PET INSURANCE (Good news today 1/12/10 update.)

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GRECIAN

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Liam.
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I am not a rich guy so when we brought our Retriever some 5 years ago we took out insurance as if anything were to happen to him we could have him treated and never mind the cost.

We have paid the premium for 5 years without making a claim, then 4 weeks ago a huge tumour developed in his throat, to cut a long story short after an op and after care with meds it has cost £1,200, we now need to take him to a soft tissue specialist as he has a further problem with his throat and he is going in next Tuesday for another op and will need 7 days care and 3 weeks of visits to the vets after this, this will cost around £3,000

If we did not have the insurance we dont know how we would have managed, i probably would have sold all my photographic gear and much more to pay for it and lost even more sleep worrying about the cost as well as our pet, who is just one of the family.

So the moral of the story is dont think it will not happen to you, it might and if it does and your not minted how will you manage.

I have not named my pet insurer as i did not want this to sound like an advert but i am delighted with them and happy to pass on who i use if you want some info.

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Like all insurance, most of the time you pay it and never need it, but when you do.

all 5 of mine are insured.
 
Sorry to hear about this and I was in the same situation recently except that we were between insurers when we needed to make a claim :shake: still we have sorted it now and the dogs are re insured with another company who are more undertandable and there are some insurers I would not touch with a barge pole.

Hope your dog makes a good recovery and they can sort this out, and I can quite understand where you are coming from as being a part of the family and as pet owners we undertake the responsiblity of looking after them.

I also was prepared to sell everything as this op was going to cost in the region of £3000.00 but I explained the situation to the specialist and he worked his hardest to get the cost down and to my suprise did a great job when we paid the bill yesterday (y)

Still going to be a long road and so long as we have our pets at the end of it it is all that counts.

Wishing you all the best for next week.(y)
 
Sorry to hear about your doggie, lets hope he recovers quickly after the treatment.

We were with E&L for both my dogs and have recently gone over to petplan life cover after a nasty incident with E&L taking nearly a year to pay up a claim we made.
 
stokes said:
Sorry to hear about your doggie, lets hope he recovers quickly after the treatment.

We were with E&L for both my dogs and have recently gone over to petplan life cover after a nasty incident with E&L taking nearly a year to pay up a claim we made.
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Twice E & L would not pay out on the dogs and even had trouble when I had to claim with the horses, but this was a long time ago and heard that a lot of people have had trouble with them.

So hence have changed.
 
Briony said:
Twice E & L would not pay out on the dogs and even had trouble when I had to claim with the horses, but this was a long time ago and heard that a lot of people have had trouble with them.

So hence have changed.
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Sorry to hear about your dog Grecian. Hopefully he'll soon be back on form.

I can second what Briony has written. E&L, Entertainment and Lesure, Equine and Livestock are all part of the same company. It is well documented they don't like paying up, not just for horses and pets but caravans too.

Only the other week I was talking to a girl whose vet bill was in the low thousands and E&L refused to pay up.

The first thing the vets round my way ask when asking if the client has insurance is 'which company' because they are all too aware of problems with that company.

Sorry, Grecian, I didn't mean to take over your thread.

Lisa
 
Thanks Guy's, it has all been a horrible worry had to wait 3 days for the first op, then 7 days to find the tumor was beign, then we thought everything was ok only to find out he has another lump actually on his throat wall, which we hope is a foreign body gone septic not anything nasty.
All this waiting does your head in.
 
Sorry, Grecian, I didn't mean to take over your thread
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Not at all, maybe we should name and shame as i would hate to find my insurance did not pay up, i am with Sainsburys and they have been brilliant taken all the worry of costs away from us (i work for Tesco lol).
 
GRECIAN said:
Thanks Guy's, it has all been a horrible worry had to wait 3 days for the first op, then 7 days to find the tumor was beign, then we thought everything was ok only to find out he has another lump actually on his throat wall, which we hope is a foreign body gone septic not anything nasty.
All this waiting does your head in.
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Tell me about it especially when you can't explain to them what is happening.

Spent the night last night on the floor with Molly as she was in so much pain, I expect the same again tonight,:shrug: but can't do any more though, just got to be there for them when they need you.

