Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

Bromley86

Halifax will insure at any age, although to keep the premium down you might have to go for the basic £1,000 lifetime (resets each year).

The thing with Halifax is that it may well change (a la M&S) in the future, as their price, cover and restrictions seem to be extremely favourable. That said (forgive me here), we're not statistically talking about the long term in this case, so even if they greatly increase the premium p.a., it still shouldn't be too bad.

Consider switching your youngest as well, if possible. You'll likely save a lot on the annual premium, as well as getting a multi-dog discount (IIRC). It might also give you some leverage if they do try to increase Max's premium in the future.

EDIT: Animal Friends is another option. Pros are that they're cheap (especially if you live in the wrong area or have a risky breed), cons are that they're underwritten by E&L and have a huge 35% excess.

gemmaj

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately Halifax wants £514 pa for the lower policy, and the high excess on AFI already put me off that one!

I think I am going to stick with Argos - I feel sure that Sainsburys will cost a fortune to renew because they offer such a high level of insurance.

Annoyingly, M&S won't tell me until Monday how much Jez's renewal will be (she renews on 2 Dec).

Oh well, its only money!!!!

saucy77

Have you used moneysupermarket to compare quotes?

I know this might seem a bit strange, but I think I insured but my rottie's with ECL or something similar, couldn't tell you without looking at the paperwork. Their excess is just £60 but you can multi insure more than one pet and get discount for it. I think it was 15% but don't quote me on that.

I had insurance with Argos for my rottie cross, and they paid out ok on emergency treatment. Although I had to pay it first, but if the if you let your vet know your pet is insured i'm sure you won't have to go through what I did. (stupid dog headbutted the caravan chasing a cat, only had her for 3 days - and policy was the same age).
Going back to my 2 rottie's, they are insured for £500 each and aged 5yrs. I pay less than £25 a month for their cover. Kennelclub wanted £25 per dog.

Hope this helps you out, vet's fees are so expensive.

skyrocket

I have just found out that my dog who I thought was insured with Petplan for the past 3 years was actually not insured for the last two! Apparently his policy ran out and I didn't realise!
Anyway in the past 2 years he had an ear infection and was treated for it but I didn't try and claim as the amount it cost to treat him wasn't above the excess. I didn't mention this ear infection to them when I spoke to them on Thursday because I forgot about it until I put the phone down.
His policy with them will be very expensive.
If I shop around for insurance do I need to mention it to insurance companies as it is something that wasn't claimed for? He has always had sensitive ears when touched and I worry that the ear infection thing could recurr.

pboae

Yes you ought to declare it to Petplan or any other potential insurer. If you don't, and you try and make a claim for an ear problem, it would be insurance fraud. In addition, if they found out that you had not declared it, the whole policy would be invalid, even for claims that were completely unrelated to his ears.

Possykat

I'm looking for a pet insurance for my ten year old cat. never had a pet before and all this is a bit new to me. i'm struggling to decide on the best policy. have read the thread and there's a few conflicting stories on insurance policies. i'm totally confused!

found the cheapest to be tesco (£3.82/ month) but by the looks of it, it's quite expensive considering the excess and cover.

does anyone have an 8+ year old cat and know of a policy that they're happy with?


any help/ comment most appreciated.

nona85

I'm still trying to work out which insurance policy to go with for my 6month old pup, I've whittled it down to either going with M&S again, Sainsbury's or Halifax.

I phoned Sainsbury's up to ask several questions and was quite pleased with the answers, so I'm leaning towards them. If I go with M&S, same as my first dog, I know they pay out fast but I'm worried they'll hike the premium up every single year....but then Sainsbury's could do the same to me in a year or so.

It's all so confusing, worst part is they play on your attachment to your pet, I can't not get my pup insured because I'm too afraid of the consequences.

pboae

Can't help you there unfortunately, we are all in the same boat. If any of the decent insurers guaranteed no price hikes (or no more than x % a year or something), we'd all bite their hands off for it. :-(

Bromley86

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty certain that the Sainsbury's cover is lifetime but limited to £6,500 over that lifetime. That may be enough cover, but it differs from the M&S/Halifax model.

One thing I spotted online for Sainsbury's was the discounts:
(a) 30 days free
(b) 10% off for booking online

You'd be forgiven for thinking that these were a good thing , but actually it means that your next year premium will increase by 1/11th plus 10%. Of course, your premiums might increase with the others too, but that free month is unusual.

They do appear to have no age limit, which gives owners of older dogs more choice:

There's no maximum age limit for vet's fees - our pet health insurance is suitable for older pets too

INSPIRED

We have 2 dogs insured with M & S and until now the premiums have been very competitive. However, the renewal schedule has arrived and the jump in premiums is shocking. One has gone from 19.95 per month to 36.60 and the other from 16.95 to 28.02. We can not afford this premium so I shall start searching for something cheaper.

Has anyone else experienced this lately?

I am thinking about going to the financial ombudsman.

All thoughts would be welcome.