Insurance for a Labrador puppy

kez_s

Hi

Hope someone can help? We have a 12 week old Labrador retriever and we were given free 4 weeks insurance via the Kennel Club. This is now almost at an end and I've been obtaining quotes, reading info etc., but still unsure who I should go with and how much cover I realistically need.

I don't want to stay with the kennel club as not only is there an excess but you also have to pay 10% of the bill which I don't want. I'd rather know that should he need any treatment we only have to pay the excess.

Most cover options are £4k, £7k and £12k and I believe a lifetime policy is better. Petplan keep being mentioned along with Tesco, John Lewis, M&S and argos but I've read some poor reviews off all of them.

Can anyone suggest the better options and what cover I should pick without paying over the odds? We already have him on a wellness plan for his jabs, checks, worm/flea tablets etc., and this gives us some discounts for treatments.

Many thanks.

krlyr

I found www.pet-insurance-surveys.co.uk a good website - it doesn't compare by reviews, as such (which can vary so much, as you've seen) but scores the products by their features, and outlines excesses, etc.

Petplan are going to be the priciest, but are also considered the top player in insurance. Many vets will actually only do direct claims with Petplan, which speaks a lot for its reputation IMO. Although the policies tend to cost a bit more, the premiums don't tend to jump so high each year either, so there's that to bear in mind (I used places like Sainsburys and Direct Line in the past, and found premiums would increase on renewal £3-5 a month without any claims or sudden milestones in age - a friend with Petplan says hers has gone up £1 or less each year)

Previously I always recommended AXA..with them withdrawing from the market, that's obviously a no-go! I have no personal experience of claiming from anyone else, other than M&S but that was around a decade ago - heard lots of negative comments about them trying to price people out several years ago, with people believing they would withdraw from pet insurance, but it seems they're still going.

I recently switched one of mine to Co Op, as I was trying to find a policy that covered a dog his age without a large percentage on top of the standard excess. They offered a bit lower cover than I'd like, at £5000, but places like Petplan wouldn't take him on at all with his age, and many of the other places did the additional excess (fine for small claims, not great for bigger claims which is more what I'd use the insurance for!). Haven't had to claim from them yet, but did get some good reviews based on the fact that they use the same underwriters as Petplan.

I would always, always opt for lifetime cover myself. The alternative is an annual policy - they offer 12 months of cover, cover your dog for any conditions within those 12 months (providing there were no symptoms before the policy started), and then that's it - any condition you've claimed for or any symptoms that started in that year is then a pre-existing condition that you won't be covered for in your next 12 months.
Not just that, but new insurers won't cover them either. There is one insurer that will take on a dog with pre-existing conditions and cover them if the dog has been symptom & treatment free for 24 months, but imagine you pay a slightly higher premium for it - and some conditions won't ever be cured (my dog's thyroid condition is with her for life - she couldn't go without treatment for a month, let alone 24, and something like hip dysplasia wouldn't ever be classed as symptom free unless the dog had, for example, a full hip replacement which removed all issues, I assume)
Lifetime cover means the dog will be covered for the entire time you renew the policy - downside being your premiums may increase over the years, but at least you have the option to renew and remain covered. The cover for Kiki has increased over the past few years, but the increases actually work out less than the cost of everything I've claimed for, so I can't complain!

You might want to take a look at the wellness plan, too, and decide whether it's as economical as you'd first think. My vet offers one, I haven't used it but my mum took it up with her branch with her pup. It made sense for the pup's first year - getting all the worming stuff done as regularly as a young pup needs it, discount on the first set of boosters and on spaying, etc. but she cancelled it in the second year. I find I can save a lot more by some savvy shopping - I use Advocate spot-on for mine, to cover lungworm, so get a prescription and order online at a fraction of what my vet would charge, plus wormers that are available for a couple of quid, no prescription needed (same tablets about £8-10 at my vets). I use a vaccination clinic to have their boosters done (usually an offer of £10 each, vs. the £80 my vet charges!), and obviously once they're already neutered and chipped, you don't need to worry about the discount on those. Plus one of mine is in regularly for checkups on her thyroid condition anyway, so she essentially gets 3-4 free basic health checks a year then anyway!

sheramber

I would go with Lifetime cover annd as much as you can afford.

As stated Petplan are not the cheapest but are generally considered the Rolls Royce of companies. They only deal with pet insurance.

I always had very quick payment- well my vet did- from Petplan.


Be aware that any illness first showing signs in the frost few days is not covered by a new company. Some say 14 days , others 21 days. So you should take out a new policy before the original ends to make sure you are covered for that period.

Also, check with your vet if there are any companies they will/will not deal with direct so that you do not need to pay first, if that is important to you.

My previous vet would only claim direct from Petplan.

My current vet has no restrictions but does charge interest of the account is not paid within 30 days so a company who does not pay out promptly could cause problems.

Stay away from any company underwritten by E & L who have a reputation of wriggling out of paying.

kez_s

Thank you for all the info, it was really informative! I've now gone with petplan with the lifetime cover up to £7k. Though it appears I already had 4 weeks that came with his microchip and I wasn't aware!

We're undecided about the wellness plan after his 1st year but like for your mum it's worth having at the moment. I'm not sure what our vet charges for boosters but his first jab was nowhere near that, think it was £25 inc a full health check and his second was free under the plan. I'll def work out the potential savings for his 2nd year!