Pet Insurance guide discussion area

paul2louise

Has anyone used a company called Pet-Insurance before. I got a deal of lifetime cover for around £7 month for my cat and TCB were offering £40 cashback which I thought was a good deal. The payment options puzzled me tho. Pay by dd or credit card each month and u get 50p charge, but if you pay by cheque it was free. I tried to ring them but got no answer. Not sure if this is a bad sign. I think they are part of the equine and livestock insurance company. Thanks

paul2louise

paul2louise wrote: »

Has anyone used a company called Pet-Insurance before. I got a deal of lifetime cover for around £7 month for my cat and TCB were offering £40 cashback which I thought was a good deal. The payment options puzzled me tho. Pay by dd or credit card each month and u get 50p charge, but if you pay by cheque it was free. I tried to ring them but got no answer. Not sure if this is a bad sign. I think they are part of the equine and livestock insurance company. Thanks

Just got through on phone no probs and paid in full.

sheramber

paul2louise wrote: »

Has anyone used a company called Pet-Insurance before. I got a deal of lifetime cover for around £7 month for my cat and TCB were offering £40 cashback which I thought was a good deal. The payment options puzzled me tho. Pay by dd or credit card each month and u get 50p charge, but if you pay by cheque it was free. I tried to ring them but got no answer. Not sure if this is a bad sign. I think they are part of the equine and livestock insurance company. Thanks

Equine and Livestock are reknown finding reasons for not paying out.

Do a Google search for reviews.

Cheap can be for a reason that is not to your advantage

paul2louise

sheramber wrote: »

Equine and Livestock are reknown finding reasons for not paying out.

Do a Google search for reviews.

Cheap can be for a reason that is not to your advantage

thanks I will have a look. I always find insurance a bit of a gamble, travel and pet in particular as they seem to find loopholes for not paying. I have only claimed once for my cat and she is 10 so I haven't really got much active experience of insurers.

paul2louise

I have had 2 renewal notices for pet insurance, my current one with direct line and a previous one with more th>n. I thought it was odd that I had 2 renewals as I don't recall having double insuring my cat. The direct line one, is by monthly direct debit. That's all fine. The one from more th>n is automatic renewal from a credit card. My first thoughts were that I was cross and a bit of a numpty for paying twice for my cat. When I checked my credit card there are no transactions for more th>n or any insurance for this time last year. I rang more th>n and it appears I have a current policy for my cat and the payment was taken off a obsolete card no longer in my possession cancelled in dec 2013. I am totally puzzled by all of this.
I hate it when they automatically renew and especially off a credit card, but it seems strange that they haven't flaagged this up when the transaction bounced. My credit card have no records of any transaction.
I have asked for the policy with more th>n to be cancelled and I want it in writing.

Catowner

Hello,
We are looking at insurance for our cat.
All the companies seem to insist on you buying insurance before they will confirm exclusions. You then can cancel.

Is this a normal/legal practice ? Surely we should be able to get confirmations of the purchase before buying.
Some background:
Our cat is 12 and used to be overweight so we put her on a diet as per the vets instructions. Last week, we went to the vet as the cat For a check up and found out they were no longer independent but owned by a group.
The new vet said that, as she had lost 40% of body weight, she probably has an underlying cause, added about 10 possible conditions to her record and told us to get tests.
As our other cat was diagnosed with a severe tumour at the same time, we concentrated on her and said we would think about the tests later but would take her off the diet and see.
A week later and she is eating fine, putting on weight.

We are switching vets because we prefer an independent one, but have this list of possible conditions on the record. We have an appointment on Tuesday to get a second opinion.

We would like to get insurance but, if they exclude the conditions because the vet said she would test for them, then we might as well not take it. But when trying to get quotes, the insurance companies don't specify exclusions until you have paid so we can't know who to use unless we systematically pay and cancel each one.

Interested in any advice anyone has.

Thanks

umgroup

I hope this will be of help;
After taking my Labrador to see his vet I was faced with every pet owners worst nightmare. Being told that he needed urgent surgery, it would cost £3700, which had to be paid upfront before any treatment would start and the vet refusing any type of payment plan to help me was the beginning of the most worrying and stressful few weeks of my life.
Having no insurance to cover his treatment and struggling to get any help or advice from anywhere I came across CareFree Credit and within minutes of me contacting them I had received an email from the Head of Client Services, Debbie who not only went out of her way to help but also showed she genuinely cared.
I was provided with a list of veterinary practices within my area who accepted CareFree Credit and I was booked in to see a new vet the following day. Within a matter of days a payment plan was put in place, my Lab had a caring friendly helpful vet and an appointment made to carry out the surgery needed.
I cannot thank Debbie and CareFree enough for everything they have done and I would 100% recommend their services

dirtmother

I think finding a new insurer for a 12 year old cat is very likely to be a non-starter (which seems a little outdated now that more cats are living much longer than that... of course in some cases that is precisely because they've had veterinary treatment to save life or quality of life)

umgroup, that is an interesting strategy. What are the charges like?

banjobob59

I am toying with the idea of cancelling my pet insurance for my 2 year old French Bull dog and doing as a friend does and put what I would paid in monthly premiums into premium bonds. If and when I need some money for vets bills I will cash some of the bonds in. I pay £26 per month premium and have a £90 excess.
My last dog was a Boxer who was fully insured and she developed cancer at the age of 6 years old. I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that the vet prolonged my dogs suffering and kept her alive just because I had insurance. Sometimes it is better and more humane to let a pet go than to keep them alive for our sake.
I will always do my best for my dogs but perhaps my friends approach to funding vets bills is a better alternative.

dirtmother

As it happens, Agria insurance have an 'age amnesty' for the month of April in which they will take new, older pets on. Usual sorts of exclusions and probably costs a lot but worth knowing about.