Am I paying too much for pet insurance?

nathand_2

My pet insurance renewal quote came through today and it's over 30% higher than last year. £320.

I think year 1 was something like £16 per month.

I'm currently in my second year paying £20pm and now it's being increased to ~£26pm. To me that seems like a steep increase. Am I paying too much?

I'm with John Lewis and there's no interest when paying monthly otherwise I'd have paid it in one go. I'm not too concerned about an extra £6 every month but it's the longer term trend that's alarming.

marlot

How on earth are we to say if you're paying too much unless you say what the pet is - species, breed, sex, age, claims history etc. !!!!!!

Give us a chance!!!!

marlot

PS. I think £320 is good value for a pet crocodile, but expensive for a goldfish. Anything else will be somewhere inbetween!

nathand_2

Good point! It was 3AM though haha I edited out a pretty crucial detail.

It's a 2 year old labrador with no prior claims.

marlot

In that case, I'd say it's expensive.

I pay about £800 a year for a ten year old german shepherd, who has been on £400 a year of arthritis drugs for the last three years. With a couple of other small claims along the way.

Try the pets forum on here - someone will recommend an alternative insurer

sallyj17

John Lewis are underwritten by RSA. I have a pet insurance website and have had a lot of feedback over the past few months about hefty premium increases for policies underwritten by RSA.
You don't say which of the John Lewis policies you have. In our price survey which was done earlier in the year... the prices we got were for a 1-year-old rather than 2-year-old lab... but they were £25-£40 (depending on which policy you chose) for a Lab living in South London and £18-£30 for a Lab living in Yorkshire. There premiums increase as the pet gets older (interestingly not all insurers do this) so I would expect the premium for your 2-year-old to be more than this.
Note be aware that if you change policies it is unlikely that they will cover any conditions (or anything which could be related) which are mentioned on your pet's medical history whether or not they are ongoing.

*Scarlett

You may have had an introductory offer for the 1st year.

If the doggie has no ongoing or previous conditions you can get quotes elsewhere to see if you can get anything cheaper. Obviously make sure the cover is equivalent and check the excess fee.

If you are thinking of switching have a look here

http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/reviews-ns/pet-insurance/

https://defaqto.com/star-ratings/pet-insurance

Be aware there is normally an exclusion period on a new policy - usually 14 days but check individual t&cs

Billie-S

nathand wrote: »

My pet insurance renewal quote came through today and it's over 30% higher than last year. £320.

I think year 1 was something like £16 per month.

I'm currently in my second year paying £20pm and now it's being increased to ~£26pm. To me that seems like a steep increase. Am I paying too much?

I'm with John Lewis and there's no interest when paying monthly otherwise I'd have paid it in one go. I'm not too concerned about an extra £6 every month but it's the longer term trend that's alarming.

TBH, it doesn't sound overly massive to me for a big dog. My pal pays £45 for 2 average sized cross breed dogs, so if yours is a pedigree, it will be more. It depends on the area you live too, because when we moved from the middle of a town to the suburbs several years back, the insurance went down a couple of quid, and not up!

Funnily enough, when you go through the go compare website, they want to know if your dog will be in a pub (!) and also if you will be working from home! What difference any of this makes just baffles me. Maybe they should ask peoples hair colour and religion too!!!

My cat insurance (for 2 cats,) went up to £33 a month (from £23) this year: the biggest jump ever. But one of my cats hit 10 years old, so I think that's why.

That said though, just before it comes back around (next Feb,) I am going to shop around a bit. Although I am worried that some companies may refuse me because one of my cats is 10.

nathand_2

I switched to More Than in the end.

It's £16pm so a saving of £10 each month. The cover is for £8,000 in total per illness or injury whereas John Lewis was £7,000 per year. £8,000 seems more than adequate to me.

I did ring John Lewis before switching and they weren't interested in lowering the price without changing the level of cover to £2,000 and increasing the excess. Even then it wasn't competitive with More Than.

stugib

Wait until you've had a claim, then they'll really push it knowing you won' be covered for that condition if you move.

davenport151

Don't forget to make sure that it covers your pet 'for life' . Meaning that your pet is covered if they have an ongoing condition or the same condition reoccurs.