pet insurance from a firm that won't go under...

ali-t

In these credit crunch times when lots of well known names are going under I am looking for dog insurance from a reliable source.

I am getting a large breed pup tomorrow and can't believe the difference in price for insurance compared with my current medium sized breed. I currently have my staffy insured with M&S and pay approx £13 per month which is fine but for a rottweiler I will be anything between £22 and £35 per month. I know that as a breed they are fairly prone to illness and have shorter life spans than staffies but the difference in insurance costs is massive.

Anyway, due to the higher incidence of illness I am looking for an insurar who is likely to be very sustainable as it is not very money saving to pay insurance for a dog that has many exclusions to to pre-existing conditions if I have to change insurers regularly.

So MSE'ers any tips for cheap and sustainable?

lowis

not cheap - but that is because they are the best - Petplan.

Axa are (hopefully) pretty solid too.

veyrongirl

lowis wrote: »

not cheap - but that is because they are the best - Petplan.

Axa are (hopefully) pretty solid too.

Have to agree - Petplan all the way.

In the 4.5, tragically short, years of our dog's life we claimed much more than we ever paid in (even allowing for the annual excess charge). Only once had a problem, and that was only because the nurse at our veterinary surgery put together the paperwork for the claim and included things we had already claimed for. We had to have an MRI scan done and Petplan agreed to the cost in advance and dealt directly with the specialist, so we did not have to find the almost £1200:eek: ourselves.

HTH

pink_princess

sainsburys trading up 4% won t go bust .

MrsTinks

I go through the RSPCA (which is basically AXA) and I'd say not only are they fairly good at coughing up they should be pretty stable too Cats are with Direct Line... again same kinda kettle of fish

Xaviera

E and L look good and lots of different priceplans :T

I'm changing mine but there's so many variables isn't there?

foreign_correspondent

Xaviera wrote: »

E and L look good and lots of different priceplans :T

sadly they dont have the best reputaton for paying up though. (actually I think I am being generous there - they do seem to have a dreadful reputation)

snowman2_2

Xaviera wrote: »

E and L look good and lots of different priceplans :T

I'm changing mine but there's so many variables isn't there?

If you have an E&L policy at many vets you will have to pay upfront as vets don't accept direct payments from them. We certainly don't as it takes months and months to get our money. They may be cheap but customer service doesn't seem to be a priority.

As to safe companies - after AIG got into trouble, no-one is safe but AXA (many rebranded products), RSA (More Than), Allianz (Pet Plan & DBI) are big and should be safer than most but who knows in these times (Woolies, Zavvi & MFI to name 3)

Xaviera

Wow really? Thankyou for telling me! :beer: *strikes off list*

I want a company that'll pay direct that can insure my dog for the rest of it's life, carrying over any illness from year to year. I don't mind paying a bit extra for this because I want them to insure on a per condition per year basis.

Is Petplan still the best to go for? Their max amounts didn't seem that large before that's all....

sorry for the thread hijack!!

UKTigerlily

Hiya, for Petplans top policy they pay out £12,000 for life cover but for my own dog (Stafford x) it's £30 a month roughly, but I pay yearly & it's more than worth it they really are the best IMO. AFAIK Direct Line & RSPCA only have a set amount per condition, once that amount is reached that's it. So say it's £4,000 per condition (Not sure with RSPCA but DL is £6k) then if you have 6 different conditions it's good in that you get £4k for each, but once it's reached that's it & it can be reached!

Pet Plan have two for life policies, one is £12k & I think the other £4k. Axa too is good & for my cat the best/cheapest also. Whether it's paid direct or not depends on the Vets, most insurance companies are happy to pay direct but most Vets sadly won't. I had to leave the practice i'd gone to for over 20 years as they won't take direct & without that there's no point for me in being insured, if I could pay up front for a large bill I would & wouldn't want it back!

I think good names are Axa, M&S & Pet Plan & Direct Line, RSPCA etc. Some will do a fixed excess & a % of the total cost when the pet gets older though. I have the Cat with Axa & the Dog is still on 6 weeks free Pet Plan Charity Insurance but once it expires (15th Jan) i'll be renewing that for the year up front on the £12,000 for life cover.

foreign_correspondent

Ive got Halifax, they seem ok, but I dont think there are any guarantees that any company wont go bust at the mo!