Pet Insurance guide discussion area

hethmar

Doonhamergeordie wrote: »

Just been digging around for a good pet insurance policy and found the one from LV to be really good value.
Low premium, fantastic cover, low excess (compared to some).

Problem with their policies is that both have a limit of £5k. The cheaper essential one has a time limit of 12 months too. The premier one means you can claim up to £5k in total.

This wouldnt be a lot of good if your dog gets a lifetime illness Im afraid.

TomsMom

katies_mum wrote: »

I`m still pondering on the John Lewis policy...The argos one we had has just been underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance and the premium has increased substantially. Even though John Lewis policy is underwirtten its still in their name and I`m thinking that they wouldn`t piddle you about if you unfortunately had to make a claim.
Pet Plan are far too expensive (would love one of their policies as used to have one for our previous Old English).
AXA is slightly more expensive but not sure if it would be better.

Can anyone who has a JL policy make any comments or suggestions as to how it is and if they have had to make any claims...

I`ve read a recent posting about AXA, but I also know that they underwrite their own policies so not sure if this is better.

Any info, suggestions, advice anyone can offer would be really helpful.

Many thanks

I have a John Lewis policy for my 2 year old Bichon, underwritten by RSA, which I took out in July this year. It is a lifetime cover policy, was half the price of PetPlan and I took out their Premier cover (£12,000 cover for vet's fees each year) and I chose their lowest excess (£60) and pay £12.54 per month.

If you take the policy out online (you should be able to get a 10% discount if you google for code) you wont get any paperwork through the post, everything is done online so you can go to your account and print out anything that you want to keep to hand for quick reference.

I had to make a claim in October as Poppy developed a lump on her neck. First visit to the vet was for antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, then as there was no improvement a fine needle aspiration was done which proved inconclusive so then I opted for removal of the lump and a biopsy.

Because I'd never had a dog insured before, nor did I know the procedure about claiming, I rang them to ask how to go about it and whether they needed to be informed at the beginning of investigations or just leave it until all treatment was finished. Very helpful advisor said it was my choice, I could start a claim off there and then or I could wait until the end. He emailed me the forms.

I chose to wait until all treatment was finished. My vet requires payment at each visit so I paid by credit card, got detailed invoices, then at the penultimate visit I left the claim form with the vet. On my last visit the vet returned the claim form to me so I could fill out the bit I needed to and post it.

JL advise to keep a copy of everything you send them so I copied the medical history the vet had included, plus the claim forms, and sent them all off on a Friday afternoon. The following Friday I received a cheque in the post paying in full minus the £60 excess.

All very straightforward, very quick, and good, polite experience on the phone and email with JL.

I'm expecting an increase in premium in the second year as I know I had a first year discount, I don't know whether the claim will make any difference to future premiums. I also realise that I can no longer shop around and will have to stick with JL if I want any future lumps to be covered, as they may be treated as a pre-existing condition by any new company.

Also, once your dog reaches 9 years of age you pay either the excess chosen or 20% of treatment costs, whichever is the greater.

katies_mum

Many thanks TomsMum, I`m just going to have another quick hunt round to see what else is on offer, but have a feeling I`ll be applying to JL later this afternoon.

babss

Hi we have a 6 month old miniature schnauzer and she is full pedigree, we haven't decided whether we will breed from her. I've been looking through insurances for her but I really don't know what i'm looking for so would really appreciate any recommendations. I live in Northern Ireland and the vets are very expensive.
Thanks

TomsMom

babss wrote: »

Hi we have a 6 month old miniature schnauzer and she is full pedigree, we haven't decided whether we will breed from her. I've been looking through insurances for her but I really don't know what i'm looking for so would really appreciate any recommendations. I live in Northern Ireland and the vets are very expensive.
Thanks

Take a look at this report which should help you understand. I think the author may be a member on here, I know he is on another pet forum I visit.

HSS_2

Since 1993 I was owned by 5 cats(!) I couldn't insure them all at once so I insured them gradually, starting with the male, as he was the most adventurous.
This meant I went to a few different insurance companies.

BE AWARE of taking out cheaper policies. In my near 20 years' experience the premiums on these jump up the fastest, their excess levels get ridiculous as your pet ages too.

ANOTHER THING TO CONSIDER is that these smaller, less well heard of pet insurers don't stay around long- the name might be, but they change underwriters frequently, and the t & c's change, too, when this happens. Something covered when you took it out could be dropped suddenly.

I had a cat insured with JLT for a few years. They changed underwriters three times. The last time they changed in August of one year. I thought my policy ran from May to May. But when they changed over they presented me with a new policy and raised the premium. It was then I was told that it was a monthly insurance policy, not yearly. I argued but lost. I had to pay the extra or leave. I had to leave, couldn't afford to stay. They were asking over £30 a month. And because of pre-existing conditions, I couldn't re-insure.

I had one cat with MORE THAN. Even though this started off cheaply, around £5 for a 5 yr old cat, it ended up very expensive. At age 15 they wanted nearly £30 a month. The excess was £190 PLUS 30% of the remainder. We worked out that we'd need to spend over a thousand on one treatment in a year to fall even. So we cancelled.

The BEST one I had was PET PLAN. My last cat was insured with them- he passed away last year, age 19 1/2. Despite his age and despite being FIV+ his last premiums were £23 a month. The excess had grown enormous though. My final claim was for over £1300 on 4 conditions. They paid me £84. EIGHTY FOUR.

I have been fighting them since last September, arguing that they were wrong to exclude 'home visits' from their cover as they became essential; he couldn't travel due to seizures. Their customer service was fine all the time I paid premiums. Now he has passed away, they don't want to know, even though the home visits are covered in the policy.

