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Cocker Specific Discussion => Health => Insurance => Topic started by: Miss Poohs on February 18, 2005, 09:40:14 PM

Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Miss Poohs on February 18, 2005, 09:40:14 PM
OK guys, I know it's been done loads of times before, but I need your input here.

I have Vahri insured with More Than, it isn't life cover so I'm thinking of changing it  :rolleyes: .

I had started the process of getting Ruffy insured with M&S, but they've been faffing me around since the start of January, even the vet was getting sick of it. You know like leaving you on hold for 20 - 30mins  :o, and putting silly exclusions on the policy - again even the vet was mystified  :ph34r: .

So having told M&S to forget it - I'm back to square 1.

Who are you're babies insured with?
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Cob-Web on February 18, 2005, 09:44:33 PM
Direct Line - it was a choice between theit lifetime cover and More Than (I am sure they offered lifetime cover when I was looking?  :unsure: ). We have other insurance policies with DL, so got a 10% reduction, as well.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Sass on February 18, 2005, 09:56:05 PM
Pinnacle, it's Lifetime cover.......and they pay up!!!!!!
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Jan/Billy on February 18, 2005, 11:04:41 PM
We have billy insured with Pet plan and have to say they are absolutley brilliant.

Unfortunately I had to claim last december , I submitted my claim form to the vets and had my cheque from Petplan within 2 weeks!

And they also insure an illness for life...just as well really!  ;)  
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: PennyB on February 18, 2005, 11:36:53 PM
Quote
We have billy insured with Pet plan and have to say they are absolutley brilliant.

Unfortunately I had to claim last december , I submitted my claim form to the vets and had my cheque from Petplan within 2 weeks!

And they also insure an illness for life...just as well really!  ;)
Same here and they've paid out loads for Wilf (000s). Had a slight hiccup on the last claim where they charged me twice for the excess for the same thing, but its being sorted now and am not one to get upset over a simple mistake as these things happen!

Had heard that M&S put silly exclusions on stuff which is why I'd never be able to insure any of mine with them. Someone said that they were now excluded from dog bites as their dog had been bitten by another dog!

I thought More than were for life (a friend has a policy with them and she thinks they have)
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: speedyjaney on February 18, 2005, 11:50:48 PM
We've got Jessie with M&S. Took a while to sort the cover out and the exclusions they put on have now been removed...3 months into the policy. Ive had to clain already and the cheque was with me within 8 days!!
Im pleased now... :) it was worth the hassle at the beginning
Janey
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Spangle on February 19, 2005, 08:21:11 AM
I thought More Than covers for life.
I could be wrong but hope not as I've just transferred 2 of mine to them!  
 
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: KellyS on February 19, 2005, 08:23:24 AM
I am currently with M&S but I haven't had to claim from them.  Previously I was with Direct Line, and we did make a claim.  They were very good the cheque was with us within a few weeks.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Spangle on February 19, 2005, 08:34:44 AM
Aha...taken from the More Than FAQ

Do you stop offering cover as my pet gets older?
No, and we don't refuse cover for senior pets either. Once your pet's policy has been issued, they can be covered for life. The only benefit that stops is when your pet is 11 years old, we won't give you back the purchase price if they die or have to be put to sleep through illness or natural causes. All other benefits continue.


Although to my horror I have just noticed that the excess is £70 or 15% whichever is greater  :o    

I have only ever paid £30 excess before (Petshield)  with Sophie's policy.  They have been really great with her insurance, but unfortunately the policies for the two boys changed and it seemed a better option to change company before I had to make a claim.  

Although not sure now I have seen the £70 excess!
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: PennyB on February 19, 2005, 08:37:47 AM
Quote
Aha...taken from the More Than FAQ

Do you stop offering cover as my pet gets older?
No, and we don't refuse cover for senior pets either. Once your pet's policy has been issued, they can be covered for life. The only benefit that stops is when your pet is 11 years old, we won't give you back the purchase price if they die or have to be put to sleep through illness or natural causes. All other benefits continue.


