insurance companies?

hampshirebabe

I need to sort out my cats insurance but it seems some insurance companies are dropping the pet parts, so which companies might be better to go with?
I know its a big ask, but what are your thoughts?

PS. what about animal friends, they seem to have the best quotes by far.

krlyr

Animal Friends have had some pretty iffy reviews I think lately.
I'm with Axa - big company, been around a while, my vets are happy to deal with claims directly as are many. Ask your vet if they do direct claims, it tends to give a clue on who's known for paying out or not (e.g. most vets will at least deal with Petplan, but many/most will avoid E&L completely).
I've made a couple of claims lately, Axa were a little slow at first (said they hadn't received a full history from the vet - vet submitted the forms and said they had but oh well) but the second claim was faster and they paid out in full for both claims so no complaints here.

butchos

Hi Hampshirebabe,

I'm afraid I can't answer your direct questions, so sorry in advance, but as a vet, I'll tell you what I tell my clients. Firstly, I think if an insurance is worth having, you should look for something with a upper limit of over £4k, which would cover most surgery, including some referral work. Secondly, make sure you look for a policy that covers your cat lifelong, so conditions such as diabetes etc will be covered long term, not just for a year. These are the 2 areas where 'budget' policies fall down.

Having said that, some insurance is better than none, and different people's circumstances obviously sometimes dictate what they are able to, or want to pay.

I believe that most insurance companies have been using pet insurance as a loss leader for some years, but they are now starting to increase premiums to make it profitable. I also think Petplan were an exception to this rule, and this is who I have my dog insured with. (No, I don't have any other kind of affiliation with them, or any other company!!) I haven't heard of animal friends, so can't give you an idea of what they are like. I have had a lot of problems with E+L in the past as they can be very reluctant to pay out compared to some companies.

My honest opinion re pet insurance -you get what you pay for to a large extent!

Hope this helps a bit!

butchos

Ha- I see Krlyr has anticipated a couple of my points as I was writing!

rising_from_the_ashes

Petplan are generally slightly more expensive initially (a lot of places offer a discount for the 1st year) - but you tend to find a lot of companies will increase premiums hugely year on year..... PP don't do this.

I had a cat with kidney problems insured with them and claimed for over 8 years - his premiums never rose by more than I expected (think it was £1 or £2 / month each year) and what I thought was reasonable.

Axa are also good from what I've heard (thinking of moving my cats there!) - but I have heard they can be a bit slow to pay out.

Ohhhh and avoid anything by (or underwritten by) E&L

hampshirebabe

The policies I'm looking at are £30,000 Lifetime Condition Limit subject to a maximum of £4,000 per condition per policy year, for £16.46 a month for 2 cats,
or £20,000 Lifetime Condition Limit subject to a maximum of £2,000 per condition per policy year, for £11.44.
Pet plan has similar to the 1st policy for £21.28 for the 2 cats.
I've just sorted my life insurance, that was so simple, this is so complicated!!!

hampshirebabe

Who is E&L?
Ignore that, E&L are an insurance company I've never heard of.

marmitepotato

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Petplan are generally slightly more expensive initially (a lot of places offer a discount for the 1st year) - but you tend to find a lot of companies will increase premiums hugely year on year..... PP don't do this.

I had a cat with kidney problems insured with them and claimed for over 8 years - his premiums never rose by more than I expected (think it was £1 or £2 / month each year) and what I thought was reasonable.

Axa are also good from what I've heard (thinking of moving my cats there!) - but I have heard they can be a bit slow to pay out.

Ohhhh and avoid anything by (or underwritten by) E&L

I wish I could agree with you about Pet Plan. They always pay out but my premiums had huge hikes. The last year of my pets life I was paying £113 am month, with an excess of £120 per illness, I also had to pay 20% of the actual claim.


My vet told me to avoid anything underwritten by E and L. I have my Dog insured by VetsMediCover, I have made a claim and they paid promptly.

gettingready

hampshirebabe wrote: »

The policies I'm looking at are £30,000 Lifetime Condition Limit subject to a maximum of £4,000 per condition per policy year, for £16.46 a month for 2 cats,
or £20,000 Lifetime Condition Limit subject to a maximum of £2,000 per condition per policy year, for £11.44.

Oh dear - that description looks like Animal Friends?

Please google them and look at reviews. The only good reviews they have are from people who never claimed yet. They are hapy with customer service at sign up all lovely etc.

But look at reviews from people who actually needed to claim and see what they say.

My dog and one cat are both insured with Argos Platinum, for 7k per year each. Both her surgeries, dog's hip replacement was over 6k (£5700 hip replacement and ovet £500 Xrays at referring vet), cat's operations were close to 5k, he was under 1 yo and was diagnosed with luxating patella.

Those 2 I can not move and I am paying £23 per month for cat and £48 per month for dog.

My other 3 cats I have moved to Pet Plan (again 7k per year each) and pay £20 for each one so £60 all together.

hampshirebabe

The trouble with reviews online is that, for pretty much anything, its mostly people who want to complain who go to the trouble of leaving reviews. I looked on the review centre for all the pet insurance companies, and all none of the big companies got more than 2.5 stars, petplan had some really terrible reviews too. Animal friends have been mentioned in a positive light on MSE before now though

gettingready

TBH never seen anything positive about Animal Friends on MSE - or anywhere else BUT - your choice