Nine-year-old flat coat retriever Bertie
Bertie is a fine specimen of a dog – a nine-year-old flat coat retriever who weighs in at an impressive seven stone.
Owner Sharon Wilson, from Harrow in Middlesex, is mighty proud of him and says it is sometimes like having a small pony in her front room, albeit a loveable one.
Unfortunately, like many dogs of his age, Bertie is becoming prohibitively expensive to insure.
The latest renewal notice from insurer Petplan states that if Sharon wants Bertie covered for the next 12 months, she will have to pay £2,674.07 or £222.83 a month.
In 2014, when Bertie was a pup, the annual premium was £694.16 or £57.85 a month.
Sharon, a 59-year-old personal tutor, says that Bertie has so far cost her just over £11,000 to insure. For this, she has had six claims met, totalling £1,900 – the last of which was back in 2017.
Of course, the insurance provides peace of mind, but in Sharon’s case, Petplan is the real winner. It has done extraordinarily well from her custom.
‘Bertie is now our biggest monthly household expense,’ says Sharon, who is married with two children. ‘We love him dearly and he’s an integral part of our lives. But we do wonder whether we deserve better from our insurer.’
Sharon is negotiating with Petplan over the renewal premium. More to follow if she wangles a discount out of them.