Although to my horror I have just noticed that the excess is £70 or 15% whichever is greater  :o    

I have only ever paid £30 excess before (Petshield)  with Sophie's policy.  They have been really great with her insurance, but unfortunately the policies for the two boys changed and it seemed a better option to change company before I had to make a claim.  

Although not sure now I have seen the £70 excess!
Its not about being covered until they are old, 'covered for life' means that if they have an illness as a pup the insurance will cover them with that illness fo rthe rest of their life. Some policies will only cover an illness for 12 months and on renewal of policy this illness is then excluded
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Pete and Jo on February 19, 2005, 08:41:52 AM
We've just insured Jarvis with More Th>n and it covers for the total length of treatment, no matter how long it takes, and is life cover i.e payout if Jarvis dies from illness or accident up to 11 years of age.

All for 10.99 per month which we think is OK.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: s baxter on February 19, 2005, 09:09:08 AM
Alfie is with petplan ,and we will be claiming very soon for his lumpectomy,we have are diabetic cat with petplan too and his insulin`s £60 a month and syringes about £50 a month as i use 2 day ,(his premiun is £13 a month)so we are we ££££ in and am so grateful to my mind for seeing the sence to get them covered it really is peace of mind. :D  
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Spangle on February 19, 2005, 09:48:47 AM
Quote
Its not about being covered until they are old, 'covered for life' means that if they have an illness as a pup the insurance will cover them with that illness fo rthe rest of their life. Some policies will only cover an illness for 12 months and on renewal of policy this illness is then excluded 

Yes I understand that, but it's also worth checking it is cover for life (as in till they are old) A few years ago one of the most well known companies upset many of their customers by not continuing to renew cover on dogs of 8 years even though they had been previously covered them up to that point, that particular company doesn't do that any more, but some do, especially on certain breeds, cockers not being one of those though admittedly!
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: sweeps mum on February 19, 2005, 04:57:29 PM
Sweep is with Petplan too. He recently had an operation to remove a lump from his back leg. All we had to pay upfront was the £60 excess and we filled the form in and the vet made the claim for the rest. I believe it came  to over £100 but all we paid was the £60.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: bluegirl on February 20, 2005, 10:14:24 AM
I was with more than with my old dog Bonnie and they covered her for life, even paid up her full cost to buy her as she sadly died 2 weeks before her 11th birthday. More than were excellent with me paid immediately on every claim (and in the last 12mths before her death it was alot of money.)
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: scooby's mum on February 20, 2005, 10:59:30 AM
Quote
I thought More Than covers for life.
I could be wrong but hope not as I've just transferred 2 of mine to them!
I've got Scooby covered with More Than (and it is life cover).  I'd only taken out insurance 2 weeks before Scooby's accident (haven't even paid anything yet as they are offering 2 months free) and they have so far paid out £1,500.00 for vet costs due to his accident - no hassle.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Miss Poohs on February 21, 2005, 09:08:34 PM
I called More Than back to check their insurance cover, it's £6000 of cover per ailment for as long as the £6000 lasts for that ailment, it definately isn't life cover. Once that £6000 is spent your on your own.

Although it is a lot of money, I doubt if, God forbid, one of my babies developed a heart condition at the age of 3, £6000 wouldn't see them a life time.

So we've gone with Direct Line - hope we never need to use it.
 
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Cob-Web on February 21, 2005, 09:56:38 PM
Quote
I called More Than back to check their insurance cover, it's £6000 of cover per ailment for as long as the £6000 lasts for that ailment, it definately isn't life cover. Once that £6000 is spent your on your own.

Although it is a lot of money, I doubt if, God forbid, one of my babies developed a heart condition at the age of 3, £6000 wouldn't see them a life time.

So we've gone with Direct Line - hope we never need to use it.
Sorry if I misled you earlier in this thread Janice, but the Direct Line cover is no different from More Than - £6000 limit on each condition  :ph34r:

PetPlan offer an unlimited cover for life policy, but the premiums are much higher to reflect this  :(  
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Miss Poohs on February 21, 2005, 10:44:05 PM
I'll check again tomorrow, but I specifically asked for a 'for life policy', and they told me this was a new addition to their insurance.

