Pet Insurance

geministar2008

Does anyone know of a well known, good pet insurance?

I have a domestic cat. I do not have much money, i am on benefits, so i am after something for a couple of quid a month really.

I dont know much about pet insurance. I dont want to get ripped off. If anything happened to my beloved cat, i want a simple claiming process.

Thanks in advance.

Astaroth

There are effectively 3 types of insurance for pet in terms of vet bills:

1) Pay for the policy year only
2) Pay up to the maximum of the policy for the life of the policy
3) Pay the policy amount each year for the life of the policy

So, if your cat was diagnosed with diabetes and had £1,000 of treatment a year and your policy had a limit of £4,000. If you have type 1 insurance you get a cheque for £1,000 in year 1 and thats it. With type 2 you get a cheque for £1,000 for 4 years and then thats it, with type 3 you get a cheque for £1,000 for the rest of your cats life.

Naturally to say type 1 insurance is the cheapest and type 3 is the most expensive. All 3 however would pay £4,000 if your car was run over.

A lot will depend if you want to insure simply against one off events like it being run over or if you also want longer term insurance in case the cat develops a long term condition.

dacouch

If your on benefits you may qualify for free vet fees via the PDSA http://www.pdsa.org.uk/

NeverInDebt

PDA is not exactly free you still have to pay something to be eligible think around £10 in postal cheques sent to them every 6 months

wrangler5

Even if you are short of money please do not try to get the cheapest insurance you can find, some of the big supermarkets do pet insurance with reasonable cover at an affordable price, even if you are on benefits. Whatever you do NEVER EVER EVER USE E&L.

Blondetotty

For info, my mum recently took out a policy (covers only illnesses for 1 year) with max 4k limit I believe, through Asda. It costs less about £4.50 a month for an ex breeding Bengal cat and she also got £20 cashback (paid today) through Quidco.

She was happy.

geri1965_2

RSPCA will also help people on benefits, and they are less stringent about eligibility that the PDSA. My cat Spook (now deceased) had to have her tail amputated, and we were able to go to the RSPCA as we were at the time on low income/in receipt of benefits. I gave them a donation of £15. I now have pet insurance, and a direct debit to the RSPCA to show my gratitude.

NeverInDebt

Some vets tell you to go to rspca and get a voucher for one-off treatment if you are on low income. The vocuher the entitled you to gfree treatment at that vets

Norfolk_Jim

Its definitely worth having something than nothing, unless you are of the type that can put a pet down without too much personal grief involved.
My wife obtained a new poochy a couple of months back. Money being tight, I kept putting off getting insurance and told myself that he could take his chances.
Then he broke his leg. So far I've spent 1300 fixing his leg because Mrs Jim cant bear to put him down - just look at his sweet little eyes, he luvs you - and I cant bear to distress Mrs Jim when it comes to matters she wont ever forgive me for.

jamesdrew

Pet insurance, you get what you pay for. Read the policy wording very carefully to see what is covered and what is not. Everytime I have looked, it always seems to me that there is more not covered, than covered!