Beautiful dog by the way, like a little polar bear :LOL:
 
Thank you,,,,, sorry to hear that about Molly,, to hear a dog in pain is horrible and you feel so helpless, i was on the Kitchen floor with ours for 4 nights when he came home as he had a drain in his throat which was smelly and very very messy.

Hope all goes well for you both.
 
we lost our beloved jack Russell "Cara" the day after our wedding, it wasn't the best lead upto our wedding either, she was fitting and i was sleeping on the floor next to her every night unable to help her, but being there for her.

Liam is right, you do feel so helpless and i had the vet out at least three or four times a night because i couldn't help but try and help her. In the end we were given medication for her that we had to administer whilst she was fitting. I hope things go well for your little friends :)

my little cara, we miss her dearly :) And so does her "sister" dotty, in the background.


July camping trip 019 by stokes tog, on Flickr
 
Pet insurance is soooooo worth it, as pretty much everyone has said. We've had our 12yr old Bull Terrier insured since we rescued her nearly 10 years ago now and for 7 years never made a claim, then in the last 3 years we must have claimed about 7-8k worth of stuff (mostly mast cell tumours and liver/kidney issues) and she's now on meds that keep her like a much younger dong but do cost around £200/month.

Needless to say the renewal came through the other week and the premium has doubled since last year but what can you do, you can't MOVE as another insurer won't cover ongoing conditions so we pay it knowing that at any time she could get another tumour and that would be a few grand gone in a couple of weeks!

She's still going strong now though...
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Moral of the story... pet insurance will nearly always be worth it (y)
 
We were so grateful for pet insurance last year when we lost our beloved 10 year-old Briard Pepper days before xmas.
She was being sick for weeks and nothing the vet did could help.
Long story short, she had to have an emergency op at midnight that cost a fortune but her stomach was so badly perforated that she had to be PTS while she was still under.
The poor girl must've been so ill for weeks with a leaky gut poisoning her constantly.
Needless to say xmas didn't happen in our house and the only positive was that the insurance paid for absolutely everything except the cremation.
We'd have been seriously in debt without it!

Get your little family members insured, guys!
 
I lost my beloved cocker spaniel on sunday to kidney disease, we had to take him to the emergency vets on sunday, me and my family are devastated as he was'nt even 2. The vet was fantastic but the insurance won't pay because we did'nt want him to die in pain after a few days, I would sell all my gear and a lot more to cover costs if i have too.
 
I am so sorry to here about so many peoples heartache i am sorry for everyone who has lost or is watching a beloved pet suffer.

Chris i am so sorry for your loss, that is no age and our last Dog a Rough collie died of Chronic renal failure at 4 years so i know how devastating it is.

we are trying our best to make the best of the next few days but it is on your mind all the time that next week we will be sending him for his second major op in 4 weeks and although you know he has to go, you just dont want him to have to go through the op and the 7 days of being in the vets care 50 miles from home.

Took this photo this morning as although he is unwell he had a glint in his eye.

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He's a gorgeous dog Liam. I have had 3 Goldies and one of them had to have big lumps removed- one ruptured her spleen but she survived. She recovered very quickly after her ops. Watch he doesnt take his stitches or staples out - mine did.I have a lab and she is insured, with Tesco. I do worry that they might not cover her fully as its one of the cheaper plans.

I hope your lovely boy recovers soon- and Molly.
 
And please make sure your pet insurance doesn't have these two things:

1. If the same condition arises again after 12 months they aren't covered (ie, you need it to say each condition is covered for life)

2. It isn't one which you pay excess then a certain percentage.

We have just finished paying off a vets bill from our little 10 month old Cavalier pup who died last Boxing Day.. it was £70 to pay and then 10% of the extra.
The extra was HUUUGE!

I was looking round later on and some insurers dont have the percentage thing... when I asked them what wouldve happened in Reuben's case they said they would have paid the lot.

BEWARE and read the small print carefully.