No harm in checking it out - again.

Bye the way the premium is £25.40 to cover both Vahri and Rufus.
 
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Miss Poohs on February 22, 2005, 04:36:01 PM
You were quite right IWLass, it was only until your £6000 ran out. I told them I thought it was rather naughty of them to sell this as a life policy, when infact it's 'a £6000 limit and you're on your own policy'!!!  :huh:

The explaination being it can be for longer for a year if the £6000 lasts that long  :rolleyes: .

Think it'll have to be Pet Plan  B)  
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: scooby's mum on February 22, 2005, 05:38:39 PM
Quote
Think it'll have to be Pet Plan  B)
PetPlan wanted £17.00 per month for Scooby - so really, even though you are getting unlimited life cover you are definetly paying for it (nothing comes free  :( ), so even though you do have the piece of mind you have to weigh up whether it's worth it  <_<  
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: suzysu on February 22, 2005, 06:00:20 PM
:) Does anyone know - is Petplan the only company that does a genuine 'for life' policy?  :blink:  
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Cob-Web on February 22, 2005, 06:12:35 PM
Quote
I told them I thought it was rather naughty of them to sell this as a life policy, when infact it's 'a £6000 limit and you're on your own policy'!!!  :huh:
Industry standard is to descibe any policy that CAN last for the life of the dog to be described as life - with any maximum claim limits stated as such. This is to distingiush them from the policies that offer cover for the first 12 months of any condition  - again, with or without  an upper maximum limit.

The online quote for an unlimited lifetime policy from Petplan for Molo is £23.50 per month with a £70 excess. We pay Directline £15.72 for a Lifetime policy with a £6000 maximum on each condition with a £35 excess.  On balance, we decided that the Directline policy was better value, as we are more likely to claim for treatment over £35 several times in Molo's lifetime, than he need a single condition treatment costing over £6000  :unsure:  
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: alan&ness on February 23, 2005, 07:10:11 PM
:D Hi all , Check out Sainsburys £6,500 per treatment & upto £1,500 life cover, Underwriten by axa insurance. :D
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: tobycat on February 23, 2005, 07:18:56 PM
Oscar is insured with Pet Plan and I can't rate them highly enough - so far :)

Scully isn't insured because no company would touch her (unless I paid massive premiums) due to her health conditions that she was born with. All the insurance companies said that as she was born with problems then these were classed as pre-exisiting conditions - hence the enormous premiums.

Mind you - when it comes to Scully we'd go bankrupt if we had to, to pay her vets bills. Nothing is too much for our golden girl :D
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Pipers Mummy on February 23, 2005, 08:43:13 PM
Hi,
I had Piper insured with M&S while we were in the UK.  I had no trouble hassle sorting out insurance for her - they paid out lots of money with no problems at all (even reduced my premium after the first year).  M&S cover is lifetime cover as far as I am aware - i.e. for the remainder of the dogs life you continue to receive your 6,500 or whatever it is for each condition.  From my personal perspective I can recommend M&S - also I was advised once by one of the ladies at the M&S call centre that M&S insurance and Petplan were one and the same..........

That said, I have read that others have had problems recently with exemptions and poor customer service so maybe things are changing now that they have a healthy chunk of the market  :huh:   At the end of the day I know that Petplan are usually more expensive than other insurance companies but I do know many people who's animals are insured by them and if you want excellent coverage, no quibbling, lifetime cover and good customer service then they may be the direction to head in.

