smooch Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Smooch has been insured with Insuranceline since December 2006, insured as a 5yr old. Today I received the renewal and when I opened it I nearly fell over backwards, it has jumped from $50 a month last year to $73 a month this year all because he is 12 months older (age 11) Looks like I will be cancelling my policy, just can't afford it on a pension. I have checked out other insurance options but because he is now 11 I can only get accident insurance with another company. I think I would have been better off putting the money in the bank even though I did have one massive vet bill ($15,000) for Smooch a few years ago when he suffered a fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE). Jimmy my 4 yr old's premium is $40.72 per month. It really makes you think if insurance is worth it in the long run. I am thinking not when they bump the price up so much when they get older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minxy Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 That one claim you made has more than been worth your while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noisymina Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 That one claim you made has more than been worth your while! And all the claims made add up to the premiums charged. With some added for administration , profits, and paying telemarketers like the guy who called me yesterday from that company! It's all in the figures. Whether or not it is worth it to an individual depends on circumstances and choice. Personally, I don't see any value in pet insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tralee Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 That one claim you made has more than been worth your while! Agreed From Dec 2006 to Dec 2012 is 6 years 1 payment per month for 6 years is 72 payments. @ $50 per payment the total of your premiums is $3600. Just the large claim for $15 000 leaves a considerable difference not to mention adding on all the other minor claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tralee Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Personally, I don't see any value in pet insurance. Hmmm! It always seems like it would have been a good idea in retrospect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Finding a vet that will give you an account is way better than insurance... *grin* T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tralee Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Finding a vet that will give you an account is way better than insurance... *grin* T. Finding a Vet (that can do the job) is better than an account or insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teekay Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 That one claim you made has more than been worth your while! And all the claims made add up to the premiums charged. With some added for administration , profits, and paying telemarketers like the guy who called me yesterday from that company! It's all in the figures. Whether or not it is worth it to an individual depends on circumstances and choice. Personally, I don't see any value in pet insurance. I'm intrigued by this statement. Do you insure your car? Insurance is there for an emergency, it's value is in the peace of mind it gives you that no matter how expensive a treatment option may be, you can make a decision purely on the interests of the dog, not your finances. That's why I have it anyway. Yes if you never make a claim you could consider it wasted money but that is the nature of insurance, no one has a crystal ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noisymina Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 That one claim you made has more than been worth your while! And all the claims made add up to the premiums charged. With some added for administration , profits, and paying telemarketers like the guy who called me yesterday from that company! It's all in the figures. Whether or not it is worth it to an individual depends on circumstances and choice. Personally, I don't see any value in pet insurance. I'm intrigued by this statement. Do you insure your car? Insurance is there for an emergency, it's value is in the peace of mind it gives you that no matter how expensive a treatment option may be, you can make a decision purely on the interests of the dog, not your finances. That's why I have it anyway. Yes if you never make a claim you could consider it wasted money but that is the nature of insurance, no one has a crystal ball. Personally, for us, there is no value in pet insurance. The money we have "saved" by not paying pet insurance over the last 30+ years is actually quite substantial. We do have resources available which would cover any emergency. We only have one dog, not multiples of them either. That is our situation. I'm not inferring that it is, or should be, the same for everyone. The car is far more "valuable" than the $ we could conceivably spend on our dog. Not to mention the damage we are covered for in case of accident - to us, our car, other people, their car and any other property damage. Once a car gets past a certain age/value, we revert to Third Party Property, Fire and Theft and drop the comprehensive. House and contents are covered too. That does not mean ALL insurance is a good thing. The H&C goes up by a substantial amount every year and every year we re-assess and decrease cover or increase excesses etc. Insurance companies are out to make profits. They pay actuaries huge fees (out of our premiums :laugh: ) to make sure they win. We have to do our own risk assessments. Individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianca.a Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I'm