Cancelling M&S Pet Insurance

DonaldTrumpsHair

Hello

I wondered if someone on here would be kind enough to give advice on behalf of my daugher.

She acquired a cat (you know how they just turn up out of the blue) and the vet aged him at about 4 years old. So he is now about 10/11.

She took out a policy with M&S and the payments started at around 7.99 per month. They are now up to around £28.00 per month, more than it costs to insure her car!

She had one claim when he was younger and was bitten outside (not sure what happened) and he had an operation to clean and stitch skin back together (£350) and M&S paid out.

Since then nothing. He has his injections and spends most of his time indooors asleep, like lots of cats. A bit overweight, but otherwise in good health.

Her hours have been cut at work and she is looking to save a little money (aren't we all) but here is the question. Can she cancel when the policy comes up for renewal and should she try to get a cheaper quote somewhere else or will his age go against him.

If he were to develop something serious, not sure she would want to put him through lots of treatment anyway, but he is much loved and neither does she want to put him at any risk. It is a catch 22.

It is a quandary and I know many must be in this position, but any advice would be gratefully recieved.

Fire_Fox

There have been many threads on switching insurers if you run a search.

Pet insurance is more expensive than the car because the risks for the insurer are higher. Premiums are based on age, vet costs and number of claims locally. If the cat is diagnosed with diabetes (common, easily treatable, not cruel) the claim could be thousands a year every year: that never happens with car insurance. Very few insurers will insure a cat of that age, AXA will so you might run a dummy quote. Exclusions will be anything that has been consulted on at any time, even if there was no diagnosis or claim. So a water infection could rule out all kidney issues, a stomach upset could rule out all digestive issues.

Might be worth working on the weight issue, it increases the risk for a number of common health complaints.

krlyr

Why not do some quotes with his age set to what he'll be at the time of renewal? Obviously it may vary slightly but should give a general idea of what companies will quote nowadays (or if they'll cover a cat of his age)

Quinny_2

We have just cancelled our M&S insurance for Stella, and moved to another company.

Stella's premiums went up to £28 as well, and all we did was find an alternative, cancel the direct debit, and rang M&S and told them and they were fine with it.