Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

tobago22

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not touch E & L. I have been in the pet trade for 15 years- they are by far the worst.
I am in the process of switching all my own dogs to Marks & Spencer-they seem as good as any.

HugoSP

I note that some of you recommend M&S for pet insurance. I'm concerned about one of their exclusions "Any llness that your pet should have been vaccinated against". We are getting our 10 week old border collie vaccinated but I guess it's possible to take every precaution and still get one of those illnesses is it not?

Hugo

lazza_w

Just scanned through this page, so I thought I would put in my two-penneth on some of the points
1) Pre-existing conditions - unfortunately I am am not aware of any company that will take on any new animal and pay for a pre-existing condition. It is simply not good business practice for them to allow you to pay them (eg) £10 per month, in return for them shelling out £100 to pay for a condition that is already there. HOWEVER some companies have an unofficial policy of removing exclusions for problems that have occured in the past but have not required treatment for some time. For example if your pet had an ear infection two years ago due to a grass seed in it and the problem had resolved and required no further treatment you may be able to request that they remove an exclusion for ear problems in the future. If you feel that an insurance company has been unfair in dismissing a claim then complain to them and ask them to contact your vet to discuss the problem - a good proportion of dismissed claims may later be covered after appealing.
2) Vaccinations are not included in most policies, neither are other 'routine' or 'elective' treatments such as neutering or flea treatments. Some companies do cover vaccinations, but you are generally just paying the additional cost in 12 installments instead, plus you may be tied in to a specific vets. We used to use a policy like this at our practice but have stopped as it was poor value for money for clients and had rubbish insurance cover.
3) Dental treatment is always a grey area. Some companies have in the small print that they will not cover ANY dental tretment. For most it is often a judgement call on whether the problem is of medical importance (broken teeth requiring extraction or root canal filling may be covered but a scalle and polish will not)
4) I have not had to find out, but I would believe that as long as your dog has been vaccinated agoinst the usual diseases (distemper, hepatitis, parvo, parainfluenza, leptospirosis plus bordatella if he is going into kennels) then your cover should be fine. It is very uncommon that I see dogs that have been vaccinated but then develop one of these diseases although vaccine failure is a recognised problem. In that instance it should be seen as a 'no fault' claim - it is no-one's fault if an individual does not respond normally to vaccination - and I would therefore expect it to be covered. Any vaccine failures should be reported by your vet as an adverse reaction, so that is a particular vaccine batch should be found to be faulty the your insurance company could sue the !!!!!! off the vaccine manufacturers!

Cat72

Hi
New to this board. I have three catsall aged 4. They are all rescue cats but one is Birman cat, zeta, and Im concerend about getting her insured. As I dont have any papers for her would the insurance give me market value -so to speak- for her if she died or was stolen ? I love her to bits and whenever she dies ( hopefully at an old age ) I will definately want to get another Birman as they are such wonderful cats. Will M&S or any insurance company insure her for her " birman" value. My other two cats pep and mia have pre medical conditions so I doubt cover would be suitable for them.Fortunately I have always been lucky with my cats apart from dental bills.( not likely anymore as the vet removed all pepe's teeth ! ) .

In_Search_Of_Me

Hope this is in the right place!! I've just had dealing with Petplan who I insure my cats with (after research seemed the best) and they made a minor !!!! up so I expressed "concern" about the service & cost of premiums...since then they've reduced premiums for all cats and couldnt have been more helpful...also agreeing to reconsider a claim I was told was not worth making! May be worth a try...seemed to work when I said I was considering going elsewhere although I did have to speak to a manager...:T

booty40uk

Hi all. We have 2 dogs, a black lab and a beagle cross. We had them insured with Petplan originally at a cost of about £42.00 per month, lifetime coverage etc etc. Then we got onto Marks and Spencers and have the exact same coverage for £18.00 per month!! Have used it a couple of times and have had no problems at all. Also , there is no excess to pay on the M&S policys.

Unfortunately, cant seem to get them insured against ripping the house to bits though!!!

Andy

Bagpuss741

I took out insurance for my dog with m&s a year ago and have just renewed and they have been good up until last week, I had put in a claim for £256 as my dog had been visiting the vet as she had blood in her urine, it turned out that she has crystals in her urine and has been put on a special diet to dissolve them. They have turned the claim down as in 2004 she had to have tumours removed from her bladder and they are saying that this is a pre existing condition.
How can it be a pre-existing condition if it is a completely different condition?

oldandhappy

One of our Cats had Urinary Tract Disease as a Kitten so could never be covered by Insurance for this... I found out in 'my sheltered days' and I can not see how bladder tumours are related in any way to UTD and I think you should 100% challenge this.

I have been seriously thinking about Pet Insurance and still cannot decide who to go with although M & S has been mentioned so much in this thread and sounds impressive...

pigeonpie

Before parting with any money, be careful if you have a cat or dog that has lived abroad with you or is, for eg, a rescue pet or one that you can't produce a full medical history for in the UK since birth. M&S told me that they would cover my older cat but that they could not guarantee that any claim would be settled as I didn't have full lifetime medical history in writing for her. So ask the insurance salesperson on the phone if you don't have full medical history, before paying. Basically, they don't believe what you tell them; then if you do tell them the truth about a pre-existing condition (which I do) they do believe you and choose to exclude anything,no matter how peripherally, related - or acc to them, related!

I took out a policy underwritten by E&L who did not ask for a med history or explain that they need it.

She now has a new, potentially serious medical condition which I and the vet very much doubt they are going to pay for as the tests will be very expensive.
I don't have money to put aside every month but if you can put aside 100 quid a month, that would be better if you have any doubts about the insurance cos paying.

The 'pre-existing conditions' lark should be investigated by ? Is there an insurance ombudsman and how do you get hold of them?

HomeJames_3

Hi Can anyone advise us on who to get pet insurance from or whether its worth going without im always worried the dog will bite someone or damage property or a car or something we currently pay £16 a month hes a 6 year old Lab we dont bother with cat insurance as we decided that if anything did happen then we would get the money from somewhere to pay the vet bill what do you think?