dreading my renewals this year. Last year they went down for Molly because they dropped the refund from 100% to 80%. However for me it is so worth it, I've probably claimed in the figure of $10000.00 for both dogs and with Coopers upcoming total hip replacement(s)(around 13000.00 if he does have both done) I am by far ahead. Just my thoughts :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 That one claim you made has more than been worth your while! Agreed From Dec 2006 to Dec 2012 is 6 years 1 payment per month for 6 years is 72 payments. @ $50 per payment the total of your premiums is $3600. Just the large claim for $15 000 leaves a considerable difference not to mention adding on all the other minor claims. There have been no minor claims for Smooch, and yes I am in front on this one, but say I never make a claim for Jimmy and than he reaches the age of 11 his insurance jumps by $20 per year. Its just such a huge jump in one year. I did expect it to go up a bit as everything goes up all the time but not that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Finding a vet that will give you an account is way better than insurance... *grin* T. Yes agree, I do have a account with my vet, have had for over 20 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Finding a vet that will give you an account is way better than insurance... *grin* T. Finding a Vet (that can do the job) is better than an account or insurance. My vet is quite capable, I have full confidence in him, when Smooch suffered the FCE he had only treated a small amount of these and so sent Smooch to the specialists in Sydney, there fore the large bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Im irritated as My 12 year old dog has been insured since we adopted her 8 years ago...never made a claim till this year....$1,400.00....next thing I know my premimums went from $40.00 a month to $98.00 a month without me knowing....of course apparantly they sent me a letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Im irritated as My 12 year old dog has been insured since we adopted her 8 years ago...never made a claim till this year....$1,400.00....next thing I know my premimums went from $40.00 a month to $98.00 a month without me knowing....of course apparantly they sent me a letter. Apparently its the age, that is what they told me when I rang them this afternoon, Smooch turns 12 in May Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Im irritated as My 12 year old dog has been insured since we adopted her 8 years ago...never made a claim till this year....$1,400.00....next thing I know my premimums went from $40.00 a month to $98.00 a month without me knowing....of course apparantly they sent me a letter. Apparently its the age, that is what they told me when I rang them this afternoon, Smooch turns 12 in May We weren't sent notification of it so I have sent them a complaint letter and will follow it up with the Ombudsman. If I had recieved the notification I would have just cancelled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I don't pay by direct debit and I pay a years worth in one hit. from the first year insured to the second - the premium went up by about 60% ie more than half again on top of before, and the pay out reduced (down to 80%). And then I noticed they only pay out on half of anything she has two of. And they tried to dud my brother who had the sense to ring them before he booked his dog in for 6 lumpectomies in one op to see how much they would pay. Girl on phone said 80% - so he got the op done, and when he claimed they were trying to tell him that the 5 lumps after the first one came off (in the same op) were "pre-existing" and they wouldn't pay on those. WTF. He got them to listen to their own recording and got more money out of them but it still wasn't 80%. There's basically two pet insurance companies. Ho llar ds (aka backed by Holla r ds) and All ia nz. At least Hollards pay what they say they will. I'd had bad experience with the Big A and my car insurance. I'm not game to risk them with anything else. Anyway this year the renewal came in and the premium increase was pretty much CPI. I haven't claimed on pet insurance tho at the rate she's going - I will. She upchucked a piece of beer stubbie yesterday. Sheesh. If the premium had gone up much more, I would have self insured, I've got the spare cash in case - so not sure why I'm bothering with the rather outrageous pet insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Well now that I have paid just under $8,000 to vets in the last week for Toby and I'm sure the expenses will keep going as long as he keeps on going and probably climb to excess of $10,000. I think $35 a month for the last 3 years is a great investment. I really look at insurance as a gamble, but I would rather pay each month as it just makes it that bit easier when your dog is really sick as you don't have to stress to much about finances! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I've had great experiences with allianz (pet plan). They even paid for thyroid tests in the US to see if lucy's fear aggression issues where thyroid related. The older acdog gets, the mire chance of you making a bug claim. It is risk management Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I insure my Iggies for accidental injuries until they are 18 months old. I am basically doing this in case they break a leg. Leg breaks in the breed are almost always in the 4-12 month age bracket. Thus far I haven't needed to make a claim and I hope I never do! The premium is about $15 a month per dog. I used to have insurance on all my dogs but the cost became prohibitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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