Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

money.saver_11

whoa there,:eek: not entirely sure why so much tension in this thread but just a few points I would like to mention:
I am a qualified Vet Nurse working at a large referral practice as an independant insurance advisor. I process over 700 claims each month approximately 98% of these being direct claims. ie we receive payment direct from the insurance company not from our clients. In most cases the independant advice is to insure with m and s insurance. Not just because of the nil xs option but also because of the dental cover, prescription diet cover, cover for life policy, high level of annual benefit (7k), claim direct facility, ease of claims administration and competitive premiums. This is probably the best policy on the market at this present time. Petplan also offer several cover for life policies but do have an unlimited policy which is the only one offering a higher claim limit than marks but at a much higher cost and without the xs/presc diet benefits the marks policy holds. Relay - you did not mention which insurance policy you actually hold? At a guess I would say Tesco as this has a 40.00 xs for cats and is the only major player with this xs I am aware of, please let me know if any different, some insurers have different xs's for different locations within the UK and I am only familiar with xs's for my local areas. If you do indeed have a Tesco policy then the Marks is actually significantly better. Tesco Standard is a 12 month policy (limited cover for ongoing conditions) with a 2500 limit for each condition, Tesco Extra is a 4k maximum benefit policy (ie 4k maximum payout for each medical condition). Tesco have no prescription diet cover and limited dental cover. If you have a Tesco 12 month policy I would urge you to check your policy and enquire with an alternative policy that offers cover for life. Obviously any pre existing conditions would not be covered, however after 12months you are not covered anyway so there are no reasons to stay. I did a quote for a lady last week who had a 14 year old cat insured with Tesco, she switched to Marks on my advice, saved 5.00 odd per mth on her premium, moved from 12mth to cover for life, decreased her excess and gained much more comprehensive cover overall. As regards the comment regarding paying something towards your pets health, as Im sure all responsible pet owners know, the cost of annual vaccinations, wormers flea/tick treatments, good quality diets and pet insurance premiums do not come cheap. I believe that this constitutes 'a contribution' and if a policy offers better benefits for a good price then why not take it, isnt this what this website is all about after all???????:A

money.saver_11

if you are on limited income take out a cover for life policy with a high annual benefit such as marks and spencers. opt for a nil xs, (taken out over the internet to get a 5% discount) and find a vet who will claim direct for you. If you do this then apart from preventative treatment ie boosters/flea/wormers everything else will be covered by your pet insurance. You could possibily find a cheaper quote with a less reputable company, with lower benefits but the whole point of having insurance if you have limited income is that financial worries are not applicable when dealing with a pet needed treatment. I am an independant insurance advisor by trade and this policy is great as with everything read the small print but dont think you will be disappointed.

x:A

EmmaH_2

I spoke to Marks and Spencer to find out why they were imposing a 60% increase. The explanation was that they are underwritten by AXA insurance who had undertaken some research last year to find that male animals are twice as likely to require vet attention due to their boisterous nature. I have 3 boy cats. So beware people with male animals!

They also said that previous claims are not taken into consideration - whether I had made 10 claims last year, or none, it wouldn't have made a difference. I made no claims.

I will be shopping around....

Emma.

muchus

Hi there.

I'm getting a puppy in a couple of weeks and was planning to insure him through More Than. But looking through previous threads, More Than doesn't seem to get much of a mention, whereas Pet Plan seems to be the most popular choice.

Does anyone have any experience with More Than and can offer advice?

BrightonBoy_2

I can offer some thoughts as I used to run the pet insurance business for them! They have a very good pet product which is well supported by a specialist team of claims handlers who know their stuff very well and are genuinely interested in what they do for their customers. I am sure there are cheaper products out there so you pays your money and takes your choice to a degree. Pet Plan gets lots of mentions because they are very big and tend to spend more on promoting their product than More than. They are also very reputable as are Tesco which is really a Direct Line product in disguise.

Little_Miss_Saver

Don't know much about More Than pet insurance, but I insure my cat with Petplan (they came highly recommended) and my main reason for choosing them was because if your pet gets a long term illness eg diabetes it pays out for your pets medication for the life of the policy rather than 12 months or a fixed amount as with other insurers.

Luckily I haven't had to use it yet, but its better to have the insurance and not need it than to need the insurance and not have it.

Good Luck with the puppy

LMS xx

BrightonBoy_2

Little_Miss_Saver wrote: »

Don't know much about More Than pet insurance, but I insure my cat with Petplan (they came highly recommended) and my main reason for choosing them was because if your pet gets a long term illness eg diabetes it pays out for your pets medication for the life of the policy rather than 12 months or a fixed amount as with other insurers.

Thats a really good point - lots of insurers limit the cover in this way. More Than don't (or didn't - worth checking).

JennyW_2

Morethan offer a very good policy however the excess is a percentage of the claim and not a fixed amount, say £60. For this reason I went elsewhere.

Usual insurers for pets are:
M&S
Petplan
Sainsburys
Tesco
Direct Line
Churchill
Virgin

Stay away from E&L

muchus

The 20% is only applicable if the pet is older than 9 years. I just looked that up cause if that was payable in all cases there's no way I'd go with More Than.

Marks and Spencers came in really expensive. It was almost £500 a year.

It's a toss up between More Than and the PetPlan Supreme plan.

I'm off to the vets at the weekend and might ask them if they have a preference dealing with either of them.

golly99

Hi

First of all, very good decision to get Pet Insurance!

My partner works in the veterinary profession and swears by Pet Plan, we have our dog on it and as a previous poster has mentioned, if your pet gets a long term illness they pay for life. I notice Petplan is on Quidco (you get £25 cashback), but I know you can also get 1/2 months free usually so don't know if you get this+the cashback. Already used Petplan quite a lot unfortunately for our pet for extensive treatment and they have been very good and no problems. Think you'll find when you visit the vets they will recommend Petplan as well.