Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

simontheiceman

A few points / answers.

1. Leukaemia; rare? Please give your evidence for this statement as it seems contrary to real life. Its a bit more complex than that of course.

2. Euthanasia exclusion: Thats quite mean - I hadn't spotted that one (I have the same policy)

3. Make sure your vet records some information about the mouth on each and every visit. That way you will be covered. If you fail to do routine care e.g. descaling; after it has been advised by your vet, then they wont cover the dental claim. PP usually class descaling as your responsibility. Dental claims are a nightmare and are now uncommonly paid. They are, without question, the single biggest cause of claims enquiries.

Excess - I pay £110 AND and a percentage. Petplan budget - I would clarify before you part with cash.

On the whole, I would still recommend PetPlan. You are still in the period where you can find new companies to take your pets on, which is a real benefit. Whoever you get will probably have to last for the rest of your pets life. PP have stood the test of time and are at least strong enough to weather the storms. I do worry about a lot of the newer players in the market and as for E&L well...

devildog

You have to be so careful with the 'small print'.
Do not know about cats but with dogs I have had to request dental check up.
re vaccines if your cats go outside they should be vaccinated against leukaemia-2nd most common cause of young middle aged cats after road traffic accidents. Apparently 1/3 of the cats that do recover continue to carry and spread the virus.
I doubt very much whether there is no percentage to pay, usually the case is that as well as the excess you have to pay a larger percentage as the animal gets older.
There are some policies that will pay an amount towards cremation should your animal be pts.
Just be prepared that whoever you choose to go with, the premiums WILL rise year on year!!

Sooz00

Hi,

My cats are with PetPlan on Covered for Life too and I've always had positive experiences. In fact, I just moved one dog back to them too due to problems with M&S.

1) Leukaemia/other vaccinations - with PetPlan your pet doesn't need to have these as part of your T&Cs, but if you don't have them and then your pet gets one of the diseases or conditions that he or she could have been vaccinated against, then they will not cover that. I have housecats and they are not vaccinated. It's a risk assessment/judgement on my part and my current vet is supportive of this.

It's off point a little but my reasons are very personal, up until 5 years of age, the cats were vaccinated regardless of the fact that they were housecats, on the advice of my vet (at the time)! I was not aware that your vet has a legal duty of care to you and your pet which that vet broke. I was not told how low risk my cats were, how efficacy levels are dubious and yearly booster may not be necessary and I was certainly not told of any side effects associated with vaccines.

I learned the hard way - or should I say one of my cats has. At 5, he was diagnosed with a vaccine associated sarcoma (VAS). Although there is genetic predisposition involved as with most cancers, the aluminium adjuvant in the leukaemia vaccine is the linked cause of this type of cancer (BTW aluminium is also present in rabies vaccines).

All vets should look at cats, their lifestyles and their owners as individuals and carry out thorough risk assessments before any vaccination. Also, as there are vaccines available on the market which do not have the aluminium adjuvants, I personally can't understand why these are not used as standard.

My cat thankfully had access to a couple of wonderful specialists (Malcolm Brearley & Gerry Polton) and an excellent RCVS European specialist surgeon (Jonathan Bray) who treated Guinness with chemo and extensive surgery. Despite doing their best, unfortunately my cat had a recurrence last July which again was surgically removed.... only time will tell whether he beats this monster as it is a very aggressive type of tumour. He actually has a six month check tomorrow but as his anatomy is no longer standard due to the extensive reconstructive surgery, it's so hard to know what's okay scar tissue and what may be a mass forming. Regardless my boy will get the best treatment. BUT, even 5 years on I am angry that this could have been avoided had my vet not abused my trust and blindly assumed ALL vaccinations for ALL cats).

2) Euthanasia exclusion - I found that was quite common in a lot of policies once a pet gets classed as a 'senior'. Whether 8yo is senior though is a different debate...

