Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

System

I am a tad confused and i am hoping someone can help me.

Last year i insured my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with M&S insurance. We took on the Premiere cover which cost £13 a month.

Three months after starting Millies cover we bought another Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. After the free insurance with the breeder ran out i phoned up M&S and asked for the same policy as Millie had, for Lucy.

I could have dropped through the floor when they said that the same cover for Lucy was £21 a month. They said it was because insurance rates had just gone up and begrudgingly, i paid it.

Now Millies is due for renewal and i was expecting it to be more in line price wise to Lucys but its not. They want £18 a month for the same cover which is still cheaper than what i am paying for Lucys.

Now what do i do? When i get Lucys renewal in a couple of months time, do i phone up and complain or shall i let things ride? Money is a bit tight lately and i was thinking of going for the standard cover for both of them this year but if Millies Premiere quote is anything to go by, it will be more expensive than sticking with what i have already got.

hethmar

The cover is more expensive for pups as they are most likely to have congenital problems in the first year. You may find Lucy's cover is lower when they come to renew.

In the meantime, have you had any claims or have either girls had to go the vet? If not, check out some of the other policies available with proper lifetime cover (which M and S does have). There are some listed above - AXA, Petplan, Halifax, HSBC, NFU and a few others.

Spider86

Just thought i'd add that if you have a crossbreed dog it might be worth checking both breeds if getting insurance quotes online.

I have a border collie - jack russel crossbreed (looks just like a collie but is slightly bigger than jack russel size, everone always presumes she's a puppy because of her size even thought she's 3 years old now!!) and when i was getting quotes for insurance they usually have a big drop down list of breeds, so at first i just kept selecting "collie crossbreed". After getting a few quotes, I put in the exact same details again but this time selected "jack russel crossbreed" and managed to knock £25 off the annual price from most of the quotes!!

So if you do have a crossbreed dog, check both breeds when getting a quote!!

System

I have compared M&S Premier against Halifax Pet Insurance Extra and there is no saving on Millies quote in fact it is more expensive than Lucys. I dont think i can make any savings on Millies insurance but will see what Lucys renewal will be.

lowis

i think M&S changed underwriters between your acquiring your two dogs - M&S used to be cheap and great value, but since the underwriter change their prices have shot up. i would imagine that your 'older' pet is benefitting from when premiums were cheaper.

my vet always used to say that he had no idea how M&S were making any money on their pet insurance and wondered just how sustainable their pricing was...i guess not very seeing as their prices have shot through the roof recently!

PS - try AXA insurance, i got a great quote from them, and they offer Life Cover

kirkn99

Have to agree with everyone who says this is all very confusing.

We’ve just got a black lab and while she has 6 week free insurance from the breeder I’m trying to figure out who to use after that.

The front runners appear to be Axa and Petplan but looking at the Petplan web site they only offer 2 policies ( not the 10+ that are listed on defaqto ) and the “for life” one has quite a low annual value for fees of 4000 which although its for life looks a bit low compared to some others – Axa is 7000 (not unlimited like defaqto says )

In contrast a lot of the other Petplan amounts appear to be per year and not per condition like for Axa e.g complimentary therapy where Petplan is 750 per year and Axa is 250 per condition

Going to keep looking and will post back what we end up with but it really is as confusing as everyone says it is

hethmar

AXA used to underwrite M and S. I had a quote recently for a friend who got two rescue Mastiffs - it was extremely reasonable - I was quite surprised.

DannyGee

Hi Chris,
Which insurer did you go with in the end as I have the same cross breed.
I would be quiet happy paying an excess - it's just the potential of a real big bill that worries me.
Thanks
Dan

chris_whiteoak wrote: »

Just thought i'd add that if you have a crossbreed dog it might be worth checking both breeds if getting insurance quotes online.

I have a border collie - jack russel crossbreed (looks just like a collie but is slightly bigger than jack russel size, everone always presumes she's a puppy because of her size even thought she's 3 years old now!!) and when i was getting quotes for insurance they usually have a big drop down list of breeds, so at first i just kept selecting "collie crossbreed". After getting a few quotes, I put in the exact same details again but this time selected "jack russel crossbreed" and managed to knock £25 off the annual price from most of the quotes!!

So if you do have a crossbreed dog, check both breeds when getting a quote!!

sommer

Hi,

Wondered if any one here can direct me to a comparison website for hampster pet insurance as evrything i have looked at so far does not include hampsters.
Thanks in advance.

lowis

not a lot available from the main insurers it seems....have you tried these?

http://www.exoticdirect.co.uk/
http://www.phapet.com/rabbmamm.html
http://www.cavyrescue.co.uk/small-pet-insurance.shtml