Changing dog insurance - axa?

frugglewump

Has anyone got experience of the pet insurance supplied directly by Axa?

I took out M&S when Axa were underwriting them with the £0 excess & I'm stuck with them for 1 dog due to treatment. I've seen on my dog forum that the underwriter has changed & the new T&C are appalling. I refuse to use a company that expects me to call a non-vet number for approval before I can have out-of-hours emergency treatment.

So obviously I'm looking elsewhere for the 2nd dog, but I can't use the moneysupermarket comparison because they don't have Eurasier in their breed list.

dizzywhizzy

i have just been sent new quote for cat insurance up 50% on last years with m and s i am also shopping around very disappointed and quite angry at such a large difference for not as good policy.
Felt so strongly phoned and logged complaint not that will do any good but it made me feel better. good luck.i hope lots of other customers will follow suit

jaxxy00

Sorry, cant help but will follow this with interest, as i am in the same position as you.

My dog is now in his 3rd year of insuarnce with M&S (got renewed 3rd Jan 08 under new terms) and after phoning them today to see how claims work now there is an excess i am appalled to having read through the new terms and conditions. The amount of exclusions and things that are not covered that used to be are ridiculous.

When my renewal came in it was £14.99 (was £7.49 1st year and £10.50 2nd year) for this 3rds year of cover which i didnt think was too bad considering how good the cover and service was (yes, was!!) then i read that my policy now had an excess of £70. I didnt think a lot to that but having had a no excess policy was almost too good to be true so i just accepted it as the norm really.

When i phoned today to see how to claim now there is an excess, i mentioned about my dogs hydrotherapy sessions (£12.50 a session weekly for severe hip dysplasia as reffered by the vet) which had been covered previously and was told they no longer cover them. :eek: I was gobsmacked. I have since looked fully through the new booklet of insurance and so many things now are either not covered at all or have limits or terms on them. He currently has oxalate crystals in his urine (£24 for urine test) and the vet wants him in for a scan then op to remove stones if he has any. As he is a very nasty dog at the vets (was getting used to a lady vet who has now left :sad: now got to start all over again) even though he is only a spaniel, and also had many sedations and anasthetics i asked about anything we could try. So were trying Hills Prescription Diet u/d food £28 per 5kg bag, purchased today and looking through are probably not covered by insurance either (specifically states only food while being diagnosed is covered but once diagnosis made not covered, but food for stones and crystals not included). Yet last year when he had the same problem food was covered and up to the value of £200 each year if needed. His Synoquin tablets also for hips are probably not going to be covered either now and they are £66 per pot.

To be honest this is the sort of thing you expect from some cheap and nasty firm not M&S who are seen to be of a better quality usually. Have you ever tried using their internet shopping site though, what a nightmare, i think they must have amateurs creating it. You order one thing and get something else sent because they have put the wrong picture with the item description.

Think ive babbled on a bit much so im off.

yorkie08

We have had the same problem with the low cost insurers, so many exclusions and excess increases year on year, especially with an aging pet.
I certainly would recommend considerable research before changing a policy as you then run into pre-existing conditions, - more exclusions!
Seems all the big names like to make out they love pets but they are certainly loathe to pay out for the ever increasing cost of vet treatment.
Our vet practice seem to like Petplan but I haven't tried them so can't say.
Good luck.

jodenice

well we use direct line and they are not the cheapest by any means but in five years very little has changed, we've gone up about £4 since I started, they pay out really fast, they don't worry if its a repeated illness, you can use any vets and they have a really good advice line.

as one of my dogs was very ill and they were brilliant, we stuck with them.