Pet Insurance advice plse. Changing from Premier to Standard =£13 saving

melissa'smoney

Hi all,

I have M&S premier pet insurance.
I have a CKCS who has an ongoing condition of stomatits (gum disease) so therefore I cannot change insurers!
I've had the policy since 2008 and paid £26pm. Got my renewal today and it's gone up to £33pm!

Spoken to them this morning and there is no moving them on this price, however I can downgrade to Standard cover = £20pm.

The main difference would be:

• loosing holiday cover (don't need anyway)
• excess would increase from £70 to £90
• operations/scan cover would be limited to £1000 v £7000 on premier
• per condition would be limited to £1000 v £7000 on premier

(checking back on my records I have only ever claimed £400 since joining!)

Seems pretty simple decision to switch to the standard cover saving myself £13 per month, however I cannot then go back to premier if I change my mind so wanted opinions before I make this decision.
will have to stay with M&S for the rest of Holly's life otherwise her condition won't be covered as it's exsisting.

Any advice greatly appreciated xx

KxMx

You can save yourself £13 a month yes, but you're losing £12,000 of cover per condition. You'll have to decide if worst came to worst and you went over the new limits you could afford to meet the shortfall.

Waterfalls

£1000 would not get you very far at all! if u can, try and keep with the higher cover. in the long run it would be worth it

hethmar

Id try to stay with the premier cover. Your dog already has one ongoing condition, say he developed another? That breed is known for a number of inherited probs and I would think it wise to stick with the higher cover.

blue_monkey_2

The amount has gone up because you have an ongoing claim. If this ongoing condition is not costing you much to treat - enough to justify the extra £13 a month (12 x £13 - is this more than the claim?) - then why not just change insurers and have this as an exclusion.

My cat had diabetes and I have had way more money out of my insurance company for my cat's condition than I paid over the life of the policy did but my policy went up to over £30 a month just for a cat.

If you change consider Virgin Money - I pay £14 a month for my 2 dogs and 'for life' cover of £6000 per condition.

It is what happens when you have an ongoing condition unfortunately, also, once they get to over the age 8 of it is nigh on impossible to get insurance so the price goes up quite drastically then too because they know you'll not get insurance anywhere else. Especially if you have an ongoing claim. £1000 is not a lot of money for a lifelong condition so bear this in mind.

snowman2_2

£1000 is not a lot of money - it wouldn't cover many broken bones, diabetes, kidney disease. Personally, I would stick to the higher cover level, many people will get caught out by a £1000 limit

hethmar

blue monkey - I think Virgin just has a limited pot of £6k for the whole of the animals life, not a proper "for life" policy?

Yes, I just checked, they have two policies that only cover the animal for a max of 12 months and the policy you refer to which states:

"It covers your pet for any accident or illness until you reach the maximum amount we pay. Cover for each injury, illness and disease with no time limit, up to £6,000 for each condition. Cover is subject to the policy remaining in force"

I dont feel £6k for the whole lifetime of a pet is really sufficient particularly if they develop a chronic condition.