Insurance Suggestions

[hovis]

Having just seen the thread below about not using Tesco for insurance can anyone reccommend who to look at??? Millie's 6 weeks free insurance will come to an end shortly and thats quite an expensive one - about £25 i think - Hovis is with direct line so I'll have a look at that one for Millie as well but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Cob-Web]

I am a strong believer in you get what you pay for when it comes to insurance - I think the trick is to decide what is important to you from a policy (some cover alternative treatments, some offer no excess, some cover conditions for 12 months, some set a maximum on the claim for each condition etc) and read the small print carefully 

There are horror stories out there about all companies, and most companies will be recommended as well...so its all about knowing that the policy you have bought offers you the cover you want 

If Millie has been to the vets for anything other than routine treatment up until now, then you have to declare this on any application - even if you didn't claim - and most policies will put exclusions on as a result, which can be quite general in their wording 

[debbie321]

OK - I'll suggest Healthy Pets http://www.healthy-pets.co.uk/index.htm

I've only been with them for Ben who's 15.5 months old.  Their policy looks great and I've already claimed £85 after paying just £11 in premiums - they paid with no problems.  I have heard good things about M&S insurance but it costs 3x the amount I'm paying  

[CraftySam]

My three are all with Direct Line.  When I took the first policy out with them for Sapphi, it was out it was one of the ones with the highest amount of £6000 per condition. There are higher ones around now.

What I would say is go for the best one you can afford. I'm sure Pet Plan do an unlimited amount cover for a small fortune, of course. The only reason I say this is, when I discovered that I could get cover of £7000 per condition I looked around at those policies. What I discovered was that because Sapphi had a bout of sickness and diarrhea that I claimed for as it was over Christmas so had out of hours fees, no one would cover her for it again. Being a scavenging Lab I think sickness and diarrhea could be an occupational hazard.  
So makes sure you start out with the best of the best, because a claim for something fairly simple can result in it being excluded from future policies.
Also make sure that you get a policy that is per condition and not per year.  

Have to say I've been happy with Direct Line they have paid out for everything without question.

[Luvly]

 

[Shelley]

I am more than happy with M&S, there are no hereditary or giant breed clauses which other companies have. I'm not sure if the dog is insured for life or if it is just yearly though... I think it is life. Also you don't have to have an excess, so you can claim the smallest amounts back, which I think everyone should be able to do when they are paying for pet insurance!! I pay £17.50 a month for Tia

[PennyB]

I am a strong believer in you get what you pay for when it comes to insurance - I think the trick is to decide what is important to you from a policy (some cover alternative treatments, some offer no excess, some cover conditions for 12 months, some set a maximum on the claim for each condition etc) and read the small print carefully 

There are horror stories out there about all companies, and most companies will be recommended as well...so its all about knowing that the policy you have bought offers you the cover you want 

I agree totally with this. There will always be someone who has a bad experience with one company or another yet others will have had only good experiences with some companies (like life really ). I'm with petplan and while yes they are expensive I've only really had good experiences from them (there's been the odd hiccup now and then but am not going to make a song and dance about it), yet I've seen some others react about them the same way as Jeeves does about tescos.

[Rhona W]

We are with Halifax which sounds like a good policy on paper and offers life cover. But we have not had to make a claim yet, so I don't know how good they will be if we ever need to. 

[dorrit]

We're with Direct Line and they have been great. They paid up for all of Dorrit's cancer treatment and have done the same for Ethel.

We have the policy where it covers each illness upto £6000.

We have found them prompt with payments and they have never argued any case we've claimed. This includes the usual multitude of aliments/operations. From: grass seed in the ear to continuous medication for Dorrit's weak bladder. numerous operations on Ethel's ears. Removal of lumps from both of them.

[happydog]

I've dropped Tesco's in favour of Healthy Pets Gold Option.

 http://www.healthy-pets.co.uk/index.htm

[Joelf]

Our dogs are insured with Direct Line.

I claimed once for Domino when he was a pup; he had an upset tummy & had to stay overnight at the vets on a drip & they paid up with no problems.

However they do have quite a lot of exclusions although I upgraded the policy to a higher spec. one.

I haven't had to claim for Spike (touching wood frantically!!! )

[flozac]

More Than are excellent they have always paid up very quickly and quietly and when Sophie died i got the full amount back that I had paid for her. I would rather of had her of course but it helped pay for my next girl.

[clairep4]

Bella's insured with Animal Friends (underwritten by E&L). They used to have a bad reputation but I've found them really good - they paid out £2500 for Bella's problems with her lower canine (and alot of companies wouldn't have covered it) and they were really quick with the payments etc.

They also don't have different scales for pedigrees compared to crossbreeds, and nor do they charge you more if you're in London (which lots of them do  ).

I think she's on the Gold version where it covers illnesses for life, up to £4k per condition and it's £19 a month. I'll be getting Zorro on the same policy.

My cats are insured with Tesco's and they've been okay as well but I think I'm going to move them to Animal Friends as well - they're not currently covered for lifelong conditions which is a bit worrying...

[magicflower]

Ruby is with M & S. We pay £10.36 per month with no excess.

The plan covers up to £7000.00 per year for vets bills per condition and loads of other stuff as well.

We have claimed on it twice so far and have not had any problems.

So far, so good!

[hovis]

Oooooh thanks everyone for all you info! There's enough there to keep me going & some companies I wouldnt have thought of so  a very BIG THANK YOU!!!