Ask the expert: Kennel Club pet insurance paid £6,000 but I can’t afford the premium

Lois contacted me after successfully claiming £6,000 for her puppy’s treatment. However, she can’t afford the monthly premium which has almost doubled.

Hi,

I have a lab puppy who’s nearly 2. He has a rare condition which I found out about a week after getting him when he was only 11 weeks old. Last year in April he was operated on and it hasn’t been a success so they’d like to operate again which the insurers will pay out for again but i’ts the monthly costs of his insurance which are becoming hard to pay.

I’ve received about £6,000 back so far in his vet fees but his premium with Kennel Club is now £80 per month which is becoming a struggle as last year it was only £40 p/m. Are there any other pet insurers out there that cover for pre existing conditions? I’ve searched and searched and can’t find any. Please help.

Hi Lois,

Thanks for contacting me. Sorry to hear about the situation. It’s good however to know that Kennel Club has already paid about £6,000 so far. We don’t get enough people saying good things about pet insurance.

To my knowledge no company would cover the existing condition of your puppy and you’ll be better off staying with Kennel Club which offer lifetime cover. The only thing you could do is “downgrade” your cover from the higher level (£10,000 towards vet fees per year) to the lower level (£5,000 per year). This could reduce your premium slightly but you’d need to make sure it leaves you enough cover in case of subsequent operations or ongoing care costs.

The only other thing you could do is try and have a look at your monthly budget and see if you can change things around. I hope this helped a bit. Let me know if you have any more queries.

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