Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

suki1964

UKTigerlily wrote: »

Sorry none will cover pre existing

I think thats not quite true. You can get insurance companies that will cover pre existing - but at a price and you will have to ring around rather then look at online form filling. It is a hassle as they have to get vet records and decide on what the risk is and how much your premiums will be as they wont be anything like the prices quoted for fit healthy animals

lowis

richleeds wrote: »

Hi

When we picked up our pup we got 6 weeks free insurance with PetPlan. In the meantime I have been looking round and getting quotes. PetPlan are £15.99 whereas M&S and others are around £10.99. As its near the end of the 6 weeks my OH got the inevitable call from PetPlan to try and get us to continue with their cover. However they tried to put the frightners up my OH by saying that no one else offered comparable cover and we might be sorry in the future if we went with anyone else etc.

If ive been looking at policies that offer cover for life for new conditions and have similar cover of £4000 per year then is there any real benefit to paying £5 a month extra to PetPlan above some of the cheaper policies?

Also who out there matches PetPlan the best with at least the same amount of cover if not more?

Thanks

Rich

Try AXA for a quote, they offer a very similar policy to Pet Plan. They also don't discriminate against older pets - Petplan currently have a 20% excess on their policies for pets aged over 10 (I think, it might be 8 for dogs) - might not be important to you right now but think of the future. I had a cat who was treated for cancer, total vet bill over 18 months was £12,000ish - I had to pay 20% of that myself with Pet Plan. My other cat is with AXA, and the excess is just a flat £75 per condition.

MrsE_2

IF I go for the value petplan policy, will they put it up every year higher than inflation?
What I mean is will they bump it up massively when the cat is 8 or more?
Will they refuse to insure me on that plan when the animal is 8 or more?

Do you get a no-claims bonus if you don't claim or do you get heavily penalised next year if you do?

lowis

i don't know much about the value plan by PP Mrs E, but I have had three pets with PP on their best plans, and the premiums usually go up by a couple of quid each year. when the pet turns a certain age (in a cat's case 10), then you are also liable to cover the first 20% of any vet bills - this is certainly the case with my policies, which i took out 13 years ago, might have changed since, but i doubt it.

i am pretty sure they can not refuse to insure you once your pet reaches that age. best to check the wording...also, the 'value' plan is not for life cover...and will only cover a condition for 12 months, absolutely useless if your pet has an ongoing condition.

i have never received a no claims bonus or a penalty for making claims.

UKTigerlily

I have Pet Plan for the Dog but may change to Axa, once she gets to 10 they have a % to pay plus the fixed amount & by then she may have lots of conditions that might mean I don't want to Insure elsewhere! I have the Cat with Axa & they don't add a % when they get older. The Pet Plan Value one only covers for a year, so anything like Diabetes/Arthritis etc would run out after 12 months.

I'm going to see how quick Axa pay my Cat's claim, they say normally it's 10 days at the most, we shall see!

hethmar

Isnt the value policy a non-life one?

Just checked their site:

What is time-limited cover?

Our Pet Value policy gives pet owners valuable protection for a limited period after any injury or illness that needs vet treatment. Generally costing less than our Covered for Life policies, Pet Value provides up to £3,000 of cover for each illness or injury for up to 12 months from when the problem was first noticed.



So, basically after 12 months you are on your own.

refit

Hello to all experts!

I have been trawling the web for quotes on our new pup's insurance and came across this website: http://www.internetpets.co.uk/

Now not only is this rated by Which? as a best buy, in addition it offers a for life cover (£4000pa limit), but the premium is almost half of the one quoted by other for life providers. (AXA, PET PLAN, KENNEL CLUB, HALIFAX, PET PROTECT, M & S)

Surprisingly no one seems to have heard about this much on this forum!!

I have done some research, and this seems to be brokered by a firm, underwritten by AXA.

They have promised to send me a policy document and application form by post, (not yet completely internet based despite the name!) and I will post when I get more info, but wondered if anyone has had experience dealing with them?

UKTigerlily

refit wrote: »

Hello to all experts!

I have been trawling the web for quotes on our new pup's insurance and came across this website: http://www.internetpets.co.uk/

Now not only is this rated by Which? as a best buy, in addition it offers a for life cover (£4000pa limit), but the premium is almost half of the one quoted by other for life providers. (AXA, PET PLAN, KENNEL CLUB, HALIFAX, PET PROTECT, M & S)

Surprisingly no one seems to have heard about this much on this forum!!

I have done some research, and this seems to be brokered by a firm, underwritten by AXA.

They have promised to send me a policy document and application form by post, (not yet completely internet based despite the name!) and I will post when I get more info, but wondered if anyone has had experience dealing with them?

I just had a look as i'd not heard of them, they only seem to Insure up to 8 years old, not sure if they'd carry that on once the pet got to 8, I imagine so if already Insured but i'd check. Also, claims over £1,000 have a 25% excess, so it could work out really expensive!

refit

Many thanks! Yes this is in the small print. All claims over £1000 are subject to a 25% excess.
All claims for pets over 8 years are subject to a further 25% excess, which would effectively mean a 50% excess (but they would be insured, so to say.....)
I will post again once I get the policy document in hand.

It would be interesting to hear from people who have used these people as well!!

lowis

if internetpets change their underwriter though then the policy will change (as what happened to M&S policies lately)...plus a 25% excess is really high....and 50% excess for a pet aged over 8 is just plain ridiculous. not the best policy on offer at all, i would rather pay the higher premium and feel secure. however if you do not mind paying higher excesses in return for cheaper premiums i would check out https://www.animalfriends.org.uk - their policy sounds better than internetpets and the excess is 'only' 35% for animals aged 8 years plus.