Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

newbie87_2

No vet is obliged to carry out direct claims for pet insurance. The insurance contract is between the owner and insurance company itself and direct claims are at the vet's discretion not the insurance company's. The University of Liverpool must have has repeated problems with E & L (I know they can take a long time to reimburse claims). A Veterinary Practice or Referral Centre is a business, and outstanding bills are a big cost for any business to carry; that business will already be paying out for all the medication and/or treatment pets receive, all the usual running costs of a business ie. electricity, water etc. as well as very expensive specialist equipment.

My advice when choosing pet insurance is to get a policy which will provide cover for life, with a minimum cover of about £6,000 per year per condition. Also make sure that the excess will always be a fixed amount, as some policies charge a fixed excess plus a percentage of the claim once a pet goes over 7 or 8 years. It is also sensible to check you have third party liability. Check the small print; some companies require you to call them before the vet, including for emergency treatment...not what you want to be doing if it is a true emergency. Some companies also require you to tell them about every visit to the vet. Say your dog gets an ear infection, treatment for which costs £50, which is less than your insurance excess so you don't submit a claim. If the condition returns a year later, but is worse so costs more, your insurance company may not pay as it is a pre-existing condition which they were not informed of. This may still apply even if you have lifelong cover.
Sorry for the essay, but hope someone finds it useful.

walwin

Marksfish wrote: »

We have just bought a new puppy and also have a 9 year old GSD (no claims though). I checked over the 'net for prices and found a policy by Equine & Livestock was the best price through a broker. We are now paying less for the 2 dogs less than £18pm) than we were for the 1!! It did include a 10% discount for being a new customer and another 10% for a web application, so we wait and see about next year.

Mark

ANNHILL123 wrote: »

Many thanks for this ,have looked at them on line and just taken out a policy

I'm sorry to say they have a terrible reputation re. paying out.
Type Equine and Livestock into the search on here and you'll see what I mean

hethmar

Oh dear, annhill, can you cancel? E and L and any policies underwritten by them have the worse reputation of any insurer in animal cover You should get 14 days cool off to cancel. Have a look at AXA instead.

hethmar

Marksfish wrote: »

We have just bought a new puppy and also have a 9 year old GSD (no claims though). I checked over the 'net for prices and found a policy by Equine & Livestock was the best price through a broker. We are now paying less for the 2 dogs less than £18pm) than we were for the 1!! It did include a 10% discount for being a new customer and another 10% for a web application, so we wait and see about next year.

Mark

Mark if you can get out of it, do it now because E and L are dreadful. I had a friend who had to haggle for over a year for a pay out.

Have a look at some reviews:



0.7 out of 5

348 reviews



http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews57547.html

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1257747

for instance:

"With them for 6 years. No claim. Pet had to have surgery. Warned by VETs that this company where sharks who never paid. He meticulously itemised everything. Offered £77 from a genuine claim of £333. Rejected the complaint sent the insurance arbitration but who needs the hassle. Avoid at all cost. "

"I wish I had looked at this site before I took out my insurance policy for my horse with them. DO NOT GIVE THIS BUNCH OF COWBOYS YOUR MONEY!! It took me 10 weeks to get the money back I was owed. They stall, ask questions that are totally unnecessary and do everything they can to avoid paying out"

"Whatever you do DO NOT USE this company. I claim £400.00 for some small operation to remove and test small wart.
Never got a penny. It is a nightmare to get in touch with them, they dont answer e mail."

and LOTS AND LOTS more similar to those. If you have only just taken out the policy, cancel and choose another one.

Wine_of_the_World

After lots of thought have have decided not to insure. I was quoted over 400 a year for a two year old dog - which is only going to go up. I have the money to pay for vets bills, and would rather take the chance and put the money away. Trouble is with the for life policies is that they have you!

ANNHILL123

Oh dear,after reading all those I think I will now cancel..back to the drawing board

Labrador1

Lynocat wrote: »

Have had a quote for £108 from Tesco's - any comment/feed back from anyone on them? Will try AXA too.

(pet is a one year old cocker spaniel btw)

I have 'cheap' Tesco insurance for my 15mth Labrador but with a £120 excess!

Elrith

Just wondering if anyone could help, we are to get our 2 female degus this weekend and i have been looking around for pet insurance for them but i have only found one company that charged £278 per year!

I have been in touch with the local vet and have an appointment to register them next week so it will be no problem to get them seen and treatment and such but it could work out quite expensive the vets have quoted £25 each for a check up!

So does anyone out there have any ideas where i can get the insurance any cheaper or am i going to have to pay the £278?

P.S they don't have names yet so any suggestions are welcome lol:beer:

GemmaBuckle

Congratulations! Degu's are adorable.
I had awful trouble getting insurance for my rabbits. In the end I decided to put a set amount into a savings account and I will use that if I need to. Realistically, how much are you likely to have to spend on vets bills? It turned out to not be worth getting insurance for my rabbits.

Doobydools

Hi there

It's that time of year again...

I've had pet insurance with Animal Friends for nearly a year now (I used to shop around each year for the best premium) and wonder if it's still worth continuing with them...

The cover we have is a monthly policy "Prime Plus" with a policy excess of £49. After my dog is aged 8, I will have to pay 35% of vets fees as well!

up for renewal soon, and I was wondering about whether it's worth staying with them, or shopping around, and also if anyone has had any direct experience or opinions of Animal Friends.

FYI, my dog is a 6.5 yr old Border Collie (pedigree) with only one small minor skin complaint when he was little (one of those benign skin flaps was removed), and because of that Animal Friends say that my insurance excludes "cover on all claims with respect to Follicular Cysts and Resulting Conditions" (I had to fight to get the initial exclusion reduced to this, as like I said the 'skin flap' was removed and benign and we've not had any further 'problems' with his skin -- interestingly, no other insurer made any such exclusions, although who knows if they would of if I'd ever had to claim for a skin condition).
WOuld love to hear your thoughts... :beer: