Massive hike in dog insurance...advice please

[charly77]

Our shihtzu has just turned 3, he has had some health issues which are now under control. Yesterday we received his insurance renewal and it has doubled! We were paying £28pm and they now want £57pm! This last year we have claimed around £700 in vet fees so I appreciate there will be a premium but am quite taken aback at how much!
Am I able to change insurers and still have him covered for his condition? Any help or advice would be very much appreciated...

[pchivvy]

Bought by many do a plan that covers pre existing conditions but only change if you are sure its under control. They cover up to a low amount the first year and then if they haven't reclaimed for that condition it goes up until its fully covered again after 2 years (i think). My golden retriever was with more than... Claimed once and in the space of two years it went from £40 per month to £120! I moved sharpish.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by charly77

Our shihtzu has just turned 3, he has had some health issues which are now under control. Yesterday we received his insurance renewal and it has doubled! We were paying £28pm and they now want £57pm! This last year we have claimed around £700 in vet fees so I appreciate there will be a premium but am quite taken aback at how much!
Am I able to change insurers and still have him covered for his condition? Any help or advice would be very much appreciated...

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To be fair to the insurer you cost them 700 last year and only gave them 300; so this year they want 600

They are still effectively out of pocket for at least two years if you think 28pm is a fair premium

Premiums always go up if you claim

[FlorayG]

You can only ask other insurers - they may exclude the condition or they may accept it for a premium. It's worth trying certainly but if the dog has an ongoing problem any insurer will charge you more than the amount you paid before it was diagnosed.
If you change make sure you get in writing that the pre-existing condition is covered and read the small print!

[Megandllsmum]

You can switch providers but will have to declare previous conditions in your pet, our eldest dog had colitis as a pup really bad and I until a few years ago always shopped around at renewal time, still declared this and still got cover at some not all, we also have a lurcher pup now and both are insured with animal friends and old dogs condition covered, not that it's ever been an issue since anyway.

[skalexander]

If you're considering changing insurers, make sure you start the new policy 2 weeks before your old policy ends, as most policies will not accept claims in the first 14 days.

We've cost our insurer £8,000 this year with the renewal due to arrive any day - I'm interested in how much they've put it up, although I'm not renewing.

[novocastrian]

wow ! never had a dog but to insure a dog costs way more than our house !

[arielrocks]

You wait till they get older, then you’ll see what they can do with the prices! Our 12 year old (who had had one claim for an ear infection in the whole policy life) ended up at £67 per month for hers. We cancelled and risked it, putting the money into a savings account instead.

[JSP]

Originally Posted by arielrocks

You wait till they get older, then you’ll see what they can do with the prices! Our 12 year old (who had had one claim for an ear infection in the whole policy life) ended up at £67 per month for hers. We cancelled and risked it, putting the money into a savings account instead.

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This is what we did when we had dogs, we saved an amount each week, it was never needed except for a weepy eye once!

[catlady]

Originally Posted by arielrocks

You wait till they get older, then you’ll see what they can do with the prices! Our 12 year old (who had had one claim for an ear infection in the whole policy life) ended up at £67 per month for hers. We cancelled and risked it, putting the money into a savings account instead.

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I agree! I've never claimed for my Chihuahua and when she turned 10 last year our premiums trebled to £74 a year! Even though they have a life expectancy of 16 years! I rang and complained and they eventually reduced it slightly but it's still more a month than I pay to insure my house 😮😤! Trouble is knowing my luck I'd stop it and she would get ill 😏! I tried to change policies but because of her age I couldn't find anyone any cheaper!