Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

EVERYLITTLEHELPS

My cat's insurance with Direct Line has gone from £19 to £25 to £32 and now £42 a month! On paper it's a good policy, he is 15 and has arthritis which is the only thing I seem to claim for as he takes tablets for it and the excess is £70. I can claim for unlimited time for a condition.
I got a quote for £32 a month with Sainsbury's just now but the excess is £125 and it won't cover existing conditions.
I don't know what to do. I can't afford to pay £42 a month. Can anyone recommend a different company?
Thanks.

refit

lowis wrote: »

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 animalfriends - their policy sounds better than internetpets and the excess is 'only' 35% for animals aged 8 years plus.

Right. I received a quote from internetpets.co.uk
It was £4000 per year limit, £40 excess, and 25% co payment over £1000
For dogs over 8 years it was £40 excess and 25% co payment of all charges. (in effect they would pay 75% of the claim)
It is underwritten by someone called Alpha Insurnace, and not AXA as on their website. The quote was £137.97 (pedigree labrador in a rural area, less than 1 year of age)

NFU don't do online quotes, but on the phone (answered by a person in 3 rings!), they quoted a £4000 per year per condition lifetime cover, with a £50 excess first visit only, and no copayment, even over 8 years of age for an annual fee of £196. It does not cover foreign travel, but that is what I don't require. (they will quote for it separately if required)
In addition if we take out a car or home policy with them, they promise a 6% discount, (bonus for next year 12%), on their premiums!! (car insurance is due in July, so will give them a ring then!)

NFU compared pretty well with all others, including Petplan (even the £4000 total per year cover is about £250, and AXA £270, and pet protect £278, and animal friends £260), so I have gone with NFU.

Many thanks for all advice and help!!

hethmar

Thats great. I was very tempted to go with them but I found the vagueness of their policy details off-putting, though Im sure they are ok. You may also want to check if you have third party liability as I seem to remember thats an add on as they expect your home insurance to cover it.

The nice thing about NFU was that as we have terriers, they actually cover the cost of a digger if they went underground Also, you will see that they cover £4k per condition per year. Which means you could have 5 serious conditions costing £20k but still be covered. I wish really Id gone with them for one of mine when I chose Halifax but now he has an ear prob, its not worth swopping over.

hethmar

Everylittle helps. As your pet is now elderly and has a chronic condition I dont think you would find a competitive quote and current conditions would be excluded. How much does her tabs and treatment actually cost? Im just wondering if you would be better off putting that £40 a month into a savings account and using it as and when needed?

hethmar

By the way, Direct Line and Sainsburys are NOT for life policies - though I know Sainsburys is thinking of doing one.

You would find that once you met your limit with Direct Line the arthritic condition would be excluded.

refit

hethmar wrote: »

Thats great. I was very tempted to go with them but I found the vagueness of their policy details off-putting, though Im sure they are ok. You may also want to check if you have third party liability as I seem to remember thats an add on as they expect your home insurance to cover it.

The nice thing about NFU was that as we have terriers, they actually cover the cost of a digger if they went underground Also, you will see that they cover £4k per condition per year. Which means you could have 5 serious conditions costing £20k but still be covered. I wish really Id gone with them for one of mine when I chose Halifax but now he has an ear prob, its not worth swopping over.

This includes third party cover (£1.5million), and they said accidental damage can be claimed through this as well (not so sure about that).
Yes, they do provide cover for rescue (upto £500), if the pet was stuck somewhere!

The documents will be with me soon, and I can cancel if the actual wording is very different from what they said on the phone, but fortunately they record the calls 'for training and monitoring purposes'!!

I particularly liked the per condition cover, our vets think that even serious illnesses should be covered within £4000 per year, so having £10000 cover is rather superfluous. And as you pointed out, one can easily max out the cover if the pet was unfortunate enough to develop more than one condition in any year.

They also have direct payment arrangements with selected local vets, so one may only need pay an excess, preventing pay now and then claim problems.

I hope this is the correct decision!! Will post once the policy is in hand.

hethmar

Im sure you will be secure with them. I believe they are the longest standing animal insurers in this country - through their farming origins.

Yes, the digger may be well handy if you have hunting type dogs

As I said, I was very tempted to go with them, though they are dearer than Halifax but I was a bit disappointed by the actual paperwork that arrived, I do like to see everything in black and white and it just seemed a bit vague. But Im sure they are kosher.

Joojars

mrs_mix wrote: »

Be careful when asking questions about what sort of cover you have for your pet's and always get them to confirm this in writing the reasons for saying this is I had my standard poodle with pet plan when he was 18 months old he developed epilepsy they were great at first and paid all the claims that I put in
when things started to look worse I asked them if the policy I had covered him if the unthinkable happend and I had to have him put to sleep
oh yes they said don't worry that will be allright well like a fool I took them at their word and never asked the to confirm this in writing well his condition got worse and after just 6 moths of suffering epilepsy he started having cluster fits which left him with brain damage so almost 2years to the day of my getting him as an 8 wek old puppy I had to have him put to sleep
when i tried to claim they only sent back the money to cover the vet's bill's
when I questioned this they said oh no you haven't got life cover.
now I have another dog he is insured with direct line same type of cover and ten pounds cheaper

Please be careful with Direct Line Insurance as they have just fleeced me!! I took out Direct Line Pet Insurance (£15.19 per month) for my Bischon Frise Pearl, from the day she was born. In Jan 08 at 9 months old she hurt her back leg. Took her to the vet who said she might need an operation. Her leg improved adn the et decided against operating on her. Sadly, she started limping a couple of months ago and our vet recommended an operation asap. I sent a pre-op form to Direct Line and they have just got back to me to say they won't pay for the operation. When asked why, they said that I should had had her operated on within the year (even though a qualified vet said she didn't need an operation!). I was three weeks too late for the 1 year time limit. I didn't know that my police had a 1 year time limit. They were very rude and told me that wasn't their problem and go read the small print. My vets were appalled and I am going to Watchdog with this. I can't afford for my dog to have the operation so I'm just praying her condition doesn't get any worse!! When I cancelled my policy with them, they had the cheek to say they will take one more payment from me in April as that's the way the Direct Debit works. I won't repeat what I said to them!! DO NOT USE DIRECT LINE INSURANCE.

watchcote_2

Has anyone had any experience with HSBC? Looking for my 4 mth old Bichon and at £11(+pence) it seems value for money. It is supposed to be lifetime cover but has anyone had a bad or good experience?

Ricicles

Hi, this is my first post here, but i undersand we are a helpful community, so any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Righty-O,

My Girlfriend and I are picking up our new Sphinx kitten in just over two weeks, and I am looking to get a policy in place by then.

I have done some research, as well as reading through this forum, AXA seems to be held in regard, but the wording of the policy puts me off a little...

All reasonable costs for Treatment of Your Pet by a Vet up to £7,000 per period of insurance.

Im not really sure what this means. I am worried about a policy that only pays out for one year, for the life of the treatment.

From my own research, Animal friends stands out as it is £5000 per condition, per year. Does anyone havy any experience of using them as a company?

Any help or other reccomendations will be appreciated...

Thanks

Rhys