Louise
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Cob-Web on February 23, 2005, 09:00:47 PM
Quote
That said, I have read that others have had problems recently with exemptions and poor customer service so maybe things are changing now that they have a healthy chunk of the market  :huh:   

Its probably also to do with the fact that as part of the "rescue package" last August M & S sold their financial services divison to HSBC as a way to keep the share holders happy:
M & S Money Sale press release (http://www2.marksandspencer.com/thecompany/mediacentre/pressreleases/2004/fin2004-11-09-01.shtml)

We were looking to insure Molo at the time this sale was announced - and we specifically decided that despite their great reputation, we would steer clear - probably a good job too  :rolleyes:
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Jessica's Mum on February 24, 2005, 08:21:10 PM
Jessica is insured with M&S. we haven't had to claim yet, fortunately, but the friend who recommended M&S to us has and had no problems :)
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: taniac on February 25, 2005, 05:10:24 PM
My 2 are with vet2pet.co.uk (think cornhill might underwrite it).. It does cover you for conditions that are for life, however I do think there is a maximum amount (per year?)
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Sue H on February 26, 2005, 08:07:03 PM
There must be a broker who can give us a breakdown of all the costs and coverage which we could apply for ... why don't we just give a load of brokers various specs including lifetime cover and see what they come up with ??

It could be interesting ...
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: paulb on April 10, 2005, 12:20:54 AM
Has anyone had any experience with tesco pet insurance, as i thought petplan seemed expensive ,


paul
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: suki1964 on April 10, 2005, 01:23:37 AM
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Has anyone had any experience with tesco pet insurance, as i thought petplan seemed expensive ,


paul
[snapback]115180[/snapback]

Tesco is a lot cheaper then Pet Plan but they have more restrictions. Tescos only cover any illness for up to one year from onset So lets say you pup gets knocked over, his initial bills will be covered, but lets say he gets arthritis down the line because of the first injury, then it wont be covered.

I think Marks and Spencers have a comparable policy to Pet Plan, where they cover the illness for life, which is very reasonable. Or you can do as many people do and build a puppy fund, basically putting a certain amount a month away in a seperate high interest account for any expensive vetinary bills. You may be lucky (like we were) and find you never need to dip in to it for years, therefore building up enough cover all costs when needed
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: kookie on April 10, 2005, 07:35:51 AM
Quote
Quote
Has anyone had any experience with tesco pet insurance, as i thought petplan seemed expensive ,


paul
[snapback]115180[/snapback]

Tesco is a lot cheaper then Pet Plan but they have more restrictions. Tescos only cover any illness for up to one year from onset So lets say you pup gets knocked over, his initial bills will be covered, but lets say he gets arthritis down the line because of the first injury, then it wont be covered.

I think Marks and Spencers have a comparable policy to Pet Plan, where they cover the illness for life, which is very reasonable. Or you can do as many people do and build a puppy fund, basically putting a certain amount a month away in a seperate high interest account for any expensive vetinary bills. You may be lucky (like we were) and find you never need to dip in to it for years, therefore building up enough cover all costs when needed
[snapback]115184[/snapback]
Thats what we did, when our premiums doubled over less than 4 years, and we'd made no claims either. The excess went up too.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Miss Poohs on April 10, 2005, 09:01:24 AM
A Puppy fund - now you know I've never thought of that. That would probably be very worthwhile. 'Specially as the years roll by, and the insurance gets more and more expensive.

Thanks for that, I'll set one up beside Andrews uni fund  :rolleyes:
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Whistler on April 10, 2005, 08:56:35 PM
Ok say I have cover with someone else now.  12 months down the line will pet plan consider me?  they are looking £22 per month for Ollie while Tesco's were £9 I wouldn't be cheap in looking out for Ollie but it is a lot more money.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: suki1964 on April 10, 2005, 10:04:31 PM
Quote
Ok say I have cover with someone else now.  12 months down the line will pet plan consider me?  they are looking £22 per month for Ollie while Tesco's were £9 I wouldn't be cheap in looking out for Ollie but it is a lot more money.
[snapback]115370[/snapback]

You can swop cover at any time as long your dog is in the age bracket covered, Tescos I think over accept new policys up to the age of 6 for example.

