Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

cathodetube

Which other companies have you tried?

Tappy1964

Be very careful when using protect your bubble pet insurance they use a finance company (contractor) to look after their accounts and they do not return money to your account within 5 working days!!! despite 2 phone calls still no return of moeny now on working day 7!!! How would they feel if i did not pay them until 7 days after my renewal was due - they would cancel my policy - very shabby and leaves a bad taste!

slipthru

I've taken a look at some insurance policies for our new puppy, and the price of More thans insurance of classic or premier looks to be affordable.

Are they an ok insurer?

Looked at pet plan but it was over £20 a month for a mixed breed dog.

xCharismax

Hello,

I'm getting a Chihuahua in a few weeks. Mother is KC reg Chihuahua and father is 3/4 Chihuahua and Westie cross. What should I put down on the form? The pup looks like it's dad and doesn't look pure bred. Could I get away with cross-breed if there is no option to put chihuahua cross on the options?

credit_crunch

slipthru wrote: »

I've taken a look at some insurance policies for our new puppy, and the price of More thans insurance of classic or premier looks to be affordable.

Are they an ok insurer?

Looked at pet plan but it was over £20 a month for a mixed breed dog.

hi i have just sent a pmt o see if you went ahead with this, as it is looking as the best option to insure my puppy & cat.
plus £40 cashback through quidco is a bonus!

sb44

OMG!

I have just checked my bank statement online and MoreThan have taken £27.35 out instead of the normal £17.56.

We have a six year old Lhasa Apso in good health, made one claim a couple of years ago when she had probs when spayed.

Jut rang them to ask had there been an error, nope. Automatic increase because of the age and type of dog! She is SIX! These dogs can live until they are 20+ and are normally in good health, ie no joint probs etc.

I am gobsmacked, that is a 55% increase!

They said they couldn't offer any discount as it gone 14 days past the renewal date. :mad:

cathodetube

Did they send you notice of the increase?

sb44

cathodetube wrote: »

Did they send you notice of the increase?

To be honest I probably binned it thinking it was junk mail.

I could have shopped around if I had checked it before renewal.

However, 55% increase in one go is ridiculous.

Will have to have a look at a compare site later.

I will have to pay this for the next two months as I think there is normally a ten week period where you can not claim on a new policy.

Don't want to cancel this before she is fully covered, just in case anything happens.

TomsMom

sb44 wrote: »

However, 55% increase in one go is ridiculous.

Unfortunately it isn't. I have a 3 year old Bichon who has had one claim for a benign lump investigation and removal and her insurance with John Lewis increased by 120%. My son's Bichon had no claims and his increased by 60%.

The common denominator is the underwriters being Royal and Sun Alliance, they are the ones setting the premium and they also underwrite More Than pet policies. Plus the fact that most insurers are increasing the cost of pet policies and blaming vet fees, increase in medication costs, etc.

I had very lengthy discussions with John Lewis and RSA over a period of a month when my renewal notice came through and I couldn't get them to budge but did get them to admit the claim had had some bearing on the amount of increase.

I ended up staying with John Lewis, I didn't have much choice unless I wanted any potential future lumps of any description to be classed as a pre-existing condition by a new insurance company. What I did was downgrade my policy from their top one to their middle one (I have £7,000 cover with that one so still a good amount) and I opted for the highest excess whereas before I had the lowest excess. I've still ended up paying 55% more but it is better than 120%.

If you do shop around for something else, bear in mind that whatever is on her records that showed clinical signs or symptoms will be treated as pre-existing by a new company and will be excluded, and it's amazing how sneaky they are at linking things to past conditions. The only way around that is to ring them and ask if X amount of time has passed since and there's been no further trouble could they lift the exclusion and get it confirmed in writing .

sb44

Thanks TomsMum.

I had forgotten all about her having an op for fatty lumps which were tested and found to be ok.

That is it, it is the same situation as you then.

I think we will just have to pay the premiums and hope that they don't rocket next year too. :mad: