Posting here on the off-chance anyone has any advice. We've just got a dog, a very nice 3-year-old miniature schnauzer, and I've been advised to get insurance as vet bills can get out of hand. Everywhere I've tried so far is getting on for £200/year , except for Animal Friends and I found a review site where pretty much every review said not to touch them with a bargepole. Have any other dog owners out there got reasonable insurance that they can rely on?

You can get a lot of cheap deals (see Tesco etc) BUT I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

We went for a "whole life" policy (think that is the correct term). Without it, if your dog gets sick in one year then you won't be covered for that condition in the next year. Quite a bad position to be in for anything serious / expensive that can't be cured instantly.

With the big fees though it is probably worth considering the gamble on a cheap policy IF you can afford to treat your dog if you get a bad role of the dice.

PS Always check the excess. Will be stupidly high on most policies....

When I got Sandy 5 years ago I spoke to the Vet about pet insurance for him, and his reply was "forget it". He told me to get a piggy bank and put £5 a week in it to cover any eventual Vet bills, and if Sandy never needed anything done I'd be quids in. I bought a piggy bank and kept putting £2 coins into it until it was full, and over the 5 years I have emptied it 3 times and it has held about £160 each time. I then put the money into an online savings account and Sandy has just about as much money in the Bank as I do. If he ever needs anything major done (which is unlikely) I have enough to cover it, and if he doesn't, then it's money in the bank.

In the 5 years I've had him the only money I have spent was for his annual booster jags. Sandy is a Terrier, who are notoriously robust and don't succumb to illnesses like Poodles and other 'Toy Breeds'. Your Schnauzer should also fall into the category of 'small, but robust'. I suppose it's a bit like car insurance, you pay it all your life, but it's more than likely you'll never need it.

Murf - that is the basic tesco policy, and pa for a story like yours there is a story like ours.

When we got our pooch (a rescue dog) we immediately insured her on a whole life policy with tesco (again not the basic "value" policy"). I think there is a limit of £5k per condition

Within 6 mths she developed a lump which I took her to the vets for on numerous occasions who said it ws nothing, eventually took her for a second opinion, this vet said take it out dont risk it and it proved to be a mast cell (sp?) basically cancerous. They took it all out the damage was £600 (or there abouts).

She has since had three further lumps taken out (none of which have proved cancerous) all of which cost circa £500.

We pay £15 per month for this and wouldnt be without out it.

I know we would struggle to have found £2k (within the first 18mths of having her) off the cuff and would certainly be nowhere near to saving that amount by putting a fiver a week away

It may seem extorinate but they will soon become a very important part of the family and imo you cant put a price on that

Just a piece of useless information fro you Dan. The word 'Schnauzer' is from the German and means 'a large moustache', and it's easy to tell how they got their name ..



That other German breed of dog, the Dachshund's name translates into, Dachs = Badger and Hund=Dog, so Dachshund's were bred for hunting Badger's, hence their shape. Goodness know what Schnauzers were bred for

PS: I was bred for hunting Beaver

i think its hard to tell if you need it,its really up to you if you want to take the chance on needing it or not,we had a Bernese mountain dog not insured,never even spoke about getting any,the poor bigger has been riddled with Arthritis which we have been paying £70 a month on medication for but in the end it wasnt enough,at the age of 11 and with arthritis he had began to suffer too much and was advised by the vet to let him go to save his pain.The big fella was laid to rest today

I always say you need to think about the following:

Can you afford £15 per month now or £2,000 in the future.

If the answer is the later, don't take insurance.

Reading this thread has made me realise that the couple of hundred pounds in Sandy's account may not be enough if the worse comes to the worse so I've just this minute taken out a Tesco Insurance policy. It's only half the price of my monthly broadband after all is said and done.

When I looked (5 or 6 months ago) I didn't see anything like that policy with Tesco & co. Maybe they don't do it any more or maybe I didn't see it as they highlight the cheap and "cheerful"

Is this a lifetime policy or single event?

