AXA pulling out of pet insurance

xpf

Just got our renewal price through from NCI - an annual increase from £172 to £378! We have a 6 year old Springer Spaniel and have made a £500 claim for cruciate ligament repair last year (still intermittent limping) so reluctant to take the risk of moving providers as this would no longer be covered.
Loathe to say it but it sounds like we are relatively lucky premiums have only doubled :mad:

wiggly

Just received my letter about Axa not renewing. I have two cats, one with a preexisting condition. Am I going to struggle to get this covered? He is on a special diet as he forms crystals in his bladder which can block the urethra, as it has before. We claimed for emergency late Friday night surgery and it could happen again. Any ideas? Or experience? Before I go policy hunting!

rising_from_the_ashes

wiggly wrote: »

Just received my letter about Axa not renewing. I have two cats, one with a preexisting condition. Am I going to struggle to get this covered? He is on a special diet as he forms crystals in his bladder which can block the urethra, as it has before. We claimed for emergency late Friday night surgery and it could happen again. Any ideas? Or experience? Before I go policy hunting!

Sorry youre another let down by Axa

Re the cat with the pre-existing condition no new insurer will cover this so if ongoing it may be better to stay with nci if the premium is affordable

Alterntive is new policies but the condition will be exclused- and put money side to pay for the existing condition

Afaik no insurer pays for special food long term (incl axa!)

wiggly

No I've not been claiming for the food, more that his condition is dependent on the right food so the slightest thing could set it off again.

If I need to put away for existing conditions, then wouldn't I be better just doing that and not having insurance? They're house cats.

Johnny_Dangerously

I think the problem with saying 'wouldn't I be better off' is the only answer is 'possibly'.

Insurance is purely a numbers game. On an individual animal, or small number of animals, you could be massively out of pocket with just one claim.

I'll post it up again here as I think it's relevant. My article here is mainly aimed at the cost of dog ownership, but one of the graphs in there also shows the vet expenses I've with my cats also over the last few years.

Not sure if it's helpful to you or not.

wiggly

I think I might do both, get a sum saved in case of the existing but then insure with life cover. The thing at the back of my head is cat diabetes which can be really costly in the long term.

Thanks

krlyr

Renewal is through. Need to read paperwork, but actually tempted to stay put for now..

AXA was £480 for the last year, NCI want £756. About £23 extra month, with the rate Kiki has been needing repeat blood tests I'd probably pay that (or more) on my own, before even buying her medication. And that's assuming anyone would cover her for £40 a month as an 8 year old dog.

krlyr

More Than want £82 a month, Argos £122, John Lewis £91 for Kiki. And those are quotes with online discounts and not taking into account her on-going medical condition, which will no doubt bump up premiums! Think I'm best off staying put for now, and the excess doesn't include a % until 10+ which is handy too

sallyj17

krlyr wrote: »

More Than want £82 a month, Argos £122, John Lewis £91 for Kiki. And those are quotes with online discounts and not taking into account her on-going medical condition, which will no doubt bump up premiums! Think I'm best off staying put for now, and the excess doesn't include a % until 10+ which is handy too

All the above policies are underwritten by RSA.. and do tend to be particularly expensive for oldies because they don't require you to pay a percentage of fees. The on-going medical condition shouldn't make any difference to the cost because it won't be covered.

krlyr

Well, pet-insurance.co.uk (who I wouldn't touch with a bargepole, but figured they'd be a good bottom end quote for comparison) came out at £20 with their very generous 45% discount. So by year 2 you'd be looking at nearly £40 a month (or more with a premium increase) and I'd have to cover about £30 of costs a month myself, minimum, for excluded conditions (a lot more if her tendonitis flared up again, which vet and physio warned it could)