Discussion
My dog ( 6 year old Lab) is currently insured via Petplan....no existing medical issues.
Quoted £75 per month to remain with them, they have been his sole insurer these last 6 years.
Looking at alternatives I see quotes for similar or better cover for 1/3 of what Petplan are quoting me.
Obviously l'd like to avoid lower cost but a crap service when or if I need them.
Appreciate views on who to avoid or sign up with....
Thanks.
Quoted £75 per month to remain with them, they have been his sole insurer these last 6 years.
Looking at alternatives I see quotes for similar or better cover for 1/3 of what Petplan are quoting me.
Obviously l'd like to avoid lower cost but a crap service when or if I need them.
Appreciate views on who to avoid or sign up with....
Thanks.
Best Insurers I've found are 'Many Pets' and 'Napo'. Both are used to direct claims from Vets, so no need to pay upfront.
towser said:
My dog ( 6 year old Lab) is currently insured via Petplan....no existing medical issues.
Quoted £75 per month to remain with them, they have been his sole insurer these last 6 years.
Looking at alternatives I see quotes for similar or better cover for 1/3 of what Petplan are quoting me.
Obviously l'd like to avoid lower cost but a crap service when or if I need them.
Appreciate views on who to avoid or sign up with....
Thanks.
Quoted £75 per month to remain with them, they have been his sole insurer these last 6 years.
Looking at alternatives I see quotes for similar or better cover for 1/3 of what Petplan are quoting me.
Obviously l'd like to avoid lower cost but a crap service when or if I need them.
Appreciate views on who to avoid or sign up with....
Thanks.
Our little guy has been insured with Pet plan since we got him. Like you, we were concerned about the amount that the policy gets hiked every year. Last time, we asked for advice from the vet and she suggested we stay with Pet plan. Apparently, every time you go to see the vet, virtually everything that you mention or ask about with respect to your pet can be recorded onto your pet’s notes and then used by your new insurer to refuse a claim, as it is a “pre-existing” condition.
If, as you say, your dog has no pre-existing conditions, then all well and good. However, think carefully about the conversations you may have had with your vet, as it seems they can be used by insurers to try and worm their way out of paying up!
If, as you say, your dog has no pre-existing conditions, then all well and good. However, think carefully about the conversations you may have had with your vet, as it seems they can be used by insurers to try and worm their way out of paying up!
wax lyrical said:
Best Insurers I've found are 'Many Pets' and 'Napo'. Both are used to direct claims from Vets, so no need to pay upfront.
We used ManyPets the first year or two we had our dog, then suddenly at about year two the price pretty much doubled. I asked them why and they said something along the lines of 'older dogs cost more'. At two years old? With no claims? Ok.We moved to Admiral which was less than half the price as we're an existing customer, no idea if the claims process is any good as never had to use it but the video vet (which most insurers seem to have a version of) has been good on the various occasions we've needed to use it.
Still thinking about self insuring to be honest. Pet insurance seems to be a massive rip off, like the vets they cover
andyb28 said:
We have 3 springers and the price just got so silly, that we decided we would be better off not having insurance and saving the premium towards a vet bill if needed.
Exactly what we have done. I paid the quoted £60/month into stocks and shares instead. Dog is only 2 and a bit years old but there's already 2K in that account. Our last dog was insured for 12 years and we never claimed! We're fortunate enough to be able to cover a huge bill if we need to so that takes some of the worry out of it andyb28 said:
We have 3 springers and the price just got so silly, that we decided we would be better off not having insurance and saving the premium towards a vet bill if needed.
How quickly can you save up to cover a decent sized Vet's bill though? Any trip to a vet requiring blood tests, a scan, which requires sedation, and the bill get's to £1k very rapidly. A few nights in doggy hospital and you're another £1K down and an Op is just stupid money. Then you're savings a wiped out. Small bills aren't worth claiming for either due the the excess and the loaded premium the next year if you claim.Crudeoink said:
Exactly what we have done. I paid the quoted £60/month into stocks and shares instead. Dog is only 2 and a bit years old but there's already 2K in that account. Our last dog was insured for 12 years and we never claimed! We're fortunate enough to be able to cover a huge bill if we need to so that takes some of the worry out of it
Luck of the draw I guess. My sister's dog had an issue which cost 15K, pretty much all paid out for by insurers. We've had to claim the odd thing (ripped claws etc) but not much. Bit frustrating as each year for the past 3 years our manypets insurance has doubled, started at £35, just had the renewal which is saying £125! At that price i'm going to take the risk of going elsewhere for half the price.super7 said:
andyb28 said:
We have 3 springers and the price just got so silly, that we decided we would be better off not having insurance and saving the premium towards a vet bill if needed.
How quickly can you save up to cover a decent sized Vet's bill though? Any trip to a vet requiring blood tests, a scan, which requires sedation, and the bill get's to £1k very rapidly. A few nights in doggy hospital and you're another £1K down and an Op is just stupid money. Then you're savings a wiped out. Small bills aren't worth claiming for either due the the excess and the loaded premium the next year if you claim.We use LV and I have to say they have been brilliant in terms of paying claims.
I think last year at 7yrs old it was c£50pm and now he's 8 it's gone up to c£80pm with a £4k annual limit per condition claim we set. Over the years our springer has had cruciate ligament surgery with a plate fitted (and then subsequently removed due to infection) and more recently over the last 3yrs glaucoma with the removal of one eye and management of the other with medication and surgical interventions.
On all submissions they've paid out really quick minus the excess/contribution. That said last year we got to the £4k limit with eye treatment and three weeks before the insurance was due to renew we had further surgery with a shunt put in his eye to assist excess fluid drainage. I had to pay (£2k) for that and wasn't going to delay treatment for 3-weeks just to get the money back. Sadly the shunt and various laser treatments haven't worked and his other eye was removed last week.
It's been a s
t week, in fact a st year so far, yet despite my cynicism of insurance providers LV haven't let us down.
BTW I'm not allowed to source pet insurance after may first foray many years ago where I bought the cheapest policy for our previous springer which needed surgery for her cruciate ligament costing over £4k and the policy had a claim limit of £500 My wife has handled it since.
I think last year at 7yrs old it was c£50pm and now he's 8 it's gone up to c£80pm with a £4k annual limit per condition claim we set. Over the years our springer has had cruciate ligament surgery with a plate fitted (and then subsequently removed due to infection) and more recently over the last 3yrs glaucoma with the removal of one eye and management of the other with medication and surgical interventions.
On all submissions they've paid out really quick minus the excess/contribution. That said last year we got to the £4k limit with eye treatment and three weeks before the insurance was due to renew we had further surgery with a shunt put in his eye to assist excess fluid drainage. I had to pay (£2k) for that and wasn't going to delay treatment for 3-weeks just to get the money back. Sadly the shunt and various laser treatments haven't worked and his other eye was removed last week.
It's been a s
t week, in fact a st year so far, yet despite my cynicism of insurance providers LV haven't let us down.BTW I'm not allowed to source pet insurance after may first foray many years ago where I bought the cheapest policy for our previous springer which needed surgery for her cruciate ligament costing over £4k and the policy had a claim limit of £500
My wife has handled it since.Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff