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Should I stop the insurance?

meljoy

Well-known member
I have insurance with Petprotect for Leo. They've always paid up and I have no qualms there however...

My monthly payment has just gone up another £10 a month....I now pay £53 a month.
Is this a lot compared to others?

Im glad he's insured because of his CHF and all that intales.

Im in two minds as to whether I should consider cancelling it...he's got another heart scan in 2 weeks so Im in no rush to do anything quickly but its something I need to consider.

I guess the further along we go with his heart condition the more will need to be done so maybe I should hold fire for the moment.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Thanks
Mel x
 
If Leo already has a significant issue like CHF I would imagine it would make more sense to stand pat, as if you were to try and get another policy later on they might not cover the CHF (citing that it's pre-existing). Then again everyone's financial situation is different so 53 pounds a month for one person may be vastly different to another.

Here's my own thread where I rant about the exorbitant annual increases in Skippy's PetPlan coverage -- http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/showthread.php?42861-Petplan-US-Ridiculous-premium-increase

I hate how much it costs but at the same time there's something to be said about the peace of mind you get from being covered.
 
I agree with keeping insurance at this point. We didn't have insurance for Sydney. When he first started with MVD the cost of testing and the cardiologist wasnt too bad. But as he went into CHF and a few other issues, the cost of tests and doctor fees went up as they were more frequent, but the worse was his medication. It was costing us about $500 a month! :yikes

We always said if we got another cavalier, the first thing we would buy was insurance, which we did. Its money I would !ove to waste because that would mean my dogs were healthy.
 
Thanks Joyce.

Your statement of money to waste wishing our dogs were healthy is spot on.

dandelos your statement on peace of mind is spot on too

Mel xx
 
The insurance having paid for Aled to be in intensive care for 24 hours, then a visit to a cardiologist and an ultrasound, then meds for heart and keratosis, when his policy renewed last 1 January the premium had gone up to £181 a month. I usually claimed every 2-3 months, to save work for the vet, and the first claim of the year would have the £90 premium taken off for both conditions - by which time Aled could have been dead anyway (and was). So I didn't renew his insurance. His medication came to less than the £181 a month; I paid to have him put to sleep, but the Cavalier Collection Scheme paid for a postmortem and individual cremation. Oliver's insurance I stopped last year, again because it went up to beyond what I was paying for his meds, and if anything major like cancer had happened I wouldn't in any case have subjected him to expensive invasive treatment at the age of 13. Perhaps hydrotherapy or acupuncture would have slowed down his hind-leg paralysis, but his insurance didn't pay for his CM/SM (pre-existing condition) and if the paralysis was connected to that (nobody really knew), the insurance wouldn't have paid and I couldn't have afforded it.

So I think insurance questions depend very much on the individual dog and the prognosis of any major disease they have and how serious it is or is likely to become - and your own finances. It's worth discussing with your vet, and if you decide to stop insuring, try to put something away each month for emergencies.

Kate
 
I think insurance as Kate has said depends on the individual dog, Jasper was insured from 9 months until he was 10 years old, when basically it was not cost effective for him to be insured, they priced us out with 20 per cent of the bill each time we claimed for his meds, he was only ever on the same medication for his heart, except for the introduction of Vetmedin in the October before we lost him in the following August, but we felt he would never be able to have an operation because of his heart problems, so we were better off just paying for his medication and putting away his insurance money for the meds each month, his heart problem was his only problem really, and never needed medication or tests really for anything else.

So pleased to read that Leo is doing well.
 
We "self-insure" our cavaliers. By that, I mean we set aside the equivalent of the monthly premium for insurance, beginning when we get the dog, and we save it to cover veterinary expenses. I think there are too many exceptions to full coverage to make most policies cost-effective for cavaliers. The insurers know about the risks of MVD and CM/SM in the breed, and they base their premiums and exceptions accordingly.
 
I canceled my insurance a few months ago.

I had previously been zero deductible and paying 79 a month.
But due to finance changed I couldn't afford that and moved to a $1000 deductible $32 a month.

When Maggie actually needed help she had an abscess that wouldn't go away. We takes up $800 on vet bills that my mom thankfully lent me. But 5 vet visits and that much money and nothing wS covered it stopped making sense

God forbid something major happens it's gonna be hard.

But I canceled when j decided to switch to raw food and needed that extra money to help pay the monthly food bill:) figured that was worth it.
 
I will say I had looked at my bill during a work trip, thought about canceling the insurance, and then came home and looked at Lucky's eye.

His "dry eye" turned out to be Horner's Syndrome caused by PSOM and required and MRI & Myringotomy. In all I've paid easily over $7k thus far and insurance has paid 80% of it.

I know it's a a tough choice when the bills get so high … but I'm so glad I didn't cancel !
 
My girl is coming up to nine, and this year she had to have a MRI scan, and SM was diagnosed and grade four patellars, the scan cost £2-300 and I am SO glad we didn't cancel the insurance ....She is on Pregabalin and the cost for them alone is over £80 a month......
 
I should wait and see how much your premium goes up. After coping with going into heart failure (emergency treatment, x-ray, session with cardiologist, ecocardiogram) and being put on pretty expensive medication, Aled's premium on 1 January increased to £180 a month - more than I was actually spending on his medication. Knowing that he wasn't likely to live more than a few months (he actually died in early February), I cancelled his insurance and spent the £180 on his medication. But it can be risky with older dogs, though you probably won't need another full MRI; still, pregabalin is expensive. I would wait and see how far the premium goes up, then if it's more than the cost of drugs (and you have to factor in paying the excess as well), think about stopping insurance, but perhaps put a bit extra aside to cover other eventualities? A tricky one!

Kate and Ruby
 
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