CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Health => Insurance => Topic started by: Lucianne on December 30, 2009, 10:14:19 PM
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I'm mired in the hell of picking the right policy for my pup, and have read lots of threads on here. My dilemma is whether it's more sensible to go for an annual limit (ie £7000 per year, whatever happens) or a per condition limit (ie £7000 per condition, however many occur in a year, and however long it takes for the bills to mount up on one condition).
Obviously if lots of different things go wrong within a year, you're better off with a condition limit, but if your dog develops a lifelong condition like diabetes, you're better of with an annual limit, as £7k will get used up fairly fast.
I wonder if anyone has experience of this, and has found one policy type better than the other? I suspect it's a question of luck, according to what, if anything, goes wrong with your pet. Has anyone used up their condition limit and then not been able to get insurance cover for a chronic condition?
Also, I've done a spreadsheet for my own use, comparing 21 policies. Obviously the quotations vary according to location and circumstances (I was all hopeful about greenbee after reading threads on here, but their quotation for me is £30 per month ph34r ), but what it compares is excess levels, annual or per condition limits, 3rd party liability cover, amount paid in cases of death or loss, whether dentistry, complementary therapies etc are covered, and whether they refund part of your policy fees if your dog dies (not usually!). If anyone would like it, I'm happy to pass it on.
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Yes please. I've pm'd you with email.
Going to be starting this process for our new addition shortly
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I would be interested too - will pm my email.
Karen
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Me too - one of my friends is looking :D
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Have also sent PM with email address - having had a policy more than double on renewal time time I think to shop around!
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Oooo, yes please, I would love to see it. I am with Argos at the moment as they seemed the best when I renewed a couple of years ago - I haven't claimed from them though so have no idea what they are like if you claim. :-\ I changed from Tesco then because they had a time limit on each condition ie they would only pay out for the first year and like you I was concerned about the possibility of a long term condition ::)
Will pm you my e-mail. :D
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My two girls are with Sainsburys.
I have the policy that covers for life. It includes necessary vet prescribed diets, return of purchase price if dog dies before 8 and also cremation costs (sorry to be morbid). :'(
This year the premium actually came down - I got first 3 months free :D
My previous policy with Pet Plan did not include the above benefits and was more expensive. :o
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Annual limit is better than condition limit as this will cover any unexpected lifetime illnesses that need prolonged or lifetime treatment, our lifetime cover with Axa is currently £17 per month which was a reduction on first year but I don't know what future years could look like. Whilst it is rare to exceed condition based insurance it can happen -
I was speaking with someone a couple of weeks ago whose dog was diagnosed with AIHA unexpectadly at 3 years old and 18 months after lifetime treatment has begun their generous condition based insurance is nearly used.
Check with vets for recommendations as well as they do change recommendations as policies terms are updated, we are fortunate that our vets employ a financial person who is qualified to give advice on insurance, if anyone would like their latest recommendations let me know and I will see if they have a current sheet when I am in on Saturday.
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To all those who'd like the spreadsheet - just to let you know I'm going away for the night, but will email it out when I get back tomorrow. Remember though that the premiums quoted will be totally different for you (based on location and age of dog, apparently), but obviously the terms of the insurance will be the same.
Happy New Year! :D
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Happy New Year! :lol2:
I've emailed you all the spreadsheet. Let me know if you haven't received it.
Thanks to those of you who replied with info re limits.
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Annual limit is better than condition limit as this will cover any unexpected lifetime illnesses that need prolonged or lifetime treatment, our lifetime cover with Axa is currently £17 per month which was a reduction on first year but I don't know what future years could look like. Whilst it is rare to exceed condition based insurance it can happen -
I was speaking with someone a couple of weeks ago whose dog was diagnosed with AIHA unexpectadly at 3 years old and 18 months after lifetime treatment has begun their generous condition based insurance is nearly used.
Check with vets for recommendations as well as they do change recommendations as policies terms are updated, we are fortunate that our vets employ a financial person who is qualified to give advice on insurance, if anyone would like their latest recommendations let me know and I will see if they have a current sheet when I am in on Saturday.
Thanks for this; on balance, I've decided to go with an annual limit for the reasons you've discussed. I almost went with M&S at twenty odd quid a month, but have read some appalling reviews, and experiences on here of premium hikes. I think I'm going to go with Crufts, which is underwritten by Agria who do the KC one. It's the same T&Cs as KC, just slightly lower limits (1m public liability, 1k death/loss). The difference is that it's £7.5k annual limit, rather than £10k per condition limit for KC. The only thing I don't like is that the excess is £50 +10% >:( It's the cheapest quote for me though, at £13 pm.
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Not heard of them but do check on year 2 costs if you can... a lot of insurers do tempt in with low first year and big jumps in second year, problem is once you have a known condition no other insurer will normally cover it so you do need to try and get it right first time.
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Not heard of them but do check on year 2 costs if you can... a lot of insurers do tempt in with low first year and big jumps in second year, problem is once you have a known condition no other insurer will normally cover it so you do need to try and get it right first time.
