Alternative to pet insurance & and vets prefer it

[Nell39]

I dont have pet insurance with a company, i found a cheaper,easier way.
I set up a standing order to send payments directy to my vets (you will need a reference/account number from them so they know who the money is coming from) I pay £5 a week to them and let my credit build up. With a standing order i can also change the amount i want to pay them each week, easy if you use online banking.
So say for example you've used up the credit you had or got a large bill to pay off you can up your payments to pay it off quicker, you can also drop the amount to pay each week if needed.

My vets have said to me that they wish more people would do the same instead of going through insurance companies which are sometimes difficult to get to pay out and can take some time to pay out. I dont know if all vets would allow you to do this, it wont hurt to give them a ring and ask. I know I'd rather pay my vets directly and know that every penny is going towards treating my pets when they need it.

I've found it very handy, like when my elderly cat had to go in and have 6 teeth out, it was quite expensive bill for the operation and everything that went with it but luckily i was well in credit with them so didnt have to worry about paying a big vet bill off, then continue paying each week or month whichever suits you, to build up your credit again for the next time 1 of your fur babies has to go to the vets.

[sarie]

It seems like a good idea and for smaller bills I'm sure it works very well but in my case I've just been hit with a bill for over £3000 and ongoing costs will come in at around £150-200 per month for the rest of my cat's life.
No amount of credit to my vets would've covered this so I'm incredibly relieved I have insurance and it's also meant that I'm in a position to pursue the best possible care with no expense spared as I know the insurance will pick up the tab. For example, I had the option to see a cardio specialist for an additional £700 to get very specific scans and tests done that my vet simply can't do. If that had to come out of my own pocket then I'm sure I'd still be paying for it but I'd have probably had to have a good think about the pros and cons rather than just going ahead with it on the spot.

I'm not trying to poo-poo people who set aside money each month for their vet bills, it's very organised and responsible and at least it means that routine care that insurance won't pay for is covered (like vaccines and flea/worm treatments) but not all cats make it through their lives without a major crisis of some kind. Some cats manage to make it through life without ever running up a large vet bill and in those cases insurance may seem like wasted money but god forbid you're ever faced with a situation where your pet needs thousands of pounds spending on medical care; insurance is peace of mind. To be able to hand my dying cat over to the vet and say "Do what you have to, whatever the cost" and not sit and worry about where that money is coming from.. it was the only comfort I had that night.

Where insurance is a problem is for people with elderly pets as I know that the monthly costs can be extortionate and in an elderly pet it may be that your pet never lives long enough to justify the costs of the insurance. In that situation I do think that putting money aside each month in place of insurance is a great idea but, in younger pets where insurance isn't too expensive, I'd always recommend insurance in place of putting money in a bank account from my own personal experience.

One of my previous cats was hit by a car and his bill was over £1200 and my other cat had a cat bite abcess that required treatment when he came in with it at 11pm on a Sunday - the emergency care costs were over £500 for that. In all of those situations insurance covered me.

[meriad]

I agree, years back when Jamie was hit by a car, the final bill came to just under £2500 and there is no way that I'd have been able to afford that without the insurance.

I know quite a few vets offer a monthly payment plan that then covers the annual boosters as well as worming and flea treatments