I have a 4yr old labrador and a 3yr old lab nither have pet insurance and i live in England i paid for it for a short while when i first got my puppy but its still just extra to pay on top of food, flea treatment, worming tablets ETC so i stopped it my pets have been fine so far.
Certainly they can live without it. And they can die without it too.
Recently my dog was taken in - it was obvious she was really ill. Her bill came to £700 - believe me, I was glad she had insurance.
WE have a pony too, who is insured. And we've had reason to be grateful.
Vets are expensive. I do know someone who had to allow their pony to die because they didn't have the insurance to cover the cost of an operation. That was awful.
I'm not sure quite what you mean by this...but okay...pets (and I assume you mean cats and dogs not black mambas and bengal tigers!) are not legally required to have insurance. Horses ridden on the road and or around the genreal public should have some kind of liability insurance at least but...
Vets over here cost a fortune! So if you're thinking healthwise (my cat had to have two teeth removed - £300) and the pet is fairly young with a good health history then get them covered pronto.
Re: Do pets in England need pet insurance or can they live without it?
Ya ofcourse pet can live without insurance in england but the people in england are very rich so they dont worries about that .
England people love pets !