Dog insurance plan V Pet Health Plan with your vet?

[FrenchieBoy]

I have a question that I would like to put to those "in the know"!
I am in a bit of a "mixed up mind" as to if I should take out an Pet Insurance Plan or take up one of these Dog Health Plans that many vet's surgeries are offering nowadays. I am in the process of changing vets (I'm not happy with the Vet that I am registered with but that's a personal thing which I do not want to go into and regarding this question is neither hear nor there) and the one that I am going to register with is offering a plan that is payable monthly which works out at £26 per month. This plan covers the following:

A full health check and annual vaccinations against Distemper, Infectious Hepatitis, Parvovirus, Leptospirosis and Kennel Cough including the primary vaccination course if required.

A year supply of flea and tick control.

A year supply of worming products (does not include lungworm treatment).

A six month full health check with the veterinary surgeon.

Free microchip or bottle of Pet Remedy calming spray.

Free Hills Science Plan Vetessentials food starter pack.

Free monthly veterinary nurse health checks until 6 months of age.

PLUS the added benefit of unlimited free consultations with our vets or nurses at the surgery – consultation fee only. (Normally £35 minimum per consultation)

Do you guys who are "In the know" think that this is a reasonable plan for the price.

I should add that our dog is not a working dog (Just a cross breed house dog that we wouldn't be without) and is usually fairly healthy and happy, however we all know that unexpected things can and do happen to dogs and the vet fees can be quite high sometimes.

Your thoughts would be most welcome.

 

[Chasser]

Personally, I don’t vaccinate or use flea or tick treatments and I don’t worm them, there can be some quite potent chemicals used in these that I would rather not give to my dog. As for having this instead of insurance, I had to call on my insurance a couple of years ago due to my dog becoming affected with a case of bloat, all in that would have cost me upwards of £2k, if that had happened with the vet plan I don’t see how the vet plan would have helped me? Saved me £35 for the consultation...?

 

[Selous]

The health plan is not insurance and shouldn’t be viewed as such. It is a way of spreading out the normal costs of pet ownership that would not be covered by pet insurance. If your dog falls ill or sustains an injury then the insurance will kick in up to the maximum benefit (less excesses).
As insurance is dead money, what some folks are doing these days is setting up a standing order into the “dog account” equivalent to the insurance cost and allowing it to build up. This works well once a fund has built up unless you a) need money before it has built up or b) cannot control yourself and spend it on a new Swarovski scope (or other such essential product)! To do this safely you really need a buffer that you can call on from elsewhere if you need it at the start.

 

[Malxwal]

Having just been hit with a £500 bill from my vet for anaesthetizing, cleaning and stitching up a dirty barbed wire tear in one of my dogs, I am again kicking myself I haven't been putting aside the money into the "dog fund"..

 

[Buchan]

If it includes unlimeted free consults, that's not bad, allows you to go for a "check it and see" whenever you want. Won't pay the bill for a big probelm though

 

[Chasser]

If it includes unlimeted free consults, that's not bad, allows you to go for a "check it and see" whenever you want. Won't pay the bill for a big probelm though

I’m sure the majority of check it and see’s will result in X-rays under anaesthesia, or further treatments/prescriptions in which case all you’ve saved is the cheapest part of the visit... the consul station

 

[The Singing Stalker]

With operations costing £500 upwards I would have thought actual pet insurance is vital. Which is not what the vet is offering.

 

[Kjf]

I was paying £50 a month for pet plan, Mac is 4 years old

48 months X £50 = £2400 , he hasn't been to the vets ?????? If he lives till 12 I'll have paid out £7200

A young fit dog probably doesn't need insurance if you can afford the odd stitch up job , it's when the vets get all greedy and start doing X rays n blood tests that it gets pricey, this I usually find isrequired in older dogs with ailments / ongoing problems , if this is the case the poor beggar should be put out of its misery

If you can afford to blow away £50 a month on a young dog so be it , the same if you can afford just to pay out as and when required ( I can do both)

To be honest I've just pi88ed 2.5 k up the wall lol, the pain of it is ...........

You try n insure an 8 year old dog .......... The premiums will be sky high lol,

I'll just pay for his treatment when required, and if he's beyond hope he will get put out of his misery ,

Say he lived till 8.... I'd have shelled out 5k and if he never needed treatment in that time ,I'm sure it wouldn't come to 5k over the 8 years

Horses for courses, if you get what I'm trying to say, if you can afford to pay out for a big vets bill crack on , otherwise insure the hound for your peice of mind and above all the hounds wellbeing

I have set up another pot for r Mack, this could also be used for other things, ie it's not dead money

Kjf

 

[FrenchieBoy]

So it seems that this plan is not really worth having and a full Insurance would be the better option. With that being the case can anyone suggest a descent dog insurance plan that is worth taking out without it breaking the bank please?

