Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

Dazzieboo

Keeping horses never comes cheap, but when I got to a certain age and still had 3 of them (my parents hoped I would grow out of them!) my Dad decided if I really wanted them, I could insure them while he paid for their keep. I shopped around and took the second cheapest I could find. E&L.

I had 5 easy years with them, I didn't have to make a claim, my premiums didn't go up, but then of course the inevitable happened, in June 1995 my friend was out on my horse and as a car drove past him, he spooked and sat on the side of the car. The girl riding him made sure he and the driver was ok, exchanged details and said that I, the owner would be in touch with my insurance details. The car he sat on was a 3 door Nova, both side panels were damaged, so was the front wing (well he is 16.3hh). I put it all in the hands of E&L and expected an easy ride. The owner of the car confirmed I was insured and I sent her a copy of my policy, going by this wording, she hired a car feeling convinced she would get her money back. I was bombarded with phone calls from her asking the progress, I just explained that E&L were dealing with it, so she continued with her hire car while her damaged car sat in her driveway.

Finally in October 1995, I received a court summons to act as a witness for E&L they were putting in a counter claim against the driver
In her statement she said she saw the horse crab walking (walking sideways) towards her, she slowed down and passed at what she considered a reasonable speed. But E&L acted on what was in the highway code at the time which was "if a driver see's an animal in an aggitated state, they must switch off their engine" There was absolutly nothing in my policy indicating this clause.

The case was heard on November 28th 1995 when I was 41 weeks pregnant and not in a fit state to attend court and a good 5 months since the accident, in which time this driver had been paying for a hire car and E&L "won" their case.

The driver of the car got nothing, had to pay damages and E&L's costs, I was awarded money as compensation (which I didn't want). The driver was £9000 out of pocket and tried to take out a private claim against me, but failed.

As soon as I could, I got away from them, the reason I took out third party insurance was to cover any injured third party, not for me to end up in court while E&L argued to toss if they should pay or not.

Awful, awful company, how they are still trading is beyond me.

humfer

mercurystar999 wrote:

Looking for some advice and prices on insuring my one year old chocolate labrador.

I've just insured my cat with Sainsburys who were very competively priced

nuttywoman

Been thinking about getting some but am confused about what the best deals are etc.
Anyone help, thanks
val;)

MortgageMamma

I have my pup insured with marks and spencers, their annual policy. have a look on the site, martin lewis wrote an article a while ago about these policies and what to look out for. i think its likely to be a sticky at the top of a thread.

MM

jaxxy00

I would personally recommend Marks & Spencers. They have been great with my Spaniel cross dog. It costs me £7.49 per month and shortly after taking the insurance out he was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia (he was just under 3 at the time, a few months back). He has had xray bills nearly £300, long term tablets £50 per pot which lasts 2 months, A grass seed a couple of weeks ago in his ear (cost £124.05 for removal), there was another bill for about £150, cant remember what for, but they have paid no problems everytime direct to the vets. That way theres no worries about having the cash up front and having to claim back.

He goes swimming in the hydrotherapy pool weekly too which they pay for, £12.50 per session. The lady who runs it said about how good M&S must be because she has other people who are insured with petplan and another one (cant remember ) who are having problems claiming for the swimming.

The other bonus is that there is no excess (thats the option i opted for and it only made about £6 difference to the yearly figure). So whatever the charge at the vets wether its £25 or £525 you dont pay a thing.

I had wanted pet insurance since he was a puppy but it was debatable wether it was worth the cost as all the others i know you have to pay the first £50 - £80 of each claim. In which case most of the time you would pay the bill fully yourself which to me defeated the object of having insurance which is why i didnt get any. When i found out about M&S with no excess i looked into all the terms and conditions ( they cover for the life of the dog not just that year of insurance) and took it out.

It will be interesting to see how much they want on renewal though.

Be_Happy

Depends on age of your pet. We had problem insuring elderly pets until I discovered https://www.healthy-pets.co.uk. Cost of basic insurance for our 10 year old dog, 10 year old cat and 2 year old cat comes to a total of £19.58 a month. Was even more surprised when annual renewal notice came out last week and cost had only risen by 50p a month. Haven't had to claim so can't comment on service, but policy is underwritten by AXA.

lowis

I have always found Pet Plan to be good, they have always paid out and they allow my vet to do direct claims with them (i just sign the claim form).

i have my two cats with them, they are 10 years old and it's £13 a month per cat. i had a rabbit with them up until last year, but sadly he passed away. he was abouty £8 a month I think. we made some MASSIVE claims re: the rabbit - one was for £2500, another was about £1800 - and Petplan paid them with no queries what so ever.

mleonard79

Sorry if this has been asked before. I'm looking to insure my four cats - one is 13, one is 12 and two are 11. I know there are a lot of companies that won't insure cats that old but was wondering if anyone knew of some that do. If so who are the best in terms of the cover they offer and the price? They've never been insured before which I know is a mistake but money's been tight and its only in the last year when one of them, Hamish, was diagnosed with a heart condition that its hit home that we could have major expenses as they get older (you try not to think of these things as you love them so much.) I know Hamish's condition wouldn't be covered but I'd feel happier knowing the rest were covered in case. Thanks for any help.

Michelle

ministox5

hi, try marks and spencer i have just switched to them from direct line saved 5 pounds a month my dog is 11 years old a lot of companies wont insure older pets but marks and spencer do and with good cover give them a try. good luck:money:

mleonard79

Hi ministox

Thanks for the tip about M&S. I've got a quote from them of around £32 per month to insure all four of my cats. What do people think - is that competitive?? Thanks for any help.

Michelle