Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

i_am_really_rich!!

I have my 2 dogs insured with M&S. By far the cheapest and they are even willing to pay out £600.00 for a stair carpet that the puppy chewed, although I do have to buy it first and send the invoice. All I have to do now is find the £600!!:think:

mikemoate

Goodbye M&S. Renewal for our 6 year old boxer dog arrived this morning. Premium increased from £14.59 to £24.07 per month. Have never made a claim and now they are charging a £50 excess too.

Any recommendations?

Troubleatmill_2

They may not always be the cheapest. But they are the best.
Many other insurers do what M&S has done.... bump up the prices, or if you have claimed for something "eg gastric" then it is excluded from next years policy.

I have 2 cats with Petplan, one of which always seems to need something every few months. Petplan have always paid promptly direct with the vet and the premiums have not shot up. In fact they are pretty much static.

You pays your money...you takes your choice :-)

Best
Troubleatmill

prudryden

jennie4pope wrote:

I've just purchased two puppies, has anyone insured a pet recently? I've been advised to look at Tesco's insurance policies, anyone here using them?

I compared Tesco with Sainsburys. Decided on Sainsburys, but can't remember why right now, but I will dig out the papers and re-post.

JennyW_2

Jake is with Direct Line and they have been prompt with their correspondence and payments. Cody is with CHurchill and they have just increased her renewal so I'm looking around. I've heard that Virgin are supposed to be good? Have used Tesco's in the past and found them efficient in paying out and have heard good things about Sainsburys. I find M&S and Petplan to be very expensive.

jane_johnson

Hi

I have 6 dogs, 4 of these are insured on a group policy and I have been very happy with the service for almost 4 years. I now want to insure the other 2 dogs but the premium for 6 dogs on the one policy is huge.

I have been able to tweak a few things on the policy like removing public liability and by having them all microchipped brings a small saving etc I asked to increase a voluntary excess to save further but this is fixed along with other benefits like loss of pet through injury, emergency kennel fees, help finding your lost pet.

I have a claim going at the moment for one dog due a hip replacement so might have to keep him insured where he is for the time being.....

Basically all I want is a policy that will cover vet fees, I'm not interested in all the other bumf that goes on the off the shelf policies and I want to insure all my dogs together on a lifetime policy.

Is there an insurer that would underwrite a policy for just this? I know lots of people with multi dog households that would be very interested in this.

I would even be happy to become a broker for such a policy! That's how convinced I am there is a need for flexible cover.

Any comment please?!

here is the gang

jane_johnson

jaxxy00 wrote:

Ive just sat and read the whole 14 pages of this thread andi t makes interesting reading. I read a few pages a few weeks back when trying to decide on insurance and went for M&S.
I pay £7.46 per month for my Spaniel Cross and he has been insured for about 6 weeks now (didnt take insurance our before due to the high excesses but then found M&S with no excess) but the last 2 weeks we have been back and forth to the vets. He had a funny leg/back and yelped out sometimes. Vet gave him painkillers after a few days he had bloody poo took him back again and vet gave him pills for collitis. Still his leg was funny, not working right etc so gtook him back again and vet said to have him in for xrays. (Maybe from the start if Pepe would let the vet examine him we would have found the problem earlier but he doesnt let the vet near him). The bad news is he has severe hip dysplasia and the vet showed us on the xrays just how bad.
Now my point is the 3 visits were:
1. almost £40
2. almost £8
3. nearly £300

Would i have been better to pay the first 2 myself and just to claim for the biggy? I have put in claims for the 1st and 2nd and awaiting another claim form for the 3rd. The vet has been claiming direct so i dont have to pay first. What i would like to know is because Pepe is now on Synoquin which will be long term and work out abpout £15 per month, also the vet reccomend hydrotherapy sessions which are £12.50 a time. So if he has one of these a week and the tablets long term thats £65 a month. When the renewal comes in will it be at least that amount per month or more and if so how much? I know this is probably a question that cant be answered and when i rang M&S today i asked if she could give me any idea at all on what the renewal would be due to the claims i had made but she said that renewals are worked out by the computer. She did say that it would probably be to my benefit if i were to pay the smaller amounts if i wanted.
So my questions are has anyone been paying x amount for insurance and then had lifelong thing diagnosed which costs x amount per month and if so how did it affect the renewal costs?
I did ask M&S today if the complentary therapy cover would cover the hydrotherapy sessions and she said yes. Who decides how many though and how often?
Sorry this is a bit long but im a bit concerned as to the long term cover he will have and benefits that may or may not be taken away on renewal.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your dogs hip problem. Will you be having a hip replacement operation for your dog? The reason I ask is that if the hips are that bad, why go down the route of synoquin and water therapy? surely it's better to use the insurance to pay for the hip replacement op? This problem is only going to get worse and cause your dog a lot of suffering if left.

One of my dogs is due in for a hip replacement within in the next month for one hip it's likely to cost around £2000 - £2500. The specialist says he will be as good as new afterwards :j anyway, good luck with yours.

pboae

Hmm interesting, M&S told me that they DON'T put premiums up because of claims. My dog also has HD, he is on long term meds, and has seen a specialist. They also paid for his hydrotherapy, but he won't swim so we had to give that up. We have claimed thousands over the last couple of years and so far the premium has remained the same. I am expecting a huge hike this year (from £120 to £400 a year) but that is because they have re-evaluated their prices across the board, and not specifically for my dog.

He still has cartrophen injections every few months, and Rimadyl when he needs it. Because he is a giant breed and meds are done by weight, his Rimadyl alone is about £150 a month when he takes it daily. Plus we may still go for the hip replacement in the future, but it will be very risky for him, so it will be a last resort.

blossom30

Hi Everyone, I read in the paper last night that "more than insurers" are offering pet insurance @ £4.99 for animals of any age . I thought I would take this out for my 2 elderly cats ( apparently £2000 cover on vet bills) I haven't checked it out yet. Will let you know shrewdal

pboae

More than have a 'per illness' limit of £7,000, so if your pet develops a life long problem, or needs surgery, and you hit that limit, they won't pay out any more. It's perhaps not a huge problem with an elderly cat, but if a young dogs gets disgnosed with something like HD you can easily hit that limit over their lifetime.