Hunting dog insurance?

BunnyDoom

Well-Known Member
Just tried insuring my pup but seems they won't insure dogs used for hunting? Can anyone recommend an insurer? Is insurance worth bothering with as tbh I'm not into keeping dogs alive to suffer if they're seriously ill or have major ongoing health issues... on the other hand if he swallows something or breaks something I shudder at the thought of vets bills?!
 
£3219
That's what I got for Christmas in the form of a vets bill. Vizsla with a twisted stomach. I never had insurance but will be having it for future dogs.
You don't have to insure it as a working dog, they dont get ill from working only usually injured and then how do the prove you weren't just out walking it.

Matt.
 
It's a minefield out there. What you need to do is find a company that you are happy with and stick with them. If you change insurance companies then anything pre-existing is excluded (and that can mean a few days lame at 6 months old can mean no payout when the dog gets arthritis 10 years later).

You need a policy that covers the dog 'for life', otherwise they stop paying after a year.

You need a decent claim limit - I suggest nothing less than £5000.

The cheapest quote is never the best. I know a number of vets who have their own dogs insured and every single one uses Petplan. Read into that what you will.

There are a lot of complaints of pet insurance not paying out, but almost all these stem from people not reading the small print - pre-existing conditions, excluded conditions, claim limits, failure to keep vaccines up to date, general exclusions (eg dental work).

Sadly vets not allowed to comment on particular policies but there are certain companies that are best avoided. If you decide on a company I am happy you PMing me the name and I can always tell you to keep looking. ;)
 
I'm just in the process of searching myself so couldn't recommend anyone. It'll be interesting to see what other guys put on here. Ideally could do with recommendation from someone who's made a claim.

Matt.
 
I'll get the mrs to dig out our polycy think its John Lewis but will confirm. My Weimaraner bitch has had 2 claims. 1. Rear flank almost ripped off by a terrier required many stitches. 2. 1" thorn went in between her toes and as she never limped it wasn't noticed until it started to swell up. Both required general anaesthetic and insurance paid up prompt only £75 excess
Wingy
 
Pet plan is very good had no quibbles, got a lab on long term med's they pay way more for medication each month than the insurance cover costs
 
Ensure stumped up £5000 for Katie's bacterial infection. £25 a month but I will now not pay that back in her lifetime. As apache says, I cannot change companies. Jim
 
as we tend to go stalking in vets out of hours time insurance is a must in my opinion , £60 just be seen , no brainer
 
More than covers my aged dog £50 per month now. But seeing as he is on first name terms with most vets it is still cheaper than none
 
we've never bothered with insurance, it's too expensive and if the cost of surgery etc is prohibitive it's not worth it ....
 
We insure our lab with tesco, was £15 per month but after a large claim it went up to £25 in the second year, we claimed just a couple of months after taking out the policy and had no problems at all with the claim.

Martin
 
I would not be without dog insurance and have had to use it a couple of times. However I have found vet fees vary depending where you are.
For example out stalking in Dumfries 2 years ago when my bitch was bitten by an adder. This involved an emergency out of hour call to the vets, who met me at the surgery my bitch had a series of injections was kept in for observations for 6 hours and discharged with 3 courses of tablets for the next 2 weeks.
Wait for it - I had change from £50, my insurance excess would have been £75.
Back home my dog had been off his food for a couple of days and just wasn't his self. Trip to vets examination - nothing found - 1 injection (tonic) £39
Wingy
 
I would not be without dog insurance and have had to use it a couple of times. However I have found vet fees vary depending where you are.
For example out stalking in Dumfries 2 years ago when my bitch was bitten by an adder. This involved an emergency out of hour call to the vets, who met me at the surgery my bitch had a series of injections was kept in for observations for 6 hours and discharged with 3 courses of tablets for the next 2 weeks.
Wait for it - I had change from £50, my insurance excess would have been £75.
Back home my dog had been off his food for a couple of days and just wasn't his self. Trip to vets examination - nothing found - 1 injection (tonic) £39
Wingy


This is part of the answer and i have a vet like this, very rare to have one and be pleased with bills. The last time mine went in was with a badly cut pad, couldn't clean it properly without anesthetic and as she had been fed not long before they kept her in stapled it and anti biotics, follow up visit and it was under £80 so not worth claiming. Mine is with petplan as well and in 5 years I haven't claimed so am roughly £1700 down but it is peace of mind if anything happens. I'm more worried about accidents etc and a single large bill than on going costs but a fair bit depends on your financial position and whether you could just have the dog put down if the worst happened. Though the suggestion usually seems to result in an offer of alternative far cheaper treatment most times i've heard it suggested. If you have multiple dogs then its a no brainer the money is usually better off in a savings account
 
NFU for me, simply added the dogs onto my existing home contents insurance. No problem with them being working dogs.

I would be very careful about stating that your dogs don't work when they do, insurance companies don't need much encouragement to cry off paying out.
 
Ive 5 dogs in total. I dont insure any of them. I had a terrier a few years ago which poked its eye on a stick while out bushing. Took her down the vets and the lady vet started talking about eye removal. I asked what the likely cost of that was and she replied 'Just had a spaniel in, £900 for two, so £500 for one' When I said that it was an uninsured working dog, she said 'Oh you have no insurance? Here is some eye drops, come back in a week'. A total of 5 visits and £200. I later found out that the eye drops were exactly the same as those sold in Boots for £5...
The sudden change in treatment costs and more importantly, recommended regimes when the vet found out that the dog was not insured convinced me that dog insurance is a borderline scam. Although I am sure that there are some people who benefit greatly from insurance and would not be without it, it is definitely not for me. As has been said by another poster, if the cost of treatment is prohibitive, or will require life long treatment/drugs, then maybe it is kinder to the animal to PTS. This is my view anyway.
 
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