Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

JBEILBY

Have now been through an insurance broker and they are not able to better the renewal price. Most are over £200 and one is even over £300. Reasons for increases this year are:

increase in vet's fees
increase in vet medicine prices
wider range of treatments now available (e.g. MRI scans)

I just wish they could put in a no claims bonus scheme - that would at least mitigate some of the increases.

Bromley86

NFU Mutual look to be great on conditions and inital contact, although I haven't read any reviews on them yet. Telephone only though, but at least it's an 0800 number (0800 316 4661).

Their policy was £196.51 vs. M&S at £310.81. Cover was £4k vs. £7k, but that's £4k per condition per year (so with two different condition it's £8k etc.).

Bromley86

Just done a lot of searching and posted the results in the wrong thread .
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=499075

Does anyone have an opinion on NFU vs. Halifax eXtra? Or indeed anything that might be better than the Halifax eXtra? A Halifax promotional code would be useful too .

pboae

Could you copy your post into here too? It was a really good summary.

NFU have had some good reviews on here.

Bromley86

It's wordy, but here it is :

I've been searching for lifetime cover for a 3m Lab female (seems the boards blank out b*tch ) in the South East. My main reason for insuring is to cover expensive/repeat illnesses (all the policies have enough personal liability cover for me). Although I don't necessarily want more than £4,000 per annum cover, I don't want condition limits (as I want to cover big problems like arthritis). I suppose I might accept a limit of £2,000 per condition per annum.

I don't care about all the fluff cover for holiday cancellation and small vets bills. Likewise, I'm not too fussed about "pull" offers as they'll only affect the first year and I don't want to risk switching every year. Where possible, I've increased the excess to the maximum.

I haven't checked out what happens to all the premiums when your dog gets old. Where I have, I've included it in brackets after Cost.

I started with Martin's suggestions and then Googled [lifetime "pet insurance"] to check other options.

My tentative conclusion was initially Pinnacle, although that might change if the reviews on E&L underwriters aren't as bad as I've been led to believe. Then, possibly, at 6-8 a change to M&S if everything's okay (naturally, if you've had an ongoing problem, you pretty much have to stick with whoever you're with).

However, I've just Googled and found the NFU Mutual. Downside, there's no online form or even policy wording. Upside, they have great staff on the end of an 0800 number (0800 316 4661). I'll look at the policy when it arrives, but I'll likely sign up to this anyway and use the cooling off period of 14 days if there's something too wierd to live with. One for Martin to look at next time he redoes his Pet Insurance article.

EDIT: Never say never. Looks like the Halifax is even better! Assuming I'm not missing something here, Martin's article needs updating.

Also, I just can't bargain, but I sensed that there might have been a little scope for it with NFU. Should have got the mother in law to call .

The results (all Lifetime policies, per annum):

M&S
Cost: £310.81 (8yrs £369.43)
Vet fees: £7k
Conditon limit: £7k
Excess: £125
Comments: More cover than I need.

PetPlan (Budget)
Cost: £366.48
Vet fees: £4k
Condition limit: £4k
Excess: £90
Comments: More than I'm willing to pay!

Pinnacle (Classic)
Cost: £208.32
Vet fees: £4k
Condition limit: £1k
Excess: £90
Comments: That condition limit is probably going to prevent me going for this - otherwise perfect. Likewise, the budget "Vital" of £2k at £167.76 was excellent until I saw the £500 per condition per annum limit.

Pinnacle (Premier)
Cost: £259.68 (8ys £434.16)
Vet fees: £6k
Condition limit: £6k
Excess: £90
Comments: Looks good now. Checked the costs for when she's older - steep, but may still be worth it. 6yrs=£326.88, 8yrs=£434.16 (can't check any later as their online quote system won't quote for new dogs over 8yrs old).

Animal Friend Insurance (Gold Standard)
Cost: £173.43 (8yrs £222.48)
Vet fees: £2k per condition
Condition limit: £2k
Excess: £49
Comments: Excellent premium and that cover is per conditon per year, so as far as I can see it's in theory limitless (if your dog has numerous separate conditions!). Equine & Livestock (E&L) are the underwriters. I've seen people warn that they're gits to get money out of. Premium is not flexed for regions or breeds, so a Lab in London might do well here, whereas a mongrel in Scotland will be penalised. Finally, the age issue. Good premiums i.e. 0-8yrs is one, 8+ is another, rather than it increasing every year (although there will be inflation increases). However, at 8 years the excess becomes £49 PLUS 35% of the claim! That could be huge if you're looking at arthritis etc.

