Caravan Club Pet Insurance has doubled in price (1 Viewer)

[welshbois]

Came home from school today to find our renewal insurance letter from the Caravan Club for the two Bassett Hounds. We were compleaty shocked that the two premiums have doubled in price since last year and they have doubled the excess. Has anyone got Caravan Club Pet Insurance (we switched to them last year for their excellent rates) and has the same thing happened to you? Caravan Club have just told us that AXA (the Underwriter) have doubled everybody's premiums this year. :Sad:

Our boys are fit and healthy and have no claims. Does anybody have any suggestions for decent pet cover with European cover for them?

 

[Spacerunner]

Don't pay a third party!

Open a bank account and pay in regular amounts monthly. That way if your two lads remain healthy you'll get all your money back. If you have to go to a vet then you can truthfully say that you are not insured and most probably get cheaper treatment.

Seems that insurance companies do not understand the meaning of loyalty :Angry:

 

[Phill D]

we use "the Dark Side" im ashamed to say (TESCO):Blush: good Euro cover at a reasonable price, be sure to tell them u have a club card gets u extra discount. ther are cheaper, ARGOS even!

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[slobadoberbob]

we self insure

We self insure and have done for many years after Ezzie went from 24.95 to £65.00 in one year and there was a £50 excess plus 10% of the claim... cost more than the RV to insure,

These days we pay our vet for what we use.


Works for us, but I suspect not everyone.

Bob

 

[TheBig1]

we insure for life with petplan. no restrictions and so long as you remain with them, any condition is covered for life unlike most other insurers.

as for self insure, that can be very dangerous, as a major op can cost thousands. worst case scenario....fido gets run over whilst on holiday abroad. have you got enough cash for emergency care + operations + repatriation + continuing care when back home. Ive said before I know somebody who got it wrong and ended up with a choice between saving their pet's life and their car which the sold to raise the cash needed

 

[Geo]

After a lot of research and asking on here we too are with Pet plan for life
Risk verses outlay was a no brainer for me and im a tight wad
You will need at least 2-3 years vet free to stand any chance of a break even to self insure
But each to their own

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[catspyjamas]

Just taken out insurance with Sainsburys. Great cover and very reasonable rates, Europe included. Also got £25 voucher to use in Sainsburys plus extra Reward points. :thumb:

Check it out!!

 

[Minxy]

We have never had pet insurance (except when it's been automatically included with our holiday insurance), originally this was because we were skint then we eventually had 5 dogs and the cost would have been excessive so we always made sure we had access to funds if we needed them. Over the years, if we'd had to pay for pet insurance it would have cost us a packet and we would certainly not have 'benefitted' (if that's the correct word) from it as our pets on the whole have been well. The most expensive pet we had was Midge who developed Cushings disease and in the period of 9 months cost us probably around £2,500. I'm sure that if we had instead been using pet insurance they would have tried to get us to 'pull the plug' much sooner so by doing it ourselves we were able to decide when the time came to say goodbye and not because we were being pressurised. Yes, it was expensive, but all in all, it probably cost us no more than if we had been insuring him for all the years, and was probably less.

Our 3 dogs are not insured and one of them wouldn't get it as she's nearly 9 anyway, or not without a heck of premium, so we'll carry on without insurance and if we get a bill, well, we'll just have to pay it.

 

[rainbow chasers]

It is a difficult decision to make, and one that should be considered before going to self insuring.

We are - for the moment - using pet plan life cover. Do rad the policy small print carefully every year - not only has our premium shot up year on year (up by £50 first year, £110 second, £170 this year) but they do not mention the cover drops, and the claim fee goes up - our recent eye operation on the dog would have only seen us getting £40 back so wasn't worth claiming.

That said, look at the type of dog you have - and the common ailments it may suffer. Staffies are suffering from knee joint problems, effecting dogs very young - a friend has just has his dogs knees done - 4 years old, £3400 per knee!! Ouch!

Another long term illness that can be expensive is diabetes - so if you dog is a little overweight, or has a lot of human food (people do!) the it is at risk.

Other than that, it would be beneficial to self insure - I would suggest putting a couple of grand in an account, and than add on your monthly payment. You will build up enough for the worst ailment in most dogs I would have thought in a couple of years.

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[Minxy]

I've just done a sample quote with Sainsburys for our newest dog, Tazzy, who is a cross Chihauhau/Jack Russell (or 'Chisel' as I call her! ). She's 9 months old and opting for the 'all in' one where she's covered for illnesses for life without any time limitations. The quote came out at £242 a year, with £75 excess per condition, 10% of claim costs up to £750 max per condition, and other restrictions/costs, extrapolating this as it she was covered for the next 15 years (ie up to age 15 years 9 months), it comes to a total of £5222 over the period with a 5% loading each year.

To do a more 'realistic' comparison, if I do insurance cover for Lily (Patterdale 3 yrs 7 mnths), Tazzy (crossbred 9 mnths) and Romy (crossbred 8 yrs 9 mnths) for the next 7 years with a 5% increase each year, it comes to £6,887. This doesn't take into account a reduction for more than one dog being insured (up to 5%), or any additional loading for increasing age and therefore likelihood of illness, or the insurance being increased (doubled!) for the heck of it, or the excesses being raised. Initially it is £70.49 a month, going up to £94.46 a month by year 7. Now, to some that may seem not a lot, to others it is a heck of a lot!

 

[Olivia516]

I've never used Caravan's insurance. Interestingly enough, back when I live in the US I had a pet insurance plan from Pet Assure, which basically was more of a discount program than "actual" insurance .. which was good, because my dog (corgi) had a "preexisting condition" of hip dysplasia

 

[welshbois]

Thanks to all who responded. Have taken up the same policy with AXA directly. Interestingly, the same policy is about £14 cheaper than the Caravan Club and a significantly lower excess. I think they are blaming AXA and are adding a hefty admin and broker charges just for arranging. Will have to see when the policy is up for renewal with AXA next year.

Glyn

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[jonandshell]

Tesco doubled our premium for 2 weimaners this year.
We just put the money in a savings account now.

For the odd visit for minor ailments, we still stump up the theoretical £60 excess.
So far, we haven't touched the fund and it's adding up nicely!

 

[buttons]

Came home from school today to find our renewal insurance letter from the Caravan Club for the two Bassett Hounds. We were compleaty shocked that the two premiums have doubled in price since last year and they have doubled the excess. Has anyone got Caravan Club Pet Insurance (we switched to them last year for their excellent rates) and has the same thing happened to you? Caravan Club have just told us that AXA (the Underwriter) have doubled everybody's premiums this year. :Sad:

Our boys are fit and healthy and have no claims. Does anybody have any suggestions for decent pet cover with European cover for them?

Get yourselves on housing benefit and your pet cover is free.