What's the average pup insurance for 1st year - quotes seem high

[Geordietyke]

Now I realise it will differ from area to area etc but just got a quote for new pup and Petplan was £27 per month and Argos Platinum (which I had for Odie and they've been really good) was £26 per month.

When I done Odie's 1st year 3.5 years ago, it was only £15 and that was quoted by lots of insurers.  His subsequent 3 years only his £26 max and that was with lots of claims in the last year for his Addison's Disease.

These figures seem very steep, considering it's usually cheaper the 1st year.....

Petplan users - what is their average yearly hike if no claims have been submitted.  I'm tempted with them but don't want to face £30-40 per month charges in the future!

Cheers, Lesley

[Archie bean]

Archie's first year was with Argos and it was £18 a month. They even paid out over £500 for his complications after castration which I thought wasn't covered! For the second year the quote went up to just over £30 a month which I wasn't happy with so I switched to Axa - £11 a month. If course Axa are no longer offering insurance and are thwacking the prices up for anyone who makes a claim to make them unaffordable. There are cheaper deals out there but from what I've read it seems that Petplan is a safe bet because they are specialist pet insurers so not likely to stop offering cover. It's a minefield! 

[Poppsie]

Hi Lesley, both poppy and pebbles were with petplan  and they always paid out  BUT as they got older the excess increased quite a lot  and with pebbles getting to 14 I then had to pay up to 20% towards the cost of the treatment  Phoebe and Mia are with Animal Friends and they seem quite good and reasonable x x x

[Geordietyke]

Thanks.  It seems I have been lucky with Argos then, max cover per month only £26!

[Poppsie]

Lesley, just checked phoebe and Mia's policy, and I pay £21.83 each a month  x x x

[Fluff]

We're with John Lewis and for Daisy and the two cats, we're £24 a month.

[Mudmagnets]

For Minstrel I was quoted £33 per month. I had to tell them he had a grade 1 heart murmur and an undescended testicle & also colitis when I first got him. Took him to the vets for his final jab today and vet says heart & testes now ok, problems now solved (Hurrah). Not sure if this will make a difference or not to premium, so may phone up to see.

[Geordietyke]

Aw bless lil Minstrel 

[siam]

I'm £14.50 per month for Alfie (4yrs) with John Lewis for lifetime cover. I went with Tesco for £11ish per month  when he was a pup, but unfortunately I assumed he had lifetime cover with them, but hadn't. He has a skin allergy which requires a lot of treatment and is of course excluded with the change of insurers.

[JennyBee]

Brodie is with PetPlan and think we paid £23 a month for her first year. PetPlan say they don't raise their prices if you claim but not sure I believe that! I've claimed quite a bit, and now pay £40 a month. Expecting her renewal any time now and not looking forward to it

Breaking news . Just checked bank statement and I now pay £42.50. Have had no renewal papers from PetPlan? Guess it could be much worse!

[JohnK]

Try Sainsbury's, they are with Allianz who seem dog friendly

[Mudmagnets]

Try Sainsbury's, they are with Allianz who seem dog friendly

Petplan is  also underwritten (I think that is the right term) by Allianz 

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

I got lots of quotes last year when Henry was 3-4 months, and they varied from about £20 to £35 per month (I'm in London, which seemed to be 100% higher than same policy for outside London). I went with Axa as the premium seemed reasonable (but not too cheap) - £27 per month, and the excess not too excessive (£75). Also Axa had good reviews. How things change 

I'm now with PetPlan - it's £32 per month, but obviously his pre-existing condition (cataract) is not covered (but I'm taking my case with Axa up with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) so who knows what will happen).

Insurance is turning into a horrible business (at least for me!) - the whole point of a premium is to pay a monthly amount according on your personal risk (based on your dog's breed, age & your location) and if you don't claim you pay the premium anyway and don't get anything in return (apart from peace of mind) and if you do claim it should then pay off. Clearly with some insurers it doesn't work like this and there's no point in you insuring with them at all, as they end up just charging you premiums to match the expected claims (or more).

I now have some trust in PetPlan to honour the whole "lifetime" cover thing and not screwing me over by increasing the premiums ludicrously, but really my trust is probably misplaced - maybe they'll increase the claims in the second year massively. Any company could - in theory - do what Axa has done. Only time will tell if they get away with it (the FOS will respond to me within the next 6 weeks...)

[abzy0309]

We insured Reggie at PetPlan at 10 weeks and pay £22.00 for lifetime cover.

 

[MANDYANDALFIE]

My Alfie is insured with Petplan on lifetime cover at £33.00 per month.  At 9 months of age with 6 months left to run on the policy for this year his cover limit is exhausted.  Petplan have assured me that his claims history will not influence the renewal quote and that they base the premiums on other factors.  So, if I had 2 identical dogs and I claimed to the limit for one but made no claims for the other then the renewal premiums theoretically should be the same.  I'm obviously hoping this is true!!