Pet Insurance - any recommendations

[aclivity]

I've been procrastinating with the pet insurance, but it's something I need to get sorted so I thought I'd throw it out to the animal lovers of Pistonheads.

We have got ourselves a family dog, Jasper, he's a Lassa Apso / Yorkshire Terrier cross and is about 15 weeks old now. He's been chipped (no improvement in performance yet, and fuel consumption seems to have gone up ) and lives indoors rather than a kennel.

Are there any special things I should look out for in pet insurance, and are there any recommendations? Based on a moneysupermarket search, I should be looking at £10 to £15 a month, which surprised me a little as I expected more of the £6 to £9 region.

Oh, and do you still need a dog license?

Andy

Wondering if this will get moved to "Health Matters" or "Finance"?

[mrsxllifts]

'Healthy Pets' is worth a go. We have our cat insured with them on a all singing and dancing policy for £3.50 a month! Not sure about dog cover but seem to offer good deals.

[Lord Croker]

You don't need a license.

I use Healthy Pets for my Springer, costs around £60/year with a £60 excess, and they have been great whenever I've had to claim - no questions asked, and they pay out within a couple of days.

HTH

[aclivity]

Thanks for the rapid responses - just did a quick Google search, Healthy Pets quote comes out cheaper than any other so far, by a decent margin! PH, pets matter.

[Ian_S]

I have the top cover with petplan and pay about £25 a month, for a golden retriever, but then mine does agility and flyball so havent skimped on the cover in case he gets injured.

[siscar]

Insurance is a personal choice thing - my first dog was insured but nothing he had wrong with him was covered then eventually he reached an age where they wouldn't cover him and then he started to need treatment.

Much better to put some money aside to pay any bills than to insure in my experience of 4 dogs over 20 years.

[raf_gti]

Ian_S said:

I have the top cover with petplan and pay about £25 a month, for a golden retriever, but then mine does agility and flyball so havent skimped on the cover in case he gets injured.

I'd hope that he doesn't as Petplan are being arses at the moment about paying up.

[Stevenj214]

I went with Liverpool Victoria - not the cheapest, but a reputable company and a high level of cover.

[Ian_S]

raf_gti said:

Ian_S said:

I have the top cover with petplan and pay about £25 a month, for a golden retriever, but then mine does agility and flyball so havent skimped on the cover in case he gets injured.

I'd hope that he doesn't as Petplan are being arses at the moment about paying up.

claimed a couple of times to have lumps removed and been paid with no hassle.

[Steve996]

We are with Direct Line for 1 x Dog and 2 x Maine Coon cats.

[ady_GTi]

I work for a company that underwrites a number of pet insurers, Most are basically the same t&cs wise, just the amount of cover your getting and for what price.

Watch out for policys that only cover you for 12 months rather than lifelong and check the excess doesnt go up with the age of pet.

[raf_gti]

Ian_S said:

raf_gti said:

Ian_S said:

I have the top cover with petplan and pay about £25 a month, for a golden retriever, but then mine does agility and flyball so havent skimped on the cover in case he gets injured.

I'd hope that he doesn't as Petplan are being arses at the moment about paying up.

claimed a couple of times to have lumps removed and been paid with no hassle.

They were fine up until about a year or so ago, now they seem to be dragging their heels with a lot of 'simple claims' and generally making the lives of owners/vets pretty awkward.

[bazking69]

Petplan. Simply the most comprehensive level of cover you can get. It covers ongoing illnesses with no caps.

I think we pay about £11 a month for a little Border Terrier and I plan to stay with them for life. It's a small price to pay for total peace of mind.

A guy at work has a policy with them, and his poor dog has had about £6000 worth of work in the last year or so. All it has cost him was the initial £75 excess, and they haven't quibbled once about paying the ongoing 4 figure vet bills.

[becksW]

Either go for a policy that has cover for life or at least will pay upto 7.5k per medical condition, with no cut offs after 1 year (many ins companies do this)

Premiums have gone up over recent yrs because many more people have pet insurance. And so much more can be done for pets insurance is all the more important.

They won't pay for routine stuff such as vaccinations, neutering, worming and defleaing because that is all part of being a responsible owner. Dental care may not be covered if you do not prove that you look after the teeth.

Some companies will more quick to put exclusions on conditions. Pet Plan rarely do.

Pet plan is the gold standard of pet insurance, if you go for another, compare what it has to offer with Pet plan first.

Mine are with Sainsbury's and no complaints so far. They forked out over 4.5k for my cat last yr and 1.1k on my dog this year, no hesitation. They do max cover per condition. The slight draw back with this is once you've used up the amount you can't claim any more, my feeling was if I can get upto 7.5k fo an ongoing medical problem with my pet then I've done well!

Read the small print. If you decide to change ins companies and exclusion will be put on any conditions you have ever previously had diagnosed/ claimed for.