BOTTOM LINE- if I could go back, I wouldn't bother. I'd put away some money each month.

Be aware- some policies will cover your pet for a condition for one year only, and as the next year is regarded as a new policy, suddenly exclude it. ALWAYS CHECK THE T&Cs EVERY YEAR.

Dollardog

HSS wrote: »

The BEST one I had was PET PLAN. My last cat was insured with them- he passed away last year, age 19 1/2. Despite his age and despite being FIV+ his last premiums were £23 a month. The excess had grown enormous though. My final claim was for over £1300 on 4 conditions. They paid me £84. EIGHTY FOUR.

I have been fighting them since last September, arguing that they were wrong to exclude 'home visits' from their cover as they became essential; he couldn't travel due to seizures. Their customer service was fine all the time I paid premiums. Now he has passed away, they don't want to know, even though the home visits are covered in the policy.

That is awful, I was under the impression that Pet Plan were one of the best to insure with.

scarletsboy

Hi,
I have received a county court form from a vets and was just asking if anyone has any advice or help. I fully intend to defend myself in the matter, however as always it,s best to see if it,s worth it

My story is about my dog, Bobby, who was bought in Jan 2009. He became ill with minor ailments(sickness and diarrhoea) and was treated by my local vets three times for this. Simple stuff, with no insurance claim as it was under the excess of £80. His insurance was with Direct Line, as an essentials policy with £4,000 vets fees per annum as cover

In Sept 2010, Bobby became very ill and after taking him to my vet, they stated he would have to be hospitalised. He was taken to an animal hospital and believing i had valid insurance, he stayed there for 5 days, before coming home fit and well. Total cost £2500
I had applied for a claim form from Direct Line and the vet hospital stated that they would claim on my behalf if i paid the excess, which i did
The vet wrote a letter and his last paragraph stated that he was concerned he had not been able to find the cause of the illness and that Bobby would very probably need further medical treatment in the future
Apporx 1 month later i received a phone call from Direct Line who stated that they were ready to settle the claim, all they needed were the medical records from the vets. I rang to explain and they said they had them from Sept and they would fax them off
I heard nothing more

In March 2011, Bobby became ill once more and was treated by my vet, not the hospital. I informed them that £2500 was spent on his policy and the bill for this visit was £1600. It had been taken to the limit

This is when the trouble started, as the vets from his hospital visit in Sept 2010 had not submitted their claim form. Once they did having been contacted by my vet , the 2 forms were looked at and Direct line refused to pay, as they said it was an illness of unknow origin and as he had 3 visits prior to his hospitalisation this meant that it was classed as an ongoing illness, not covered from his renewal in 2010. Only his 2009/10 policy covered him

I had to repay £4000 of vets bills after an unsuccesfull appeal with direct line and i paid the second bill in full (£1600)
The first bill i have reduced to £1600 and stated that i would not have incurred the 2nd bill had i known that Bobby was not insured. Therefore i do not intend to pay that amount

The matter is now going to County court as i have received paperwork from them last week. I have filled it in and acknowleged service and filed a defence

My argument is as above and also that the vets accepted responsibility to claim £2500 on my behalf. They failed to do so. The reason for the claim being dismissed occurred prior to Sept 2010 so therefore if a claim had been submitted in a timely manner i would have been aware.
I do not believe that to wait 6-7 months for a claim of £2500 is timely
There is also the issue that the vet stated that Bobby would need further medical treatment.
Bobby was put to sleep in Oct 2012 having suffered another bout of this unknown illness from which this time he did not recover. His treatment, including the euthanasia procedure was paid in full by myself

In order to defend myself, i have some but not all of the documentation, however Direct line have been asked to provide the details under the foia
I can clearly show the above to be correct with the respective documentation

So my questions here are :
1) Am i doing the right thing ? I feel i am
2) Anyone with any similair experience ?
3) Any issues that i need to be aware of ? - i am aware of the cc judgement matter and being very credit worthy the problems this may cause

If anyone can offer any help, i would love to hear from you. This is going to be a fight but i feel it,s worth it and i am ready for it

fordcortina

Hi... just got my renewal through for my Doberman, who is 6 years old. Was with Petplan for the first year (possibly two) and been with AXA ever since.
Anyway, the renewal premium crept up for the first four years (as you expect), from around £17 to around £25 per month, but the last two years have seen much larger increases than I expected. It went to approximately £33 last year... and this year's renewal is £44 per month. Don't want to "scrimp", but equally, I need to save money right now.
I've printed off comparison site info to check... and am aware of the limitations of cover with cheaper policies, but can anyone shed any light on the reliability of the cheaper companies, such as Animal Friends, covermypet, purelypets etc?
I'll also check the other 'big names' later, but as my belief is that AXA are usually fairly competitive amongst the said big names, I'm guessing that I may have to downgrade, so to speak. Whilst as I say in the 'header'... I know it's my call... any tips or pointers on either saving cash, or places to get a quote from, or simply on the quality of the "smaller" companies mentioned above... would be most welcome!
Many thanks for any help offered!

dirtmother

I've been reading this thread because I think I may be about to change insurers given the renewal premium for the cover offered. At any rate I shall phone and haggle as for some reason they are showing my dog as unspayed which is incorrect and I reckon that she is less of a risk accordingly.

I do feel rather resentful about the steep cost of insurance when the differentiation is so limited. If you are buying a 'pedigree' dog, you pay the same insurance premium whether you bought from a puppy mill or you did your homework and went to a breeder who had done all the appropriate (often expensive) tests for that breed before a mating.

Watch out for the exclusion period with a new policy! You'll need to start it earlier than the renewal to maintain coverage throughout.