Dog Insurance

[ParanoidAndroid]

Apologies, I know this has been discussed before but quick search pulled out some older threads from 2010. Just wondered who the latest recommended Dog insurer is.

Have a wonderful nutty and energetic Hungarian Vizsla, he's now 6 years old. Basically I've been paying for the Petplan top level of cover but due to price hikes it's setting me back about £63 a month. Over the 6 years I have thankfully never needed to make a claim.

So basically looking to switch to somewhere cheaper but know as he gets older I may need the insurance so ideally still looking for 'covered for life' policies (ie they cover for the duration of the illness not just 12 months). Can anyone recommend an insurer - specifically if you've had cause to use and they have been good. PetPlan I'm sure are good but having never made a claim the continual increases seem a bit of a joke... its now costing more to insure my dog than my car

Cheers
Graham

Edited by ParanoidAndroid on Monday 30th April 10:52

[Jasandjules]

I think that the covered for life policies are now few and far between.

We now put money into an account to use IF we want to go to a vet.

[e320dave]

We currently have the pet plus insurance for both our dogs from Esure. So far they have paid out. It has meant that our premium has gone up. Currently in the process of claiming for X rays for our Springer as she started limping. They have also paid out when we put in claims for our Collie. Our Collie is approx £25 a month (we have already claimed) and our springer is about £17 a month although that will go up next year due to the claim we are currently making.

[Mobile Chicane]

Jasandjules said:

I think that the covered for life policies are now few and far between.

We now put money into an account to use IF we want to go to a vet.

I could have had a 'for life' policy for my 10 year-old cat via the Cats Protection Petplan scheme. However I'm thinking, how much longer is he going to live anyway?

I did insure on the 12-month scheme, which is £45 a month cheaper. Should he get something more serious, I'll just suck up the cost.

He's pretty healthy and not overweight. The only reason for insuring at all was to mitigate the sudden expense in the event of an accident / animal attack.

[bexVN]

^^^ another 8yrs possibly

[Jasandjules]

bexVN said:

^^^ another 8yrs possibly

I'd hope at least 6....

[jagracer]

ParanoidAndroid said:

Have a wonderful nutty and energetic Hungarian Vizsla, he's now 6 years old. Basically I've been paying for the Petplan top level of cover but due to price hikes it's setting me back about £63 a month. Over the 6 years I have thankfully never needed to make a claim.

My wife's horses don't cost that much to insure although we decided to go the self insure route with all but one as the last quote from PetPlan was around £550.

[bexVN]

Jasandjules said:

bexVN said:

^^^ another 8yrs possibly

I'd hope at least 6....

Forever if I could, my little Fitz boy is nearly 17 really can't imagine life without him .

He's not insured (has cost me quite a few pennies over the yrs) I would recommend some kind me cover. Life is ideal but max per condition (7.5k) not bad. Cheap ins often have low excess but you have to pay high percentage of the bill. Money in a bank can work unless sudden large amount crops up!

More than seems quite good and I believe John Lewis is getting good reviews.

[LeftMuffin]

Our 5 month Rottweiler is insured with John Lewis (life policy) for £48 a month, with £10k a year limit. Pet plan wanted £93 a month with a £12k a year limit.

We haven't had to claim yet but some friends who are insured with JL have and said they had no problems at all.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Thanks everyone, will see what John Lewis comes out at and let you know. Cheers.

[Jill450se]

Like you I didn't want to pay as much as PetPlan wanted. After a lot of research a year ago I plumped for Argos Platinum, which seemed to be lifetime cover. Haven't had to claim yet so not sure if they're any good at handling their claims.

It is a confusing minefield and you have to look carefully at all the small print - I was boggle eyed by the end of it all!

Good luck and let us know what you end up with.