Pet Insurance Cost Cutting System/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

Bromley86

A false economy, economiser . At least in our case.

We pay £12/month for our puppy. She has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia = a life of much higher than average vet costs plus possible operations. We're doing hydrotherapy ATM @£360/month (expecting about 2.5 months of that). I'd hate to be in a position where we had to make a hard choice about whether we could afford her.

skysky69

I have to agree, our rescue dogs pet insurance was only £14.00 per month, after paying this for one year, she was diagnosed with severe bladder stones, had to have a major operation, cost so far £750.00 and now has to have a special food which the insurance subsidise with £250.00 per year. Definitely a life saver for us, we could not have afforded to find this money, it would have been a credit card jobby

LittleJowah

Hi all
One of the main differences between horse and pet insurance is that with horse insurance once you have claimed for something, they will exclude you from claiming again for that or related claims. So for instance, my horse sticks his foot down a rabbit hole and pulls a ligament. Some companies then put an exclusion on the policy ' excluding all conditions and injuries relating to tendons and ligaments in both front legs' seem fair?, not to me.

If the horse then recovers from that and is never bothered by it again you can apply to get this exclusion removed. I cant speak for all insurance companies but you generally wont find this info on any of the bumpf that you get sent with your policy. Same goes for Colic, which is probably what we all have claimed for at some point or other. So my Money saving tip is to apply for removal of your exclusions every 6-12 months , ok it might take a vet to visit to verify that your horse has suffered no ill effects from that injury/illness since, but if you tie it in with your vets routine visits then it should be no major inconvenience. Clearly some injuries or diseases (like major bone injury or degenerative joint disease) ,will not be able to be removed from your policy. . Really really hope this helps save someone paying out for something that their insurance should cover. Good Luck and please let me know how you get on

Jowah:beer:

hethmar

Im in a difficult position. The M and S policy was brilliant when I took it out nearly 3 years back. Id just taken on a Parson Russell Terrier whose mother had chewed off his back paw and part of another paw (poor little devil) and I declared that to M and S and whilst they exclude his back legs from cover all else was fine. No excess - great, first time Id been to a vet, got medication for under £50 and could claim back. Dog developed skin prob and eye prob and we had tests costing £400 plus medications - so in the second year we were paid out about £700 on a £200 policy.

Then came the crunch, policy cost shot up and the no excess was taken away. We are stuck. We have a dog who in fact now doesnt need the medication for his skin, we seem to have sorted it with Royal Canin skin support food and Kronch oil BUT say it did get worse again - no new insurer would cover him.

Meanwhile got a little rescue Border Terrier as a companion to the Parson Russell and have insured him also with M and S. So far we have no claimed on him in 7 months and we still have the no excess on his policy until we renew in 5 months time. So should I jump ship now, just in case?

Ive looked at some of the other policies - but insurers like More Than though they have a lower premium they are looking at £70 plus 20% of each claim - hence you will probably rarely be able to claim any cost back.

Id already looked at many policies and found people like Sainsburys - though they say its for life, in fact the benefits are per condition - so a long term illness would in fact not be paid out for if it exceeds the benefits in any one year.

Oh dear, decisions, decisions.


PS Georgina - I would say that its likely your dog is possibly a ParsonxFox Terrier but if you have already registered him as a Parson then you are probably best leaving him as that. Not all Parsons have the very boxy faces - Ive had Parsons for about 20 years now and their face shape can vary - of course if you arent showing, that doesnt matter. Just enjoy him for what he is

BoilerBoy

Now our two kittens have been neutered/speyed and recovered well, it's probably time for me to think about insuring them.

Has anyone done this recently and who do they currently recommend? I did do a search on here recently, but I found that the insurers' rates fluctuate considerably over time. For instance M&S appeared a good bet a while ago, but not so much now I gather.

I heard that Halifax were doing a great deal at under £4 per cat, however when I put in my cats' detail it was more than this. Gits (Halifax, not the cats:D ).

Any suggestions welcome! Cheers....

Joannef_2

I just insured my kittens a couple of weeks ago and went with Healthy Pets.

Dani85

I have my two girl kittens insured with Argos. £2.99 for one cat and a discounted one at £2.79 which I thinks excellent

heavenly_2

Hi
Has anyone dealt or heard anything about a company called - Animal Friends??

pboae

You'll find plenty about them here, they are underwritten by E&L. I'm not a fan. You can google reviews of E&L to see why.

jackomdj

We had Chester, our Harrier dog for 6 years before we got him insured. 3 months later he had a stroke & has been on daily tablets ever since. He is now 11 and is on stroke tablets, arthritus tablets, has had 2 operations for lumps and is currently on a course of antibiotics for another lump that may have to get removed....all in all I am very glad we insured him & even happier it was with pet plan who will cover the same condition year after year.

Just read this & it reads as if he is on his last legs with all those tablets rattling around inside him - he is not he is a very happy, old, boy.

Nicky