Cat insurance

KxMx

Well it's renewal time, Axa have raised my premium by £3 per month, but Lily (moggy) is 8 now.

I had a look at the recommended alternate insurers, Argos Platinum and Pet Plan.

Argos is comparable cover for around £1 less per month.#
Really don't see the point in changing for that amount as always been happy with Axa (never had to claim though).

Pet Plan Ultimate is coming up at around £2 per month more but it's 5k extra cover and a brief glance at the policy shows they for example will pay out on something death related until cat is 10 (Axa is 8 so we've passed that now). £30 excess increase which I can afford.

I'm going to download the full policy for PetPlan and call with any questions (I always do this to gauge the service level).

Would other posters stick with Axa or switch to Pet Plan? I am seriously tempted, overall I think it might be worth it.

My financial situation is not the best but pet insurance is not something I will stint on, I can't foresee any problems meeting the monthly cost for PetPlan, Lily is my priority.

penny_pincha

Pet Plan claim that they are good even when you pet gets on a bit. Not that I have had to claim thank goodness. You need to look at the small print. If they will wriggle out of something they will.

gettingready

Pet plan coveres dental, Argos does not.

From what I remember - someone correct me if I am wrong?

KxMx

That's interesting, I will have a look, AXA cover dental only if related to illness/injury which I believe is somewhat standard.
The Vet did tell me last check-up that although her teeth are very good for her age they will need cleaning in the future.
So I expect even if PetPlan did cover routine dental for me it would count as pre-existing and be excluded.
To me really it's choosing whether to stay with Axa or upgrade to PetPlan.

gettingready

Have a look at PetPlan dental cover what it says, I am pretty sure that it covers normal dental not only accident related. From what I remember they require you to have a yearly dental check for the cat to be covered.

McKneff

gettingready wrote: »

Pet plan coveres dental, Argos does not.

From what I remember - someone correct me if I am wrong?

Pet plan does cover dental, thank goodness, my 12 year old cat would have cost me £850 if not just recently.

KxMx

Yes will do, going to print out the full policy.
Her teeth are checked as part of her annual booster/mot visit anyway, but I think since the Vet has said in April (prior to me taking out insurance) they will need cleaning that would be excluded this time.
Leaning towards changing to PetPlan more and more.

spookylukey

Might be worth checking with PetPlan about the excess, I thought that with older pets (over 10?) they increased the excess to a flat fee plus a percentage - I thought it was 20% but could be wrong. Axa have a flat fee regarless of age, or at least they did when I took my policies out!

I just tried to test my theory and did a dummy quote for an 8 year old with PetPlan whereby it offered all three types of policy but when I did a quote for a 10 year old it only offered the 'essentials' policy which only provides cover for any given condition for 12 months and the excess was £65 plus 20% of each claim.

If you take out cover now on a 'good' policy ie covered for life with a flat excess do they then only offer the 'bad' policy ie cover for 12 months with a flat fee + 20% come renewal time when she's 10?

Carcluster

When switching, it might be the case that ANY visit you have had to the vet gets checked upon and those issues/body parts get excluded from new insurance cover as they will be termed as pre-existing conditions. If you vet make notes on each visit - pet plan I am pretty sure will get the details. My advice is if its not much of a change, best to stay put...

McKneff

spookylukey wrote: »

Might be worth checking with PetPlan about the excess, I thought that with older pets (over 10?) they increased the excess to a flat fee plus a percentage - I thought it was 20% but could be wrong. Axa have a flat fee regarless of age, or at least they did when I took my policies out!

I just tried to test my theory and did a dummy quote for an 8 year old with PetPlan whereby it offered all three types of policy but when I did a quote for a 10 year old it only offered the 'essentials' policy which only provides cover for any given condition for 12 months and the excess was £65 plus 20% of each claim.

If you take out cover now on a 'good' policy ie covered for life with a flat excess do they then only offer the 'bad' policy ie cover for 12 months with a flat fee + 20% come renewal time when she's 10?

You are correct, my cat is 12 and this happened with her last op to remove teeth.

OP Im not sure either if it would cover just the cleaning of her teeth.

KxMx

spookylukey wrote: »

Might be worth checking with PetPlan about the excess, I thought that with older pets (over 10?) they increased the excess to a flat fee plus a percentage - I thought it was 20% but could be wrong. Axa have a flat fee regarless of age, or at least they did when I took my policies out!

I just tried to test my theory and did a dummy quote for an 8 year old with PetPlan whereby it offered all three types of policy but when I did a quote for a 10 year old it only offered the 'essentials' policy which only provides cover for any given condition for 12 months and the excess was £65 plus 20% of each claim.

If you take out cover now on a 'good' policy ie covered for life with a flat excess do they then only offer the 'bad' policy ie cover for 12 months with a flat fee + 20% come renewal time when she's 10?

I just did this with mine, did a quote as a 10 year old cat and it made the same offer as it did you.

I am assuming if I went with them now it would change when she gets older.

I can't afford a % of fees so I won't be going with Pet Plan now. Will stick with Axa.

Thanks everyone for their help!