Pet Plan is not necessarily the best plan out there - its just the most well known. Try THIS (http://Sorry but we aren't permitted to include Money Super Market links on our forum. Their rules, sorry :( /PetInsurance/comparepet.asp?PetType=Dog) site for comparisons, just put in the dogs age and your post code and a chart will come up with the basics offered from various companies. You then have to click on the details to read what exactly is covered, worth an hours time.

And I agree Pet Plan are too expensive, especially for being in  South London, they wanted £28 a month premiums with £60 excess - no way worth it in my mind
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: LoveCatz on April 11, 2005, 03:02:47 PM
Has anyone any experience of E & L. They do 4 levels of cover starting at £5.95 a month to £11.95.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Colin on April 12, 2005, 06:00:01 PM
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Has anyone any experience of E & L. They do 4 levels of cover starting at £5.95 a month to £11.95.
[snapback]115537[/snapback]

From what I've read both on here and other dog forums E&L seem to have a pretty poor reputation for trying to wriggle out of paying out and also delaying any payments for as long as possible. :( I had similar problems with Healthy Pets - it took me ages to get any money out of them and even when I did they kept making deductions from the full amount, they argued the toss over everything. :angry:

Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: ReadingSteve on April 12, 2005, 08:34:07 PM
We went with Sainsburys after a lot of research.  Seems there's basically three different types of pet insurance

1) Cheaper policies that have low ceilings on the pay-out and are normally limited to 12 months cover per illness

2) Mid-range policies that allow a maximum value per illness, but don't restrict to 12 months

3) Top end policies that allow a maximum value per year and don't stop paying out for each illness.

Sainsburys falls into the middle bracket and on paper looks to have a good sum insured for the premium paid.  We've only just taken out the policy, so have no idea how good they'll be when it comes to making a claim, and how much the premiums will increase each year.  Having said that, there were lots of COL folk who said they had good experience with Sainsburys....
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: *Jay* on April 12, 2005, 09:03:02 PM
Quote
Ok say I have cover with someone else now.  12 months down the line will pet plan consider me?  they are looking £22 per month for Ollie while Tesco's were £9 I wouldn't be cheap in looking out for Ollie but it is a lot more money.
[snapback]115370[/snapback]


They will still take you on but bear in mind, that should Ollie have any illness or accidents within the year, then they won't provide cover for those conditions either. Its really down to your own personal situation - if you stick with Tesco and Ollie develops a lifelong condition, they will only pay out for 12 months then you will have to find the money to cover the cost for the rest of his life. One of our clients has a dog with numerous medical complaints and he is approx 200.00 a month for treatment.....and we are in scotland so much cheaper than down south. He didn't realise there was any difference with policies and unfortunately his turned out to be a 12 month policy. Have you looked at the More Th>n and Marks & Spencer policies? My 3 are insured with M & S for 10.00 a month each and I think they give 7000 per condition. Still very reasonable price wise and much better cover than 12 month policies ;)  

Just don't touch E&L with a bargepole ;)
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: LoveCatz on April 13, 2005, 12:26:07 PM
We got a leaflet for Puppy Quote (http://www.puppyquote.co.uk) looks promising but I haven't had time to look fully into it.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: mick on April 13, 2005, 12:31:02 PM
We changed our Jess to Sainsburies because of peoples recommendations regarding a thread on this site a while back but we also have not used it yet.
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Luvly on April 13, 2005, 01:19:22 PM
 :luv:
Title: Insurance Again!
Post by: Babylonian on April 13, 2005, 08:46:44 PM
Quote
Quote
Has anyone had any experience with tesco pet insurance, as i thought petplan seemed expensive ,


paul
[snapback]115180[/snapback]

Or you can do as many people do and build a puppy fund, basically putting a certain amount a month away in a seperate high interest account for any expensive vetinary bills. You may be lucky (like we were) and find you never need to dip in to it for years, therefore building up enough cover all costs when needed
[snapback]115184[/snapback]

Just wondering how much would be a reasonable amount for a puppy fund??  I have jed with M&S but we are reluctant to claim anything small for fear of increasing the premiums - defeating the object really!