 

[Rake Aboot]

Don't vaccinate, don't use flea treatments, have a staple gun, camrosa, and some (available at the chemists) treatments and avoid vets like the plague.

One actually dropped the price of an operation when I told them I wasn't insured. In 30 yrs I reckon I'm thousands better off by just paying when forced to.

 

[Rake Aboot]

Having just been hit with a £500 bill from my vet for anaesthetizing, cleaning and stitching up a dirty barbed wire tear in one of my dogs, I am again kicking myself I haven't been putting aside the money into the "dog fund"..

This in spades is what I'm on about. Staple gun is easily available and I'm sure you can wash a wound yourself. Most tears don't even need stitched / staples.

Dogs don't care about scars.

 

[Hell Toupee]

Don't vaccinate, don't use flea treatments, have a staple gun, camrosa, and some (available at the chemists) treatments and avoid vets like the plague.

One actually dropped the price of an operation when I told them I wasn't insured. In 30 yrs I reckon I'm thousands better off by just paying when forced to.

The other way of looking at it, is that the vet quoted you the normal cost of the operation, and when they found out that you weren't insured, dropped the price to help you out.

 

[Malxwal]

This in spades is what I'm on about. Staple gun is easily available and I'm sure you can wash a wound yourself. Most tears don't even need stitched / staples.

Dogs don't care about scars.

Staple guns ordered, source of antibiotics established. My own fault in this case I didn't see the rip when towelling her down, as she was in need of the clippers, and as usual, didn't flinch. So the wound went unnoticed for about eight or nine hours.

 

[Kjf]

1st question they ask is .....

Are you insured

Yes I am

££££££££ signs pop up in there eye balls

Kjf

 

[Kjf]

B

This in spades is what I'm on about. Staple gun is easily available and I'm sure you can wash a wound yourself. Most tears don't even need stitched / staples.

Dogs don't care about scars.

been doing this to myself for years ,

Sod waiting in A&E for a stitch up job ,

Dogs are much tougher than we are anyway ,

A quick Yelp n a good lick of the wound is wat they'll do

Job done

Kjf

 

[Rake Aboot]

The other way of looking at it, is that the vet quoted you the normal cost of the operation, and when they found out that you weren't insured, dropped the price to help you out.

Absolutely no chance. They increase prices when you are insured as they are guaranteed a payout.

I was once kicked out a vets as I told an old school friend about camrosa. They were being charged £80 a week to get an itchy skin looked at on a westie.
I told her to try camrosa and the vet heard me, started on me and when I asked why they had not suggested it I was told to bugger off.

The woman tried camrosa and it worked within the week.

Probably shouldn't turn this into a vet bashing thread, but they make it so easy to do.

 

[Wapinschaw]

We had a dog covered by Pet Plan years ago. As the dog gets older the premiums, the excess to be paid before Pet Plan kicks in and the list of exclusions rise exponentially. Pet Plan is a business, operating for their benefit i.e. profit, they are not there to pay out and like all insurance companies make every effort not to.

As posted above we now self insure into a ring fenced dog welfare fund.

 

[bobthedug]

Well I think we can all see where this thread is heading.
Vets are a business, not a charity. Some vets are nice people, some not so much however the suggestion that as a profession that they are out to fleece you is simply not true.
If it was not for the NHS providing free care to the end user, we would perhaps have a better idea of how much "healthcare" costs.
If I look in my medicine cabinet, there are a few unused meds.
In my dog cupboard, there are none, as every pet prescription gets used as I've paid for it!

 

[Rake Aboot]

I will reply to this post but then I'm out as I won't turn it into a bashing.

Golden eye from the chemist is £2;50 Same stuff but with "for animal use only" on the side is £18

The exact same stuff. The human one even has " Not for animal use" or somit like that on the side next to the exact same ingredients.

My dogs "prescriptions" get filled at the chemist over the road. They have even stopped asking me if it's for the dugs ! lol.

 

[Blackdown_Ranger]

Will add that I am married to a vet and we still pay a hefty monthly fee to Pet Plan for all our dogs.

Virtually all vets use Pet Plan for their own pet insurance (do get a 10% discount but thats not the deciding reason) as well. There’s a reason Tesco pet insurance is cheaper!