Insurance Price Hike!

[Sheryl]

I considered that also.  Do you end up paying more?

[Robbie34]

No, they don't make a service charge.  Saves me forking out the full amount.

[ladylola]

The price rises are  I pay about 30 quid a month for 3 dogs with Halifax top cover.

[Rhona W]

The price rises are  I pay about 30 quid a month for 3 dogs with Halifax top cover.

I'm with Halifax too and pay around £24 for my two, with a £50 excess. I have just renewed for my third year and it has only gone up by a matter of pence each year. Halifax is also underwritten by AXA, so I don't understand why M&S has increased so much but not Halifax.  Not that I'm complaining! 
I'm happy with their service too. I've recently made a claim for Reuben and it was settled within 10 days, including the cost of the prescription food. 

[Sheryl]

Having finally looked at the policy, it seems that the money they pay out for certain things has increased too.  Maybe that is why the jump is so high

[Nicola]

I moved mine from M&S to Healthy Pets, I pay their premiums as a lump sum and Rodaidh's was £70ish for the year. I got a cheque back for them last week for nearly £2000... that's over 20 years worth of premiums    There was no way I was paying the M&S premiums for all 3 of them, it worked out at over £600 for the year 

[Cob-Web]

There was no way I was paying the M&S premiums for all 3 of them, it worked out at over £600 for the year 

I pay that for my two, and fully expect it to go up again this year   

[Helen]

There was no way I was paying the M&S premiums for all 3 of them, it worked out at over £600 for the year 

I pay that for my two, and fully expect it to go up again this year   

that's a hike I can't afford    I'll be looking at healthy pets - although I want to give my dog the best possible cover theres a limit to what I can pay...

[michelle123]

Halifax is also underwritten by AXA, so I don't understand why M&S has increased so much but not Halifax. 

Healthy Pets is also Underwritten by AXA

An Accountant's guide to basic underwriting, cheap prices = lots of customers

With lots of customers comes lots of claims  Inevitably the price goes up.   Accountant backtracks 

The problem was M&S were TOO cheap and their scheme with AXA has suffered as a consequence, so much so that it would appear that AXA aren't writing it for M&S anymore.

Strange though that AXA arent putting their prices up across the board ala Halifax & Healthy Pets    probably because it was underwritten (price wise) differently.

I do feel sorry for the people who have had claims on the M&S policy and basically have to 'put up' with the price hike or go elsewhere and have no cover  .  In my opinion it is bad underwriting - but thats just my view. 

[Helen]

Halifax is also underwritten by AXA, so I don't understand why M&S has increased so much but not Halifax. 

Healthy Pets is also Underwritten by AXA

An Accountant's guide to basic underwriting, cheap prices = lots of customers

With lots of customers comes lots of claims  Inevitably the price goes up.   Accountant backtracks 

The problem was M&S were TOO cheap and their scheme with AXA has suffered as a consequence, so much so that it would appear that AXA aren't writing it for M&S anymore.

Strange though that AXA arent putting their prices up across the board ala Halifax & Healthy Pets    probably because it was underwritten (price wise) differently.

I do feel sorry for the people who have had claims on the M&S policy and basically have to 'put up' with the price hike or go elsewhere and have no cover  .  In my opinion it is bad underwriting - but thats just my view. 

Michelle - are you referring to pre-exisiting illnesses with M&S?  We've only claimed once and that was for HGE which is not a recurring illness so I was assuming this wouldn't be a problem?

[badgeralbert]

Wow, what increases 

I'll be looking for insurance soon for the pup, is Healthy Pets OK or would anyone recommend someone else?

We cancelled Badger's insurance about 4 years ago as it had gone up to around £50 per month with a £250 excess  and to be honest thought there was not much point carrying on with it.  We were going to save the £50 a month in another account and "insure" him ourself and reep the benefits but you know how things go, we didn't  that was petplan.

We have probably spent around £700 ish since stopping his insurance (he swallowed something and it was stuck in his intestine - so a major op) and I dont really regret doing this, well not if we'd have put the money away I wouldn't  but then again it is a risk.

I will be insuring the pup so is Healthy Pets OK 

ETA: I did try and change his insurance but nowhere would insure him for things he'd already had done (teeth and the like) that's why we cancelled it, although it was a BIG risk.