Glad your goldie is getting better... our new pupply Lewis is one year old and fine(y)
 
tripod chris said:
I lost my beloved cocker spaniel on sunday to kidney disease, we had to take him to the emergency vets on sunday, me and my family are devastated as he was'nt even 2. The vet was fantastic but the insurance won't pay because we did'nt want him to die in pain after a few days, I would sell all my gear and a lot more to cover costs if i have too.
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Sorry to hear this Chris, our little Reuben had undeveloped kidneys and they had started to fail about about 6 months old.
 
I have a lab and she is insured, with Tesco
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I work for Tesco but they would not insure a Goldie without a hip score and the vet wanted £250 for this, so we went to Sainsburys who have been fantastic.

Janice, The way Sainsbury insurance works is that you get £7,500.00 per condition and a £75 excess per condition.

The only down side to that is if you spend the 7.5k you cant claim for the same condition again.

My vet told me to go to Sainsburys as she has found them to be one of the easiest to deal with and dont seem to have any hidden small print, they also pay £100 towards the cost of cremation if needed and the purchase price of the dog if it dies under the age of 8 (i think it is 8 without reading the book)
 
GRECIAN said:
I work for Tesco but they would not insure a Goldie without a hip score and the vet wanted £250 for this, so we went to Sainsburys who have been fantastic.

Janice, The way Sainsbury insurance works is that you get £7,500.00 per condition and a £75 excess per condition.

The only down side to that is if you spend the 7.5k you cant claim for the same condition again.

My vet told me to go to Sainsburys as she has found them to be one of the easiest to deal with and dont seem to have any hidden small print, they also pay £100 towards the cost of cremation if needed and the purchase price of the dog if it dies under the age of 8 (i think it is 8 without reading the book)
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Funny you should say that.... sainsburys are EXACTLY who we are going to go with!! (y)

It was "MORE THAN" before. They said they pay the cost of the puppy (ie, £550) if it dies. But when push came to shove, we pay the yearly insurance each month. We had only paid 4 months, so we still owed 8 months for that year.

They add up what you havent paid yet, and take it from the £550 so we only got £300 or so.

All depends how far through a year you are when your dog unfortunately dies!!:shrug:
 
we are with petplan now, and they have "cover for life" policies. they will pay upto 10 grand per condition per year for the life of our doggies :) saying that our monthly premium for them both is quite high..
 
stokes said:
we are with petplan now, and they have "cover for life" policies. they will pay upto 10 grand per condition per year for the life of our doggies :) saying that our monthly premium for them both is quite high..
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Yes that is the problem with petplan although you do get what you pay for and they probably are one of the best out there.

I pay £17 a month now but it was £6 when i took out the policy IN 2006, i think for what i pay and the cover i receive i cant complain.
 
This thread made me look again at the cover I had with my pet insurance and I changed it last night to Sainsbury's more expensive plan.My dog means the world to me so I need to know that whatever happened I could get help for her without having to take out a huge loan.
 
ladysue said:
This thread made me look again at the cover I had with my pet insurance and I changed it last night to Sainsbury's more expensive plan.My dog means the world to me so I need to know that whatever happened I could get help for her without having to take out a huge loan.
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Hi Sue,
That is exactly how I felt and now being in the position I feared most for our boy the worry of what will happen to him is enough without having to worry how I can pay for his treatment and care.

My Brother did not have insurance on his Dog until this happened to us and now he has insured through Sainsbury as well.

Hope you never need to use it but knowing it is there will be a godsend should you do.
Liam.
 
Our Boy has just come out of a 2 hour op to remove a second mass from his throat, sounds like is a bit worse for wear and will be in the vets for 5 to 7 days as he has a drain fitted.
We now have to wait 5 to 7 days for the lab reports to let us know exactley what it is, sleepless nights and worry seem to be the order of the day latley.
 
We've got a couple of spaniels and wouldn't be without our insurance. Our working cocker swallowed a stone when he was about 1 year old and the bill came to about £800. A year later and the end of his tail got trapped in a door and needed another op - £650 this time. Both times the insurers paid up absolutely no questions asked and quickly as well. It really helps peace of mind as well - we could just tell the vets to get on with it and we didn't have to worry money wise. I don't mind naming the companies as Halifax for the first one and M&S the second time round. The only reason we changed was that they were cheaper for the same policy when we got our second puppy.

