Pet Insurance

Money_Saver

So, we have a new arrival a little kitten and shes gorgeous. Looking for recommendations for pet insurance. Who would you recommend?

KxMx

Pet Plan are not the cheapest but are the best

sheramber

If you search this thread you will find several posts on this

jo2802

I have insured my whippet with John Lewis since he was 2. The first year was very cheap but it has rocketed every year since - he is now 6. This year he broke a toe nail and needed a lot of antibiotics and an op. So we have claimed around £250 ( paid out £320). We were paid quickly with no quibble and the vet phone line was good. But along with annual increases for no claim, my renewal just came through and is now £250 dearer...strange that, clawing back what they paid out. So now my dog will cost £54 a month - £641.75 a year!!! Absolutely disgraceful, especially as this was a one off type of claim not an ongoing illness. So I guess I am forced to cancel. I will be saving the premium each month in case of emergencies rather than feather their overpriced and shark filled nest. Avoid at all costs.

Marmaduke123

From experience, you are better going with a lifetime policy rather than changing insurer year by year. It's more expensive initially but you are covered if your pet developed a long term condition, which is fairly likely as they age.

nicter

I also endorse pet plan We've used them for years Had several claims with different cats and had no problems at all with them paying out

Vet

There are now some companies offering lifetime policies with fixed lifetime policy fees. more expensive initially - but worth it when the animals are much older.

General rules to follow:
1. Lifetime policy
2. Minimum 4-5k policy limit (for reference, an MRI scan costs between £1.5-2k)
3. Try to avoid changing policies
4. Keep up with vaccines and health checks (failing to do so can invalidate insurance)

DD265

We started with Animal Friends for two years, but have switched to PetPlan this time round.

Animal Friends put the premiums up again by a fair chunk (stopped doing their multi-pet discount) and there was a notice in our vets saying they'd no longer deal direct. If a veterinary practise won't deal directly, that rings alarm bells for me because they're either slow to pay out or unlikely to pay out.

I got some quotes, asked on here, looked at some reviews, and ended up with PetPlan. They weren't the cheapest but they weren't the most expensive either.

Couldsavemore

My dogs on a life time policy with petplan.. they do similar for cats.

Advantage of a lifetime policy is they can't put in exclusions... eg dog gets diabetes... insurance company pay till the renewal date... then when you re insure you find your slapped with increased payments and that diabetes and associated problems are no longer insured. A lifetime policy means that this isn't supposed to happen.

I've never had to claim on the dogs or cats policies.

NFU are good 'payers' ... I got no quibble on a £5000 plus vet bill for my horse..

Also vets4pets do a deal on immunisations... I paid for my dogs initial vaccinations then was given an option to purchase 'life time vaccinations' for a one off payment.. its worth doing the sums to see if you can afford this (i think the dog one was 99 quid)

Good look..