Dog owner told to pay £2,670 to renew as pet insurance costs climb
The dog owner said he had to pay more than £2,670 to renew as pet insurance costs rise: ‘Pet cover is my biggest bill’
Nine year old flat coat retriever Bertie
Bertie is a fine example of a dog – a nine-year-old flat-coat retriever who weighs an impressive seven stone.
Owner Sharon Wilson, from Harrow, Middlesex, is extremely proud of him and says it’s sometimes like having a little pony in her front room, albeit a sweet one.
Unfortunately, like many dogs his age, Bertie is becoming prohibitively expensive to insure.
Petplan’s latest renewal notice says that if Sharon wants Bertie covered for the next 12 months, she’ll have to pay £2,674.07 or £222.83 per month.
In 2014, when Bertie was a puppy, the annual premium was £694.16 or £57.85 per month.
Sharon, a 59-year-old private tutor, says Bertie has so far cost her just over £11,000 to insure. She has received six claims for this, totaling £1,900 – the last of which was in 2017.
Sure, insurance provides peace of mind, but in Sharon’s case, Petplan is the real winner. It has done extremely well as per her habit.
“Bertie is now our largest monthly household expense,” says Sharon, who is married with two children. “We love him dearly and he is an integral part of our lives. But we do wonder whether we earn better from our insurer.’
Sharon negotiates the renewal premium with Petplan. More will follow when she gets a discount out of it.