My parents took out lifetime on their dog and it was diagnosed with diabetes at aged two. Five years down the line the policy has paid out nearly £6,000.

not sure mate, i just looked again and ours is called tesco "extra" policy...just looked on http://www.tescobank.com/personal/finan ... index.html and it states two types of cover standard and extra



EDIT - should add im not saying tesco are best etc, but can only speak of my experiences

It's Standard cover that includes the cost of treating injuries or illnesses up to £3,000 per eligible condition, including up to £500 for complementary therapy. I will not be able to claim on the policy for the same condition once the maximum limit is reached or after 12 months has passed from the first date of treatment for the condition.

I think that if Sandy was ill for more than 12 months with the same condition I would have him put down anyway.

Thanks for the advice guys, I was tending towards a cheaper policy but am now considering Sainsbury's lifetime option at about £17/month. I hadn't quite taken in the 12-month thing - pa, it seems it applies even if the dog recovers but the condition reoccurs after the 12-month period. Like you say, who knows what might happen and we're already pretty attached to the little fella.

And yes, he's got the full George Bernard Shaw - every month's Movember when you're a schnauzer .

Sorry to hear about this mate.....it's very sad when you lose a dog. It's a member of the family.

Just a general word of warning not to go with E&L pet insurance. We were with them a few years ago when one of our Boxers broke his leg. Several vet visits and x-rays later we were referred to a specialist and the bills were mounting up. As this was all covered by our policy we claimed but got no response. After numerous phone calls and letters, they finally paid up 6 months later when I wrote threatening to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman. They then sent us an insurance renewal letter, which stated that while they'd be happy to continue to insure the dog the cover would not include his legs. I was amazed at this as it's not as though there was anything wrong with his legs, he just happened top break a bone in one. I've since been told by a couple of vets that they and their customers have had similar problems with E&L so mine wasn't an isolated case.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I've gone with a lifetime policy with Sainsbury's - more than I expected to pay, but it sounds like vet bills can soon reach into the thousands. moonlightdribbler, my condolences on your loss .

ive never heard of E&L (just had to google them).

Thats why insurance is such a horrible thing, becasue you dont know how good it is until you need to claim.

The family dogs are insured with Pet Plan. It's definitely pricey compared to supermarket insurance but as both dogs are now over 7 years old they seem to be having some kind of bump/lump/limp every other week. The older dog, now 10, has to have medication twice a day and a month's supply is over £250. This alone covers the insurance we have to take out.

Bottom line, the dogs are integral parts of the family. My father passed away 18 months ago (ironically, we had to put the dogs into kennels throughout this time and this was covered on the dogs insurance) and they are great company and security for my Mum.

We recently had vet's bills for over £5k and was delighted to send them to the insurance company, even with the excess we have to pay. Think Asher's puts it well - if you can afford the min £2k later on, then just pay £15 per month now. We pay £130 per month for the 2 dogs, but as I said above, this more than covers the monthly medication one of the dogs is on.

The Pet Insurance I took out for Sandy commenced on the 1st of December. On Christmas day I noticed that he had stopped playing with his toys and he was refusing to eat his favourite doggy biscuits. I feared that there was something wrong with his mouth so I took him to the Vet's yesterday for an examination.

He was sedated so that the Vet could have a good look inside his mouth. He saw that one of his teeth was tender to the touch and was a little bit loose, so he then gave Sandy a general anasthetic and eventually removed two of his teeth. I got him back home 4 hours later and it was so funny watching him trying to walk and then falling over as the anasthetic had still not completely worn off

I checked his Pet Insurance this morning and would you believe it, teeth and gums are not covered .... ahrrrgh

If you Google 'pet insurance reviews' you'll find plenty of reviews which will help.

A reasonable one is http://www.reviewcentre.com/products366.html

A word of warning - even the good ones usually contain a few negative reviews from people who have had a bad experience. I guess there will always be discontented customers.

The 452 reviews for E&L Insurance make interesting reading!

I took whole life cat insurance through Argos. Haven't claimed yet so can't judge them but the second year premiums went up nearly 40%. This is something to watch as your pet gets older.