Pet insurance

[haganap]

been to the vets today to get a check up on the new addition.

Mentioned pet insurance, the reply was the company that I have selected are renowned as bad payers whom question every claim.

So, no fool (quiet those that no me) I came home and checked online and low and behold, more negative stuff than trying to get a new fiat backwards.!!

All what the vet had said, up to 6 months for a claim to be satisfied etc etc.

so any how as im still in the cooling off period I though I would check a few others. All seem to be the same, promising the earth and delivering nothing. Included in one story was a dog that had some ligament damage, yet was told by the insurer (pet plan on this occasion) would not pay up as it was not an illness?

Therefore is it best with your fingers crossed and regular payments under the bed? I got a cheap policy for all I wanted was an emergency covered ie ran over sudden collapse etc.
What do other pet owners think?

 

[zaskar]

Therefore is it best with your fingers crossed and regular payments under the bed? I got a cheap policy for all I wanted was an emergency covered ie ran over sudden collapse etc.
What do other pet owners think?

IMHO, YES!:Cool:
Don't bother with ANY pet insurance. It's written by cold hearted callous B******S in the city who know EXACTLY how to play on peoples emotions and fears!
Stuff 'em, let 'em thieve off someone else!:Angry::Angry::Angry::Angry:

 

[scotjimland]

Hi Paul , a timely post ..

we are also looking into pet insurance , the only advice our vet gave was to check the policy covered an ongoing treatment .. many only cover up to 12 months.. so it will be of interest to see what others advise ..

Jim

 

[Dodgey]

Got a cat, three years ago we got the dog. Sarah (the wife) though insurance a good idea so took it out for the dog, 14 week old westie, and the cat for good measure. A month later Shelby (the dog) got ill, long and short of it intollerances to certain foods numerous visits and countless tests (vets got very excited when insurance was mentioned) to diagnos and all paid up very promptly some even payed direct if memory serves. Bearly a month after Shelby's little to do, cat appears with a bent tail!
Long and literally short of that was numerous tests and finally removal of 2/3s of her tail, the bend was swelling and being a cat and one possibility being the dreaded 'C' we all agreed safest to remove. Bit biopsied and nothing to worry about but better safe than sorry and as for pay out, exactly the same as for Shelby, very prompt 3 weeks or less or direct.

We're very glad we did the insurance, we'd have paid for the various tests etc etc any way but as you can imagine the over all bill in a short period of time was quite substantial!

Who are we with, Sainsburys and still are with no obvious rise in premium.

Thankfully we haven't needed the insurance since (he says grasping onto the table).

Si.

 

[DESCO]

Hi
For many years now we have not bothered with pet insurance as we found that with an old dog as one of our pets we could never make a claim as the amount of the claim did not exceed the excess.
We hit on idea of making a bank account for pets, and putting the amount of the premiums for each animal in this account each year. We have found so far that we have not had any problems. We only take money from the account if it would have been possible to make a claim. We have done for quite a few years now with no problems. It is suprising how it builds up if you pick an account with good interest not so easy at the moment.:thumb:

Joan & Dave

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[zaskar]

Hi
We hit on idea of making a bank account for pets, Joan & Dave

Excellent idea. I like that, I like it very much!

 

[Pat4Neil]

We were with somebody called Dog Breeders or something like that? The policy got more expensive each year with huge excesses. (£150 the last year of her life) £36.00 the first year.

When she died because of a cancer, they did not pay out because she had a cancerous skin cyst removed the year before (our only claim in 13 years of having her).

They do look out of ways of not paying you like most insurance. However if the dog is young enough I think it is wise to have it. £1000 goes no where at the vets. Unless you have lots of spare money and a big bill does not faze you.

One of my friends used Tesco pet plan which was quite cheap. Dont know about anyone claiming from them though.

Good luck
Pat

 

[Diabalo]

We had Pet Plan on three cats and two dogs, we never had a problem at all with the claims we made and a couple were getting on for £1000

 

[Road Runner]

With large dog thoroughbred you NEED Insurance!!!!!!!!!

You also want a for LIFE policy (so if the dog gets expensive they cant refuse to re insure you)

Bruno is in Hospital in Dursley after having a massive throat operation today costing ££££ and I am staying nearby him at Slimbridge.

I am with NFU and for both dogs £42 a month covers all of europeand worth every penny

NFU pay by return and this big bill sorting with the specialist vet:thumb:

 

[Caztur]

We never bothered with insurance for the two dogs we used to have - Tess the Springer hardly cost us a penny bless her in 14 years, apart from jabs etc & one incident of kennel cough, and then the big injection at the end; but Jake the terrier cross seemed to have a death wish and cost us thousands what with nearly dying when he jumped on a bush and pierced his lung, trying to slice his wrists open on some glass when we thought he would lose his foot, and having a final debilitating illness which invloved many consultations, tests and treatments. So we wished we'd had insurance for him.

