Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

Dawnee_3

Hi I'm Dawn and this is my first post. I am looking for pet insurance that covers pre existing conditions. Any help or advice will be well receieved.
My dog Bella is a wonderfull 3.5 yr old German Shepherd who has nearly died twice seems to be on the mend but now has EPI and IBD so far I have spent over £1500 on VET and hospital bills due to not being insured so now I need some desperately.
Thanks

Dawn

Keldin

I doubt you'll find any insurance anywhere that will cover pre-existing conditions but I hope I'm wrong. If you find one please let us know as I'd be interested. The closest I found was M&S who didn't ask if our dog had any previous treatment just wanted the details of our vet. I'm hoping they never took note of any previous operations
K

Be_Happy

Being the owner of an elderly dog and 2 elderly cats I was shocked at the renewal notices being received from my existing pet insurances. I came across a company https://www.healthy-pets.co.uk who were able to quote excellent rates for these pets - basic vet bill insurance, no frills, just what I wanted. Have just registered last cat when her insurance renewal came this month from Sainsbury increasing from £5.80 to £10.66 a month - now costs £3.38 a month. Haven't had to claim yet, so don't know how efficient, but is underwritten by AXA, so should be OK.

jaxxy00

Ive just sat and read the whole 14 pages of this thread andi t makes interesting reading. I read a few pages a few weeks back when trying to decide on insurance and went for M&S.
I pay £7.46 per month for my Spaniel Cross and he has been insured for about 6 weeks now (didnt take insurance our before due to the high excesses but then found M&S with no excess) but the last 2 weeks we have been back and forth to the vets. He had a funny leg/back and yelped out sometimes. Vet gave him painkillers after a few days he had bloody poo took him back again and vet gave him pills for collitis. Still his leg was funny, not working right etc so gtook him back again and vet said to have him in for xrays. (Maybe from the start if Pepe would let the vet examine him we would have found the problem earlier but he doesnt let the vet near him). The bad news is he has severe hip dysplasia and the vet showed us on the xrays just how bad.
Now my point is the 3 visits were:
1. almost £40
2. almost £8
3. nearly £300

Would i have been better to pay the first 2 myself and just to claim for the biggy? I have put in claims for the 1st and 2nd and awaiting another claim form for the 3rd. The vet has been claiming direct so i dont have to pay first. What i would like to know is because Pepe is now on Synoquin which will be long term and work out abpout £15 per month, also the vet reccomend hydrotherapy sessions which are £12.50 a time. So if he has one of these a week and the tablets long term thats £65 a month. When the renewal comes in will it be at least that amount per month or more and if so how much? I know this is probably a question that cant be answered and when i rang M&S today i asked if she could give me any idea at all on what the renewal would be due to the claims i had made but she said that renewals are worked out by the computer. She did say that it would probably be to my benefit if i were to pay the smaller amounts if i wanted.
So my questions are has anyone been paying x amount for insurance and then had lifelong thing diagnosed which costs x amount per month and if so how did it affect the renewal costs?
I did ask M&S today if the complentary therapy cover would cover the hydrotherapy sessions and she said yes. Who decides how many though and how often?
Sorry this is a bit long but im a bit concerned as to the long term cover he will have and benefits that may or may not be taken away on renewal.

bootman

:rolleyes: There is a discussion about the cost of taking your pet to the vets on another board.

I did a search and could not find anthing listed for pet insurance.

So who is the cheapest provider to go with for a cat please?

MoJo

There's an article on the Main Site:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1130761827,56015,

Annando

Beware of one thing...
Cheapest may not always be so!!!
Some companies will only cover your pet for one illness for 1 year, if its an ongoing illness after 12 months they will withdraw the cover!!
I know Petplan are quite expensive but they are recommended by vets because they cover the pet for as long as he is alive and ill. Other companies might also do that but check the cover and exclusions etc...

You wouldn't believe how expensive it can be to treat a diabetic dog with the wrong type of cover!!!

bootman

Thank you MoJo.

I was checking the forum!

dogpoo

Could you recommend the best insurer for ponies?

bootman

Are routine vaccinations covered under these plans say the M+S one?