phone your vets original poster n see what ones they take direct, each vet will be different in who they accept direct from n who you’ve got to be reimbursed by)

@TJ i assume a cross due to the genetic health issues chihuahuas can have (tho could be the other way round as poms are just as prone to problems!) but do be careful to anyone doing this, I’m 99% sure this would be classed as fraud should they find out you lied knowingly for a cheaper rate, tho the only way theyd really be able to tell is what breed you put down when registering with vets

My mum was told by the vets to do it that way as it's cheaper to insure one breed than both. My mum's lil pomchi cross Chihuahua dog has had to have operations on both eyes (not at the same time tho) as they used to irritate her as they would start watering for no reason. She's also has operations on both back knees as she had slipping knee caps in both knees. She was about 3 years old or 4 years old when she had them done (her knees, but I can't remember how old she was when she had her eyes done tho). You wouldn't think that she's had any type of operations now tho Hun as she's back to her usual bouncy self and she loves playing with her squeaky toys with my fiance. She's 6 years old now.

@TJ my rescue chi cross had the exact same! Knee problems are so common in the breed n I don’t think it helped he was so lively 🤣 hes yet to have his eyes done but its looking that way, his skin is absolutely dreadful too i was so thankful for insurance. If anyone seeing this is thinking of getting a puppy not from a rescue please make sure your breeder health tests the relevant ones for your breed to avoid what we’ve struggled through! 🤣 glad to hear your mums dogs on the mend, may i recommend doggy stairs or ramp if she is up n down furniture as jumping is really what makes their knees go n my vet warned me they could go again!

Just to add (from a vet), whoever you insure with make sure you select lifetime cover (not annual) otherwise you won’t be covered for any longterm conditions once the year is up, and make sure to get at least £4k per condition - some look like a great cheap deal but will be £4k cover that in the small print actually amounts to £1k per condition which just won’t get you far with any actual surgeries etc. happy to answer any further questions if needed (though just to make you aware it isn’t allowed for vets to actually recommend any particular company over another).

Vet nurse here so deal with insurance companies A LOT!! Main thing we always say is to go for a lifetime cover rather than an annual and go for the maximum benefit that you can afford the monthly premiums on. Bigger dogs bring bigger bills so have as much cover as you possibly can. Pet plan, direct line, tesco, more than, just to name a few, are really good and easy for us to deal with. My own dog is with pet plan and they've been great, but they can be pricey. Definitely avoid Waggle!!! We have a few clients that have taken policies with them and they're awful to deal with!! They try to dispute everything! Animal friends also, a lot of people will say animal friends are a good company but from dealing with them in practice, they're horrible. If you want me to look through small print of any policies you find, send me a message and I'll help where I can. A lot of policies will sound great but they have a lot of exclusions x

My other word of advice is make sure to shop around. For regular check ups. Look at reviews online. Some vets can really gouge in price. We have learned to shop around and will drive out of the way to save money

Oh my god they look so much like my gsd husky mix I just lost 😭❤️ they’re so beautiful ❤️❤️

@Rhiannon my mum has got a ramp for her lil pomchi cross Chihuahua, but she tried it once and her dog didn't like it, but we've moved since but most of our things are still waiting to be unpacked including my mum's lil pomchi cross Chihuahua dog's ramp xx

I have a German shepherd cross husky too! He's 3.5 months. We use Waggle insurance with is £13 per month for literally everything. If you look them up you can get a quote and personal the cover if needed. I had someone who used to work in the insurance industry give it a look over and he said its one of the best he's seen

@Ebony did you state it as GSD cross or just went with weight?

I’m with pet emporium, when my little shihtzu scratched his cornea and needed emergency treatment, out of hours vets, medication, operation etc etc. we only had to show proof of insurance and pay the premium shown on the policy and then they gave us 2 weeks to get confirmation from the insurance policy saying that we had made the claim and that they would pay the full costs. Then gave the insurance company a further 30 days to clear the full amount (or something like that, it was a few years ago) but most vets (in my experience) should have the same policy where you basically hand the debt over to the insurance company but pay them the premium upfront.

Tesco - cheaper than others we have used and pay out without a fuss

I've used Tescos for 6 years, no issues. The only thing is their renewal quotes are ridiculous (most companies are the same) I cancel the policy each year and start a new one, unfortunately that means they're not covered for some things for 2 weeks 😩