Which pet insurance...

[page3]

Following on from my 'sick cat' thread I'm going to get insurance for the future for both of our cats.

Anyone recommend a specific insurer? There seem to be load out there, and the usual review site give them all very variable ratings.

So far, thinking of Tesco or Petplan.

[walm]

page3 said:

Following on from my 'sick cat' thread I'm going to get insurance for the future for both of our cats.

Anyone recommend a specific insurer? There seem to be load out there, and the usual review site give them all very variable ratings.

So far, thinking of Tesco or Petplan.

More Than was great for our dog. The vet even did all the paperwork!

[JB Rugby]

We have Petplan for our dogs, and they've always been very prompt to pay. Our vet used to be registered with them, so we only had to pay the excess and the vet would claim the bill from them. too much paperwork for them though so we do it ourselves now but still fine.

Edited by JB Rugby on Monday 15th December 12:28

[illmonkey]

M&S. Never had a issue. Claimed close to £2k on year, spread over 3 claims. It used to be no excess, now its £50.

[parapaul]

PetPlan hands down.

One major advantage they offer over most of the other insurers in constant payouts for long term illnesses. If your pet ends up with something like arthritis or diabetes and will need meds for the rest of its life, PetPlan will carry on paying out. Most others will pay for the first year only...

[mel]

All insurance companies make a profit at your expense, for things like pets I would always self insure as the odds are stacked in your favour.

[illmonkey]

mel said:

All insurance companies make a profit at your expense, for things like pets I would always self insure as the odds are stacked in your favour.

Care to read my post?

Across all of their policy's, yes. But in my case im alot better off with insurance! They already paid out £2000 on my £95/year policy. For them to break even on me, I would need a policy for over 20 years. Thats if nothing happens again to my pet. Not to mention no doubt over the cats life he will become sick at some point and need more help.

[otolith]

Self-insuring is fine, so long as you're happy with the idea of a figure beyond which your pet becomes an economic write-off and it makes more sense to kill it and buy another.

[page3]

Petplan seems to have an excess of £100 per condition per year and is slightly more costly than some of the others. Might be worth the extra, but not sure...

[otolith]

Our Petplan excess is more like £50, I think. Maybe they've increased it for new policies.

[JB Rugby]

mel said:

All insurance companies make a profit at your expense, for things like pets I would always self insure as the odds are stacked in your favour.

PP will be in negative equity for at least 3 years with us. Premium have only risen 50p each in 2 years.

[mel]

illmonkey said:

mel said:

All insurance companies make a profit at your expense, for things like pets I would always self insure as the odds are stacked in your favour.

Care to read my post?

Across all of their policy's, yes. But in my case im alot better off with insurance! They already paid out £2000 on my £95/year policy. For them to break even on me, I would need a policy for over 20 years. Thats if nothing happens again to my pet. Not to mention no doubt over the cats life he will become sick at some point and need more help.

Yes I read your post, but in my case I've put £20/month into a seperate account for my dog, he's now nine has over a grand in the bank and unlike your M&S policy I've paid all his jabs/worming & flea treatment out of that money. It is a pure economic FACT that there will be more people like me than like you otherwise insurance companies wouldn't do it. The choice ultimately is about your own opinion of risk. I insure my house because my mortgage company insist I do & I realise if it burnt down tomorrow there is now way I could afford to rebuild it and still pay what I owe on it, I insure my cars because by law I have to and I realise if I ran someone down and put them on a drip for the rest of their life there is no way I could afford the compensation, but I understand that in both of these circumstances the insurance company make a profit out of what I pay them but that is the cost of the service they provide. In the case of the dog if he was ill and I didn't have the money in his account I'd find it, if that meant another couple of grand then so be it and I'd write it off as "unlucky" but the odds are that I'll end up quids in.

[over_taxed]

Animal friends insurance.

I have my bulldog and two cats insured with them. They are a charitable company who give your premium to charity if you dont claim in that year.

But the main reason I chose them is they were the best value and their service has been great on the two occasions I have claimed for my dog

[siscar]

mel said:

All insurance companies make a profit at your expense, for things like pets I would always self insure as the odds are stacked in your favour.

So do I, I only insure against things that I can't afford or if I'm legally obliged to have the insurance. My house and car and insured but my dogs aren't. But that only works if you are confident that you can afford to pay out if you need to.

[siwil1]

I can recommend More Than, they paid out immediately when required and seem to cover a lot more than the discount companies like Tesco et al with regard to ongoing treatment.

I would not ever consider not having our Dog insured as Bills seem to mount up very quickly with vets.

A friend of ours have a Labrador pup who is currently recovering after being run over ...vet bill £6000
That is well over the £1000 in a bank account someone mentioned earlier.

Our dog picked up a £500 bill a couple of months ago when he ate the remote control to the tv and burnt his mouth on battery acid which means that effectivey next year my monthly premiums of £18 are just paying off that bill.

If £18 p/m means he lives a full life then its a very small price to pay.

[collateral]

otolith said:

Self-insuring is fine, so long as you're happy with the idea of a figure beyond which your pet becomes an economic write-off and it makes more sense to kill it and buy another.

Brings new meaning to 'Cat-D'

I wonder what's the strangest animal you can insure, I know some people have koi on their contents

'iz a stallion but logbook still sez donkey innit'