Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

Ziggy_Stardust

Thanks Meri, I did look at the M&S policy but I'm sure I read that once your pet reaches a certain age you have to page an excess plus a percentage of the vet fees, maybe I was looking at the wrong bit or something

cathodetube

Had M&S for cat and dog. Premiums jumped alarmingly so I cancelled. Excess also rose from zero to £75. £48 a month for 5 year old dog...no thanks.

clmc

I've just taken out insurance for our 5 month old kitten and am feeling like such a chump. I've never posted before but just have to share this...

I looked at Go Compare first and the policies were coming out at £5.20-£5.50 going right up to over £10 per month. So then I looked at money supermarket and was directed via them to pet-insurance.co.uk which I presumed would search the market but in fact only gave me 2 options for standard or life cover. The more expensive life cover came out at £4.64, but it compared well with the policies I'd looked at at Go Compare so I thought I'd be daft not to go with this very reasonable policy.

I don't know about you, but after spending a long time researching, once I've made my decision, I like to get on with it... so I clicked on "buy now" and whizzed through putting in more details about me and the kitten, choosing to pay by DD and not credit card, putting in bank details before finally coming to a brief summary page and clicking on the red confirmation button. Just as I did so I noticed it said £4.64 per LUNAR MONTH ! By then it was too late, I'd confirmed.

So doing the sums I find I'm paying about £5 more per year than I would have expected with standard calandar monthly payments. This still puts the policy at a reasonable level to the others, but I can't help feeling I've been conned out of these few pounds a year by firstly, the site not mentioning it would be lunar monthly payments until the very last minute, and also not giving an annual total anywhere or allowing you to pay by one lump sum (they only allow monthly payments). It just seems a ruse designed to compare them favourably to comparison sites - but they already compare favourably - so why not be up front? Frankly it makes me wonder what else they've got up their sleeve to dupe customers with and I don't feel at all happy with my choice. I know it's a fairly small sum, but it's just so sneaky!

Sorry this is such a long post, I'm new to this, but I'd love to hear if anyone has heard of other companies use this lunar month system. I've never heard of it ever, but maybe I've not been paying attention?!

Thanks for your time.

Ziggy_Stardust

clmc I'm sure you have a cooling off period where you can cancel, check their T&Cs. This pet insurance lark is a so confusing.

hethmar

clmc - CANCEL it. Pet insurance co.uk is actually:

"Pet-insurance.co.uk is a scheme administered and underwritten by Equine & Livestock Insurance Co. Ltd."

E and L have the WORSE reputation of any of the pet insurers. Have a google.

For eample:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/r57547_3_E_and_L_Pet_Insurance.html

Sooz00

Meri wrote: »

I went for the M&S lifetime cover which gives up to £7,000 per year for each condition, so if my cats gets an upset tummy or breaks a leg they will be fully covered for each illness up to the full £7,000.

I pay just over £8 for female cat and £12 for male cat per month and knowing I have this much better cover gives me great piece of mind.

Hi Meri - if you haven't done so, please read the T&Cs really carefully from cover to cover with M&S. I'm having ongoing problems with them at the moment so just want people not to get caught in the same trap!

It depends what you need the policy for but I wanted good complementary therapy such as hydrotherapy and physiotherapy (having known dogs with hip dysplasia) and so I specifically asked them about it before taking the policy out.

"Yes...' I was told by M&S 'up to £1000 every year as long as you keep renewing....' I thought it was great, PetPlan was only £750 and about £8 a month more expensive at the time. M&S were coming up top with the price against level of cover and I thought I couldn't go wrong with the M&S brand.

Unfortunately I was wrong and it turns out that a some of the definitions that M&S use are not quite right and they rely on those not to pay out.

For example, hydrotherapy is not treatment of ailments using water therapy (as you'll find in any good dictionary, medical or otherwise), it is (according to M&S and co) 'swimming and water treadmill sessions immediately before and after surgery....'.

It seems the ‘before or after surgery’ is all important. My dog has OCD and at the moment the specialist said surgery is not appropriate. One of her treatments is hydrotherapy but M&S will not cover it even though it would help avoid her going through surgery later. It works out at £40 a week. They would rather she get worse and need her joint replaced or fused together which they would pay for – around £5-6k per joint depending on what they did. They are bonkers and completely 'conned' me.

By the way, M&S also don't cover hydrotherapy for arthritis, don't deem a holiday to be anywhere other than Europe (for the purpose of their holiday cancellation cover) and their premiums whilst cheaper initially do get quite expensive by which time if you’ve claimed for anything, they have you trapped.

Anyway, my point was, please read all T&Cs really thoroughly including definitions of things you already know as M&S may well define things differently/incorrectly. That way, you’ll have double checked you have the cover you think you do.

Ziggy_Stardust

Wow Sooz00 I never noticed all that. What I did notice was when your dog reaches 9 you have to pay the excess plus 20% of the vets bills, this put me off them.

ernie-money

Ziggy_Stardust wrote: »

I also have a lab just turned one, on renewal with Axa I was told it would be £19.62 per month, I asked why so much more than the on-line quote, first off I was told it was because of the 10% discount, I pointed out that the difference was a heck of a lot more than 10% and was then told it was a new customer incentive, sorry but to me this seems underhand. If someone was to join at this lower price and have to make a claim they would then have a pre-exsisting condition which is not likely to be covered with another insurer so might be pretty much stuck with Axa at their higher premiums. I think all insurers should be upfront if there is a special offer for new customers and not try to trap them.

I'm in a similar situation, got the renewal quote from Axa and it was about 25% higher than the price I paid last year, AND more importantly they have increased the excess on vet treatments from £50 to £75 per condition - this is what's annoyed me more than anything!

I don't understand why the pet insurance system is so different to insuring for instance a car. If you've had an accident with a car, you're still free to go to any insurer and get a quote - they won't place an exclusion on your policy and say that you've already had an accident, so if you crash again it will be regarded a pre-existing condition and you wont be covered!
Ok, I'm not that thick - I do understand the difference between a car and a dog, but it does seem wrong that once you've taken out a policy, your basically stuck with that company for the life of your pet, and they can change the terms and increase premiums and excess as much as they like, and there's nothing you can do about it.

I was wondering what would happen if I now went on their website and got a new quote for my dog and paid the premium quoted - could they then still claim he had pre-existing conditions, even though I was insured with them last year as well and the cover with them was continuous..? I'm sure it wouldn't work - would be great though!

This is scary - I just got a quote for a new policy & the price came out lower than the premium I paid last year - how can that be possible!?!

Ziggy_Stardust

I think they would count it as pre-exsisting and not cover you. I do understand why insurance companies don't cover these conditions as there is a chance they will re-occur so you (or your pet) is at a higher risk of a claim. I just don't like underhand tricks to get new customers and then slam them the next year, I'd rather deal with a company who is upfront even if it does cost a bit more in the short term.

cathodetube

Don't know if upfront comes into it. Insurers are always changing their terms and conditions from year to year unfortunately. M&S terms and conditions changed numerous times when I was with them. I am very cynical about pet insurance. No one is going to care about your pet and your bank balance as much as you do.