Is there any way I can check on the 2nd year costs?? I can't imagine the insurers are going to be very forthcoming....'yes madam, in the first year it will be £13 pm, but we plan to hike that as soon as we have you over a barrel...' :005: :005:
I've read horror stories about premium hikes from most of them - I think it's a huge gamble with any of them. I was going to go with M&S but as I said, people's experiences don't seem very good. The cover for Crufts is ideal, it's the +10% I'm not happy with. But as I found out with my mammoth spreadsheet ph34r there are drawbacks with all of them. Any advice very welcome!
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Have sent pm with email address thank you
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On its way Ian ;)
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Hi, Im in the same position as all of you , my first 4 weeks free petplan insurance is due to expire and my head is swimming with all the different conotations (sp?) with pet insurance ! Im tempted to go with the platinum policy that Argos offer with £60.00 excess and £7000 ongoing unlimited per condition for £11.82 a month. Anyone any thoughts ?? knowing me Ive probably misinterpreted the quality of the cover but it does seem very reasonable ... ?!
Lara x
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Im looking at mine as not happy with Tesco. I too have been trawling through them all and found www.pet-insurance.co.uk. I would like someone who knows what their doing to look at it to see if I am right though. They give £4000 lifetime cover for £11.47 per month with £80 excess. On reading policy, it says it renews every 28 days and the £4k renews every 28 days too unless I am reading it wrong. But it definately says life time cover so does this mean for the dogs life if I continue to pay premiums monthly. But what happens if you have something serious which is a lifetime condition, can they just wack your premiums up so you cant afford to keep insuring with them?. Dont know if there is anything legal in there so they cant do that?. I think this is a good policy if I am reading it correctly. Might give them a call and go through it with a human so I get it right!!!
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Update - I have just phoned pet-insurance and they have confirmed on their lifetime cover, the £4000 limit is per MONTH for life if you renew with them each year. Is it me or is this a brilliant level of cover?. Something drastic must have to happen for you to have to claim more than this in a year let a month surely. Can someone else look at it to make sure im not missing something. For Jasper this is only £11.47 pm with £80 excess on vet fees.
Quote:
Cover Level Questions
What is Lifetime cover?
Just like humans, dogs and cats can develop long term or recurring illnesses such as diabetes or arthritis. Illnesses such as these require regular and long term treatment by the vet and in some cases for the rest of the pet's life.
Lifetime cover provides ongoing protection for pets and is ideal for pet owners concerned about their dog or cat developing a long term, chronic or recurring illness.
Once insured a pet will continue to be covered for rest of its life as long as the policy is renewed each year and the appropriate premium is received.
Our lifetime cover policy is our most popular policy and provides essential vets fee cover up to £4000 for each condition each month.
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I think £4000 per month doesn't sound right - £48000 per year cover all for that small amount.
Heres another topic on them and I'd google to find out reviews - it doesn't add up to me. :-\
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=7295.0
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M&S have had sharp increases but in the last 2 years they have been pennies so that information is incorrect now. Whilst expensive I still think they give a very comprehensive cover and I have always received good service from them.
Traceysjaspers - I think that is incorrect - and if it sounds too good to be true then it usually is.
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Not sure what it says on the spreadsheet but would be interested in a copy, I am with Halifax, the excess has shot up from £50 to £80 and the monthly premiums gone up by £10 per month this year - shocking :o
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If you look back at the increases over the years it's always the ones that start off very cheaply to get you hooked in that almost double at renewal ;) M&S did that for a couple of years and seem to have balanced out now - last year Jarv's M&S one went up 57p per month which is bearable :D
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Yes, Halifax started off at £15 or £16 per month for lifetime cover - £6k per year which was loads cheaper than pet plan - not sure theres any difference now. Tempted to go online and do a quote with them for a new puppy to see what they charge :shades:
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I have double checked and yes what is written is correct. How do you find out if there are things you cant claim for if there are any exclusions as you cant read the whole policy document online I dont think?
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if you have the time i would like to see it
Thank you
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It certainly does look like the pet-insurance one has a monthly limit of £4000 - seems too good to be true! I wish I'd found this before I went with Crufts! ph34r
Anyone who'd like the spreadsheet - pm me with your email address. Pet-insurance isn't on it, by the way >:(
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I would like a copy of the spreadsheet and will pm you with my email
Just wanted to add - i have a per condition policy with Lucy, i took an imaginary condition costing say 2000 per year to treat and looked at the total cost over the dogs life then compared how much it would cost me with each provider - things to look out for are excesses that are reapplied each year for continuing conditions and policies that charge a percentage of the bill as well as the excess - do the calculation and you will be surprised at how much you have to payout for each condition with a lifetime policy.
That said Lucy's is due in a few months so i will be doing it all over again and may find i have changed my mind!
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This the link to the pet-insurance lifetime cover page:
http://www.pet-insurance.co.uk/level-of-cover/lifetime/
It says £4000 per policy period which is 12 months.
When I took Phoebe on, I read all the information on COL and went with Healthy Pets which is lifetime cover @ £5000 per year provided all premiums are paid. As others who use them have said, they are pretty efficient with the payment of claims and the other thing I like is that you can contact them by phone and speak to very helpful staff. Also, my premium went down this year because they switched underwriters to AmTrust - I pay £10.44 per month for Gold cover.