Anyone insured with petplan ?

[Jeanette]

We did have the free 6 weeks with Petplan which came when we got Indie and thank god we didn't have to claim, the Petplan quote was £30.00 plus per month.   We are with Halifax - Gold Cover - £6000 cover for every year for life and costs us £11.00 something per month with £50.00 excess.   

[Cob-Web]

Petplan paid up after couple of weeks, but we had to pay the bill at vets first - is this usual.

Lynne, this is what the Financial Services Authority recommend to vets; some will still offer their clients credit until the payment is made by the insurers - but I think that too many of them have been left out of pocket by delayed payments or no settlement at all, so more and more are asking for the bill to be paid in full by the client  (this is why it helps if your vet accepts credit cards  )

[barts-mum]

All sorted now Bart is with Healthy pets

[Tasha]

I'm with petplan and the excuse of vets have upped their charges does not count with my vet whose kept their prices the same for years Needless to say my pet insurance is more expensive than my car or house insurance which kind of makes me wonder if the insurance companies are on the make...

[beebee]

Maisy with Healthy Pets too. Just had her renewal through and on Gold Cover £12.09 a month. Excess £50. We're in the southeast. Or sometimes East! Wherever Essex is! Fortunately never had to use it.

[caro]

I've just compared Healthy Pets with the PetPlan cover and the main difference that I can see is that Healthy Pets have a max payout per condition whereas PetPlan has a max payout per year

Gold cover on Healthy Pets costs just under £7 per month and offers £5000 per condition.

Heaven forbid anything bad happen to Fern, but how likely do you think that a single condition would cost more than £5k in vets fees for a lifetime?  I have no idea but I know some of you guys have had very poorly pets so might have a better idea of long term costs.

I was chatting to OH and he thinks we should move to healthy pets and we'll put £20 per month in a savings account.

What do people think?

[laurenollie]

At the minute i have the 6 week free petplan form the vets

I've just rung them to see what the cost would be they wanted to charge £17.14 per month for the life time cover. I've checked healthy pets after reading what is on here and they are charging about £9 a month. And the cover seems really good. So i've signed up for that

L & O x

[Sheryl]

Heaven forbid anything bad happen to Fern, but how likely do you think that a single condition would cost more than £5k in vets fees for a lifetime?  I have no idea but I know some of you guys have had very poorly pets so might have a better idea of long term costs.

When Chloe had AIHA, she wasn't insured and it cost us way beyond 5k for the 7 years she lived with the condition.  Probably double that and more

[xlisax]

Plan Type Annually  Monthly 
    Bronze £89.32     £7.44   
    Silver   £154.18   £12.85   
    Gold    £182.92   £15.24   

thats how much it comes out for me on healthy pets i want gold cover for £11 like some of you are getting

im in the southeast, must depend on the area you live, but i tried my mums area which is alot better and nicer than mine and it was dearer

at the moment i pay £10 per dog for the bronze cover with halifax

[SarahS]

Molly's with Petplan.  Insurance is £22 per month with £80 excess.  Each year when we get the renewal form (in Oct) it goes up by £1.50 per month and excess goes up by £10.  Each time Mol has been to vets for little things its usually  £70.   The only time we've claimed off Petplan was last year, after a two day stay at vets for suspect blockage in stomach (she started with ear infection !!!)  bill was £780.  Petplan paid up after couple of weeks, but we had to pay the bill at vets first - is this usual.

I do feel insurance is bit of a rip-off - vet always asks are we insured before treating Molly !!

Ive been told to try Argos for insurance, but make sure its the platimum cover.  Anyone got experience with them.

Lynne

I have always used Pet Plan for dogs and horses, but have literally just changed to the Halifax.  The premium is £10 cheaper per month, for life cover, and the cover is far more extensive.  I can't believe how much Pet Plan are charging now. I never had a problem with claims with them, but I can't turn down a saving of £120 per year. 

[Cob-Web]

Healthy Pets are underwritten by AXA; the company underwriting several polices that have significantly increased premiums recently - so it is possible that they will also increase in price soon 

It also has some very odd clauses in their policy compared to others I have read - for instance,

General Conditions

You must comply with the following conditions to have the full protection of Your Policy. If You do not comply We may at Our option cancel the Policy or refuse to deal with Your claim or reduce the amount of any claim payment.......
.
.
.

13.  Your Pet must not have previously displayed vicious or aggressive behaviour.

This worries me    Vets often write assessments of the pets behaviour on the notes; and these can be shared with the insurance company   

[beebee]

Plan Type Annually  Monthly 
    Bronze £89.32     £7.44  
    Silver   £154.18   £12.85   
    Gold    £182.92   £15.24  

thats how much it comes out for me on healthy pets i want gold cover for £11 like some of you are getting

im in the southeast, must depend on the area you live, but i tried my mums area which is alot better and nicer than mine and it was dearer

at the moment i pay £10 per dog for the bronze cover with halifax

Hi,i'm in Essex and paying £12.09 a month on gold cover,i dont know why you were quoted different. :-

[*sammy*]

my gold cover with healthy pets is £7.40 a month 

[Mary P]

I've just put Bonnie on Healthy Pets, and chatted with the lady on the phone about the others. She said that if a dog has a previous condition, but it has been symptom, treatment and advice free for 12 months, they will accept the dog as if that problem never had existed!
I'll certainly think of changing when the others come up for renewal!

[PennyB]

Petplan paid up after couple of weeks, but we had to pay the bill at vets first - is this usual.

Lynne, this is what the Financial Services Authority recommend to vets; some will still offer their clients credit until the payment is made by the insurers - but I think that too many of them have been left out of pocket by delayed payments or no settlement at all, so more and more are asking for the bill to be paid in full by the client  (this is why it helps if your vet accepts credit cards  )

You can still tick the box on the petplan form for the money to go directly to your vet though --- I do this for the vet I see in Swansea which is great. Thankfully with my local vet I can pay them in installments anyway.