Pet Plan vs other insurers?

oppro

Always been with Pet Plan but now have to take over my cat's insurance (ex was paying it now decided it's "uneccessary :mad: - he also cocked up on previous payments so she lost her lifetime cover & the great previous deal I had.)

Anyway, she's 15, perfectly healthy at the moment but she's getting old & I don't want to be in the position of having to decide if I can continue to pay for any old age illnesses etc. I would want to go for a good policy that will cover everything, but money is tight so a saving would be good. Been on the comparison websites & there are hundreds of cheaper quotes.

Pet Plan are currently charging me £19 a month.

Any experience of them versus other pet insurers? I'm feeling drawn to animal friends at the moment but that could just be the pink & fluffy friendliness of their first impressions.

Hillbilly1

I have just insured our new 15 yr old cat. PP offer £3k per condiiton limited to 12 months. Abo £20 amonth

More Than do £7k per condition fr the life of the pet for £27 a month! Thye are also as nice to deal with as PP!

I deal with pet insurance for work and would avoid AFI like the plague. . .

Croatoan

The problem with insurance companies is that there's hardly a one you can't find that someone hasn't had problems with.
The recent news of Halifax pulling out of pet insurance and leaving owners in the lurch has altered my view about insurance. Petplan do tend to be more expensive, but vets seem to trust them and I think (though of course can't be sure) they'll not be leaving me high and dry in the future, and have read enough good reviews about them to make me decide I'll be using them from now on for new pets.
I've so far only claimed twice on insurance, from Sainsbury's, and was very pleased with the way they dealt with the claims.

oppro

Hillbilly1 wrote: »

I deal with pet insurance for work and would avoid AFI like the plague. . .

Ah. Why's that? Red tape? Slow payers? Lots of quibbling?

Must say PP have always been great - never argued anything, paid quickly etc. Just trying to save pennies (though in this case would rather pay for a good policy, my kitty is worth it!) but thought I'd have a look around & not just assume in case.

Money_maker

Aren't More Than the ones who want to charge 10% of total treatment cost on top of treatment?

Just checked. Cat over 9 years they want £50 AND 20% of rest of the cost :eek::eek::eek:

oppro

Money_maker wrote: »

Aren't More Than the ones who want to charge 10% of total treatment cost on top of treatment?

Just checked. Cat over 9 years they want £50 AND 20% of rest of the cost :eek::eek::eek:

Do you mean the excess? PP charge me £65 excess and I have to cover the first 20% of the total bill, AFI want £69 excess & 35%... it's p!ssed me offbecause what's the point in having insurance with an agreed excess if you then have to fund such a big percentage of the bill on top of that??

My cat was shot about 8 years ago & the bill was silly money, about £4K. At 35% that would have been £1400!! I thought the point of insurance was to PREVENT getting bills you can't afford like that otherwise what's the point?? It's a kidney sell either way, might as well be £10k. :mad:

tankgirl1

Hillbilly1 wrote: »

I deal with pet insurance for work and would avoid AFI like the plague. . .

Ditto!!!!!!!!!!!

sean.m-f

just cancelled my policy with pet plan, been with them for 8 years, never made a claim, but this years premium increased by over £30 (over 17.8%)
telephoned and requested a discount / loyalty reduction, initially refused any discount as i was once given a reduction of £11.32 on my yearly policy from 2years ago,and due to my cat being 8years old there would be no further discounts offered or given, when i pointed out he was a house cat and that there were no other animals in the household etc. i was eventually offered a paltry 80p(approx) off per month !!
my advice regarding pet insurance - DONT BOTHER, but if you feel you must, then simply shop around for the cheapest policy you can find, otherwise just set some money aside each month, set up a DD payment into a savings account, how i wish i had done this.

Croatoan

sean.m-f wrote: »

just cancelled my policy with pet plan, been with them for 8 years, never made a claim, but this years premium increased by over £30 (over 17.8%)
telephoned and requested a discount / loyalty reduction, initially refused any discount as i was once given a reduction of £11.32 on my yearly policy from 2years ago,and due to my cat being 8years old there would be no further discounts offered or given, when i pointed out he was a house cat and that there were no other animals in the household etc. i was eventually offered a paltry 80p(approx) off per month !!
my advice regarding pet insurance - DONT BOTHER, but if you feel you must, then simply shop around for the cheapest policy you can find, otherwise just set some money aside each month, set up a DD payment into a savings account, how i wish i had done this.

£30 a year increase or £30 a month? I'd say £30 a year is reasonable.
Putting money aside is fine if something happens to your cat when it's old as you've built up a fair amount, but realistically how much will you have to put aside a month to cover treatment if something serious happens in the first couple of years?
Although my puppy is going to cost me £50 a month in insurance (and no doubt more year on year) it's something I just have to do. Putting £50 or even a £100 a month aside will not be enough to pay for anything major for a long time.
My view is the only time you can seriously afford not to have insurance is if you're strong enough to have your pet put to sleep at any age if the amount you've put aside nowhere near covers the cost of treatment, or you're in a position to pay for it on a credit card or are wealthy enough to pay it from savings. I'll be covered for £7k, I couldn't save that amount in a year, neither could I charge up a credit card to that amount.

gettingready

All my lot (4 cats and a dog) and my daughter's 2 cats are insured with Argos Platinum.


Zara's (dog) premium went up from 30 to 42 per month at reneval... but as she has a preexisitng condition (hips displasia and arthritis - back egs), can not move her anywhere else.

Cats are around 10 per month each (females cheaper, males more expensive), George had nearly 7k of operation costs this year (luxating patella) which started when he was just over a year old - will see what the reneval will cost.

Cats excess is £65 per condition per year, no % to be paid, 7000 per year cover.

Dog's exces around the same, 10000 per year cover.

Both are for life, not per condition, the money pot is renevable each yesr per animal.

I would not hae any pets uninsured, simply can not afford the vet bills if anything happened and after George's problems - I do not want to risk it.

Hillbilly1

PP also impose 20% of the total bill on any claims for pets over a certain age (10 or 12, cant remember).

Most companies now do the same, AFI regularly put 35% as do Sainsburys/Argos etc. I would avoid the supermarket/retail policies as if the company has a hard time they will be the first thing to go as least profit making. . . The only reasonable one is M&S.