Discussion
Hi All,
Just got myself a couple of cats recently, both rescue cats. First one is female, she's been living with us for a month. Got another one last weekend (a male). They are both about one years of age. Her insurance ran out the other day.
Just wanted to know the best cover for them, in terms of cost v value. NOTE that they are both more than likely to be house cats. (No cruelty comments please they have 3 floors to live on!)
Cheers
Sunil
Just got myself a couple of cats recently, both rescue cats. First one is female, she's been living with us for a month. Got another one last weekend (a male). They are both about one years of age. Her insurance ran out the other day.
Just wanted to know the best cover for them, in terms of cost v value. NOTE that they are both more than likely to be house cats. (No cruelty comments please they have 3 floors to live on!)
Cheers
Sunil
Is it worth it? Put the money away each month and by the time (hopefully) the cats run up any big bills you'll have enough to cover them. If you get such a big bill that you can't cover it it's probably not fair to put the car through it. And you've got money to play with if you don't get any big bills. Has worked for us over the years.
daved said:
Is it worth it? Put the money away each month and by the time (hopefully) the cats run up any big bills you'll have enough to cover them. If you get such a big bill that you can't cover it it's probably not fair to put the car through it. And you've got money to play with if you don't get any big bills. Has worked for us over the years.
+1That is what I am doing
Well done for taking in two rescue cats, good on you 
Is it worth it? I say yes. We took on two from a rehoming center about 1.5 years ago. IIRC the PetPlan cover for ours comes to about £260/year. About six or seven months after we got them the older one had to have about £400 of dental work. Petplan covered the lot so for us at least, it's still paying for itself.
Petplan are one of the few insurers who cover for life, that is to say if your cat develops a life-long condition then it's covered for all subsequent years you renew with them, most insurers stick will stick it on as an exclusion as a "pre-existing condition" thereafter. Most vets can also claim off PetPlan direct so it saves you having to pay out then claim back.
It's up to you, but even if you saved £10/month for, say, 5 years, that's £600. You could easily end up with a vet bill way, way more than that if the cat gets hit by a car, gets in a nasty fight with another animal, even eats something they shouldn't. Personally it's a no brainer for me.
ETA - Simpo, you must have posted it while I was still typing mine, not trying to shout you down or make you feel bad, just my £0.02's worth.
Is it worth it? I say yes. We took on two from a rehoming center about 1.5 years ago. IIRC the PetPlan cover for ours comes to about £260/year. About six or seven months after we got them the older one had to have about £400 of dental work. Petplan covered the lot so for us at least, it's still paying for itself.
Petplan are one of the few insurers who cover for life, that is to say if your cat develops a life-long condition then it's covered for all subsequent years you renew with them, most insurers stick will stick it on as an exclusion as a "pre-existing condition" thereafter. Most vets can also claim off PetPlan direct so it saves you having to pay out then claim back.
It's up to you, but even if you saved £10/month for, say, 5 years, that's £600. You could easily end up with a vet bill way, way more than that if the cat gets hit by a car, gets in a nasty fight with another animal, even eats something they shouldn't. Personally it's a no brainer for me.
ETA - Simpo, you must have posted it while I was still typing mine, not trying to shout you down or make you feel bad, just my £0.02's worth.
Personally, I like to be able to tell the vet to do what is in the animal's best interests and I don't care what it costs.
I think up to his death at the end of Feb, over the last ten years Macavity had managed to soak up more than the insurance contributions for all three cats, while the other two have barely claimed for anything.
I think, though, if you are willing and able to pay for whatever is in the animal's best interests whatever the expense, it becomes a simple estimation of risk and return - on average, it will cost less to self-insure.
I think up to his death at the end of Feb, over the last ten years Macavity had managed to soak up more than the insurance contributions for all three cats, while the other two have barely claimed for anything.
I think, though, if you are willing and able to pay for whatever is in the animal's best interests whatever the expense, it becomes a simple estimation of risk and return - on average, it will cost less to self-insure.
