Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

lowis

most policies exclude prescription food i think...and anyway, it doesn't cost that much more than regular food.

i checked out M&S as their policy looked really good...they quoted me THIRTY FIVE POUNDS a month for one 13yo cat!!! double what i pay with Petplan for my 12yo Siamese.

M&S's 'competitive' pricing wasn't sustainable hence all the big hikes and excesses lately.

hethmar

mirror - I am really surprised by the high cost for your rottie pup. Have you ticked all the right boxes on there - do check in case its something that simple. Id have thought a Bull Mastiff was just as high risk as a rottie and my friend was quoted £24 odd for the 4 year old male and £17 something for the 2 year old girl (discounted for being second dog). Although, they do add money on depending on your postcode - my friend lives in a quiet Norfolk village.

Im afraid it doesnt matter about the paperwork - if both his parents were rotties then he is a pedigree dog. Now if he looks a bit like he could be a cross and your vet is happy with that description ....................or have you already registered him as a rottie with your vet?

Lowis, that is a very good price from Petplan as they are usually high above anyone else.

mirrorimage0

so am i our last rottie was only around £24 per month, one of the cheaper quotes i got yesterday was with hsbc pet insurance and it worked out around £70 for all 4 with renewable £7500 each yr.

i spoke to my vet about how the insurance people class as pedigree or non pedigree and thye told me to register him as pedigree too as both parents are rottie so thats what i put.. the insurance lady said the premiums are high because of what he is and because he is a pup because if anything goes wrong its normally in the first yr apperently.

so has anyone used hsbc or would mind taking a look at it to make sure its a good insurance (sorry have spent past two days checkin insurances and its all a bit gobbledygook now)

thanks for help though guys/girls

lowis

hethmar - yes, i am very lucky with my petplan premium - having compared policies for the cat i am hoping to adopt, £17.50 a month seems like a steal for lifetime cover.

petplan were quite competitive 12.5yrs ago, and i think were still a relatively small business compared to the corporate machine they have become. my premiums have only increased by the cost of inflation pretty much, i think i started out paying about £8 per cat when they were kittens. i am definitely 'quids in' with petplan - i think i have claimed about £15,000 in total for both my cats over 12 years!

i am still in shock at the cost of the halifax quote i got - 84 quid for a cat per month!!!

Princess_kate

Im trying to sort insurance for my 14 weeks old kitten, Tigger.
I didnt think it would be so confusing.....does anone have any suggestions over the best policy. He will be an indoor cat so I dont know if there is some sort of reduction for that?
I would like lifetime cover not a set amount per condition.
I've had a look & I think its pet plan & Halifax who seem the best?
Thanks in advance
Kate

mirrorimage0

petplan is good thats where our ones are at them moment at around £11 per month we are only considering moving because of our newest addition

hotcookie101

lowis wrote: »

hethmar - yes, i am very lucky with my petplan premium - having compared policies for the cat i am hoping to adopt, £17.50 a month seems like a steal for lifetime cover.

petplan were quite competitive 12.5yrs ago, and i think were still a relatively small business compared to the corporate machine they have become. my premiums have only increased by the cost of inflation pretty much, i think i started out paying about £8 per cat when they were kittens. i am definitely 'quids in' with petplan - i think i have claimed about £15,000 in total for both my cats over 12 years!

i am still in shock at the cost of the halifax quote i got - 84 quid for a cat per month!!!

I think petplan were pretty much the only option10-15 years ago (my family got a rescue dog in 94 and were recommended to get insurance as golden retrievers could be poorly! God bless that NI vet We claimed many thousands!
I now have cat insured, £10ish per month with pet plan, with vet discount. Will NEVER give it up=I can cover your basic vet bills (would only have to pay cost etc) but if need to see a specialist-easily £1-2K, which I could afford at a push (with a nice new credit card) but would rather not have to make that decision. My cat means the world to me, but would find it hard to get into debt for him thats why I prefer to insure than self insure. Even if I did self insure, with his premiums so far I would only have £400 in bank, which would would not cover a first opinion surgical fracture repair in the south of england! (and if I had to see a specialist -ie not someone in my own practice) we could be easily talking 1-1.5K:!

hethmar

Mirror and Princess Kate - if you read further back youll see that all those you mention are good plans. Also try AXA. I have one of mine with M and S cos we had to claim and so cant move now and my other one is with Halifax. If Petplan is a comparable price with same amount of benefits then go for that as they are the most established insurer.

Tesscha

My cat was involved in an accident over the weekend and we didn't find out until he came home with his eye looking very bad, so we took him to an emergency vet on Mon and he had to have surgery to remove a 1 inch stick that went through the side of his eye (used up one of his lives). I'm now looking for insurance but the 2 that I've looked at obviously exclude pre-existing illnesses or conditions. We have already met the £450 odd pounds for surgery but he'll need to continue to see the vet. I understand that I may be asking the impossible as all insurance companies are out to make money.

Does anybody know of any place that will cover and help with any future costs associated with this accident.

hotcookie101

Tesscha wrote: »

My cat was involved in an accident over the weekend and we didn't find out until he came home with his eye looking very bad, so we took him to an emergency vet on Mon and he had to have surgery to remove a 1 inch stick that went through the side of his eye (used up one of his lives). I'm now looking for insurance but the 2 that I've looked at obviously exclude pre-existing illnesses or conditions. We have already met the £450 odd pounds for surgery but he'll need to continue to see the vet. I understand that I may be asking the impossible as all insurance companies are out to make money.

Does anybody know of any place that will cover and help with any future costs associated with this accident.

Unfortunately you are unlikely to find an insurer which will cover this incident/future problems with the eye etc. Its just like private medical insurance-they wont cover pre-existing problems (of course they are out to make money and if they covered for things like this, no-one would insure their animals until they became ill I still see a few people who take out insurance the day they bring their pet in (when something has been brewing for a while) thinking it will be covered, I have never come accross a company who has paid out yet ) You may find if the cat has no problems associated with the eye in the future they may remove an exclusion.

Would love to be proved wrong though.

Some vets run a direct debit scheme which is NOT insurance but you pay a monthly DD and this then covers vaccinations/worming/fleas and a discount on treatment. But it is NOT insurance (had some people cancel their insurance when my last practice introduced this, didn't quite understand.... The dog was on treatment costing about £800 per year :eek:)