Importance of getting Pet Insurance

[lucille]

Hi Everyone

I thought I’d put up a post explaining the importance of pet insurance, hope you don’t mind me giving this advice!

I fostered Des about 7 weeks ago, once we got him home within about an hour we decided to adopt him! Once we made this decision to adopt we got pet insurance, & thank god I did!

If any of you have been following Des’ progress you will know he had to go into hospital today to have tests done to see how extensive his heart murmur is, the total cost for today came to €846, this was for a consultation, heart scan, blood tests & xrays, hid medication costs almost €2 per day..but because I’ve pet insurance I didn’t have to pay anything! Nothing!?!

So how much does pet insurance cost? Well it’s a lot less than you’d think, I personally went with PetInsure.ie and costs me €12.50 per month..less than his medication per week (which is also covered)

please if you do not have pet insurance, ring around & get it, if I didn’t have insurance I wouldn’t have been able to afford all these tests & Des would be suffering more.

Insure them….because they’re worth it

[jojo20]

Well done for high lighting this! I learned the hard way with my cat who lived til 19 and needed injections for bad asthma every month for 5yrs! It was costly and i didnt have insurance…. luckily i found a vet who looked after me with a big discount.
It is vital to get insurance especially in these hard times cos you never know when ya need it So glad Des is ok tho and hope he starting to enjoy daycare!

[geordie]

hi lucille, you are so right i went with petinsure for hailey she is 3 months old this weekend. she is so lively i worry she could really hurt herself. hopefully not but just in case we took out insurance.

[jdogs2010]

hi lucille .. sorry to hear about Des, hope he’ll be okay
definitely agree with you on pet insurance. i have both my dogs insured and am glad. we organised it the day we brought our pooches home and had no need for it up until recently. our beagle suffers from allergies and between blood tests, treatment and other tests it would cost us a small fortune. everything’s been covered except for the prescription food she now eats. it’s been a lifesaver for us

[missymoo]

Completely agree with you. Insurance is so so important. My boxer has had two surgeries in the past 6 months, both for her cruciate ligament (not sure of spelling!!). We were previously insured with Allianz but changed due to a change in our circumstances that meant we couldn’t afford to stay with Allianz. We got a new company through 123.ie but didn’t really look at the policy properly or it’s exclusions It was only when my boxer tore her first ligament that we rang the company to find out about claiming and we were informed of an exclusion on our policy with meant that the max they would pay for any cruciate ligament damage was 500euro. The first surgery cost 1500euro plus extra for her xrays and follow up exams, which meant that we paid approx. 1400euro ourselves. Then she tore the other ligament a few weeks ago and again needed surgery this time costing 1200euro, she just came home yesterday after the surgery so hasn’t yet needed further xrays! If we had stayed with Allianz everything would have been covered, however we thought we were saving 200euro by switching…… fools!!! So to anyone looking for insurance remember to check every detail of the policy and don’t be stupid like us!! Boxers among other breeds can be prone to cruciate damage so make sure to check that your own breed is fully covered by your policy.

[DogsBestFriend]

Couldnt agree more with Des’ mammy! Insurance is vital – we have our 3 insured with Allianz and I was sorry to hear of Missymoo’s experience with 123.ie; unfortunately its not the first horror story I’ve heard about them. We’ve been Allianz for years and although they have increased our premium on Harry (he had a number of fatty lumps removed over the past couple of years, all harmless, t.g.), we have been pretty happy with the service they provide. However, having spoken with a friend recently (who shares the same Vet practice as ourselves), I would like to highlight an issue regarding some Vets and Insurance. Basically, my friends dog was very ill recently but t.g. pulled through. During the course of his illness, her dog was kept in for a couple of nights at our Vet’s. He was subsequently referred to the veterinary college for further investigation. All went well until my friend received communication from Allianz saying that they werent happy with her dog’s bill and were in fact querying it. It turned out that our Vet’s practice had done a direct claim with Allianz. Now, we ourselves have done this in the past and had found it very handy – it basically means that you sign the insurance form at your Vet’s and then they complete the medical details required and forward it direct to Allianz – meaning that all you pay upfront is your 75 excess, the Vet then claims the balance owing directly from Allianz, which saves you the initial outlay of having to pay your bill upfront. However, my friend discovered that our Vet’s had billed Allianz for 2 nights that their dog wasnt even with the Vet, and furthermore the Veterinary College claimed (and subsequently billed) for kennel cough vaccine which her dog had not received! Her dog in fact was so ill at the time that no Vet in their right mind would’ve vaxed him for anything as random as that! I can understand one mistake being made but for two service providers (both closely linked) to bill for work / treatment that never occurred is pretty suss. I would therefore recommend that if you should do a direct claim via your Vet, you request a copy of the completed form that they are submitting to your insurance company. At the end of the day, where Insurance fraud has been committed it is ourselves who ultimately foot the bill. This made me so mad! I have anonymously raised it with Allianz as being with our Vet for the past number of years and having our 3 dogs currently registered there, I dont want to jeopardise my relationship with the practise. Just thought I would let you all know……….. B.T.W. Lucille, I hope Des is ok – one of ours has a very slight heart murmer as well. We have gone through full bloods, E.C.G. and a referral to Tom Mullaney, Cardiologist at Nutgrove, only to be told that although his heart rate is slow, there is nothing to worry about for now, that he doesnt need meds at the mo but he will need to attend our Vet at least once per month to have his heart monitored. Its a huge worry though but hopefully Des will be as good as new with his pills. All paws and fingers here are crossed for you Des!

[julesm]

Hi everyone we got Melodys insurance with petinsure.ie its less than a tenner a month with a discount of twenty and a further 15 euro for being chipped and online discount. Nearly 50 euro cheaper than alliance but there is a two week period between cover if you change over which my mam found out this weekend when poor sutton got an eye infection from melodys manhandling!

[Lorli]

I got 3 of my dogs insured with petinsure.ie and it only costs 37 euro per month, I think thats great value. I havent had to use it yet thank god and hopefully I wont have to. They even insure rabbits I think its the only one that does.

I hope Des is doing well

[Els81]

Hi All,

As we’re due renewal with Decota, and we need to insure Allie too, any recommendation in regards with which company we should go with? Which one has the least exclusions?

Thanks,

[tazwaz]

pet insurance is sooo important…i was with allianz for 6 yrs and found them brilliant. my dog had to get a hip operation last sept and in march of this year he was diagnosed with lymphoma, we started chemo straight away. allianz covered all the costs, i even reached the 4000 euro limit in the year…at least i could concentrate on getting taz better and not have to worry about where i was going to get the money from… unfortunately the lymphoma got the better of my poor pet and he passed away last month

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