Grecian - hope everything turns out well for your retriever.
 
Grecian - hope everything turns out well for your retriever
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Just had a call from the vet saying we can pick up our boy today, still not had all the cultures back to confirm the cause of the tumours and infection, it will be great to bring him home and fingers are crossed the results are nothing horrible which will make our Christmas just perfect.
 
I'm glad you can pick him up now. I'm sure he will be glad to be home and that he will recover best. I hope all goes well with him.I love golden retrievers. I have had 3 of them and they were such loving gentle dogs.
 
GRECIAN said:
Just had a call from the vet saying we can pick up our boy today, still not had all the cultures back to confirm the cause of the tumours and infection, it will be great to bring him home and fingers are crossed the results are nothing horrible which will make our Christmas just perfect.
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Glad to hear he's coming home.
 
Crazyhorse said:
Sorry to hear about your dog Grecian. Hopefully he'll soon be back on form.

I can second what Briony has written. E&L, Entertainment and Lesure, Equine and Livestock are all part of the same company. It is well documented they don't like paying up, not just for horses and pets but caravans too.

Only the other week I was talking to a girl whose vet bill was in the low thousands and E&L refused to pay up.

The first thing the vets round my way ask when asking if the client has insurance is 'which company' because they are all too aware of problems with that company.

Sorry, Grecian, I didn't mean to take over your thread.

Lisa
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I moved from E&L,they really are pants.They refused initially to pay out on a claim,it was only after going to the ombudsman that the bill was settled,spooky that it took the intervention of higher authority to get them to do their part of the insurance contract I had with them.On the otherhand nearly all insurance companies are the same,my van insurance went up by 40%!!!!!,when I contacted the insurance company about it I was told " it was due to the high number of fraudulent claims they have had to pay out" now forgive me if I'm not seeing this right,but,if those claims are fraudulent why on earth are they paying out on them?,PUT THE PREMIUMS UP FOR THOSE THAT FRAUDULENTLY CLAIM,NOT THOSE OF US WHO DO NOT MAKE CLAIMS.
 
Thanks for posting this, We have had our black lab insured since birth she is now 7 and it has proved very worth wile. Personally I think it should be compulsory just for the public liability aspect. Hope everything turns out fine for your dog, fabulous looking retreiver !!
 
Thank you for the good wishes, much appreciated
Well we picked him up yesterday and he is now home and being pampered as you would expect, the surgery site is huge and we are expecting some large swelling now his drain is out.

It seems today we should get the results from the cultures and will finally find out what has caused all this, we are very nervious and also glad the waiting is over as it has been 14 days since we knew he needed a second op and the worry is taking its toll.

Will keep you posted.
 
mex said:
I moved from E&L,they really are pants.They refused initially to pay out on a claim,it was only after going to the ombudsman that the bill was settled,spooky that it took the intervention of higher authority to get them to do their part of the insurance contract I had with them.On the otherhand nearly all insurance companies are the same,my van insurance went up by 40%!!!!!,when I contacted the insurance company about it I was told " it was due to the high number of fraudulent claims they have had to pay out" now forgive me if I'm not seeing this right,but,if those claims are fraudulent why on earth are they paying out on them?,PUT THE PREMIUMS UP FOR THOSE THAT FRAUDULENTLY CLAIM,NOT THOSE OF US WHO DO NOT MAKE CLAIMS.
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Some of the threads on camera insurance are highly critical, to say the least, of E&L.
 
Missus is a vet so swears by pet insurance - we claim about £3k a year for our dogs' drugs for his epilepsy.

Without a shadow of a doubt would always have pet insurance
 
GRECIAN said:
Thank you for the good wishes, much appreciated
Well we picked him up yesterday and he is now home and being pampered as you would expect, the surgery site is huge and we are expecting some large swelling now his drain is out.

It seems today we should get the results from the cultures and will finally find out what has caused all this, we are very nervious and also glad the waiting is over as it has been 14 days since we knew he needed a second op and the worry is taking its toll.

Will keep you posted.
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Molly and Teasel send their love and hope for a speedy recovery. (y)
 
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