• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

Pet insurance...huge hike in premium!

pippa

Well-known member
Hi all, my pet insurance is up for renewal and my good friends at Allianz have decided to up my premium by 200 euro pa and 20 euro per month!

I called them and they can't do anything for my other than keep the yearly/monthly amount the same and HALF the cover, in my opiinion not worth it.

I have shopped around but no other company will take Gus who is almost 9 and also they won't cover Pippin's epilepsy.

I am considering cancelling the insurance as I really and genuinly can't afford it!

I was thinking of starting a savings fund for any emergencies as I already pay for pippin's monthly meds and have to pay the excess, (which was 75 and is now 100) every year when Pippin gets his annual blood tests, plus obviously yearly check ups, boosters,worming, flea treatments, teethcleaning products etc are not covered. Also all dogs got a clean bill of health last check up and Pippin is doing fine on his meds. I do worry about the unknown but as both my husband and I have had our working hours reduced and my husbands job is unstable at the moment I just can't afford it!

Just wondered how many manage without it?
 
Yes suddenly Allianz has started doing this -- I would not insure with them now.
 
I have insurance on Cooper as I got it when he was only a year old. With our older Yorki the insurance was very expensive to get. Also with Nina as she was 7 when I got her.

So what I have done, is set up a special saving account named doggie OK. I put away at least $100.00 per month in it to be used for the two dogs medical expense. With the insurance of Cooper I have $500.00 deductible, I would use the savings the same way.
 
Oh no!
My vet warned me that this could happen earlier this year, and when the renewal came in May I was ready and waiting for the bad news, but there was only a very modest hike, and the excess stayed at €75, so I don't know how we escaped. I too have regular monthly claims, for Bosco's SM medication, and for Trappers allergy injections - at the moment I have been able to keep the cheques as a kind of savings scheme towards our holidays, but maybe I should start to put them aside in case next year I can't afford the premiums either. They really have us as a captive audience once we start to claim for chronic illnesses which is so unfair. It's a pity that these policies can't be transferred over from company to company.
:mad:
 
oh i'm sorry to hear that.
i too was dreading my renewal date with allianz but surprise surprise-no increase and the excess has stayed the same at 75e. so far so good with them as they have covered alot this year for macy with her epilepsy (bloods, an mri and all her meds).
maybe give them another call and you might get a kinder person to talk too, or else the doggie savings acc sounds good.
 
Sophie is insured under PetPlan and her policy expires/will renew this month. I received notice from PetPlan that the underwriter, "American National Property And Casualty Company no longer offers pet health insurance policies" and that the new underwriter will be "AGCS Marine Insurance Company, a member of the Allianz Group."

It seems I had another notice about the premium under the new underwriter, and it was $20 more than last year.
I will need to watch the pricing, now that the UK members here are receiving rate increases from Allianz. I have not filed any claims on the insurance, so perhaps that is why Sophie's insurance rates have not skyrocketed.

My brother-in-law sells health insurance plans (for humans) and he warned me, a year or two ago, that everyone's premiums would rise. He told me the money collected in premiums is invested in the stock market, etc., and their portfolio took a nosedive with the market, as did retirement funds and investments for people. Sure enough, our own health insurance has gone up, and to avoid higher premiums, the group decided to take a larger annual deductible per family. ($8k!)
 
I was insured with Directline but they wanted to increase my monthly premium from £60 to £90.
I cancelled and now put £200 a month in a 'Fido Fund'. I use this money to cover any dog related costs I may have such as vets bills, food and meds. Working well so far and the account is building up nicely.
There are some articles online about the benefits of a 'Fido Fund' over insurance that are worth a look.
 
Sophie is insured under PetPlan and her policy expires/will renew this month. I received notice from PetPlan that the underwriter, "American National Property And Casualty Company no longer offers pet health insurance policies" and that the new underwriter will be "AGCS Marine Insurance Company, a member of the Allianz Group."

It seems I had another notice about the premium under the new underwriter, and it was $20 more than last year.
I will need to watch the pricing, now that the UK members here are receiving rate increases from Allianz.

Yikes. I've got the same issue. Their insurance went up a little this year but not too much. I guess we'll have to watch really closely what they do with our rates. I've been really happy with Pet Plan so far. They've only paid me one claim so far so they must be pretty happy with all the money they've collected from me over the years. Hopefully they won't raise my rates.
 
We have been with PetPlan since Jasper was a pup, and never claimed for years until he was about 8 years old. The premiums have gone up steadily. We have just received our new policy and schedule and we now have to pay £105 excess + 20% on vet fees, I questioned this and was told it was because he was over 10 years old, they have certainly made a lot out of us, and break about even with claims over the last 18 months. I got a little discount for adding a second dog recently, but beginning to wonder if it was worth it, although they are very good at paying out claims, although a little slow.
 
but beginning to wonder if it was worth it, although they are very good at paying out claims, although a little slow.

I think Pet Insurance is really for peace of mind. Very rarely will you ever find it "worth it" in terms of spending less money on premiums than you get back in claims. Because if it was worth it for everyone, they wouldn't make any money and would go out of business. I think of it primarily as for peace of mind so I don't have to worry about getting slapped with a huge surprise bill if something big came up. But I can afford right now to pay for that peace of mind (and if I break even,then great). But if the premium cost ever sky-rocketed like it did for Pippa, then I think I'd just divert the money I normally pay for premiums into a dedicated savings account for them.
 
What I actually meant Lani, which I probably did`nt word quite right was that maybe I should have looked at another company for my pup to be insured with. We did think about a doggy bank account, but it may not work if there was a big payment like an operation to pay for.
 
We have just received our new policy and schedule and we now have to pay £105 excess + 20% on vet fees,

That's a bargain, IMO. Sophie's deductible is $200 per incident/ailment and the new annual premium rate is $290/£188/€228. She will be two years old in late November.
 
Back
Top