pet insurance

melly_g

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Hi,
Please can I have some advice about buying pet insurance for my puppy who is a chorkie.
It's so confusing all the companies and different policies.
I've read lifetime cover seems to be the best.
Which are the best companies who are reasonably priced, not huge excesses and have a good reputation please
Thanks for any help

Francesanne

I'm in the same situation as you with my 2 YorkiePoo's. Find it totally overwhelming. PetPlan have an excellent reputation but was quoted over £80.00 per month for both of them on lifetime cover. They're only 3 months old and did find that rather steep. I'm currently considering putting roughly £40.00 per month away into a savings account for the next year and then reviewing my options in a years time. The more you read on pet insurance the more confused you become. Good luck with insurance & your little Chorkie.

elsien

I'd suggest not calling them chorkies or whatever for starters but saying they are cross breeds. Which they are. And which generally works out cheaper.
Whatever you go for, you need to compare what the different policies offer as they can look similar but do have some differences. For example petplan will offer dental cover (if the dog has an annual checkup) whereas most others exclude dental care unless the dog has an accident. You also need to look at the lifetime cover limits as they also vary according to policy.
Anecdotally I've heard Tesco, argos and the co-op are all fairly reasonable but I've not used any of them myself.

gettingready

Jesussssssssssssssssssssss - "chorkie"? "yorkiepoo"?

What next? Shitpoo?

Seriously....

On topic - life cover is always the best, if you can afford PetPlan go with them, avoid AnimalFriends Insurance at all cost.

Insure as a cross breed which your dog really is...

Not wanting to be/sound nasty as there is nothing wrong with cross breeds - what is wrong is making up names for them....

Putting money away and reviewing in a year's time is a risky option as by then anything that happens to puppies will be excluded from any cover you may decide to take.

Zara is with Argos (Platinum cover) and I currently pay almost £130.00 per year for her alone - but she is now 7.5 yo and had 2 surgeries at 7k each which I would not be able to pay for from putting money away each month.

My take on it - better be safe than sorry. If you are in a position to cover a massive vet bill if needed - your choice to put money away. If not - please get insurance.

Francesanne

elsien wrote: »

I'd suggest not calling them chorkies or whatever for starters but saying they are cross breeds. Which they are. And which generally works out cheaper.
Whatever you go for, you need to compare what the different policies offer as they can look similar but do have some differences. For example petplan will offer dental cover (if the dog has an annual checkup) whereas most others exclude dental care unless the dog has an accident. You also need to look at the lifetime cover limits as they also vary according to policy.
Anecdotally I've heard Tesco, argos and the co-op are all fairly reasonable but I've not used any of them myself.

How right you are. Think that's why premiums quoted were so high. Classed as 'designer dogs' by PetPlan. Explained they were Yorkie X Poodle.

gettingready

Francesanne wrote: »

Classed as 'designer dogs' by PetPlan.

Of course they would - to push the premiums up.

You just insure them as cross breed as this is what they are.

See Argos Platinum - life cover, 7k renewable every year, they never ever refused to pay and I claimed around 18k in total for my dog and over 5k for one of the cats.

mum2one

I'm with petplan we pay £45 per month, for a 4 yr old pedigree Springer Spaniel, our last dog also a Spaniel was insured with them.

With our last dog we had a couple of small claims, but we also had one massive claim when he fractured his spine and the bone fragmented into his spinal cord, we ended up at a private animal hospital, and follow up, - this was 10 yrs ago and our bill was 4k, we only had to pay £60 excess.

With some of the cheaper policies once the animal has done that injury - they won't cover again for it, also say the dog had eczema or diabetics they only pay a set amount and when that money has gone your left to fend for yourself.

xx

CaptainAmerica

I used More Th>n for my pet insurance on 2 Siamese. I have to say they were brilliant when Homer became seriously ill with a heart defect, they paid out every vet bill over the 4 months he was on the medication without question.


Sadly he passed away 4 months after the diagnosis. He was only 4 years old

Francesanne

gettingready wrote: »

Of course they would - to push the premiums up.

You just insure them as cross breed as this is what they are.

See Argos Platinum - life cover, 7k renewable every year, they never ever refused to pay and I claimed around 18k in total for my dog and over 5k for one of the cats.

Have just requested quote from Argos & very reasonable. Good to know you've had no hassle claiming. So many varying reviews but same applies to all companies.

sooty&sweep

Hi
I'm also looking around for insurance for our three moggies. I agree that it is so confusing and you can't judge on price alone as there are vast differences between policies.
We started with a lifetime policy with Halifax who then withdrew from pet insurance. We are currently with More Than on a maximum benefit policy but I've just had the renewal and they are putting the premium up rather alot even though we've never claimed from them so I'm now looking around again.
It's also worth looking to see if you can get cashback on whatever insurance policy you choose.
Jen

JUDE

cannot believe the prices companies are quoting for an 8 week old Labrador! even Argos is over £500 py! Think I should have married a vet in the first place!