Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

pboae

M&S are at it again in a spectacular fashion. Renewals and new policies are now with Royal Sun Alliance not Axa (that's interesting, as the recent price hikes were blamed on Axa!). They have also snuck a few new clauses into the policies:

Excess is up to £70 per condition
For those of us who currently the no excess option, (which will dissappear at renewal) this is a huge hike.

They will no longer pay for prescription food (beyong diagnosis).

They will no longer pay for hydrotherapy for most illnesses.

They have a new out of hours helpline that you can ring for advise from a vet nurse. I have no problem with that in principal, in fact I think a help line is a great idea, except that they state you must contact them before using an out of hours service, or seeking treatment at another vet. So if your pet is suddenly taken seriously ill out of hours, you have to waste time telephoning them first to seek advise from a vet nurse, who is not qualified to decide if your pet requires emergency treatment or not. Further digging (see below) suggests that it could take 10 minutes or more to get to speak to someone on that helpline.

My dog is a breed that is brone to a bloat and torsion. If he started showing signs I would have maybe 20 minutes to get him to a vet for emergency treatment, otherwise he would likely die. That's why I chose a vet with 24 hour emergency cover. I wouldn't have time to be messing about phoning help lines first. As far as I am concerned the only person qualified to decide if my dog requires emergency treatment is my vet. I wonder how M&S will react to the first law suit that hits them when a delay caused by this clause causes the death or further injury of an animal?


There is a lot more information about this here from people who have spoken to M&S an RSA
http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=157421
and this info is cross posted with permission.

If you read through the thread you'll see that there are yet more huge price hikes going on as well.

Due to past claims with M&S I am tied in to them now. I am truly disgusted by their behaviour though. Several people (including myself) are going to complain to the FSA about this, especially about the out of hours clause. How much else are we supposed to take off M&S before someone investigates this?

UKTigerlily

Wow, I knew there was a huge increase, last year my cat had a £0 excess & it cost me £74.50 for the year, this year it'd have been a £50 excess or 15%, whichever is greater + £130 for the year. Despite her having arthritis, I left them. I'm shocked that they expect people to call a nurse staffed helpline first, I mean don't get me wrong, nurses do wonderful work, but they're not there to see the animal face to face & aren't the vet! I mean if your pet was in pain or badly ill there's no way you'd do anything except rush to a vet. Glad I didn't stay with them now!

Miroslav

If someone could kindly advise as looking through insurance companies online has been doing my head in! My first language is not English so some of the talk is going over my head, even though I am fluent enough!

I have 5 cats, 13 years old, 1 male 4 female.

I'd like to renew my pet insurance, but i'm getting confused at to what I should be looking for.

What is excess and should I look for this?

Should I go for lifetime cover?

My mind is racing as i've been paying insurance for years and I have no idea what I was covered for as it all totally confuses me!

One of my cats is currently under the weather and it's just made me think "What if she really gets ill?"

I don't care about getting money when they die......no money will mae up for the loss.

I just want a plan that will pay/help pay the vets fees when they become ill/pass on.

I have been very lucky in that my cats have never been seriously ill or injured (they are house cats)

Thanks to anyone who can help or point me in a good direction

Miroslav

If someone could kindly advise as looking through insurance companies online has been doing my head in! My first language is not English so some of the talk is going over my head, even though I am fluent enough!

I have 5 cats, 13 years old, 1 male 4 female.

I'd like to renew my pet insurance, but i'm getting confused at to what I should be looking for.

What is excess and should I look for this?

Should I go for lifetime cover?

My mind is racing as i've been paying insurance for years and I have no idea what I was covered for as it all totally confuses me!

One of my cats is currently under the weather and it's just made me think "What if she really gets ill?"

I don't care about getting money when they die......no money will mae up for the loss.

I just want a plan that will pay/help pay the vets fees when they become ill/pass on.

I have been very lucky in that my cats have never been seriously ill or injured (they are house cats)

Thanks to anyone who can help or point me in a good direction

ilovepsringers

I have just found out that as well as M & S increasing their excess from nil to £70 they have now introduced a new clause to their policy which you can see on their website.

Vetfone 0800 980 5583
Your vet may not be available or the practice is closed. Vetfone’s veterinary nurses will give you advice about your pet’s health and welfare. Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You must also call this number if your pet shows signs of illness or injury when your vet practice is shut before you use an out of hours service or another vet.

That last line basically means that you HAVE to call the unqualified nurses on the Vetphone number BEFORE calling an out of hours vet. Otherwise M&S won't pay out any claim.

Please phone M & S and complan about this ludicrous clause which could endanger the life of your pet. Also please write to your vet, the RCVS and
the FSA at
Unfair Contract Terms Unit
25 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5HS

Nomad25

Does this apply to existing policies? Or just new ones. I though they had to notify in writing of changes once a policy had been issued.

owtfornowt_2

First off - I'm a dog owner but the principle is the same. Hopefully I can answer some of your questions. Here goes....

If you are going to switch insurance companies (IC) - do it asap before any of the cats need any treatment, as most IC's will not cover pre-exsisting conditions.

Lifetime cover will ensure that no matter what treatment your cats need when they are older, they will recieve it. Some companies will not insure after a certain age as things start falling apart on aging things (as we all know!)

An excess is what you pay towards the cost of treatment. So if your cat needed an operation at £300 and your excess is £100 the IC will pay £200 towards it.

If your cat needs regular medication etc make sure that you only have to pay the excess once and not every time that you need the medication. ie my dog was allergic to certain things and I only paid my excess once no matter how many test/pills were required.

The higher the excess the lower the insurance premium. But obviously, you may save money in the short run but loose out if you need to claim a few times.

I have always gone with Petplan - more expensive than other IC's but will cover all ages etc & I have not had any problems with them (have had to claim in the event of death & they have been v.sympathtic)

Hope this giant ramble helps you with the joys of animal insurance!!

narabanekeater

Would anyone please be as kind as to have a look at my post on here yesterday regarding a online company that im intending to switch to?
I know little about cat insurance but cannot afford the over 100% increase with marks and sparks
This compnay was reccomended to em by a friend but to date she had never had to claim

Nomad25

Hello narabanekeater

I think it is very hard to answer your question easily and that is why you have had no replies.

The insurance policy you choose to buy is determined by so many factors and your personal circumstances [pedigree, where you live, males or females, whether there are neuteured/vaccinated, level of cover required, excesses, etc.]. The costs are so variable from provider to provider.

I suggest it may help to make a list of what cover you want and then get quotes from several different companies - then go for the one that gives you the best deal.

A lot of the insurance company websites do give useful information on what to look for and how to make a comparison. You need to spend some time just looking through them.

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. I hope you manage to find something suitable.

WeirdoMagnet

I just had a quick look who these people are, as I didn't recognise the name. They are administered and underwritten by Equine & Livestock Insurance (E&L), who have a notoriously poor reputation, and IMO you would be well advised to avoid them. They have cheap premiums, but in the event of a claim you will find that their limits are very low. A friend of mine had her horse insured with them, and when he went lame, she found out their limit was £1000, which does not pay for much! She had to consider having him euthanased, but happily found the money to pay for treatment.

Much better to go with a reputable company who you have heard of. Have you tried moneysupermarket.com?

I haven't looked at the policy because I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole but if anyone is interested, here is their policy wording.

HTH,

Georgie