I dont understand!!!!

[Alice10101]

I'm so confused over the whole insurance thing!
I need to find insurance for my 11 week old pup.
Luckily we got 4 weeks free insurance when we bought him but times running out now.

Can someone please explain to me what I should be looking for and how it all works?!
I have been reading posts on the best insurance companies so have an idea of which ones are best but am particularly confused about annual / lifetime / time limited policies and don't understand how they all work. Also need to know everything else! Never insured a dog before 

Please help! 

[wendall]

I was like that when I got Rosie. Was recommended that I got life time cover. Found the best with Pet Insurance, but its just a case of shopping around. Good luck.

[elaine.e]

Insurance is a minefield, but hopefully this will help.

Lifetime policies are the most expensive because they cover your dog for medical conditions for the whole of it's life. For instance, my 8 year old Cocker William was diagnosed with Dry Eye almost 3 years ago. It's a condition that he will have for the rest of his life. Because I have lifetime cover I can claim for the ongoing meds and check ups, plus any further meds or treatment that may be needed in the future, for the rest of his life.

Policies vary a lot in the amount of cover provided. Mine will pay up to £4,000 per year for each   illness/condition. So if I needed £4,000 cover for one illness I would still be covered up to £4,000 for any number of other illnesses during the year. Some policies will have a limit, say £4,000, to cover all illnesses in one year.

Policies that don't provide lifetime cover will often offer cover up to a set limit for a condition. Using £4,000 as an example again, once that £4,000 limit has been reached they won't make any further payments for that condition. That sounds like a lot of money, but with a dog needing major surgery or having an ongoing condition that needs expensive meds or treatment, that limit can be easily reached and then you're left without any further cover for the condition ever.

[MIN]

to make it easy.. Annual cover = these  only payout for a illness for 12 months then you are on your own. Also they have a money limit per illness. ie, once you have reached the set amount they nolonger payout regardless of whether its been 12 months or not.
lifetime cover = so long as you keep up renewing the insurance, these will payout for the length of the illness. ie for example, if your dog developes diabetes they will cover costs for life.
Because gemma is a young dog I have this time gone for lifetime cover.
I have had dogs in the past that have outlasted their limited cover, dont want that to happen again.
Do shop around though.
Hope this helps

[Alice10101]

Ok so lifetime insurance covers ongoing illnesses when other companies may not cover (or may charge a premium) when they know a condition is ongoing?
If you take out annual can you get a new insurer every year if you want to providing there's no serious or ongoing health issues?
If you take out lifetime insurance do they put the renewals up really high (& you kinda have no choice but to pay)?
&
Can you cancel lifetime insurance & find new insurance if not happy? (I'm assuming you pay yearly/monthly still for lifetime insurance?)

Thanks for the help!

[LinziS]

Yes yo can cancel lifetime policy with one company and move to another...it only becomes difficult if your dog developes an illness..say diabetes...that you may find the new insurance company will not cover that condition. If your dog has no previous illness then should make no difference  if you change companies.
I have changed my insurance several times with Erin who is 7 ..but has no ongoing ill health...always opting for lifetime cover as vet bills can rack up very quickly.
I got both my girls insured through argos...up for renewal at end of year and will seek out new quotes then Due to Erins age this will probably be the final time I move hers.

[Neon]

I'm just in the process of changing from Argos to John Lewis.  With Argos, I was paying £23.19 per month (lifetime cover) but an identical policy with John Lewis will cost £12.95 per month (with an excess amount of £60).  A massive saving. 

I will have £7,500 "in the pot" every year.  If Toby developed a lifetime condition that would cost, say, £5,000 per year to treat, that would leave me £2,500 for the rest of the year.  At the policy renewal date, the pot goes back up to £7,500.

It is a minefield and you really need to read the policy wording before you go ahead and buy but I thoroughly recommend you go for a lifetime policy.

You can change insurers whenever you want to, but any existing condition will not be covered by the new insurers.

[Alice10101]

I'm seriously considering AXA as reading lots of good things about them and they've quoted me £154 a year with £75 excess.
Do you know if AXA is lifetime insurance?
Theres no mention of whether its 12 months or lifetime but have read that they only offer lifetime, can anyone confirm that?
 

[maddy74]

We are with Sainsburys and pay about £16 a month, we are on option 2 which is slightly dearer but it gives life time cover and up to £7.500 a year. Willow recently had menigitis and the bill is up to about £2.500 so in my opinion is worth what I am paying. Also if you go for one of the better well known ones such as sainsburys a lot of vets and referral centres will deal with the insurer direct so you dont have to find the money first and claim it back.

Im not sure what a lot of the other companys offer, a few people recommended sainsburys so we went with them but a lady that walks her dog near me said her sister was insured with a not so well known one and her dog had something wrong with it they paid out and then it got something else totally unrelated and they wouldnt pay out again (something in the small print.

Just make sure you read the small print on which ever one you decide  

[Holly Berry]

I have AXA. Mine is £7000 per period of insurance. So for Ebony she is covered up to £7000 from Feb to Feb each year. IF she were to have a lifelong condition then she would be covered up £7000 per ins period as long as I paid the premium. If the condition cost was only £3000 then I would be covered for another £4000 for any number of other conditions that ins period.

I had to claim when Rosie fractured one of her molars and they paid up promptly. I pay £13 per month for Ebony (3) and £21pm for Rosie(9) Both have the £7000 cover.

[piph]

If the policy you are looking at with AXA doesn't specifically state that it's lifetime cover, it probably isn't - you need to speak to them and ask that specific question - don't just assume that because someone else has insurance with the same company that it's the same policy.  Lots of pet insurers offer differing amounts of cover for differing premiums.  Petplan offer three different types of cover, for example.

[Holly Berry]

If the policy you are looking at with AXA doesn't specifically state that it's lifetime cover, it probably isn't - you need to speak to them and ask that specific question - don't just assume that because someone else has insurance with the same company that it's the same policy.  Lots of pet insurers offer differing amounts of cover for differing premiums.  Petplan offer three different types of cover, for example.

When I was looking to take out the insurance I couldn't see that the AXA policy was lifetime. So, agree, ring up the Insurers you want to go with and actually tell them the type of insurance you want and ask them if they do that kind of policy. I specifically asked about diabetes and they advised that the policy I was interested in would cover it.

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

The Axa policy I've taken out recently is for lifetime cover. It maddens me with all these "cheap" prices everyone's paying - I'm paying £27 per month with a £75 excess here in London - grrrr!
I was humming and hawing about taking out insurance (my parents never did, and over a lifetime they probably paid less in vets fees than they would've done in insurance - his main problems were teeth, which aren't covered anyway) - but after reading about piph's dreadful experience with poor Ozzy I thought I'd better be safe than sorry - having to fork out a few grand for a doggie illness wouldn't be fun, whereas £27 per month is just another monthly expense...

Good luck - I know what a horrid process it is.
Oh, bear in mind that you're not covered for the first 14 days of most policies (sometimes 30 days) for any illness - so if something happens during that time you're not insured.