Pet insurance recommendations

[arealhuman]

Hi - I'm sure the levels of goodwill shown towards me on here must be getting low on account of all my questions! I'm sorry, but as a first time dog owner, I'm just keen to make sure I do the best for my rescued furry little lad

So, onto my next question - does anyone have any particular recommendations (or some you don't recommend) about pet insurers please? I've done a fair amount of looking around online and the prices and cover vary a lot.

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[JoanneF]

Mainly advice will be to get one with lifetime cover. These continue to pay out for long term conditions. If your dog were to develop a lifetime illness like diabetes you don't want the policy to stop paying out at the end of the first year. Also some (and this is more difficult to check because several different providers will use the same underwriters) limit which specialists your vet might refer your dog to. This seems to be a cost cutting measure but it means your vet might not be able to refer to the specialist he thinks is best if that person isn't on the list.

After that I would say take out the cover with the highest pay out limit you can reasonably afford.

Many people use Petplan, they pay direct to the vet so that makes them popular. I found them expensive and changed to the same level of cover with John Lewis. After a couple of years the premium went up so I changed to Tesco. But bear in mind if your dog has, or develops a problem that will become a pre existing condition and new quotes will shoot up to take account of that.

 

[Biker John]

First do not worry about asking questions, a very sensible comment is 'the only silly question is the one that's not asked'. Many people have pet insurance and will doubtless give their opinions. For me many years ago we started to put the money that we would have paid into a separate account, only for the dogs. The big problem with doing it is if you get landed with a large bill in the early years. If you have other resources to cover this then in the long term most people will benefit.

 

[arealhuman]

Thank you both for the replies and setting out two different approaches. I did recently find a website like "comparethemarket" but for pet insurance and quotes varied widely. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Petplan is expensive, that said Sainsbury's were close on price too. I will do some more research and see what comes up and will try and remember to update here in case anyone looks at this thread in the future.

Thanks for understanding about all the questions :thumbsup:

 

[gypsysmum2]

Pet Plan are the market leaders and they are considered to be very good at paying out (very important). I have heard, first hand, that MoreThan were not very good at paying out. Not sure if E&L are still around but they had a terrible reputation.

As I used to get staff discount I did not used to insure my dogs. My dog then needed treating at a referral practice and ran up a bill of £4,000 and that was just to diagnose her problem (a torn ligament in her shoulder). She was nine years old so insurance was hard to find. Asda was the only one I could find that would take her. They excluded the injured leg but I expected them to do that. They were very good at paying out for all her "old age" problems. These all amounted to their limit of £4,000. My second dog got 10% discount so I insured her with Asda too. She was diagnosed with Addisons Disease and ran up bills of over £4,000 (the limit). Addisons Disease is incurable and we could not save her.

With my latest dog I have compared all the companies to Pet Plan. Like JoanneF, I went with John Lewis. They were also recommended by a friend who runs a canine rehabilitation unit. She speaks to lots of her clients about their claims.

Once you make a claim you are stuck with that company because a new company will exclude any pre existing conditions. This is fine if it is an injury that is cured but not so fine if it is something like diabetes. If your dog has been to the vet's for anything you must declare it because they ask your vet (and possibly any other local vets) for detailed history on your dog. If it is just a tummy upset they may, in time, cover the dog again for gut related problems.

 

[arealhuman]

Thanks gypsysmum2 - this is on my list to look at at the weekend, a long with a load of other stuff to do!

 

[RosieB]

Don't use animal friends. They will use any excuse to not pay out. Our vets recommend PetPlan.

 

[crazypetlady]

I've also wondered on this topic, and I always conclude I will just save my money and pay out of pocket. But one of my dogs is currently at the vet and I'm going to pick him up soon to discuss some xrays, hoping that it isn't anything serious and that I don't regret not getting insurance!

 

[gypsysmum2]

crazypetlady it will be too late to insure the condition that your dog is being treated for. All insurers will exclude it now.

After coughing up our savings (£4,000) to get my previous dog's lameness diagnosed (torn ligament in the shoulder, treated with a £50 injection into the joint), I would never be uninsured again.

My next dog had Addisons disease and she ran up bills of over £5,000 when the insurance ran out.

There is nothing like the peace of mind to say to the vet "do what you think is best".

 

[Peegee]

I can only agree with RosieB - do not go with Animal Freinds. My vet actually thinks they may even be E&L under a different name. We are currently appealing against their decision not to pay us out. They are currently investigating our case! If they don't we will be going to the Ombudsman - our vet has supported our claim and sent in documentation to no avail. I should have asked the question on here first like you 'areal human'. Could have saved myself a lot of grief. I've heard good things about Petplan and will probably go to them once we get this sorted and cancel with Animal Friends.

 

[arealhuman]

Petplan for me worked out slightly more expensive than Sainsbury's, although they both appear to be underwritten by the same company. We're leaning towards going with Sainsbury's as they offer 2 years worth of double nectar points, and as we shop with them a bit, that makes sense. I'll tie this up at the weekend. It's good to know about Animal friends - a work colleague actually recommended them, and I'll now steer well clear!

 

[Peegee]

I definitely should. Like a lot of insurance companies: they all sound wonderful when they want your money but not so wonderful when they have to pay out!!

 

[Sammyez]

As a new dog owner, I have spent an considerable amount of time looking into pet insurance for my new puppy. It seems there is a huge variation of policies on offer. However, I have narrowed my search down to the following:

PetPlan - Market leaders but expensive, vets like them as they get paid directly

Lifetimepetcover - Good levels of cover at good prices (although they don't cover death and accident)

Also, there is a new entrant to the market, called 'Bought by Many' which offer a number of different policies, with very good levels of cover. Whilst they have a Defcato rating of 5 they have only launched their own brand polcies this year (so, it's hard

to gauge if they pay out on time) However, I am tempted.

See link to thier site:

https://boughtbymany.com/offers/pet-insurance/

If anyone has any comments on 'Bought By Many' I would be keen to know more?