[Cob-Web]

I do feel sorry for the people who have had claims on the M&S policy and basically have to 'put up' with the price hike or go elsewhere and have no cover  .  In my opinion it is bad underwriting - but thats just my view. 

   Yes, it is very frustrating 

Even more so, because when we first got Molo as a puppy, I resisted the temptation to sign up with (at that time, very cheap) M & S because it seemed "too good to be true" and at the time, M & S Money had just been bought by HSBC and I was worried about what would happen.
After 12 claim free months with Direct Line, the renewal came with a change in T & C's that I was unhappy with so I moved M & S, as I thought (wrongly) that they had settled down. Within a few days I had claimed for a grass-seed, and then a lump, and he was treated (without a claim) for various other bits and bobs as well, so we really are stuck with them, now  

When I got quotes for Bonnee last year, the 10% discount offered by M & S for a second pet made the cost no more than any other quote we got for similar cover.........

[Nicola]

There was no way I was paying the M&S premiums for all 3 of them, it worked out at over £600 for the year 

I pay that for my two, and fully expect it to go up again this year   

There's just no way I was paying that much, I didn't see enough of a difference in the M&S policy *for what I need it for* to justify it. I'm happy with the cover Healthy Pets offers for illness, injury and 3rd party and I'm happy not to have behavioural cover etc. The difference must be in the postcodes if it's costing you the same to insure 2 dogs as I was quoted for 3 although actually thinking back it was closer to £700 as it was £220 odd each for Alfie and Rodaidh and about £180 for Tilly... it is cheaper to insure in Scotland and even cheaper again in NI so if we'd been down south for M&S we'd probably have been looking at closer to £800-900!

[michelle123]

Halifax is also underwritten by AXA, so I don't understand why M&S has increased so much but not Halifax. 

Healthy Pets is also Underwritten by AXA

An Accountant's guide to basic underwriting, cheap prices = lots of customers

With lots of customers comes lots of claims  Inevitably the price goes up.   Accountant backtracks 

The problem was M&S were TOO cheap and their scheme with AXA has suffered as a consequence, so much so that it would appear that AXA aren't writing it for M&S anymore.

Strange though that AXA arent putting their prices up across the board ala Halifax & Healthy Pets    probably because it was underwritten (price wise) differently.

I do feel sorry for the people who have had claims on the M&S policy and basically have to 'put up' with the price hike or go elsewhere and have no cover  .  In my opinion it is bad underwriting - but thats just my view. 

Michelle - are you referring to pre-exisiting illnesses with M&S?  We've only claimed once and that was for HGE which is not a recurring illness so I was assuming this wouldn't be a problem?

Helen, not sure what a HGE is  hope I'm not being a complete moron    Generally, Insurers will err on the side of caution as much as is possible - if they can get away with excluding things for at least 12 months, they will.   

I added Charlie onto my existing Healthy Pets policy - I was ENTIRELY honesty with them, told them that he was overweight and (as informed by the vet) has a skin problem which is due to his weight - I think it was through boredom    anyway, I informed HP and both were excluded, as I imagined they would be - I was however slightly narked because within the exclusions it says that they will consider lifting the endorsement following 12 months free of any vets advices/consultations regarding the issues.   I e mailed them to specifically question them on this point as we are taking Charlie for monthly weigh ins, therefore looking after his health and being pro active - I was told that this would class as "advice" and therefore he would have to be "advice free" for 12 months before they could consider lifting the endorsement.    It makes you laugh that for  being pro active and wanting to combat the problem we *could* be penalised       

I am at an insurance meeting early June so if I bump into the AXA man I will question him to within an inch of his life    although I am sure that I will be told that "it's not my department"   
 

[LucyJ]

After 12 claim free months with Direct Line, the renewal came with a change in T & C's that I was unhappy with so I moved M & S, as I thought (wrongly) that they had settled down. Within a few days I had claimed for a grass-seed, and then a lump, and he was treated (without a claim) for various other bits and bobs as well, so we really are stuck with them, now  

I've recently signed up with Healthy Pets and I'm fairly sure that they only asked about conditions that had been treated in the last 12 months in terms of exclusions - I will go and double check though.

I was with Pet Plan before that, and it cost £50 a month for the 2 dogs, Healthy Pets is only £16.  The cover isn't quite so good but is fine on the basics, and I'm going to save some of the difference each month just in case.