Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

relinquiae

We have just adopted 2 cats, 1 male, 1 female, both 2 years old.
They are rescue cats and were living in a flat with around 70(!!) other cats, so we are unsure of their health history, but the rescue home says they are fit and healthy now.
Both have been spayed, chipped, and are getting vaccinated next week.

I have looked around and have got a quote for insurance from pet-insurance.co.uk of £5.24 per cat.. with life cover, and £4000 cover for each illness, per month!
This seems too good to be true, does anyone have experience with this insurer? Do they keep to their word? Does their price go up dramatically once you claim and when the cats get older?
We live on the outskirts of London, (or the edge of Surrey if you want to sound posh!) and they aren't allowed to go outside, so will be house cats for the rest of their lives.. could you reccomend any other insurer for us? We obviously don't want to have to try and change insurers in a few years, so would like a company with a fairly steady premium.

I've read through (nearly) all of this thread, but I'm just more confused!

cathodetube

If you have house cats then I wouldn't get them insured. They won't be encountering cars etc and won't be fighting with other cats.

headpin

relinquiae wrote: »

...............
I have looked around and have got a quote for insurance from pet-insurance.co.uk of £5.24 per cat.. with life cover, and £4000 cover for each illness, per month!
This seems too good to be true, does anyone have experience with this insurer? Do they keep to their word? Does their price go up dramatically once you claim and when the cats get older?
...........
!

The policy is underwritten by Equine and Livestock Insurance Company limited. I have no personal experience of them but looking at reviews Equine and Livestock Insurance Company limited they appear to offer low initial premiums but at the first sign of a claim they then escalate. Additionally the claim settling appears as if it may be somewhat tardy.

Suggest you Google Equine and Livestock Insurance Company limited and see what the reviews are like and then form your own opinion.

However, looking at most reviews on Pet Insurnace generally there does not seem a huge amount between any of the insurers. They all hike the premiums ASAP after low initial quotes, or you pay high to start with. What you need to bear in mind is that once your pet has a condition it is pretty well impossible to change companies without that condition being excluded from the cover. So, if you need continuous cover you are then locked in to your original choice. So choosing carefully is important. But not easy as I'm finding out for my two pedigree kittens.

Good luck.

cathodetube

Further to my posting about not insuring house cats, I have had cats for numerous years and haven't ever spent more than £500 on vet bills for any of them. One died at 16 - she wasn't insured - and the other is still around at 18. They both went/go outside. The one who is still around had a few abcesses from fights and cost me less than £500. I used to have him insured with Marks and Spencer which I cancelled last year. The Insurance proved fairly useless to me as I still had to pay their excess, which climbed from zero to £75 of the claim. But, it's your money and you take your choice. If I had a horse, then I would get it insured though.

hmc

just had my letter from axa and its going up £5 a month in dec for my collie with the excess going up from £50 to £75!.
that takes it to £24.99 a mth. is it worth shopping round again ? axa were the cheapest life cover last yr

Ziggy_Stardust

hmc wrote: »

just had my letter from axa and its going up £5 a month in dec for my collie with the excess going up from £50 to £75!.
that takes it to £24.99 a mth. is it worth shopping round again ? axa were the cheapest life cover last yr

This is why I left them, when I joined I was not told it was a special offer for "brand new customers only". Many companies tell you upfront if they are offering you a deal, you see signs saying "10% off" or "first month free", Axa didn't do this when I joined so I felt mislead and started to mistrust them. I'm now with Petplan, on the whole I've heard good reports about them, they are £7 per month more than my increased renewal with Axa but after speaking to them I feel I can trust them a bit more. BTW I'm not an expert on any of this I'm just a dog lover .

bouncydog1

Over the past 4 weeks one of my 7 month old cats has had an abcess - £107 to sort out. Last night the mum came in appearing to have scratched her front. Took her to the vet this a.m. - apparently she had got caught on jumping over a wall or similar and had a large wound (possibly caused by glass) in her chest, through the muscle. £200 for today as needed anaesthetic, antibiotics and stitches.

I wish I hadn't dithered about the insurance and was thinking of going with AXA. Do petplan give a discount for 4 cats? Happy to take £100 xs.

mrsg26

i dont know if this is the right place to ask or not. We have a 12 wk old Dogue De Bordeaux who we need to have insured. The breeder at the time told us we would be looking at max £20 per month insurance however our vet said we need a lifelong policy as they are prone to growth problems as they are such a large breed. The quotes i have been getting seem to range from £50-80!!! Is this right? I just didnt want to pay up to £1000 per yr for insurance!

cathodetube

It would have been prudent to check into insurance policies before purchasing a dog like yours. Have you checked all companies? If there are such known problems in the breed then that will be factored into the quotes.

Ziggy_Stardust

mrsg26 wrote: »

i dont know if this is the right place to ask or not. We have a 12 wk old Dogue De Bordeaux who we need to have insured. The breeder at the time told us we would be looking at max £20 per month insurance however our vet said we need a lifelong policy as they are prone to growth problems as they are such a large breed. The quotes i have been getting seem to range from £50-80!!! Is this right? I just didnt want to pay up to £1000 per yr for insurance!

Oooh dear, have you asked the breeder who he uses? Also have you tried an internet search to see if there's a forum for your dog's breed? There might be other owners there who can suggest some companies as that does seem a lot of money. I must say that I didn't think of costing insurance before committing to my dog .