Pet lifetime cover == lifetime higher insurance premiums?

Smiley_Dan

I'm looking into purchasing insurance for our new 10 week old border terrier pup. All the options are 'on the table', including self-insurance.

At the moment, for long term peace of mind, I like the idea of lifetime cover.

My understanding of lifetime cover is that it's not transferable. You cannot transfer the lifetime aspect of the cover to another insurance provider, so if you were to change you would have to declare existing conditions and they will not be covered.

My question is, isn't this a gigantic bargaining chip in the insurer's favour? They could essentially hike up the premium inline with the convenience cost of changing provider, perhaps as soon as some chronic illness is discovered but possibly even before.

gettingready

Rrgardless of the type of cover you take - if there is a pre-existing condition no new insurer will cover it. If you wanted to change your insurer later on.

Smiley_Dan

Oh, and what if the insurance company fancies just packing the business in? Are they not forced to transfer the lifetime cover?

walwin

Smiley_Dan wrote: »

Oh, and what if the insurance company fancies just packing the business in? Are they not forced to transfer the lifetime cover?

No, that's why you're better off insuring with the underwriters, not an intermediary

rising_from_the_ashes

You are correct in that an existing condition wouldn't be covered if you changed insurer

A lot of it will depend on who you go with - many companies (eg the supermarkets / not specialist pet ones) offer introductory discounts which means a) the price jumps a huge amount after the 1st year and 2) annual premiums can go up by big amounts.

However, from my own experience of having a pet with an ongoing condition for 8 years, who was insured with PetPlan - the premiums went up a reasonable amount each year (ie just over inflation) and never jumped.

HTH

krlyr

Once a dog develops a condition, it's classed as a pre-existing condition. You're either going to have to stick with your current insurers (if you have lifetime cover) or deal with the fact that no other insurance company will cover that condition. The benefit of a lifetime policy as opposed to a 12 month policy is that the condition will be covered for as long as you stay with that company. From my own personal experience of claiming for an on-going condition, the insurers did not hike the price up enough to cancel out the amount of money I claimed for the condition, so it still saved me money despite the tie to the same company. If it does get to the point where the increase on the premium outweighs the claims you make, you can simply change companies and pay for the pre-existing condition out of your own pocket - this may be worthwhile for conditions that just need lifetime medication, but may not be so good for conditions where operations or expensive treatment will eventually become your only option (e.g. I may decide to switch and save for a dog with hypothyroid problems, but I wouldn't switch for a dog with hip dysplasia that would need two hip replacements in the next few years - the several thousand pounds for the hip replacements would most likely make insurance, despite any premium hikes, worthwhile anyway). If you decided to switch, just bear in mind that some insurers will try to connect dots that aren't there to refuse claims in the future - e.g. going back to the hypothyroid treatment, if the dog was to develop a skin condition, they may try to argue that it is a symptom of the hypothyroid issue and thus excluded from your cover. Pick a reputable company and listen to people's personal experience/reviews to see if they're known for trying to worm out of claims

Smiley_Dan

walwin wrote: »

No, that's why you're better off insuring with the underwriters, not an intermediary

How does one accomplish this? I don't think the comparison sites show direct-to-underwriters do they?

Smiley_Dan

krlyr wrote: »

Pick a reputable company and listen to people's personal experience/reviews to see if they're known for trying to worm out of claims

Argos is the current candidate. There is also "Purely Pets" although their exclusions seem a little strict for my liking, particularly a variable excess which kicks in after year eight.

walwin

Smiley_Dan wrote: »

How does one accomplish this? I don't think the comparison sites show direct-to-underwriters do they?

AXA http://www.axa.co.uk/insurance/pet

Petplan https://www.petplan.co.uk/

Smiley_Dan wrote: »

Argos is the current candidate. There is also "Purely Pets" although their exclusions seem a little strict for my liking, particularly a variable excess which kicks in after year eight.

Argos are not the underwriters so can change underwriters at any time and may then offer inferior policies. They can also pull the plug altogether. Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

I don't know anything about Purely Pets so can't comment