Insurance

[Sue H]

We have had Bramble insured through PetPlan ever since we got him as a puppy.

He is now just coming up to 3 years old, and I have been paying about 18.50 per month, only having had one small claim for a cyst on his paw when he was little.

I recently trawled the Internet to see what else was available, with no excess and no exclusion after 12 months treatment etc. and the best that I found was M & S who quoted me 10.65 p/m (would have been 10.24 with a 50.00 excess).  Sainsburys were 12.67 and MoreThan were 11.99.

I have therefore changed to M&S and wish I have done it earlier to be honest - so many other things demand your time but you need to get motivated really ...

I don't think there is any penalty for changing midstream so to speak, since we paid by DD anyway and not a whole year upfront, so if anyone has found anything better - let us all know !!  Any feedback on claims procedure etc would also be handy, and then maybe we can compile a useful reference to all Cocker owners, with age, postcode and pre-existing conditions as a reference for shopping around!!

[Petra]

Dillon's 6 week puppy insurance with PetPlan runs out this week, so I have been searching the net for good insurance - and M&S also came up best, they offered most protection for a very affordable price (Can't offhand remember cost - have it written down somewhere ..), so will be changing to M&S in the next few days...

[lyn]

i just kept the kc going it costs about £25 a month i didn't realise there was such a big difference in price i would also have to pay the first £50 and 10% of overall vet bill.now i think i will go and look at whats about starting with m&s.
thanks for posting you just may have saved me loads of money

[John_n_Rach]

Picked up a leaflet from M n S on sunday, Max's 6 weeks free insurance runs out this week also, looks very reasonable and most importantly, very good cover.  Anyone got experience of M n S insurance???

[issey]

we took out m&s insurance for Issey after reading loads of others , we opted for no excess too and think its £10.65 per month.

love
karen

[Sue H]

We have got our policy documents now from M & S and they are as good if not better than PetPlan for their cover and payments ...

I wrote to Petplan and they seem to have taken it on the chin - it does seem a shame that a reputable, long established firm like that gets undercut, but basically it is their fault for not getting the best underwriters and keeping ahead in the market - they probably rely too much on clots like me that just renew their insurance each year without looking into it (thinking - oh, they are all pretty much the same, and PP has got a good name ...)

I vote that we keep this thread going for the time being anyway - is there any way that we can judge whether, let's say, M & S suddenly get nasty when the dog gets to 7/9 years old and then the premiums shoot up pro rata  - if we could make up a sort of instant QuotaBoard, we could all put in our findings .... has to be someone out there better than me at this sort of stuff ....  ??

[Petra]

Last night a chap from PetPlan rang me to advise me that Dillons 6 weeks free insurance is about to run out and that I need to renew.   He started quoting me their top policy, with I think £50 excess for something like £30 per month.   Cut a long story short, when I mentioned that I could get it cheaper at M&S he got a bit panicky, as if he was desperate to sell me a policy there and then!!   After ratteling through all his policies, the then proceeded to tell me about their budget policy (which is not worth the paper it is written on) and that came to £15 per month with £50 excess but there was hardly any vet fee cover, and almost nothing in the way of loss, death, etc.... When I told him I could still get it cheaper elsewhere he got really stroppy and hung up on me   He seemed under sooo much pressure to get me to sign there and then...!

Anyway, M&S are going to give me a great level of cover, no excess for £14.30 per month, and I am happy with that!   They said the policy docs would be with me in 5 days - will see if they arrive!!

[suki1964]

Alfies renewal with Marks and Spencers came through last week. After claiming near on £700 in the past year I was getting worried about the premiums going up. Pleased to say no increase in cost but increases in the level of cover Alfies cover is £181 a year with no excess.

They have paid promptly, either direct to the vet or to us. The only "problem" I have had is never having enough claim forms

[Mary]

I've been with M&S since Lottie was a puppy.  Touch wood, I have not made a claim so cannot comment on the efficiency there.  My annual premium last year was cheaper than the previous year with increases in cover too.  This years has just come through the post this morning but didn't have time to open it before coming to work this morning.  Fingers crossed it's as good as previous years

[*Jay*]

I have had to make three claims for Vegas this year from M&S all for the same condition. The first and third claim got paid within 7 days. We had a problem with the 2nd claim, which was the one that covered the op he had at the specialists and which I had to pay the vets direct . It took them almost 3 months to pay up for that one but I think that might have been due to the stupid exclusion they put on his policy

But I still think its great cover for the price and the service bar that little hiccup has been really good.

[Lottie]

I have 3 dogs and 3 cats insured withdirect line - they have always paid up without problems.

I have heard (through a forum thread on a horsey website) that M&S gets the thumbs up from the vets perspective in terms of paying out.

[Joelf]

I have both dogs insured with Direct Line & so far they have paid up with no problem(I've only had one small claim for Domino though!!)
I've heard that the NFU are also quite good.

[taliska]

Both ours are with E&L they have a number of different plans, and covers seems pretty good to me, can't comment on claims process tho as touch wood haven't had to make one.

[isla]

I went with MoreThan. There plan seemed pretty good and if you booked onlone you got three months free. Thre is a £75 excess though. Fortuantely no claims as yet (touch wood). I simply wanted it for piece of mind.

[Cob-Web]

After Molo's 6 weeks ran out - we took out a Direct Line policy - at that time the T & C's were similar to M & S but a cheaper premium.

When it came up for renewal after 12 months (and no claims), they sent a new policy with dfferent T & C's, and which excluded things that I would consider standard for policies, such as pre-op blood tests    Not only that, they increased the price, for the reduced cover  

So, we swapped to M & S, which was cheaper than the D Line quote - having avoided M & S last year as they had just been taken over by HSBC and I was full of doom and gloom about their future service  

I am hopeful that if we ever have to claim, the service will be everything that we have been led to expect