Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

mummym_3

hi, im looking to get pet insurance for our newly aquired dog, but haven't a clue where to start so was hoping someone here may be able to help me.
He is a black german shepherd dog, born approx 2008 has already beeen micro chipped and vaccinated.
many thanks

lowis

three best firms which offer proper 'for life' policies are axa, pet plan and NFU - start there.
avoid supermarket branded policies and anything to do with E&L
good luck

prudryden

Agree with the above post especially the advoidance of supermarket policies. They get you in with low premiums then they bash you later.

AlexHello

detroidam wrote: »

Hi, can anyone offer any advice about argos platinum cat insurance?

It looks as though it is for life cover, £7,000 per year for £5.70 per month but seems too good to be true.

If, as I expect it isn't true, can anyone offer any advice for insuring 2 males cats, both about 10 months old with no health problems?

Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

Yes I just checked the policy document for you and it does say "Cover is continuous up to £7,000 per Period of Insurance under Platinum." They also offer an extra 10% off if you insurance an additional pet. So as you have 2 cats you should get that 10% discount.

Hope that helps.

Alex

AlexHello

Oh and Defaqto, the independent financial research company, give that particular policy a 5 star rating (out of 5!).:j

Best,
Alex

pinksprout

I'm also considering insuring my two cats (aged 2 and 6) with Argos. Their lifetime Platinum plan (£7000 per condition per year - £65 excess) will cost £6.33 and £9.56 respectively (total £15.89). In addition it seems that i can get £20 cash back per policy.

The alternative is the well reputed AXA £10.38 and £9.50 respectively (total £19.88). I'm wondering why the older cat is cheaper? Any ideas anyone - the 2 year old cat is a male tabby and the 6 year old a female black and white shorthaired. Actually, if I recall correctly, AXA only wanted to know if the cats were pedigree (which they are not) or crossbread. Anyway, their policy excess is £75 and cover is £7000 per year.

Petplan, Halifax, HSBC are more. M&S are £17.06 for both cats with £50 excess but they charge 20% fees once the cat is aged 9. I've also considered Tesco, AFI, Petguard, LV, PDSA, MoreThan, Greenbee but have discounted for various reasons.

For obvious reasons I am favouring Argos at the moment - unless anyone has anything especially negative to add? I appreciate that AXA underwrite their own policies and with Argos I stand a higher chance of a change to conditions or Insurer but, in view of the lower premium, that may be a gamble worth taking. Is there any evidence or history that would indicate that with, or without, a claim my premium is more likely to escalate at a faster rate with Argos rather than AXA?

Prior to applying, I would appreciate any advice especially if I have misunderstood or overlooked anything? In particular if you have a policy with either company I'd be interested to know how much your premium has increased at each renewal.

Thank you for any insight you can offer.

lowis

you might want to chek what happens to the excess with the Argios policy once your pet reaches what they deem to be old age. a lot of companies made you liable for the first 10, 20 and even in some cases 35% of any claims you made. AXA don't do this, they just have a flat excess of £50 of £75 per period of cover.

i was with AXA for my Timmy. I adopted Timmy when he was 14. in the first year i had him i claimed almost £1500. his premiums at next renewal went from £29 to £33. this is not anything extra-ordinary. my other cat is with petplan and i didn't claim anything for him and his premiums went from £17 to £20 at the last renewal. so even though i claimed £1500 for Timmy within the first year of having him the premiums were only hiked by the usual annual amount i.e. a couple of extra quid a month.

if you check out some of the threads about unacceptable insurance premium hikes (in some cases by £10 and £20 a month...sometimes even almost double), you will see these all nearly relate to supermarket-branded policies. they reel you in with good deals, cash back etc and then stiff you after a couple of years. and if they change underwriter you can suddenly find yourself with a sub-standard policy, which you are then stuck with.

good luck with your decision making.

pinksprout

lowis wrote: »

you might want to chek what happens to the excess with the Argios policy once your pet reaches what they deem to be old age. a lot of companies made you liable for the first 10, 20 and even in some cases 35% of any claims you made. AXA don't do this, they just have a flat excess of £50 of £75 per period of cover.

i was with AXA for my Timmy. I adopted Timmy when he was 14. in the first year i had him i claimed almost £1500. his premiums at next renewal went from £29 to £33. this is not anything extra-ordinary. my other cat is with petplan and i didn't claim anything for him and his premiums went from £17 to £20 at the last renewal. so even though i claimed £1500 for Timmy within the first year of having him the premiums were only hiked by the usual annual amount i.e. a couple of extra quid a month.

if you check out some of the threads about unacceptable insurance premium hikes (in some cases by £10 and £20 a month...sometimes even almost double), you will see these all nearly relate to supermarket-branded policies. they reel you in with good deals, cash back etc and then stiff you after a couple of years. and if they change underwriter you can suddenly find yourself with a sub-standard policy, which you are then stuck with.

good luck with your decision making.

Hi lowis thanks for taking time to reply. I have already scanned the Argos policy conditions to check if there is a % vet's fee to pay when the cats are 8 or older but there is no mention of one. That's not to say that they won't change the policy conditions or underwriter at some future point of course like M&S did.

That's very helpful and reassuring info about your premium renewal experience with Axa. Thank you. Despite having read through a lot of information on this website and one or two others I don't think that I have specifically read of any huge premium hikes with Argos policies either which is partly why I have explicitly asked. I agree with you though that Axa are likely to be the more consistent insurer but the Argos policy is a pretty good deal and therefore difficult to dismiss out of hand without researching a bit further.

Thank you again, I appreciate your help.

bailey59

Hello,

I have pet insurance for my dog through More Than. The policy states we have £7000 for each separate illness or injury so if my dog gets say arthritis we get £7000 towards this, if he uses £1000 in the 1st year we then have £6000 left etc. How does this compare to AXA? Does the AXA one give you £7000 per year for the same condition? And is there a limit on the amount of conditions you can claim for?

The More Than plan also has 20% to pay after he is 9.

Thanks

cathodetube

Pink Sprout - I thought the excess with AXA was £60.