Dog Insurance.

RED-DOT

Well-Known Member
My CBR's are working hard 3-4 times a week and they dog in and flush at my syndicate and at my flighting pond and was wondering if you have yours insured and with whom? They are 5 years old now and in great health and shape.
 
I have two flatcoated retrievers which are insured with Tesco.

The price of insuring dogs has rocketed over the last ten years and at one stage I decided it was not worth paying for insurance. Within 4 months my bitch developed laryngeal paralysis and the vet bill came to over £1k. I now keep them insured.


Watchout for the small print in some insurances which say they will not cover working dogs. I believe some will not pay out even if you are not being paid for the work they are doing.

Mulac
 
I had a bad experience with Direct Line Pet Insurance and would never use them again for anything. They tried to use every wangle to get out of paying. Luckily being in the business I was able to get round it, but it wouldnt be easy for those not "in the know"
 
A vet once told me to put the cost of pet insurance into a sweet jar and the day the dog died there would be money left over?
 
A vet once told me to put the cost of pet insurance into a sweet jar and the day the dog died there would be money left over?

Not troubled a Veterinary Surgeon recently then?. First question on arrival: what appears to be the problem?. Second: ARE YOU INSURED?.
Getting beyond a joke. Look how many vets have given up their 'large animal' (farm) practices.
 
A vet once told me to put the cost of pet insurance into a sweet jar and the day the dog died there would be money left over?

I thought that too. I was paying over £300 a year some time ago for 3 wolfhounds. So i cancelled all their insurance and started putting the money away. Less than six months later one of the dogs required life long medication and I was way out of pocket within 6 months. Insurance is a risk - you pays your money (or banks it), you take your choice. For me it's a good insurance policy every time now
 
We are insured through PetPlan who have a great relationship with our Vets, so the staff at the vets take care of all the paperwork. Currently one of my dogs has a skin problem and the bill for tests etc if fast approaching £600 so without insurance I would be a very unhappy bunny.
 
Pet plan ( very good company imo) for my dogs, not working breeds but classed as 'high risk ' group- Leonbergers x 2 costs me £110 per month :cry: but have certainly used the insurance and as mentioned the first thing the vet will ask ' are you insured'. unfortunately the vets have you by the knackers , we all love our dogs , dont want to see them suffering but they make us pay for them. next time though i will be choosing a smaller , hardier (cheaper:D) breed
cheers
craig
 
Just some general observations on dog insurance, it's like anything else, the company is there to make money from you. With that in mind look VERY carefully at the policies. Some claim "insurance for life" but they mean the life of the CLAIM. So check it is for the life of the animal. The cheaper policies are cheaper for a reason. In practice we have more problems - queries or rejected claims - with the cheaper newer policies than the long established more expensive ones. Putting the cash to one side can work, but as scrun says - either you take the risk, or pay the insurance company to do it.
 
I did not bother with insurance but my wife sorted it for our springer,then when the dog was about 1 it got knocked down broke pelvis in 2 places and leg with the insurance we got it fixed at a specialist it would have cost us £2200.Insurance can be worth it sometimes.
 
Having checked the small print I took Esure. Field sports are not on the list of activities negating the insurance. Working or taken to shoots invalidate most. Direct line puts outings at 5 per year before the insurance is invalid. Tesco's Sainsbury's Asda as well as petplan all disallow dogs used in the field even as unpaid companions. NFU insist on you having house insurance with them before the will insure working dogs. Jim
 
Our three working dogs are insured with Pet Plan (covered for life, and for picking up). Our lab has run up £12,000 in vet bills, that's a lot of premiums ;).

Oh, and I work in the insurance industry and my wife is a vet, most of the comments about both in this thread couldn't be further from the truth :rolleyes:
 
Alex

I have my cocker insured through the Kennel Club for working policy. They did not openly advertise it but when I went to change from a standard cover when he was a year old they confirmed that they could cover him for working. He is now 4, touch wood not needed to use it, but my mate had his dog at vet for disease which unfortunatley it died from but the bills were over £1K and the insurance covered it.

Comparing the small print, the KC insurance seemed to cover most if not more than the others. Even tried NFU but unless you took house and contents with them they would not offer policy.

Andy
 
My CBR's are working hard 3-4 times a week and they dog in and flush at my syndicate and at my flighting pond and was wondering if you have yours insured and with whom? They are 5 years old now and in great health and shape.[/QUOTE Have you asked the rest of the dog owners in the syndicate you belong to?
 
Another vote for PetPlan

My 2 dogs and the wifes horse are through them.

May not be the cheapest but when the Sh1t hits the fan, thats the only real gauge of how good your policy is unfortunately and I have to say, that PetPlan have always given me a first class service so I will continue to use them.
 
Anyone got any experience with NFU? We have our horse insured with them and they have been very good at paying out with us. Importantly, they only restrict the insurance "per condition" not "per limb" as many horse insurers do - wondered if their dog insurance was as good?
 
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