Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

bixieupnorth

just found out that lloyds tsb have rejected a claim for our cats laparotomy for removal of a haemorragic cyst on her liver, total nearly £800.
their reason being that she had a previous emergency laparotomy for internal bleed which turned out to be a ruptured hepatic cyst, this was jan 06 and was settled in full. they now argue that its the same condition and that any claim must be made within 12 months of the original claim.
anyone got any idea of this is worth taking further??

foreign_correspondent

hi, halifax is cheap, does anyone know if it is any good?
Also, there is £20 back via quidco but I cannot get the link to work! - any ideas? ta folks

firesidemaid

have just come across this thread and thought i'd add my tuppence worth....(have not read much that has gone before..)

we have had to claim twice in 2 months for the first time ever on our sains pet insurance.

they paid up with no quibbles (we paid first and then the vet sent the claim forms off) within 10 days. one claim for £200 and one for £300.

we pay £8.33 per month per dog - will prob go up next year though.

there is no time limit on claims per condition, but there is a monetary limit of 5 or 6k per condition.

salthepal

Bromley86 wrote: »

Is it like-for-like though? AFAIK, Tesco is not a lifetime policy - i.e. although their Extra Cover policy "has no time limit on claiming", it does have an absolute condition limit of £4k that does not reset every year.

Still, that said, pretty damn good. You may have to decide whether to put down or to stump up the cash yourself for serious conditions though.

Yes you are absolutley right. The bargain Tesco gives you cover only for that insured year. Probably not a good idea.

I am getting more confused. Because my dog was treated by a vet when she was a few months old for acute diarrhoea, she will be excluded in the future for anything involving this condition! I know that several serious conditions have diarrhoea as one of their symptoms, so does this mean that these conditions will not be covered?

Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and re-insure with M&S who have put the premium up despite no claims during the last year. It is clear that having made a claim, you are trapped and subject to any premium hikes they fancy imposing.

Bromley86

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

hi, halifax is cheap, does anyone know if it is any good?

Haven't had to claim yet, so no direct knowledge. All the posts I've seen say that they pay up quickly. I could only find one that described what happened after claims for an ongoing condition were made (premium increased from £14 to £31).

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=54693

foreign_correspondent

I decided to go with Halifax in the end - just over a fiver a month for £1000 worth of cover. They also do a higher level, which covers up to £6000 which I think would have cost me a tenner a month. It is lifetime cover too, so will cover ongoing conditions

zebidee1

Just a quickie....got the insurance docs through from Halifax and it says

* death from illness is excluded for dogs at age 9+ years of age and cats and 11+ years of age.*

First..is this usual?

Second...does this mean that our dog could be ill over a period of months with some nasty something or other and need ongoing treatment then he dies at the end of it and the bills wont be covered if he turns 9 during it all?

Billobel

I have just become the proud owner of my 4th German Shepherd. As I rescued this lad, he came with little history..............But insuring him was a priority as I know only too well how the vets bills can mount with this breed. One of the most important issues for me was LIFETIME COVER. The three companies that I narrowed it down to was M & S, who wanted £464.00, Petplan wanted £366.00 and More Than, who I have one of my other dogs covered with. More Than have a special offer of 15% if you take out the policy online, and I got an additional 5% discount as I already have a policy with them, so with all the discounts added up I only paid £211.08, and they offer better coverage than Petplan. I have never had any problems with payments (the second claim I put in was for £1,638.00, which they settled before my credit card bill came through......................) The staff are very helpful and friendly, so I would recommend More Than is worth a good look at.:T

Bromley86

zebidee1 wrote: »

Just a quickie....got the insurance docs through from Halifax and it says

* death from illness is excluded for dogs at age 9+ years of age and cats and 11+ years of age.*

First..is this usual?

Second...does this mean that our dog could be ill over a period of months with some nasty something or other and need ongoing treatment then he dies at the end of it and the bills wont be covered if he turns 9 during it all?

I haven't looked at the terms for a couple of months, but IIRC this refers to the payment to you by Halifax of the purchase price of your dog on death i.e. a separate issue from any vets fees.

If that's the case, I'd expect it to be pretty standard .

Bromley86

Billobel wrote: »

I have just become the proud owner of my 4th German Shepherd. As I rescued this lad

Something I found that might help you as a German Shepherd rescue owner (2-5% discount):
http://s10.invisionfree.com/biggsd/index.php?showtopic=899

I used them to get my food with no problems.