M&S Pet insurance doubled for renewal !! Please help

Angiepange

Hi

We have been with M&S pet insurance for 3 years now and have just received our renewal. I was completely shocked to see they have almost doubled the monthly premium from £21.99 (originally it started at £15.99) to £39.68 per month :eek:. Our dog has hip dysplasia and we have had to claim for metacam over the last 2 years to help treat it.

What I was wondering is are there any insurers out there who insure dogs with a pre-existing condition and pay out for it?? I really want to change insurers but think im probably stuck where I am. I have asked them for a qoute to downgrade from their premier cover to their standard cover but am waiting to hear back. The difference is their standard cover pays out £1000 per condition per year whereas their premier pays out £7000. Im worried that in the future our dog may need more expensive treatment for Hip Dysplasia (poss even a hip replacement) and then we wouldnt be covered fully.

I am really shocked that they have jumped the premium up so much but I feel i have got no alternative than to try and pay it ?? If anyone has any advice I would be extremely grateful, thank you.

Angie x

walwin

Angiepange wrote: »

Hi

We have been with M&S pet insurance for 3 years now and have just received our renewal. I was completely shocked to see they have almost doubled the monthly premium from £21.99 (originally it started at £15.99) to £39.68 per month :eek:. Our dog has hip dysplasia and we have had to claim for metacam over the last 2 years to help treat it.

What I was wondering is are there any insurers out there who insure dogs with a pre-existing condition and pay out for it?? I really want to change insurers but think im probably stuck where I am. I have asked them for a qoute to downgrade from their premier cover to their standard cover but am waiting to hear back. The difference is their standard cover pays out £1000 per condition per year whereas their premier pays out £7000. Im worried that in the future our dog may need more expensive treatment for Hip Dysplasia (poss even a hip replacement) and then we wouldnt be covered fully.

I am really shocked that they have jumped the premium up so much but I feel i have got no alternative than to try and pay it ?? If anyone has any advice I would be extremely grateful, thank you.

Angie x

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but no insurance company will pay out on a pre-existing condition.

That's a hell of a leap in premiums but I'd think very carefully before you downgrade your cover. £1000 can be used up very quickly, even on a condition that isn't really 'major'.

mnw

I've held pet insurance policies with M&S for a number of years and the monthly premuim increases annually without fail. It is expensive but if my reading of the current policy is correct, it's worthwhile. I've spent days reading the full policy documents from over 30 different companies and M&S were the best for us.

That said, I don't know of any insurers which would provide cover for a pre-existing condition. Be careful if you're downgrading as they may consder it to be a new policy and therefore stop covering any existing conditions. Think ahead and have them confirm any potential issues in writing, in advance of any alteration to your policy. Send an email/letter confirming your understanding if needs be.

As a slight aside, the Blue Cross do provide 'free' veterinary attention if you meet certain criteria for low financial status. I would never choose to go to the Blue Cross for veterinary attention if it could be avoided, but they are an excellent option to bear in mind if a crisis unexpectedly presents itself.
bluecross.org.uk/web/site/AboutUs/Veterinary/VetIntroduction.asp

gettingready

I have M&S for both dog and cat.. and despite increases (big ones too), I am ging to stick with it as still can not find anything better...

wibblewibble

I would reconsider changing from premium to standard with M&S £1,000 of cover won't be anything near as much as you'll need if your dog needs surgery for the hip dysplasia.

As has been said M&S premiums do go up every year and as your dog gets older that too will factor into the premiums our 8 yr old dog is now £49 per month , however having already spent last years full 7k and am almost 1k into this years for my own dogs broken leg I consider the cost to be extremly good value compared to many other policies out there.

hethmar

Im afraid you are stuck, as I am with M and S. I still think its shocking that they could change the original policy which we all bought in such a drastic way. But once you have claimed, or even just visited a vet then everything involved or possibly involved with the condition will be excluded.

As you have an ongoing and expensive condition, then it may be worth biting the bullet and sticking with them.

I do wish the Veterinary society would get together and produce their own reasonable and decent policy which you paid into.

Angiepange

Thanks to everyone for the replies and advice.

I guess we are 'stuck' with M&S and will continue with the renewal as the last thing we would want is our dog needing further expensive surgery and being unable to pay for it.

I think we will have a word with our vet about potential future costs if the hip dysplasia was to worsen to get an idea of what to expect. He seems fine on the metacam but we do notice limping and hobbling if he over does the exercise. He is a rescue dog, 7 yrs old (we have had him 5 years), a crossbreed staffie/lab and the hip dysplasia is in both hips but worse in the left.

I just feel cross that they can increase the premiums so drastically, esp when our claims have still not totalled what we pay for the policy and excess in a year.

Thanks again everyone.

Angie x

hethmar

Thing is angie, they will also go up a lot again when he hits 9 - my sister's has just doubled. She has never made a claim at all. Now she is putting £40 a month into a savings account and hopes that will cover any eventualities.

pboae

I used to be a big fan of M&S insurance, but they changed underwriters a few years ago, changed our policies and generally screwed everyone over.

For the first 2 years (with the old underwriter) my insurance was less than £250 a year, it went up a tiny bit the second year.

Since then they have almost doubled it each year, this year would have been his 5th insurance policy and they wanted nearly £1,200 for the year. We cancelled the policy, and will just pay for what he needs. As it is, he's not doing too well these days anyway, so he probably wouldn't need a full year's insurance :'-( but if he were a younger dog, we'd be stuck as he is now uninsurable with anyone else, but they have you over a barrel.

If it is any help to you, he has hip dysplasia as well, and arthritis. We were looking at over £3,000 per hip, for an op. But he wasn't suitable in the end anyway. His regular meds come to well over £1,000 a year, so the basic policy wouldn't be worth it. But he is in the last stages of it now, so obviously he is on max doses of everything. As a very rough rule of thumb, costs are roughly proportionate to size, and my dog weighs 90kg, so you can get an idea of what the costs could be eventually for your dog.

What really annoys me is that M&S still say that they don't put premiums up because of past claims, and that is patently untrue. If they are going to do it, they should at least be honest about it. :mad:

Fire_Fox

Has anyone written to M&S and asked why their premiums have doubled?

pboae

I phoned and asked them last year and this year and got the same answer. It's nothing to do with them. Their underwriters calculate the risks across averages of large numbers of animals, and they have no control over it. Which is untrue, they chose to change underwriters, and they can negotiate terms with them, to the advantage of their customers, they have chosen not to do that. Also, there is a huge body of anecdotal evidence from dog forums that some people's premiums are going up disproportinately. Mainly people with expensive on going conditions, specific breeds, male dogs of a certain age and breed, etc. In other words customers that the insurers don't want on their books anymore, they only want the ones they don't have to pay out for. So now they fall into that large category of insurers that are good value, unless you need to claim.