is your dog/cat insured?

JasperKat

Hi,
We've recently got a 5yo terrier-X from the rescue centre, we've been in touch with his previous owners & they've confirmed that he's never suffered any health issues.

We're now considering insuring him with thro' the likes of Allianz & looking at an annual cost of €175 - what do you guys/girls think? is it worth it? would be interested in ppl's experiences of having to claim & what for.

Thanks in advance.

Jtk

Millem

JasperKat wrote: »

Hi,
We've recently got a 5yo terrier-X from the rescue centre, we've been in touch with his previous owners & they've confirmed that he's never suffered any health issues.

We're now considering insuring him with thro' the likes of Allianz & looking at an annual cost of €175 - what do you guys/girls think? is it worth it? would be interested in ppl's experiences of having to claim & what for.

Thanks in advance.

Jtk

All three of mine insured with Allianz I have claimed alot with two of them and nothing on one. Even if your dog is 100% healthy and you never claim it just gives you piece of mind in case they have an accident or get sick. One of mine is elderly so we only get 65% back but still I wouldn't not have her insured. Allianz are so easy to deal with my vet does everything and I just get a cheque no questions. Some vets even just let you pay excess and Allianz pay them direct which is so handy.

JustAThought

Millem wrote: »

All three of mine insured with Allianz I have claimed alot with two of them and nothing on one. Even if your dog is 100% healthy and you never claim it just gives you piece of mind in case they have an accident or get sick. One of mine is elderly so we only get 65% back but still I wouldn't not have her insured. Allianz are so easy to deal with my vet does everything and I just get a cheque no questions. Some vets even just let you pay excess and Allianz pay them direct which is so handy.

Allianz are the easiest to deal with & are fantastic. You probably won't get many replies here as there have been a lot if comments on pet insurance companies -comments on some have now been barred!! I'm with alliance & through d mmy dogs madness & adventures they have consistently paid out with no quibbles - its processed through my vet ; I only pay the surcharge & the vet deals with them directly for the rest -which can run into thousands. My dog has had her foot run through by stepping on glass, her tendon cut almost through from more glass thrown in a river, gastro issues , and been knocked by a car feet away from the door ( freak accident) -thou the premium seems a lot when you are sitting at the side of the road freaking out cos your pet is injured & screaming in pain the last thing you want to have to worry about us ' can I afford to take her to the vets' or ' will the insurance company make me pay & keep me waiting for months while they ' investigate', or will they refuse my next claim/policy if I claim for this. Alliance do none of these. Just bite the bullet & pay & join them & once you're in don't leave.

There have been a lodd of ( deleted) horror stories here. Alliance arn't the cheapest but when you look at the feedback and the detail in the small print they consistently seem to come up as the best.

I wish someone had told me while I was dithering & my pet needed vetinary care ( then she was uninsured) ; once you realise just how expensive vets are you will be very grateful for the insurance. Just buy it now when you don't need it!
I think Allianz used have a " short" 6 week period after you pay that your dog can't claim in - sooner you sign up the sooner you're covered .. With Allianz you're worry free.

( & no, I don't work for them!) just use & highly recommend them.

Check previous threads but beware - some of the negative comments on others have been edited to leave the bad bits & horror stories out.

Alliance are great -four years, multiple claims, no issues.

They should be paying me I am so positive about them!!!

tatli_lokma

Our cat is insured with Tesco. €47 per year, and that is even with claiming last year. Only drawback is that they only do direct billing if your vet agrees. My vet initially didn't as he had no prior experience with Tesco so I had to pay out and claim back. But the claim was paid quickly and without issue. The issue was gastro and my vet even put in for an episode of illness and few months before which when it happened again he felt they were connected. Tesco had no qualms at paying. The whole claim came to €400+

So if you are on a budget Tesco is worth considering.

JasperKat

thnx a mill for your very helpful & informative replies guys, I will bite the bullet & pay for allianz as it definitely sounds like the best & as the saying goes 'u get what u pay for'.
Cheers,
Jtk

toadfly

I have my three insured with Allianz for €56/month. This is one purebred and two crosses. I haven't had to claim on the two small dogs but have claimed about €2500 for Lexi with no problems and a very slight increase in premium.

kylith

I have my pair insured for accident only with 123 for €75 each p/a. Money's tight so I can't get the full works, but I'm happy with it.

Pigwidgeon

One of our guys built up a vets bill of €2500 earlier this year, so very glad we had insurance now. There's no way we would have been able to pay it otherwise. We only insured him last year actually when we got our second dog, he was 14 at the time. It was just over 300 for the year for two jack Russell's. I think we only paid 300 for the treatment. Best money we ever spent. We're with 123.ie btw

Knine

JasperKat wrote: »

thnx a mill for your very helpful & informative replies guys, I will bite the bullet & pay for allianz as it definitely sounds like the best & as the saying goes 'u get what u pay for'.
Cheers,
Jtk

Mine are not insured with Allianz and I don't believe we are allowed discuss certain companies. I had pets insured with Allianz before however and they were notorious for increasing premiums. I use another company now and lots of claims for one particular dog and they have not increased their costs. So I would say definitely shop around. It costs 150 euro for a crossbreed who had lots of claims. Allianz wanted far more.

tatli_lokma

Knine wrote: »

I don't believe we are allowed discuss certain companies.