Animal Friend Insurance (Gold Super)
Cost: £229.92 (8yrs 274.80)
Vet fees: £4k per condition
Condition limit: £4k
Excess: £49
Comments: Again excellent value but underwritten by E&L and age issues. There are Platinum cover options as well for £5k & 6k.

HealthyPets
Is Lifetime, but limit doesn't renew each year (i.e. Gold=£5k max and then you're on your own).

Vet2Pet
Just a reseller for Pinnacle that adds on ~£50 per annum .

NFU Mutual
Cost: £196.51 (7yrs £259.35)
Vet fees: £4k per condition
Condition limit: £4k
Excess: £50
Comments: Excellent! Perfect cover for me and a better price than any of the other's that I'd consider. Lady on the phone was helpful, knowledgable and not pushy. That quote excludes foreign travel - add £14.96 for up to 60 days. Costs as the dog ages were: 3yrs same, 5yrs £217.46, 7yrs £259.35. No data after that as they don't take new dogs on older than 7 years. She did say that the excess increases to £100 at 10 years and that they look at your claim history when deciding the premium, but I personally don't mind that. Other pluses were that there's an NFU office 6 minutes from me and they may reduce your premium by paying out a share of their profits (have to wait a year to see if this means anything in reality). Very minor downside - there was a 3% (£6 in my case) charge for using direct debit rather than lump sum payment.

Halifax (eXtra)
Cost: £151.66 (7yrs £249.44)
Vet fees: £6,000
Condition limit: £6,000
Excess: £50
Comments: Just goes to show that you shouldn't stop looking. Someone mentioned them in a post back in 2005 and look at the results! Even better than NFU. Their 10 year old quote was £345.61 (with the excess still at £50) - that means that they'll take on old dogs, which is unusual. It also quantifies what you might expect to pay as she gets older. This all includes 12m travel cover.

AXA
Cost: £226.20
Vet fees: £7,000
Condition limit: £7,000
Excess: £50
Comments: Didn't think of going direct to the underwriters until thetargetarcher posted. Doesn't seem to work as well for dogs (certainly not for 3m labs) as for cats. Still, pretty reasonable as it seems to be effectively the same as M&S but ~£85 cheaper. Another one with no age limit.

savvy

Hi melbury
All pet insurance enquiries have been moved over to the new pets board, so I'll move this post over there for you
savvy

pollyanna24

I have these two insurances as they have the "per year" thing in it rather than "per condition," but looking at a thread on here, someone said to check it's a lifelong policy. I will do this when I get home, but just wondered what this meant.

That even when my cat and dog are old and decrepid, I don't have to worry about them cos they will be covered if I stick with the same insurance company? I assume the policy prices will still go up each year though?

However, if I try and change their policy when they are 8 or so, that I will find it hard to find another insurance company willing to take them on, but that my current one will insure them till they die?

pollyanna24

I've always thought "per year" was better than "per condition," so I am just checking.

If your dog was to get diabetes, surely per year is better as they will need ongoing treatment for life and this would cover this, but if you used up your say, £4,000 on your per condition insurance, then you will have to fork out the rest for god knows long.

Just making sure I have the right insurance for my two with M&S and Petplan.

JennyW_2

I think M&S are seriously expensive. They wanted a fortune to insure my greyhound who is only 6, no injuries or ailments and has never been to the vet :mad:

I've heard that Sainsburys now do a life cover, Virgin do too. Thing is with a life cover, if you need to make ongoing claims for something such as diabetes or arthritis, then you will need to stay with them in order to continue to claim for the forthcoming years no matter how high they increase their premiums to you each year.

It's what suits you and your pocket at the end of the day.

The life cover premiums are very high, but as I said, you'll be obliged to stay with them to continue the cover, no matter how high they decide to increase your premium.

asea

try sainsburys! they undercut all of the other insurers!