Ours is covered with Pet Plan which I think is about £13 a month. Only had her for five months and she hasn't cost us anything yet but she is on her own going in and out all day while I am at work and does have a habit of eating plastic and climbing up trees. We don't have much in the way of savings and I didn't want to end up in a situation where something happened that could be sorted easily without any detriment to her quality of life but we couldn't afford it.
Considering it costs the same as the telly license it seems a much better investement!
Considering it costs the same as the telly license it seems a much better investement!
mines on petplan and been claiming for diabetes for the last two years.. regular blood tests and medication soon adds up.
Think i'm paying £18 a month, plus about 20% excess per claim due to his age (14 yrs)
imo, i echo the comment above of i'd rather be able to tell the vet to get on with it, rather than worry about where the money might come from
Think i'm paying £18 a month, plus about 20% excess per claim due to his age (14 yrs)
imo, i echo the comment above of i'd rather be able to tell the vet to get on with it, rather than worry about where the money might come from
Absolutely insure. It must be the only insurance I pay that I almost always get my money out of.
Petplan seems good but start when they are little. As we have found over 10years old then they will only do the lowest plan they do.
What I have noticed is that they all seem to be putting extra excesses as a portion of the claim up to 20%! This is in addition to the average £80 excess.
I can't see that putting £260 - 400 a year away would nearly give you sufficient peace of mind. That really doesn't go very far and the last thing you need is to be worrying about the money if anything bad happens. I think we have a max payout of £6k per item and believe you me you can use that - we have.
Petplan seems good but start when they are little. As we have found over 10years old then they will only do the lowest plan they do.
What I have noticed is that they all seem to be putting extra excesses as a portion of the claim up to 20%! This is in addition to the average £80 excess.
I can't see that putting £260 - 400 a year away would nearly give you sufficient peace of mind. That really doesn't go very far and the last thing you need is to be worrying about the money if anything bad happens. I think we have a max payout of £6k per item and believe you me you can use that - we have.
Hi,
I actually decided to insurance via pets at home, however I have now been told that they are rubbish and I should use petplan, who are more expensive but do pay out.
We are talking £12.50 v £6.00 per month.
Please note that 2nd kitty is also due to be insured shortly. So will be looking at £25 a month just on cat insurance!
Cheers
Sunil
I actually decided to insurance via pets at home, however I have now been told that they are rubbish and I should use petplan, who are more expensive but do pay out.
We are talking £12.50 v £6.00 per month.
Please note that 2nd kitty is also due to be insured shortly. So will be looking at £25 a month just on cat insurance!
Cheers
Sunil
citychap26 said:
Hi,
I actually decided to insurance via pets at home, however I have now been told that they are rubbish and I should use petplan, who are more expensive but do pay out.
We are talking £12.50 v £6.00 per month.
Please note that 2nd kitty is also due to be insured shortly. So will be looking at £25 a month just on cat insurance!
Cheers
Sunil
its balance of risks.. and a large dose of you get what you pay for.. cheaper generally means less service, so expect higher excesses, more exclusions, limits on claim amounts and period..I actually decided to insurance via pets at home, however I have now been told that they are rubbish and I should use petplan, who are more expensive but do pay out.
We are talking £12.50 v £6.00 per month.
Please note that 2nd kitty is also due to be insured shortly. So will be looking at £25 a month just on cat insurance!
Cheers
Sunil
if you're happy with this then it could be the product for you
chr15b said:
its balance of risks.. and a large dose of you get what you pay for.. cheaper generally means less service, so expect higher excesses, more exclusions, limits on claim amounts and period..
if you're happy with this then it could be the product for you
I work in Credit Risk if you're happy with this then it could be the product for you
I think that it's worth paying for the peace of mind
citychap26 said:
Hi,
Please note that 2nd kitty is also due to be insured shortly. So will be looking at £25 a month just on cat insurance!
Sunil
Is say that's pretty much the average amount. Our cats used to be with John Lewis and where around the £25 a month mark slightly more. Please note that 2nd kitty is also due to be insured shortly. So will be looking at £25 a month just on cat insurance!
Sunil
Today we moved over to MoreThan, which gave us considerably more cover and insured the 2 cats and 16 month old rottie for £64. JL wanted £59 a month for just the rottie at renewal.
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