Pet Insurance

pollyanna24

I know this has been discussed before, and I was about to go with Tescos, but went to our vet for the first time and he thought they were really bad. Now I know he's probably paid by PetPlan to say that, but I don't know.

PetPlan do seem really expensive. It's what our cat is on at the moment, but that's only £11. Add the dog in on the same policy and it jumps to £39!! Almost double what we pay on our life insurance!

Anyways, I know it would be easier to just with someone cheaper, but I really like the option of £4,000 per year, rather than condition and I'm guessing that's why it so much more expensive (Direct Line is £18 for the two of them).

Are there any other insurance companies that have this per year thing? Or is it not worth getting? I'm just scared that she'll end up getting diabetes or something and we'll get £4,000 and then have to fork out for the rest of her life.

Justie

M&S do good cover (comparable to Petplan) but cheaper.


Insurance is a very personal thing - friends I know who have working dogs pay for insurance for the first year so that if anything genetic is dicovered then it's covered but then save the equivalent from then on in a savings account and pay for vet bills out of that - works for them...

26ltg

Be very careful about the cheaper Pet insurance. The limits they set may seem adequate but if something happens to your pet you could soon be up the creek without a paddle. My friend was insured with Tesco and her dog had cushings disease, Tesco were great at paying up quick I was very impressed (work in insurance) then more trouble for the dog and owner, the cushings then developed diabetes, more expensive tests and medication etc and then another side effect was cateracts on both eyes, dog was blind and needed expensive op. The Tesco insurance had reached its limit and in the end poor dog had to be put down as she could not afford to pay the treatment herself. Had she been with Petplan or similar maybe dog would have had more of a fighting chance!

Hope this doesn't depress you too much.

tiff

Tesco will only pay for a serious condition until renewal date, whereas Petplan will cover it for the life of the policy. I think M&S are comparable to Petplan, but you have to pay up front then claim it back.

MrsTinks

How much for petplan??? is this a super duper pedigree???
I have 1 dog (mongrel) and 2 cats with petplan and I pay about £20 a month for all 3 on their top plan! One cat has already had over £1500 worth of claims (tried to play chicken with a car... duh!) and they paid up with NO quibbles at all. Called to check how the cat was progressing and so on - never any query about the bills.
I would call them and check the cost on the phone with them to be honest...

Lo.j

I agree with previous posts. PetPlan is expensive, but the cover is very good and covers more than one condition at a time. Remember that diabetic pets ( a huge cost - I know from bitter experience ) also break legs, get infections etc., so the policies with an upper limit can be topped very quickly. A young pet can develop a lifelong, ongoing condition that is costly to treat, and still have all the other illnesses into the bargain. It is better to be overprotected in my opinion, as when we were faced with huge vet's bills, we bumped it all onto a credit card rather than do the unthinkable, and paid the consequences ( literally ) for 18 months.

Eddi_2

Justie wrote:

M&S do good cover (comparable to Petplan) but cheaper.

I use M&S too....at the time I took it out (a good few years ago now) they offered by far the best benefits for the money. I insured 2 cats at the same time ... the first cat is £6.30 and you get a discount on subsequent animals so the second cat is £5.67.

Kimberley

I've heard loads about how good M&S Insurance is...I'm still thinking about what one to get.

pollyanna24

I will have a look at M&S. She is a KC pedigree staff. Not sure if that makes her super duper.

Our last dog got cancer and we went through the whole insurance to help him. In the end, it cost about 6-7K, but I don't think I would go through all that again if this dog got cancer. Not just because I'm selfish, but I think we ended up putting him through too much treatment just to extend his life a little bit. That's why me and bf decided we didn't need the per year bit, but then I remember that's it not just cancer that animals get.

I just think £28.10 a month for the dog is a lot. It's 11.04 for the cat. There is a thing on the website that says there are discounts for more than one pet, but when I tried ringing, I was told only for 3 animals, or if you have more than 1 of each species (i.e. two dogs or two cats where I only have one of each).

Are pedigree Staffs a risky animal to have?

mirrorimage0

hiya, im with pdsa they do three different levels of cover but they are all cover for life and they are reasonable too, just make sure you get a cover for life insurance, its so worth it in the long run. good luck

illmonkey

Just putting in a thumbs up for M&S. I went for one of the better policys. Something small like £6.50 a month. Already had to claim £75 due to a infection, so its kinda paid for its self. There is no excess either.

I did need to chase payment though.