3) Dentals - I think it's quite standard for insurance companies to expect a pet's teeth to be checked yearly and if that is done and any vet's advice taken, then they cover the cost of any treatment. Although my housecats are no longer vaccinated, they still have a yearly check at which time, their teeth/ears/condition/heart/skin/nails/etc are all checked (to name a few). Like I say though, I see a good vet who appreciates our previous experiences. As he is also the senior partner at our practice, I also find he is very reasonable with his charges as he is in a position to make those sorts of decisions.

4) Excess - I don't have my policy details to hand so apologies but I can't remember this one.

Just make sure you are thorough reading the T&Cs not just the summary. As I'm currently having a terrible experience with M&S after being told one thing on the phone and it turning out not to be the case, I'd advise anyone to read thoroughly regardless of company.

Sorry for the long post Just a bit passionate on the vax subject

realshannon

Pet Plan used to be good years ago but I am with Animal Friends. You can reduce the policy you are on, and to be honest there isnt much between the top end for exclusions but it saves a little in premiums. Many moons ago I used National Farmers Union for my dogs and they were good. I think you have to do it online now but see if there is a branch near to you, as you get better discounts via branch. Their house and car insurance is good too. The APR used if you pay monthly is very cheap

Ellie2758

I'm with argos - 3 claims so far and no problems. £16 a month. Very pleased with their service so far.

albacookie

Panleucopenia is another name for feline enteritis.

Leukaemia is the 2nd most common cause of death in young cats (after road traffic accidents) so not that rare, risk does diminish with age.

needing-help

I'm another with M&S they have always paid out and are very reasonable. I had 3 claims last year (I have one of those dogs!) and my renewal has gone up by £1 a month to £18.

wannabepennypincher

Sooz made a ver good point about vaccs. Only 2 of my cats are vaccinated for cat flu and eteritis. Both of these are airbron therefore easier to catch. My diabetic cat Charley spends a lot of time at the vets with the occasional stay so I feel he is much more likely to pick something up, if we go away he is the only one that needs to be kept in a cattery so he would need these 2 at least as well.

The other one is almost 8 but my old boy who passed away was quite an old indoor cat and still managed to get the flu (not long after we picked him up from the rescue) and was quite ill with it and lost his miaow. So although he is low risk, in older cats flu is a lot more serious so he got his jabs for the first time this year. As flu is also dangerous is kittens as they can get dehydrated so I vaccinated the kittens but they won't get done again until they are a lot older.

We don't have to pay a percentage until they reach the age of 8, right now its just the excess (I'm with petplan as well). I would advise not cancelling your current until the 2 week no claim period with the new insurer is over just in case anything happens that you wouldn't be covered for. I almost changed my policy thinking I could get cheaper and if I had Charley's diabetes wouldn't have been covered. All in all I have never had a probelm with petplan, they pay my vet direct so I just need to sign the form and let my vet take care of the rest.

Ziggy_Stardust

I'm currently with Axa for my one year old lab !!!!!, have been paying about £18 per month and the renewal has just come in for £19.62 per month. However last week I was getting impatient waiting for my renewal and did an on-line quote with them and was getting a quote of £12.33, why the £7 per month difference? Is this a "brand new customers only" deal, if so I'm out of there, I hate this type of practice. Fortunately we have not had any claims but if we had we'd be stuck. I was going to go with Petplan last year but I found the salesman so pushy it put me off them. I want a company I can trust.

Update
Rang Axa to be told that the difference in price was a 'customer incentive'. I have since gone on-line and got quotes from Petplan and Liverpool Victoria, Petplan as expected was very expensive, Liverpool Victoria was about £18 per month for a for life policy which seems fair, has anyone any experience of them with regards to pet insurance?

chris_n_tj

We use Petplan. They are as always brilliant. TJ needs life long meds and blood tests, has done since he was three. He is six in October.

They pay direct to our vets and of course they insure for life. Yeap they are a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for with pet insurance.

Chris n tJ