Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

larmy16

On the advice of this forum (4 years ago) I signed up with M&S pet insurance as it was supposed to be the best.

I had acquired a cat that was unwanted by someone else. Anyway it started out at £7.99 per month and is now £17.99 per month - he is approx 8 years old?

When I read the guff, it says apart from the excess which is £50, I will now have to pay 20% of any future claims. I have had one claim for about £350 when he had an accident.

Do you think I should shop for a better deal, or is it better the devil you know, and also do you only do it when renewal time comes up?

It costs more than my car insurance!!!

Any advice welcome.

cathodetube

Are you sure the excess is only £50? Mine went up to £75 for both my dog and cat. My cat's insurance climbed to almost £50 a month and he was 16. I cancelled it as I had had only one claim which was for about £150 so I had to pay the first £75. I am really unhappy with Marks and Spencer and would leave them if I could find somewhere else to insure my dog. She's had a few claims but nothing major. I would rather put the money aside for my cat and then pay as and when. Did you see the other poster who mentioned about paying the whole year's premiums even if the animal died. Shocking.

larmy16

Yes it is still £50. Probably whack it up next year.

Yes I did see about having to pay the rest of the year's premium. Absolutely disgusting. I noticed also some reviews on the net and they are not good to say the least.

Trouble is, I was pretty naive about pet insurance and they were really singing it's praises back in those days, so I thought I was doing the right thing. O excess and as I said about £7.99 a month. I thought it was a great deal!!

It is pretty scary to think how much they will probably put it up as he ages, but knowing my luck if I cancel he will get ill. It really is a gamble. They must make a bloomin fortune out of us loving pet owners. :mad:

PS if you read the first few pages of this thread, you will see so many posts saying how great M&S is and how vets recommend it blah blah...............awwwwgh, that must have been when I joined.

cathodetube

Yeah well they used to be great. No excess at first. When I told my vet that he couldn't believe it. That must have been the way they sucked us all in. I think I joined about 4 years ago. I never used to have pet insurance before and never found it difficult to pay the bills before. When I think out how much I paid in premiums for my cat it makes me feel very ill.

lowis

M&S changed their underwriter and hecne the policies changed for the worst.

You are better off sticking to a dedicated insurance company who are their own underwriter i.e. Petplan and AXA and NFU.

Supermarkets are good at selling food, not financial products.

cathodetube

Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it? Surely that clause they have of making you pay premiums for a whole year even if your pet dies has got to be against Consumer Law - Unfair Contracts I believe it is called. I think the OFT would be interested, plus Trading Standards/Consumer Direct.

CatCat27

Hi all,

I've just (around 2 weeks ago) got my first cat. I had a cat as a child who sadly died last year but this cat is my first as a "grown-up":rolleyes:. I re-homed her from Battersea, she's a mongrel and doesn't have any pre-existing medical conditions and has been done/had up-to-date injections/worming etc and she's about 2 years old. When you re-home Battersea give you one month's free cover with PetPlan. I've been quoted £23.09 per month to continue the cover she currently has. This is their cheapest (!) life cover policy. The only other cheaper policy is their 'PetValue' policy at £10.45 but this is not a life policy. Now, I love her to bits but can't really afford £23.09 per month and surely it's only going to go up as she ages? Has anyone got any idea why this is so expensive? I've read about other people's quotes on here with PetPlan who have older/iller pets so am at a loss as to why she is so expensive! Anyone have any ideas? Or suggestions of other insurers? Thanks!

Fire_Fox

AXA tends to be cheaper than PetPlan for the same quality cover so well worth getting a quote. Do you live in an expensive postcode?

cathodetube

Based on what I now know, I would not insure a cat. I had owned other cats for years without insuring them before insuring my last one. I started when he was 6 years old with MoreThan and it was about £10 a month. It climbed to abut £18 4 years ago and then I insured him and my dog both with M&S and got a 5% discount. But the cat ended up costing more than the dog even though I hadn't had a claim ever. It was nearly £50 a month before I cancelled it. Before cancelling it, I had two minor claims, costing £120 each. And this was in an expensive area in London, so their charges were stupidly high for visits and drugs. They were for two separate abcesses. I still had to pay the first £75 for each visit. In hindsight, for me, it was daft. If your cat is neutered and doesn't roam or get into fights then she should stay healthy hopefully. None of my cats roamed much. I used to make sure they stayed in at night which is when they are more likely to get in a car acccident. Why not just put the money into a savings account and then you have it available if you needed it. What is the excess on the Petplan policy? You will have to pay that amount first. An average visit to the vet for my dog is between £30 and £40. If a drug is needed that is on top, say £10. My excess is £75. So you would have to have something really major to make it worthwhile be able to claim on the insurance. You might want to look at the other two companies recommended here, NFU and AXA. But I am quite sure you can't claim for pre-existing conditions so if the cat has been treated for anything else then you have to disclose it.

CatCat27

Thanks! Will have a look at AXA tomorrow. The PetlPlan excess is £65... Over £20 a month just seems too much as she's still fairly young and healthy! It didn't even occur to me that my post code would make a difference:rolleyes: I live in a fairly nice suburb of London (forced to move back in with the parents to save some money (!)), I guess that might affect it?

Thanks again for the replies