Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

When you take out pet insurance you enter into a 12 month agreement and you can't cancel. I simply waited with mine until it was up for renewal and gradually changed all 4 cats over.

Has anyone any experience of companies providing pony insurance? and who would you recommend or avoid.

I use the NFU they're really good easy to contact and pay out quickly, they also have competitive premiums and free legal advice.

Like Money Bunny I would avoid E & L , their premiums are cheap but they are difficult to claim from , they also are very quick to put on exclusions once you make a claim.

My pet has a pre-existing chronic viral eye condition. He's 14. E&L will cover him but exclude all veterinary treatment to his eyes, even from unrelated illness or accident, for life. This despite my taking out one of their more comprehensive plans including the ongoing treatment option. There's also a lot of small print. Basically this insurance is only going to be any good if he gets cancer or diabetes or needs chemo/radio/op etc plus the excess is a fixed, high pounds amount plus 35% of the rest of the cost of the treatment.

I'm going to ask M&S but assume they prob are the same (?). You can't put 15 quid aside on an elderly pet who may need 4gs of cancer treatment. A friend just got reimbursed several thousand for her 4 year old cat's ops and chemo (by PetPlan, who are ok with younger pets with one off incidents she says). You could however take your sick pet to France where vets bills are much lower than here -bit drastic I know. Just to give an idea - a renal function blood test costs up to 60 pounds in the London area. I paid 13 euros in France. Consultations are pound = euro or less. (sorry, the pound and euro symbols don't work on this PC any more). Interesting point: hardly anyone bothers with pet insurance in pet-mad France and vets' bills are way lower. Coincidence?

Thanks for your advice - much appreciated. I checked out most of the companies on offer and eventually went with Pet Plan as suggested. NFU was the only other reliable, and recommended option but more expensive for less cover. I pondered for a while over cover for total 100% loss of use. I was told by many of the other less well known insurers this was not needed if the pony was only worth 1500. Petplan suggested we take out 60% loss (at a much reduced premium) if we wanted this cover included in the policy. It appears no company ever pays out 100% loss as the animal would have to be put down if it was so severy disabled and the death policy would cover this. If the pony was simply unable to take a rider it would still have some residuale value, so you would get a guaranteed 60% of the total insured 1500 regardless and still get to keep the pony. Many Thanks.