Insurance

[Mandymoo66]

Am just delving into the various insurance's as KC runs out in a week. Can anyone recommend a good one, that they have had good experience with please?

[black taz]

my dad using the PDSA one, but hasnt had to claim yet so not sure how good they are.

I have Healthy Pets, i would change to PDSA as they are a lot cheaper for a similar level of cover but Kira has a pre-existing condition.

[elaine.e]

I'm with NFU and although they're not the cheapest I think my boys have got good cover with them.

They have lifetime cover and are covered up to £4,000 per condition per year (as opposed to £4,000 for all conditions in a year).

William, who is 7, ran up nearly £2K in claims a couple of years ago when he needed a MRI scan to diagnose his back pain and also had physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. Luckily he's had no further back problems since then, but if he did I'd be able to claim up to £4K every year because of having lifetime cover for the condition.

He also has Dry Eye and has ongoing costs of about £250+ every year for ointment and regular check ups. That's also covered for life up to £4K per year.

Louis, who is 2, has the same cover but I haven't yet had to make a claim for him so I get a small no claims discount on renewal.

When you look at policies look for any limitations to cover such as paying out for ongoing conditions or medication for a limited time only. Some will pay out when a condition is first diagnosed but then stop paying after the first year or when a certain cash limit is reached, which could be disastrous if you have a dog that needs expensive medication for the rest of it's life.

[Eve]

Just been going through this minefield myself. Decided to opt for Pets at Home lifetime plan at £21.67 per month. KC whom Dexter had free insurance with quoted £35. per month with nowhere near as much cover.

[CJ]

Doing exactly the same myself!!  Willows renewal has come through at £21.40 a month, this was previously £17.  As she is the cheaper of the two - Teal is also with the same company - More Than - I'm worried about her renewal too if they are going up that much.

PDSA looks to be OK, I may go with them, although I must say that I hadn't considered the NFU (probably because I used to work for them!!) perhaps I should ask them for a quote too? 

[mcc]

We are with pet plan.  Not the cheapest but when our old dog was ill, they were faultless (it was a big help knowing that bills running into thousands were going to be paid). 

[caro]

Just be sure to choose one you are happy to stick with because once your dog's been to the vet with any ailment, whether it was claimed on insurance or not it could be classed as a pre-existing condition.

and it goes up each year    We are with petplan and we pay just over £35 per month for Fern - she has dry eye which they pay for less the £90 per year excess, (which was £70 when we started with them) and the monthly fee when we first joined 6 years ago was £24.45 - an increase of more than than £10 per month 

they are good, claiming is easy etc, but by golly they've got you by the whotsits -never know when you may need it though which is why we feel we can never leave.

The excess is per condition as well, which was a bit of a blow as Fern's vet bill went just over the excess when she had her post groomer bum troubles 

My plan for this year is not to claim until after the yearly increase renewal, in the hope that it may stay the same   

[minimoo]

im with sainsburys but im going to go with friends of the animals when ellas is up at end of july, i cant remember exactly but i got a quote and it was alot cheaper from them for lifetime cover

[elaine.e]

We are with petplan and we pay just over £35 per month for Fern - she has dry eye which they pay for less the £90 per year excess, (which was £70 when we started with them) and the monthly fee when we first joined 6 years ago was £24.45 - an increase of more than than £10 per month 

they are good, claiming is easy etc, but by golly they've got you by the whotsits -never know when you may need it though which is why we feel we can never leave.

William's excess will rise from £50 to £85 on renewal next month. NFU say it's because I've claimed £300 on him this year. Most of that relates to the ongoing Dry Eye costs, but I don't have to pay the excess on that anymore. I paid it when he was first diagnosed about 18 months ago but don't have to pay it now as NFU consider the claims to be ongoing, not new. Might be worth running that past your insurer Caro.

Agree with you and previous posters that once your dog has a lifelong condition, or even one that may possibly (not even definitely) recur, you're stuck with your insurer.

[caro]

Thanks Elaine I may look at that