Is your pet paying the price of insurers’ exit?

Ah my favourite subject!! It is long but worth a read!
Many years ago in 1970 I adopted a 3 yo GSD as a watch dog/companion – when he was 10 he became very listless and I thought he was about to die – so I adopted a 8 week old Lurcher puppy – The old dog immediately perked up like a puppy himself – But I decided I should then insure them both with the so called top pet insurance company.- No problem with puppy but they refused to insure the old GSD though he had never been injured or ill as he was over 8 .

Then 8 years later the pet insurance co wanted FOUR times the premium because the pup was EIGHT. In the previous 8 years the pup had cut her paw once – total cost of injury was £80 including two NON refundable vet visits of £20 each so refund was just £40 but insurance was £80 a year. so had spent £640 for a return of £40 – not good – Now they wanted £320 A YEAR for a proven 8 yo healthy dog – So I decided instead to put aside the amount I would have spent on premiums into a ring-fenced savings account. Two dogs two ammounts.

BTW the ‘old’ GSD was still very much alive!! He died at 20 years old – total cost £200 including bi-annual vet examinations and £100 home euthanasia fee. Five years later the ‘pup’ died of old age at 13 with no illnesses or injuries so cost was £200 as before – annual vet visits and home euthanasia..Incidentally pet insurance does not cover dental treatment that some dogs need as they grow older. In 41 years of dog ownership have had two incidences of tooth abscess cost around £40 to remove them – My dogs do not have plaque or decay as they have good oral hygiene. .

10 years later when the GSD died at 20 – I adopted a 2.5 yo retired racing greyhound as companion for the ‘pup’. (I help to run an retired racing greyhound adoption kennels) I already had a pet fund of about £3000 – The interest on which paid for annual vet visits saving £20 per dog . Now racing greyhounds retire between 2.5 and 5 due to injury or useless racers – or just over 5 when too old to race. Injuries are often broken legs (which are repaired at the owner’s expense before adoption) so they cannot be insured – as if you are honest the broken leg will not be covered as it is a pre-existing injury – Over the years we have found some insurance companies will not cover arthritis either as they say it is caused by the stress of racing. Greyhounds are a robust long lived breed living up to 16 years. I increased my pets at home to three – and my pet fund accordingly.

By the time my first greyhound developed a problem at 12 – I had accumulated around £10,000. which easily covered the total cost of unsuccessful treatment – (this was £3000 for two identical diagnosis in two different vet hospitals – one was superfluous as the dog should have been refereed FIRST according to the professor at the second premier vet hospital/college.- I immediately changed the first vet hospital.

Since then three greyhounds had problems and died – total cost was £300 for one – £600 for another – and £900 for the third – the first two died at over 13 – the third sadly at only 11. But the “pet fund” has easily covered the cost of the treatments – the euthanasias – the annual vet visits. The fund is still growing.but the interest rates no longer covers the annual vet visits – they now have to be taken out of the
capital fund.

We recommend that all of our adopters with more than one dog do the same – as the probability of problems occurring is reduced as dogs are usually robust. Please note this experience was accumulated over 40 years of greyhound adoption. BUT the pet fund MUST be RING FENCED and maintained otherwise it won’t be there when required.

But think of it – instead of giving the money to a Pet Insurance Company that may go broke or refuse to pay for a particular treatment and is lost – any unused money in your pet fund automatically accumulates – and all treatments such as teeth problems that are not covered by insurance can be afforded.

Only know one incidence where it didn’t work – was when someone with a single GH that broke a leg in the first two months of adoption – but in that case a GH specialist vet treated the dog for £300 rather than the £1000 plus fees charged by high street vets – but that is another story!!

Last week saw the first meeting of PAWs aka Pet Alliance Watchdogs, with a stated aim to ensure that pet owners are treated fairly in their dealings with the insurance companies (initially focussing Halifax, Lloyds and JLT)

PAWs was joined by two legal advisors from Surrey based law firm Sheridan Law who have agreed to look into the cases so far put in front of them with a view to advising on a course of legal group action should that be appropriate.

PAWs members, apart from some volunteers, consists of pet owners affected by the insurance pull out by Lloyds, Halifax & Pet Guard.

If anyone is affected by this and wants to be part of this action group which is lobbying the government but is also wanting to hold Lloyds, Halifax and Petguard accountable for the policies sold should contact us petalliancewatchdogs@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

This is a very nice post. I agree that if the insurance will not cover all the necessity of customer, it is of no use. This can be a good topic of discussion that who is responsible for the pre existing health issue expenses of pets.