When I got the renewal quote from M&S today for Pepe, our 6 yr old dog, I nearly dropped.
£450.72.
£37.50 a month.
Last year it was £311, the year before £196. Not sure about the year before.
We had 2 major claims in the first 2 years (one broken leg and one severed tendon), and so were not surprised at the first rise - but they were for accidents, not illnesses. I suppose M&S don't want the business any more and will hike the price as a punishment - attrition,anyone?

The other one, Star, our 3 yr old bitch with no claims, has had the premium go up from £205 to £239.
Total from us this coming year could be £689.
We could save as suggested on another thread. It is a gamble that nothing will happen until we have built up a reserve of several thousand. The total payout for Pepe was £5k, so we just have to hope that we can meet the costs should anything untoward happen.
I would have loved to have had another dog, but no way can we afford it now.

And I have looked around at some of the other companies, but the cheaper ones will refuse to insure older dogs or ones with chronic conditions, or time/incident limit.

Would be really grateful to hear from anyone else and how they cope with this. any suggestions welcome!

Hi ,Have you tried Morethan for your insurance?
We have been with them a couple of years and the premiums are ok although they do go up each year. I don't think they insure existing illness or injuries but that is common with pet insurance.

They also have an option of pet saver policy with less options and a higher excess.

Hope that helps.

George & Morag

Click here for a online quote with More Than

We are with Tescos currently, but haven't renewed yet. My mum is a firm believer in saving privately for vets bills but I was scared that my grey hound might cause damage or injury to a third person. This is very unlikely as she is never off her lead in public, but accidents can happen! I may be forced to take a less cautious approach as the costs of insurance increase.

I had to move insurers this year as the old one (cant remember who they were) hiked their priced up hugely and when I called them to ask for an explanation they were not at all helpful in explaining why the price had gone up so much. So I moved to Tesco as their cover was not bad at all for the price compared to a lot of the other ones.If they keep going this way tho they are going to price themselves out of a job as people will just put money away each month instead. The problem is for people who have had a claim and so cant get that same problem insured i think they are stuck with a difficult choice.

Thank you all so much for your info - I have phoned M&S to query their huge price rise. All they would say was that Vet fees have inceased by 25% this year. I will be looking elsewhere, and following up on your very kind suggestions.

Hi,
I'm adopting my first greyhound and I'm going to collect him on Saturday, I've been calling round and I've found Tesco is the cheapest and also has a really good policy with lots of things covered as I've noticed some of the dearer policies dont sover much, I've been quoted £9.13 for the standard policy per month and £13.59 for the advanced cover. Hope this helps.
Suz xx

we are with morethan, there premium policy, 2 greys, 4 and 6 year old, total about £30 per month

I I HAVE THREE DOGS TWO SMALL DOGS AND A
GREYHOUND TOTAT AMOUNT PAYING 76 POUNDS
A MONTH. DECIDED TO CANCEL THE INSURANCE
WAS GETTING TOO EXPENSIVE

OPENED A DOGGY ACCOUNT AT THE BANK 30 POUNDS
A MONTH THATS ANOTHER ALTURNATIVE JENNIE

My two are insured with Petplan. Monthly premiums aren't cheap but I've never had any problems when making a claim. The premiums increase annually but not by a huge amount.
Brionnach ran into a barbed wire fence when he was 8/9 months old so you can imagine how much the vets fees were. He also has a seized toe on one of his front paws which may in time require amputation. I declared this but it's not excluded on his policy & they also cover lifetime illnesses.
Good luck