Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

spookylukey

I would never be without pet insurance now, I spent 4 -5k in the last few years of my cats life so it's all too easy to rack up the vets bills! Even though you don't currently claim for the arthritis I'd stick with the current insurer as meds can be very costly - you could put a claim in every six months or so for the arthritis instead of faffing around every month.

If you are definitely not going to claim for the arthritis and can cover any future arthritis costs then have a look at Axa, who are the underwriters of M&S, they have very similar levels of cover (ie life cover with the 7k renewing every year instead of having to last the lifetime of the pet) but instead of 15% of the claim as an excess there's is a flat £50 regardless of the age of the pet.

UKTigerlily

Thanks, i'll have a look at them & have a think about what you said, think i'd better keep some form of insurance

JennyW_2

I am currently claiming for medication for one of my dogs who has mild arthritis but come March my claiming period will be over. When renewal time comes around for him and they aren't very competitive I will switch. I know I cant claim for the arthritis again but I can get his medication much cheaper from a prescription site so I'm not fussed.

Oh and I'd never be without insurance. Saving each month wont give you enough should your pet need emergency surgery or major surgery.

hethmar

Im in the same situation. Got the renewal today on one of my dogs - he has an ongoing skin condition and so I wont be able to get that cover with another insurer now. My policy had no excess its now £50 excess and apparently that is renewed every year - that is, your ongoing claims have to restart with £50 excess paid for the first treament/meds after the new year of cover.

Not sure what to do now - the policy is £201 a year. I have to say I had about £400 last year on claims as the blood tests alone came to over £300.

Re getting meds on line - you have to have a prescription from your vet dont you? He is going to charge for that and Im wondering if he will take umbrage if I go elsewhere to buy the meds/shampoo.

JoeyEmma

So, we have a cat and two kittens. None of them are insured. Last month the cat had a urine infection and it cost us £60 at the vet. Now we have noticed the symptoms of the infection are back!

Its made us think about insurance. We know that if we cover the cat, anything renal or urinary will never ever be covered as it would be considered a pre existing condition, however it has made us think about the kittens.

We've had a look at some policies, with lifetime cover. They all seem to have excesses of between £50 and £80, which means that the cost of treating the urine infections would not even be covered at all or would only have £10 paid.

I'm trying to work out if it is worth getting insurance or not.....

elsien

It's like any insurance - what if the next time they get ill it's for something a lot more expensive? You're basically paying for peace of mind, and only you can decide if you think it's worth it.

A lot of insurance policies (although it varies, so you need to check) cover you for a year, so if the condition comes back in the same insurance year, you only pay the excess the first time, and you can claim back everything after that, which is handy for recurring conditions. My excess is £105 per condition, but it's still been worth claiming as the dog never gets things only once.

She was getting urine infections 5 and 6 times a year, and it then cost £1000 to see a specialist, so it was worth it for me. If it never comes back, you're out of pocket - you pay the money and take your chances.

Sometimes pre-exisitng conditions come off the insurance after a few years, if there's been no recurrence in the meantime. That happened to the mutt for foot conditions and mange - they put the cover back after about 3 years with no problems. (She also had arthritis of the back legs excluded, but she got arthritis in the front legs first, so they had to pay up anyway.)
Some animals are just born unhealthy, and they always seem to be mine!

suki1964

There is another way around the insurance question, have a look around and get some quotes then instead of buying insurance set up a DD to another high interest account for the amount the "average" insurance would be a month - say £40 a month for the three cats. Now if you apply the logic of small claims not worth claiming for - ie smaller then the excess and pay for those as they come up, if and when you need to pay a huge bill you have it, if you never need to claim you have a nest egg saved

Keldin

M&S have done this to several people on this board, myself included.
My premiums were doubled and an excess introduced. This is their 'new and improved' standard policy terms.

I would say get some quotes and ditch them for someone else if paying for the arthritis isn't that much.

K

IvanOpinion

We used to be with M&s costing £14 per month for two dogs, at renewal time it went up to £24 per month .. even the chap in the call centre apologised. We changed to tescos (not quite as good a policy) but it now costs £13.50 per month for both dogs.

Glad we had it since one of our dogs has just had a very expensive holiday in the vets.

Ivan

pboae

hethmar wrote: »

Re getting meds on line - you have to have a prescription from your vet dont you? He is going to charge for that and Im wondering if he will take umbrage if I go elsewhere to buy the meds/shampoo.

At the moment they can't charge for the prescription, but that rule ends in Oct 2008 and will be renegotatied by RCVS then, so we don't know what will happen long term yet.