CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Health => Insurance => Topic started by: sharlene on August 10, 2011, 03:51:21 PM
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hi help needed please as i have a banging headache.
my molly came with 4weeks free insurance from petplan who ive heard are very good but also very expensive.
Are there others that are lifelong cover and are just as good.
Can you reccomend anyone to me please?
thanks
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Mine is with Pet plan im afraid :( and this is first dog so unable to recommend any alternatives
Apparently tesco or asda are good for price wise however i dont know what they are like with cover
not very helpful sorry :(
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;) There are many other policies about but please make sure that they cover for lifelong conditions not just for 12 months!!
Petplan is expensive But they settle up very quickly and I have never had them quibble over a claim unlike the kennel club (long story) and Petplan do not appear to hike their yearly/monthly premiums much either unlike some other companies (ie kennel club!)...please note: the kennel club have been good as they have paid up over 10,000 pounds on my boxer who is just 4 years old but I would never use them again and have gone to petplan with Freya...
I think other companies you could look at are Argos, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer...but I havent used them...Im sure others will pop along and help you out with their experiences...
My motto is buy the best you can afford...
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I am with petplan as well, and have been for 10 years + with my first dog and 6 years with bob
so thats 16 years + not had a problem with them always paid up and very fast
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Sainsburys for my 4. They've paid up without quibble but price not a huge difference to others.
Apparently my friend just had a "good" deal from Pets at Home but I haven't looked at what they cover. Was only about £14 a month and she said it was life cover etc etc but didn't know the details of level of cover
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AXA is another one to look at. I have never had any problems with claims, and they also don't ask for a percentage to pay towards the claim once your dog is over a certain age.
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I've recently tanken out a Pets At Home Insurance - Life not annual cover at £21.67 per month and a £20 gift voucher to spend there. It wasn't the cheapest but the one that suited me best.
From memory John Lewis were very competitive.
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Kennel club and crufts lifelong for us . Bit pricey but they were brilliant with my springers behavioural issues paid out every time . Uk call centre answered by a human too :shades:
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Petplan here since 1981 and have never had a moment's problem with them.
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Petplan for us, not the cheapest but very easy to deal with and faultless if you need them.
When our old dog Tikka became diabetic, we were claiming more each month for medication than we were paying. This went on for 5 years and never a problem. £4k for cataract op - paid without question.
The most important thing is that you get a for-life policy, not a 12-month at a time one.
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I searched the internet for insurance for our dog, Charlie and decided that Argos was the cheapest, most comprehensive insurance for us. I haven't had to claim yet (thank goodness) so I can't comment on how they deal with claims. Hope this is useful.
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I have both of mine with Kennel Club about £41 a month for the 2 but excellent cover and when claiming for Albie's bad poor paid out within a week of the claim going in direct into my bank so worth it in my opinion for that peace of mind
It is a bit of a minefield though which is part of the reason I just opted for one of the best as trying to compare some of the newer ones just gave me a headache too ;)
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We are with the rspca gold cover. It is lifetime cover at 13 pounds per month. however, they have beenvery slow at paying a recent claim, approx two months when they quote a two week turn around. Might look around for another!
:D
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It's a minefield and does give you a headache >:D
Take a look at this, it's a list of pet insurance providers and reviews from customers. I found it very helpful:
http://www.bestpetinsurancereview.co.uk/
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the pdsa do a relatively cheap one. I am with healthy pets and tied to them as Kira as a pre-existing condition which is covered by HP but wont be covered by a new insurance. I may change Taz though when it comes up for renewal.
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I use John Lewis as I found the things they cover were comprehensive but slightly cheaper than other companies. Luckily (and touch wood) I haven't had to make a claim yet.
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OK lets try to break this down into bite size decisions.
There are basically 2 types of policy. A lifelong policy or an annual policy.
Always,always, always go for the lifelong policy. The difference is this. With a lifelong policy, if you dog gets a recurring or ongoing illness, the insurance will cover it for your dog's lifetime. If you have an annual policy it will only cover it for the current year. The next year it would be seen as a pre-existing condition and NOT be covered. this could be someting a simple as an ear infection or as serious (and expensive) as diabetes which my boy had.
Now lets look at the details of the policy. You need to look at the level of cover. Typically there may be a limit of £5000 per illness per year. Or it may be more or less. Compare this to the monthly cost of the policy. Bear in mind that a serious illness or accident could cost several thousands so make sure that the level is high enough.
Finally decide which insurance company you are going to choose. Base this on people's recommendations from when they have made a claim. My own experience is with pet plan and they are first class, but I am sure others are too.
hope this helps. :blink:
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Take a lifelong policy and get the dog insured asap - my pup just had a 360.00 bill that won't be covered cause it was mentioned to the vet on the day I took out the policy - so don't wait around just incase :-)
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Always a lifetime policy. When my last dog developed kidney failure at 12, I was really glad I had it. After he died (at nearly 15), I checked what I'd spent on insurance premiums throughout his life and what I'd received from claims (mostly in his last 3 years). I was really pleased to find I actually had back in claims more than I'd paid in premiums (and that was Petplan!).
Like everyone, I'd growled (and shown my teeth! ;) )when the renewals came in and I saw the hike (500% over his lifetime), but in the end it was well worth it. :shades:
(not sure that these smiley icons are showing properly for me!)
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Even with a life time policy you need to read the wording of each policy. For example I have Jasper with Sainsbury who offers 7k per condition (not per year, its for 1 condition) so you could have 2 or 3 conditions say in 1 year and they would pay up to 7k towards each of them.
But Jacob is with Axa who is 7k per year for all conditions. This is the best policy for him as his HD will be costing over 14k once he has had everything done!
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jasper_boy - I have never noticed this before buy i shall definately be checking this out with my policy just now :) Thanks for highlighting :)