Pet insurance - selecting the right firm / policy

Yorkie1

Mum's previous cat has now passed away (claim is going through with the Coop), and she now has a new rescue moggy who is about 18 months old. She had 28 days' free insurance from the RSPCA but now we're looking at a proper policy. I'm going round in circles (analysis paralysis!) and would value others' comments.

1. What might be a reasonable level of cover? (Lifetime)
One range is about £6.5k - £7.5k, another is £9k, and then again there is about £12k. I think that's probably too high for a regular cat, but not sure about the other two levels of cover.

2. Which firm?
Three firms with the top Best Buys on Which are John Lewis, Agria and Petplan. I'm familiar with Petplan and they get good scores (not as good as JL or Agria, but with considerably more people providing feedback.) But they are quite a bit more expensive than the other 2 for similar levels of cover.

3. Excess vs co-pay for a young cat.
Possibilities of 0% or 10% co-pay, plus standard excess of anything from £95 to about £170 (or even £250). Any suggestions how to balance the calculations?

Many thanks for any thoughts you may have!!

KxMx

PetPlan every time. 
They cost more yes but won't hike premiums if you make a claim.
Works out better value for money IMO. 

sheramber

Agria used to underwrite Petplan but now provide their own insurance.

They do not increase premiums if you claim, the same as Petplan.

Yorkie1

Thanks for your comments. I had no idea that Agria was the previous underwriter for PP.

If anyone has any thoughts about whether £7500 level of cover would address most claims, or whether we should go for £9k, that would also be really helpful thanks.

Lavendyr

I've been with Petplan for both my cats for several years. They have paid out, unquestioningly, every time. One of my cats incurred ridiculous veterinary fees due to a severe liver infection (initially diagnosed as FIP and on very expensive anti-virals) then diabetes with neuropathy in all four limbs. I've had lifetime cover at £7k on him, and in one year I claimed that and then paid an additional £12k on top for his care. The next policy year I claimed £6k. In total I've paid around £1,800 in insurance fees for him, and there's no way I could have paid for all of the vet fees that Petplan have covered. 

So to the question about whether £7.5k or £9k - honestly when you're at that point it probably doesn't make a lot of difference. £7.5k will probably cover the majority of things, but there is always the unexpected. I would never have foreseen the events that we went through with this cat. But if you hit £7.5k, you are probably going to punch through £9k too (in my experience). 

Yorkie1

Many thanks to everyone who commented. In the end we have bit the bullet and gone with PetPlan, which was quite a bit more expensive than John Lewis for equivalent cover / excess, but as you all said, if there is a claim, the JL premiums could easily have leapfrogged the PP premiums in one fell swoop.

Slinky

We had £9.5k of bills rack up in a week with our cat who had a lung lobe removed at a specialist vets. We paid the excess on a CC and PP paid the rest, dealing directly with the vets. We had £12K of cover, which we have now with our current cat. Previous cat the cancer returned a year later and we had to let her go. PP only increased premium by £5 a month, with ongoing cover for the same condition. Would only ever insure our pets with PetPlan.