Why not? As long as you are only giving a recommendation, and not saying anything which could be deemed as libelous of course you can say who you are with and how you have found them to deal with.

anniehoo

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Why not? As long as you are only giving a recommendation, and not saying anything which could be deemed as libelous of course you can say who you are with and how you have found them to deal with.

Please see the sticky at the top of the forum here

tatli_lokma

anniehoo wrote: »

Please see the sticky at the top of the forum here

But every response on this thread has mentioned an insurer???? My reading of the post I replied to is you can't mention any insurers. I am aware of the specific insurer not to be mentioned, but that doesn't exclude mentioning others.

hfallada

Any dog owners in my area seriously regret not having dog insurance when they had/have dogs. One women accidentally ran over her pedigree puppy which cost €1,000 to replace and another neighbour got a vet bill of €3,500(€2,500 of which would have been covered with pet insurance).

westies4ever

i dont have pet insurance but i do put a bit money aside each month for pet expenses. if anything major happened id be banging on the door of the credit union for a loan.

it was working out way too expensive for my two westies.

anniehoo

tatli_lokma wrote: »

But every response on this thread has mentioned an insurer???? My reading of the post I replied to is you can't mention any insurers. I am aware of the specific insurer not to be mentioned, but that doesn't exclude mentioning others.

You replied in response to Knine posting about not mentioning "certain" companies, which is correct and which i linked to. Other than that particular one, you are free to discuss any other company within reason.

Gael23

When we got ours pet insurance wasn't really a thing so we never got it. Anyway it stops at 8 years old so we cant now.
We have only been stung badly once so its worked out but if I was starting again I would have it.

lubie76

Have 3 cats insured with Tesco and have had no issues with claims being processed so far.

Seesee

Anniehoo, I am just interested to know why a certain company cannot be named, did they complain or threaten boards.ie when things were posted about them in the past?

anniehoo

Seesee wrote: »

Anniehoo, I am just interested to know why a certain company cannot be named, did they complain or threaten boards.ie when things were posted about them in the past?

You will have to contact Nicola yourself Seesee.

metaoblivia

We don't have insurance on our dog or cat, but our vet offers what they call a "wellness plan." For about $20 a month, our dog gets two complete check ups a year, vaccination boosters, diagnostic and fecal tests, unlimited office visits and discounts on medications and any procedures that may be needed. Our cat's wellness plan - because he's still a kitten - is $25 a month for the first year and it covers all of that plus neutering. So it's not a bad deal.

tatli_lokma

metaoblivia wrote: »

We don't have insurance on our dog or cat, but our vet offers what they call a "wellness plan." For about $20 a month, our dog gets two complete check ups a year, vaccination boosters, diagnostic and fecal tests, unlimited office visits and discounts on medications and any procedures that may be needed. Our cat's wellness plan - because he's still a kitten - is $25 a month for the first year and it covers all of that plus neutering. So it's not a bad deal.

Not a bad deal as far as general healthcare for your pets if you have need to bring them to the vet regularly, but it's not ideal as an alternative to insurance. Other than the check-ups and vaccinations the other things you mention would be covered by insurance if needed. And in the case of emergency care or a surgical procedure 20% discount won't go far. And that still costs you in excess of €240 per year.

For €47 a year my cat is insured for most of the things you mention, plus holiday cancellation or curtailment, advertising if she was lost etc. She generally goes to the the vet 2-3 times like year max, once for boosters and then maybe an extra one or two times. So in answer year veterinary costs are about €175. The only reason it would be more would be if she developed an illness or had an accident in which case the insurance would kick in

All in all I think insurance is a much better option than that wellness plan TBH. But each to their own.

metaoblivia

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Not a bad deal as far as general healthcare for your pets if you have need to bring them to the vet regularly, but it's not ideal as an alternative to insurance. Other than the check-ups and vaccinations the other things you mention would be covered by insurance if needed. And in the case of emergency care or a surgical procedure 20% discount won't go far. And that still costs you in excess of €240 per year.

For €47 a year my cat is insured for most of the things you mention, plus holiday cancellation or curtailment, advertising if she was lost etc. She generally goes to the the vet 2-3 times like year max, once for boosters and then maybe an extra one or two times. So in answer year veterinary costs are about €175. The only reason it would be more would be if she developed an illness or had an accident in which case the insurance would kick in

All in all I think insurance is a much better option than that wellness plan TBH. But each to their own.

I'm in the US - I used dollar signs. So it doesn't cost in excess of €240 - more like €180. And we see it as perfectly ideal for our needs. As you said - to each their own!

boomerang

I can wholeheartedly recommend Allianz. Have always found them efficient, courteous and quick to pay without quibble. Changed to another insurer for one dog but have gone back to Allianz for my newbie dog.