The two we have now (collie crosses):
Sage is with Petplan - she came from Dogs Trust with 3 months free and I carried it on, think it's about £19 a month now but they keep paying out for all her consultations, tests and pills with no quibbles. She's on thyroxine, water tablets and heart tablets and they are seriously dear.

Jazz isn't insured as such - he's a VIP, about £15 a month, which includes 6 monthly check ups, flea & worm treatments, 20% off consultations and pills, and accident insurance. He's cost me thousands in eye operations (for cataracts) and I wish we had insured him as a pup as it would have been covered, but it was too late when they started to develop (when he was a year old) - of course any eye problems would be excluded now.

Any dogs we get in the future will be insured.

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[Manouche]

Insurance, you hate paying it until you need it, then, when you do make a claim you find out just how good, or bad, your insurance co is.
Have to agree with "Roadrunner", make sure the policy is "For Life". If your animal starts to need expensive on-going treatment it's possible they will try and pull the plug on you at some stage.
We're with "Pet-Plan", when the dog was 18months old he broke his foot, Xrays and treatment came to something like £450.We kept all receipts until he was better and sent them off. Within a week they sent us a cheque for the full amount minus our £80 excess.
They used to pay the vets direct but I think in the past there were some "problems" with spurious bills.
When we had our first dog he was knocked over when he was a pup and suffered his whole life with epileptic fits. Needed constant medication and he lived til he was 17. Bless him, he cost us a fortune 'cos he wasn't insured !!!!!
Make sure you read the small print.
Best of luck
Great looking dog by the way !

 

[haganap]

thanks for all your advice.
We have opted to go with NFU whom will charge £20 per month and get rid of the policy with E&L.
seem's a far better policy and in typical fashion, I suppose you get what you pay for.

 

[Road Runner]

thanks for all your advice.
We have opted to go with NFU whom will charge £20 per month and get rid of the policy with E&L.
seem's a far better policy and in typical fashion, I suppose you get what you pay for.

Thank youyou wont regret it (be even better if you never need it)

Bruno tests the other day were £700 so god knows what this lot is costing but never regret a penny in payments as he's had other issues even in France where he was attacked and needed emergency treatmentoh:

Trouble is big thoroughbred dogs tend to have more problems (hence short life span sadly)

 

[RuthRv]

Hi Paul,
glad you opted for insurance as road runner and others have said I really think it is a must with pedigree dogs, especially big ones they do seem to have more problems than your average mongrel, our daughter didn't take our advice and is paying for it now, here's hoping that you never need them but if you do you are covered:thumb:
ruth

 

[takeaflight]

For those with Pet Plan just check for euorpean cover, our policy didn't, now with Tescos.

Roy

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[Pammy]

Hi Paul & Nikki

I Know you've made your decision and I think it is the right one. Our cat was diagnosed about 3 years ago with FLUTD (Feline Lower Uterine Tract disease) which is deadly if you don't catch it in time. We only just managed to catch it in time but it cost us a huge £700 because he wasn't insured. He has made a good recovery now and is on a strict diet to keep it from coming back. However, after the huge bill I was ORDERED (you know what he's like ) to get the cat insured which I did and it is a 'for life cover' with Marks & Spencer for £6.99 a month which is not bad for an 8 year old cat. The only down side to this is that if he develops FLUTD again, heaven forbid, we wouldn't get paid out as it was a pre-exisiting illness. So the moto behind this is, in my opinion, make sure you take insurance out when you get the pet, don't wait until you get a hefty bill and then wish you had it.

 

[Caztur]

Hi Paul,
.... I really think it is a must with pedigree dogs, .... they do seem to have more problems than your average mongrel, ..... ruth

Except in my case - the purebred Springer was the only one we've had that didn't cost a fortune, the 3 crossbreeds have had no end of different problems. :Sad: Just my luck I s'pose.

 

[Road Runner]

Except in my case - the purebred Springer was the only one we've had that didn't cost a fortune, the 3 crossbreeds have had no end of different problems. :Sad: Just my luck I s'pose.

I think we all prey for good health but sadly pure breed large dogs statistically are more likely to be ill sadly.

Insure early so there are no pre existing conditions excluded.

I am the same with Euro health cover for myself with my diabetic issues.

BTW just setting off to collect my Bruno now as he is now able to come home