Cat insurance

[Venisonpie]

My cat is 15 months old and I've had her since she was 10 weeks (feral, rescue). I insured her last year with Petplan which cost £350 however the premium has gone up to £419 for the next 12 months - this seems extraordinary.

What do other cat owners do, is it a case of going elsewhere or do you take the risk and keep a fund?

[Jamescrs]

I appreciate some people are likely more emotionally attached to their cats than I am but I have one which is abou5 5 months old and I won't be insuring him, as much as I like having him around being brutally honest i'll pay for vet bills up to a point and i'm never going to let him suffer but i'm afraid any life altering illnesses such as Cancer or complex breaks or injuries and it would be game over.

Apologies in advance for anyone offended by my response.

[Simpo Two]

I keep the premiums in the Bank of Simpo and pay any vet's bills myself.

Insurance companies make profit which means that overall you lose. I think insurance has also played a role in putting up vet's bills because they know the owner won't be paying. Mind you that's small beer compared to the current trend of big corporates buying up vet's practices which I think is abominable.

[Venisonpie]

Simpo Two said:

I keep the premiums in the Bank of Simpo and pay any vet's bills myself.

Insurance companies make profit which means that overall you lose. I think insurance has also played a role in putting up vet's bills because they know the owner won't be paying. Mind you that's small beer compared to the current trend of big corporates buying up vet's practices which I think is abominable.

Thanks, I'm minded to do the same. Given she's young and I've only paid one annual premium I think now is the time to make that call. Once you're several years down the line I guess you'd feel obliged to keep paying future premiums to get benefit from all the previous years when it wasn't called upon.

[UTH]

Jamescrs said:

I appreciate some people are likely more emotionally attached to their cats than I am but I have one which is abou5 5 months old and I won't be insuring him, as much as I like having him around being brutally honest i'll pay for vet bills up to a point and i'm never going to let him suffer but i'm afraid any life altering illnesses such as Cancer or complex breaks or injuries and it would be game over.

Apologies in advance for anyone offended by my response.

As per my (depressing) post in this forum a few mins ago, I've had my cats 17 years, most of these years they've not been insured.

I'm sure I convinced myself of a reason behind this at the time, but having just had to spend £3k this weekend I'm of course wishing I had insured them!
But on the flipside, insuring two cats for, say, £500 each per year for 17 years having never needed it until now, maybe that's my reasoning right there....

[cliffords]

Same as you left Petplan as it went silly. Insurance now with Tesco and we had to use it to the tune of £3k a month ago and they paid within 5 days of the claim.

[Sheepshanks]

UTH said:

But on the flipside, insuring two cats for, say, £500 each per year for 17 years having never needed it until now, maybe that's my reasoning right there....

Appreciate you're looking backwards, and I think it's gone up a lot, but if the OP is being quoted £400 for yr old car I dread to think how much a 17yr old one would cost. And you'd have to had it on lifetime cover.

That said, we've had multiple cats and not insured them until the last one - my wife took the free insurance from the vet and just let it run on. At 18mths old the cat turned out to have a heart defect. We had £4K cover limit and for two years on the run the vets bills were amazingly, £4K. Then the cat died. Apparently this always happens - the meds they put them cease to be effective.

I will say Petplan paid every bill quickly and without query, including the vet's bonkers pricing for meds - makes me wonder whether the vet gets a kickback.

[garreth64]

Personally, from experience, I'd stick with Petplan. They don't increase premiums if you have to claim, and have always paid us swiftly.

Some others seem to have initial low prices, but then ramp it up more in coming years. As they get older it becomes difficult to change, as if they have been ill, and you want to change insurers, most will not consider any pre-existing conditions.

We lost one of our cats last year at 12 y/o, and she had around £8k of treatment in the previous 18 months. With the way vet prices are now, it racks up very quickly, especially if they need an op and/or hospitalisation. Her monthly premium was under £30.

Our other cat is with ManyPets and they have just put the premium up from £43 to £68 per month! She is a bit poorly at the moment and is likely to need treatment at some point soon, so we are just sucking it up at the moment.

Also, bear in mind after 10 years of age, most companies, including Petplan, expect you to pay 20% of any costs, as well as the excess.

[cliffords]

Just to note petplan don't increase the premium after a claim as stated above, BECAUSE at renewal they exclude cover for that condition. It's a very hollow claim to make, they really are a bad lot.

[Sheepshanks]

cliffords said:

Just to note petplan don't increase the premium after a claim as stated above, BECAUSE at renewal they exclude cover for that condition. It's a very hollow claim to make, they really are a bad lot.

That didn't happen on our case, cat with heart failure - we had exactly the same vet, specialist and medication costs two years on the run. May be due to "lifetime" cover.