Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

hethmar

E and L are notorious Im afraid - probably the worse reputation of any insurer.

Check out the real life policies in this thread and get some quotes.

lowis

fingerbob7 wrote: »

I used the moneysupermarket website to take out Pet insurance for my dog. E&L came out at top value for £9.50 /month for £2000 vet cover. I was waiting for my documents to arrive and then forgot about them. Meanwhile the monthly money was being taken from my account. I decided to contact them about the documents today (two months later) and discovered they don't send them out. They were emailed to me. I checked my junk mail and sure enough there was an email from them with the policy documents. When I read through the docs I realsied it's not £2000 vets fees covered, but only £500 per condition 4 times a year. What a joke! Anyone with a pet knows even a minor ailment can add up quickly. This policy, costing approx £120 a year is not worth the paper it's written on- I forgot, it wasn't even written on paper. A total waste of money, if you factor in the £79 excess they sneak in.

I feel really stupid. I was with Argos before but they doubled the premium, even though I had no claims for 3 years. I trusted the moneysupermarket website, because it's lined to this site.

Grrr!:mad:

get yourself a new policy pronto! E&L ARE CRAP.

fingerbob7

Thanks for the advice guys, am going to try to wriggle out of paying for the rest of the year and then I'm going to buy a proper pet policy.

:beer:

BeenieCat

We have a Springer pup and her PetPlan insurance will run out in around 3 weeks.

I also have two cats who i've never insured - would it be cheaper to insure them altogether or to treat the dog and cats seperately?

I've been on the comparison websites but none seem to do quotes for multiple animals, only if you have more than one of a particular animal.

firesidemaid

i have always used sainsburys pet insurance for my dogs, each time i cancel and re-start as a new customer (2 weeks earlier though, as remember most policies don't cover you for the first 2 weeks) to get a much better price and go through quidco - £35 cashback a time (search under sainsbury - no 's' on the end).

they have ongoing cover (unlimited time) but various limits on cost eg. £4k or £7k or something like that.

i buy one policy at a time as each next one gets a discount for being a 2nd/3rd pet etc. i have cats but don't bother insuring them, i just pay the bills as and when.

i have claimed once for each dog with sainsburys and had no probs at all - very good. obviously once your dog has a pre-existing illness you can't really chop and change insurers.

hethmar

Sorry fireside but they dont offer genuine lifetime cover - only until the pot is used. The unlimited time is still only up til the pot is used.

The other thing is, if you keep cancelling and restarting as a new customer then those claims you have had for both dogs will be conditions excluded if they occur again.

Happy_Shrimper

fingerbob7 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys, am going to try to wriggle out of paying for the rest of the year and then I'm going to buy a proper pet policy.

:beer:

We insured our cat with E&L and shortly after, he developed Thyroid problems. E&L have paid out for his treatment for 12 months and is now not covered. We knew the deal and they have paid out. Also had to have some teeth extracted. He had had this before so didn't expect them to pay out, but they did.
Very slow to payout, but they do eventually.
We've now got a puppy, and will probably be going with Axa or HSBC. Didn't realise that the policies differ so much, and now having done some homework wouldn't got with E&L again. Mainly due to 12 month policy and really want life cover.
I would move our cat from E&L but he has a heart murmour and if I move, any issues releated to that won't be covered. Mind you, if it was brought on by thyroid problems, they might not cover it anyway as its out of 12 month.

Edit. Just looking into Animal Friendly, now underwritten by redsands. was E&L before, but now sounds quite good. per condition per year for life policy and will cover my 17 year old cat too!
Anyone got any thoughts on AFI (now not E&L underwritten) and Redsands?

firesidemaid

hethmar wrote: »

Sorry fireside but they dont offer genuine lifetime cover - only until the pot is used. The unlimited time is still only up til the pot is used.

The other thing is, if you keep cancelling and restarting as a new customer then those claims you have had for both dogs will be conditions excluded if they occur again.

hello!

thanks - that's exactly what i said, i hope. unlimited time coverage, with a monetary limit. and you can only keep cancelling/rebooking until animal has pre-existing illness.

most insurance it seems you get what you pay for.

lowis

firesidemaid wrote: »

hello!

thanks - that's exactly what i said, i hope. unlimited time coverage, with a monetary limit. and you can only keep cancelling/rebooking until animal has pre-existing illness.

most insurance it seems you get what you pay for.

i can see how you might feel it is money-saving to cancel and renew each year abd get £30 cashback via quidco or some such site, but it could work out hideously expensive if there are exclusions. that is quite a cavalier approach to pet insurance! for example, when my kitten (13 years ago) had the sniffles just before the policy started, she had to have anti-biotics. because of these sniffles, when we took out the insurance she was excluded for life for any 'upper respiratory illness'! quite an extreme exclusion for such a minor ailment.

i think i would feel MUCH safer to just start a pet on a good, all round, "for life" policy such as those offered by petplan and AXA, even if they are a couple of quid more expensive. you do indeed get what you pay for.

hethmar

Shrimper, sorry I wouldnt touch anything that E and L are involved in - Id not feel secure.