This is the advice from Philip Suter of jml Insurance who has paid the high price of not insuring his dog.
In September 2005 he and his wife adopted a rescue dog. The dog had been inoculated to date, was chipped with an identity chip and was a healthy young animal about 16 months old.
They had her spayed and even obtained a “ pet passport” for her, (these veterinary costs would not have been covered by insurance) however in the summer of 2006 she started behaving strangely and then had difficulty eating because her gums were bleeding. The dog was diagnosed as having Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura .
Fortunately the dog is able to maintain a good quality of life and is on steroids for the rest of her life. She has to have regular blood tests and can suddenly become very ill quickly and on the last occasion this happened a 24 hour stay at the vets when she was on a drip cost over £240. To date the treatment for the dog has cost over £2,500!
Philip said that “they decided to still take out pet insurance late in 2006 as although no insurance company would cover her for the ongoing medical condition she could have an accident or another medical complaint that would be covered”. They are paying £15 a month with a pet insurance provider and of course had the dog been insured from she first moved into her new home, it would have saved a lot of money.
It really makes financial sense to insure your pet and a lot of people forget to do this and the animal is involved in an accident or develops ill health and as stated on the jml Insurance website www.jml-insurance.co.uk “There is no National Health for Animals”
