insurance help

[paulie]

Hi all

Need to think about insurance for new babe Chester.
Petplan put me off as took ages to get through on a NOT FREE line and to India
Anyone know anything about ois Sainsburys is good or  Marks and spencer
It seems most you have to pay excess of £50 seems a lot when most trreatments  are under that in my experiance only when the big oine hits you which did happen to us.
When got our lLittle Bitcon CHester Babe we had Kennel club insurance free for  awhile they have rung with Crufts poliicy details anyone use them?  eeekkk its a minefield ........

[Sheryl]

I have M&S for Kali.  Although I got my money back it did take a really long time which was slightly annoying and I found them rude on the phone.  I know others on here have nothing but praise for M&S but I can only tell what I experienced

[loujo]

I use M&S for insurance for Alfie and Pet Plan for Robbie and I prefer M&S.  Can't move Robbie to M&S (long story but won't go into it).

[Cob-Web]

There are so many variations, that the first thing to do is to decide what you want your insurance to provide; not all policies are the same; some only cover conditions for 12 months, others have a capped amount per condition or per year 

 Some policies offer lower/no excess, and others exclude some treatments such as dental work, or behavioural referrals.

Some include kennelling fee's in an emergency, or holiday cancellation costs ,for instance 

[michelle123]

Was with M&S but they nearly doubled my premium and increased my excess at renewal despite not having made a claim.

Changed to Healthypets  www.healthy-pets.co.uk who were far more competitive very quick to issue documentation.

Quite ironic that it is actually the same Insurer !

Check the small print though.

[White Bryony]

We have M&S for both of ours.  Premiums have just increased a bit  - we have an excess of £70 (or when the dog is over 9 years old 15% of the treatment cost).  I am not really bothered about the excess, I took out the insurance in case of major accidents/illness where it might cost thousands as I knew I would never forgive myself if my dogs didn't get the best treatment they could.

We did claim for Woofie last Christmas and it took two months.  Two letters went "missing" in the process which I didn't find re-assuring but the staff have always been quite helpful and polite on the phone.

I did think about changing but think that the benefits M&S offer outweigh the problems I have experienced. (And as Woofie has been at the Vets so often he probably wouldn't be covered for a lot of things at another insurers).

[pinkcarys]

Hi,

Sorry to hijack your post.    I just looked at M&S and got a quote.  WIth £110 excess it was £385, and with no excess it was £440.  They didn't give a monthly premium but it would be £32 for the cheapest, and £36 per month.  Seems rather a lot    It's not that I'm not planning on insurance, but was hoping that it would be nearer the £15-£20 per month.  Any thoughts?

-x-

[Jeeves]

Be very careful with "cheap" insurance.  The old addage 'you get what you pay for' is very true and as I have found out, it can be a very painful and costly mistake.

Under no circumstances use Tesco pet insurance; they are a total nightmare and wriggle out of everything. 

I have spent a lot of time talking to vets about insurance and they all agreed that PetPlan were by far and away the best.  They are expensive, but everyone I've ever spoken to who uses them has had good results (including my friend who has successfully claimed over £10,000 back for two separate accidents her two horses had).

I know Indian call centres are the bane of our lives, but I sorted out insurance with PetPlan over the internet for two of my three (Parker's uninsurable now )

Anyway, just my humble view!!

[Potter]

Hi Carys

I did several online quotes yesterday - M & S, Animal for Friends, Tesco, Petplan and a few more, but I forget the names now.  The cheapest was £13.85 from Tesco, and the highest was M & S at £32 (per month).  However, you have to compare like for like:  The £13.85 from Tesco online covered £2,000 per condition, per year.  The others all covered up to £4,000 per condition, per year.  They also included lots of other items like kennelling if owner is hospitalised unexpectedly, £1,000 on death of pet (may God forbid) and such like, whereas Tesco did not.

I agree, it is a bit of a minefield, but it's just a case of setting aside a few hours with pen and paper to compare all and come out with the one you feel most comfortable opting for.  There's always a middle road there somewhere!

I liked the Animal for Friends one - the site professed to be non profit making, had lots of good advice on taking care with insurance cover - and laid everything out simply.  Just good website design I suppose, but it all adds up.

The only plus, if it applies to you, was that Tesco was offering discount if you have any other pets.  I have a cat insurred already with Tesco, but that didn't persuade me because they weren't offering as much cover as the others, which I think I will need with a dog.  Well, I hope not, but you get my drift?!

Good luck with whatever you decide upon!

Potter

[White Bryony]

Hi,

Sorry to hijack your post.    I just looked at M&S and got a quote.  WIth £110 excess it was £385, and with no excess it was £440.  They didn't give a monthly premium but it would be £32 for the cheapest, and £36 per month.  Seems rather a lot    It's not that I'm not planning on insurance, but was hoping that it would be nearer the £15-£20 per month.  Any thoughts?

-x-

Our monthly pet insurance with M&S pet insurance with £70 excess has just gone up from approx £9 to £10 for Maddie and £11 to £18 for Woofie.

I was curious so I typed Maddies details in M&S for a new quote and with £50 excess it was £180 per year.

[paulie]

Thnks to everyone I am going to look at the Animal for friends Site sounds good!!
and the Healthy Pets have so far E Mailed me straight away and seem on the ball.
decided no no to Pet Plan and from what I see M& S seem good but dead slow.
think getting the car insuared is easier, I rang the vets and she said they are not allowed to say but said some people but the premiium into a saving account and do it that way but knowing me I will dip in and spend it or something.

[happydog]

I changed from Tesco (after hearing about Jeeves terrible time with them) and went to Healthy Pets. Saved money and got a better deal  . They seem on the ball as you say. One claim and no problems  .

[mark_chitty]

I've recently looked at changing the insurance for Snoop to Halifax.  Not too sure what others think of them, but their terms and conditions are very fair.  They have two types of plan, a basic and an extra.  The extra plan covers up to £6000 per condition, per year with £50 excess per condition, per year.  The other stuff they offer is also quite good (although I have no real comparison) and the monthly cost is great compared to the other companies people have posted about - only £7.63 per month for Snoop and just under £7 per month for Honey, bearing in mind that I have had to disclose Honey's current eye/hearing problems (I'll get a proper quote again after we've made sure she's treated for all current stuff).

[OscarsMum]

Oscar is insured with Halifax and the one claim I have had to make was handled quickly, efficiently and with no quibbles. I did lots of resaerch and decided that they offered the best deal for me. So far I'm very happy.

[jann]

  I insured Harley 3 days ago with M&S £17.70 a month, NO Excess !  (I know I got 5 pcent discount for a second dog. )

When I've made a claim for Flo, I've downloaded a claim form from their web site, given it to the vet who deals with the claim direct and I have nothing more to do or to pay!  Simple