Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

catlou

Me Again!

Just got pretty good quote from PDSA Insurance - has anyone got any experience/feedback on them??

Cheers

lowis

surprisingly PDSA are not true for life cover, they just give an amount to last the whole of the pets life i.e. it doesn't renew each year. so even with their best policy you get £7000 for the whole duration of your pet's life. sounds like a lot, but considering a simple tooth extraction can cost £250, or a heart scan can cost £300 (london rates), it could soon go - especially if your pet develops an ongoing condition.

hethmar

Same as RSPCA - youd think they would both give a full life cover but may be they think any cover is better than none.

refit

And Kennel Club as well, they do cover upto £12000, but is not a true for life policy!!

Lluuccyy

Hi there,
I am trying to find some information on Animal Friends Pet Insurance. I have found their sales people very friendly and helpful (I suppose they would be!) but have read some bad reviews elsewhere, although not recent. I am trying to insure a rescued bengal cat (age 2) who has just had a womb infection (and now been spayed because of it). I have had lots of quotes and Animal Friends seems to be reasonable but my vet said that some insurers kick up a stink about paying out and I was wondering whether anybody had had any direct experience with AnimalFriends?
Many thanks,
Lucy

lowis

Lluuccyy wrote: »

Hi there,
I am trying to find some information on Animal Friends Pet Insurance. I have found their sales people very friendly and helpful (I suppose they would be!) but have read some bad reviews elsewhere, although not recent. I am trying to insure a rescued bengal cat (age 2) who has just had a womb infection (and now been spayed because of it). I have had lots of quotes and Animal Friends seems to be reasonable but my vet said that some insurers kick up a stink about paying out and I was wondering whether anybody had had any direct experience with AnimalFriends?
Many thanks,
Lucy

the only thing that put me off insuring with Animal Friends was the fact that they increase the excess to 35% of vets fees once the cat reaches old age (I think this is 10 years old, not sure, check the policy). the monthly premiums were very reasonable - hence the high excess in later life i guess. i went with Axa eventually as they do not discrimate against the older pet - plus they are their own underwriter, so you are not at the mercy of any changes any new underwriter might make.

Lluuccyy

Thanks Iowis,

My quote with Animal Friends was £15.14p/m for £4k per condition per year up to a maximum of £30k over the lifetime (I believe this is £30k per condition) with an excess of £49. It is underwritten by Red Sands Insurance (never heard of them)

My quote with Axa was £12.86p/m to a maximum of £7k per year across all conditions (no maximum claim over the lifetime) with an excess of £50.

I have been waiting all afternoon for NFU Mutual to call me back as they didn't have anybody available to do a quote for me when I rang them?!

Having gone back and read through the thread it seems that I would be better off with Axa so I might well take your advice. The people I spoke to (who were at pains to point out they were not sales people as you have to apply online) were very nice. The only drawback is that they ask for very little information when filling out the online quote so they did say that the premium can go up once you have filled out all the forms that they then send you and you send them back all the information they need. You have a 14 day cooling off period but this might not help if my pet gets in an accident after the cooling off period and before another policy can kick in! I'm not sure why they can't make their online form more comprehensive like other sites, particularly as this is the only method they have of applying for cover.

Anyway, I'd rather go with a recommended policy (and Axa seems to have a lot of fans on here) than take a punt and get stung so unless NFU have something better to offer I'll be off to Axa! Thank you!

KerryL

Has anyone had experience with Healthy Pets insurance?

lowis

KerryL wrote: »

Has anyone had experience with Healthy Pets insurance?

i haven't no, but their website wording seems very ambiguous. for example, with their top policy i can't work out whether you get £5000 per year, per condition or whether the £5000 is per condition only, doesn't renew each year and is supposed to last for the lifetime of the animal. considering i claimed £12000 for a cat who had cancer, over a 2 year period, then I would have been up the swanny if it was £5000 for the life of the animal.

if the £5000 renews each year then this would make it a true 'for life' policy and seems fairly reasonable.

hethmar

Heres your answer: The max pay out is per condition but not per year. Your pot will empty over the animals lifetime.

What is the maximum Veterinary payout per year?
We can pay up to the policy limit (£1000, £3000, or £5000) for each condition. There is no limit on the number of conditions in a year.
Am I covered for ongoing conditions?
YES - Healthy Pets will cover you for ongoing conditions that start after the inception of your policy, up to the maximum benefit of your policy (£1000, £3000 or £5000) subject to you renewing your policy with us and premiums being paid up to date.
Do you cover pets for their lifetime?
We will cover your pet for its lifetime up to the maximum amount of benefit for each separate condition. (£1000, £3000 or £5000) subject to you renewing your policy with us and premiums being paid up to date.