Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

Ziggy_Stardust

What's the opinion on Pet Plan for life policies? The breeder railroaded us into taking a free offer with them and on Friday my pup was in the vets for a water infection and upset tummy. I'm worried if I go to Axa they may consider these problems as pre-exsisting conditions and not cover them. I also rang Pet Plan for a quote and had a very pushy sales guy which has kind of put me off them but I'm starting to think my hands are tied now .

INSPIRED

We moved to AXA 2 years ago after M&S almost doubled the premium. Our dog is 12 1/2 yrs old and has not had a day's sickness but 2 months ago had to have an operation for a life threatening problem. The bill was approx £2500.00.

The Axa renewal arrived today and it has only increased by £2.99 per month. I had convinced myself that it would be much higher.

So, well done AXA!

lowis

I have had all my pets with Petplan and they have always paid up and vets like dealing with them. No complaints from me. Yes, Axa will probably exclude these problems that were reported to your vet.

I have another cat with Axa, I discovered Axa Pet Insurance when Pet Plan only offered me there basic plan as my newly adopted cat was elderly (14), they refused to offer me a 'life' policy for him. I only wanted a life policy so was forced to shop around...and Axa were one of the few that offered insurance for a old cat.

To be honest, I will always check out Axa first now as they do not discriminate the elderly pet...with Pet Plan you become liable for 20% of vet bills once a cat reaches 10....and the benefits offered by Axa are similar to those offered by Pet Plan.

Fire_Fox

The general concensus on the Purrs website was that AXA and PetPlan were equally good, but AXA usually cheaper - I just got a quote from AXA and went with it as a result! I had to ring AXA afterwards to explain that Noah can't have boosters as he had a bad reaction, but that he is an indoor only cat so shouldn't catch anything and they were very helpful.

hethmar

Ziggy, Petplan is one of the gold star insurers though they have changed their policies recently and I believe they do have an economy "not for life" policy, so be careful. They are more expensive than most but as you have now had a claim with them, it may we wise to stick with them, just in case that problem should come up again.

Ziggy_Stardust

hethmar wrote: »

Ziggy, Petplan is one of the gold star insurers though they have changed their policies recently and I believe they do have an economy "not for life" policy, so be careful. They are more expensive than most but as you have now had a claim with them, it may we wise to stick with them, just in case that problem should come up again.

I haven't claimed, the vets fee was only £13 as it was a free check-up so it was just the cost of the injection for her water infection and some meds to settle her tum, both have cleared up now.

Fire_Fox

Ziggy_Stardust wrote: »

I haven't claimed, the vets fee was only £13 as it was a free check-up so it was just the cost of the injection for her water infection and some meds to settle her tum, both have cleared up now.

Ring AXA and play it down, but I suspect they will exclude all bladder type issues from now on, and possibly all digestive issues. That means kidney failure and IBS won't be paid for which are quite expensive. It's unusual for a little one to have a water infection, did that follow antibiotics for the stomach upset? Have you been advised to try Acidophilus or other friendly bacteria? Are you only feeding dry and did you keep him on the same food when you got him?

hethmar

Im afraid it doesnt matter if you claim or not, they will ask you whether you have seen a vet for anything.

Ziggy_Stardust

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Ring AXA and play it down, but I suspect they will exclude all bladder type issues from now on, and possibly all digestive issues. That means kidney failure and IBS won't be paid for which are quite expensive. It's unusual for a little one to have a water infection, did that follow antibiotics for the stomach upset? Have you been advised to try Acidophilus or other friendly bacteria? Are you only feeding dry and did you keep him on the same food when you got him?

The vet seemed to think the water infection was nothing to worry about and it does happen a lot in young pups who also have tummy troubles. I've changed her complete food to another brand and given her the kaogel and that seems to have sorted the problem. Looks like I'm stuck with Petplan's higher prices then . Thanks for all the help.

Fire_Fox

Ziggy_Stardust wrote: »

The vet seemed to think the water infection was nothing to worry about and it does happen a lot in young pups who also have tummy troubles. I've changed her complete food to another brand and given her the kaogel and that seems to have sorted the problem. Looks like I'm stuck with Petplan's higher prices then . Thanks for all the help.

At least in people water infections are usually E. coli which is a 'bad' bacteria in the gut. If you have the runs then the bacteria are more likely to get onto and then up the urethra. The runs also flush out a lot of the friendly bacteria so a supplement can help - do check with the vet tho. Kaogel is just kaolin which will settle the stomach, it won't repopulate the gut flora. Antibiotics, if he had them for his water infection, wipes out everything, good and bad. I had recurrent cystitis for months until I took Acidophilus.