Pet Insurance

Norkie

Norkie

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Hi all,

My little dog's insurance is due now, currently with Kennel club, blooming expensive though!

Any recommendations please? Too many to choose from on comparison sites :ty:
 
Ive always used PetPlan,not the cheapest but a lot of vets surgeries will deal direct with them if you need to claim (they won't do this with all insurers so check) and they've always paid out with no hassle. My vet also told me if I was changing for an existing animal it was worth while getting the new insurers to confirm there was nothing in the animals history would prevent them paying a claim.
 
We use MoreThan now. The renewal premium from the previous insurer increased by over 50% so I looked around and MoreThan had more or less the same cover for only a few quid more.

Just had a claim as the dog has had gastroenteritis and needed antibiotics and to be in the vets overnight. The vets (the local branch of Vets4Pets) dealt with the claim. They didn't ask which insurers we used so I assume they deal with all insurers.

Good point by Hugh about history. The vet mentioned that changing insurers in the future cold cost more and that insurers might claim any future digestive tract problem is a recurrence of the current illness.

Dave
 
I use Petplan. Expensive, but have always paid out without hesitation (My vet reckons they are hassle free).

I was with Liverpool Victoria (LV) with a previous dog. They absolutely never refused to pay out in full, but were very pernickity about the paperwork. E.g. all claims had to be accompanied by the dog's full veterinary history. Fine, but when you make a claim just two months after the previous one and again have to send X years history that is already in the insurer's possession it is a bit OTT.

Most probable that a lot of insurers are OK, but use Google and plough through the doggie forums are you will find insurers that are known wrigglers.

Some vets deal with insurers direct (probably more likely with large practices).

Twice I have had animals that had to have treatment for a week in Glasgow Uni. Small Animal Hospital and they completed the insurance form and dealt with the insurers direct.
 
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We've got our chocolate lab insured with Animal Friends. Just put in a claim for nearly £1k after he's had a lot of stomach issues. They asked a LOT of questions about the claim. They also claimed our old vets wouldn't give them his medical history. Amazingly the old vet gave us the info straight away and told us AF had never ever contacted them. AF did pay up in full eventually. Of course it's now an existing condition and they won't cover it again come renewal time.

Our new vets recommend Pet Plan btw, they told us they get minimal problems with claims through them.
 
Also with Petplan. Only claimed once about eight years ago and was painless (for us).
 
Petplan here and my big dog needs TPLO surgery on his leg at £3k and they are paying out no problems at all although the vets insist we pay first and claim back which is the vets not the insurance as they have been fine with his leg treatment to date and its lifetime cover as well so if he needed treatment the rest of his days he would be covered.
 
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Well PetPlan it is (y)

Many thanks all, a great help :)
 
Oh and by the way, my little man says "Woof"

(Doggy talk for thanks ;))
 
Only as a supplement, why's that Mark? I thought RC was a complete feed.
 
By the way Mark, he's a Norfolk Terrier.
 
Norkie said:
Well PetPlan it is (y)

Many thanks all, a great help :)
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Good choice, it's not always about the cheapest , heard loads of bad about E&L and Animal Friends too
 
Norkie said:
Only as a supplement, why's that Mark? I thought RC was a complete feed.
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Its a complete feed however as we are raw feeders the Royal Canin gives him a few extra suppliments. He gets that along with sardines and some veg.
 
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markyboy.1967 said:
Its a complete feed however as we are raw feeders the Royal Canin gives him a few extra suppliments. He gets that along with sardines and some veg.
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RAW feeding is a bit more hassle isn't it?, but you can't half see the difference in your dog
 
boyfalldown said:
RAW feeding is a bit more hassle isn't it?, but you can't half see the difference in your dog
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Yeah but with 2 dogs the size of ours it also cheaper. My male dog eats 2lb of raw tripe in the morning then at night he gets Royal Canin, sardines and veg but that gets alternated with raw beef, hearts etc etc etc.
 
markyboy.1967 said:
Yeah but with 2 dogs the size of ours it also cheaper. My male dog eats 2lb of raw tripe in the morning then at night he gets Royal Canin, sardines and veg but that gets alternated with raw beef, hearts etc etc etc.
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With just one it works out for me about the same as a good kibble. But, and I realise this may well be good luck, my current boy is much healthier then my last dog was at the same age and is never at the vets so its cheaper there to.
 
We are with Animal Friends, unfortunately we are stuck with them as we had a £3k claim for a broken leg when she was a puppy.
If we change providers, the leg would not be covered so not much we can do.

Year one was £13.44 a month, year 2 (post claim) was £22.49 per month so not too bad but she is a small dog and still young.

I could not fault their claims process at all, I have never in my life claimed on an insurance but when faced with a £3k bill, we had little choice.
They would not pay the emergency vet cost (£144) but this is explained in their T&C's so I knew this and the excess was £100.

We paid the bills on credit card, got the vet to fill out a form and we had the money credited to our bank within 14 days, I was really surprised at how good they were.
 
At the end of the day, you do need insurance. We owned a horse many years ago. Poor creature had laminitis, 3 injections a day at £6.00 each!

No insurance, a nightmare :(

I think it's about finding a balance between cost and cover. Pay a low monthly fee, and you'll need to top it up at some stage.
 
Norkie said:
At the end of the day, you do need insurance.
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Couldn't agree more. The vets bills for my last dog were in excess of £6k. Had I not been insured I couldn't have coped.

It was an unrelated condition that finished him but Noel Fitzpatrick (the supervet) suggested an operation and then 15 weeks recovery. f*** knows what that would have cost. At 14 I thought letting him go was the right thing to do for him
 
AlistairD said:
We were with Petplan for many years but now we are using John Lewis which so far have been good on the paying out front - which is what matters in the end.

A
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Also with John Lewis who paid out within about a week of starting the policy when our new puppy suddenly fell very ill. Have renewed with them and I think the price increase was less than £1
 
I've used John Lewis for all sorts of things, TV, Microwave, Furniture, exemplary service. Worth the 'extra' cost (y)

Our last TV came with 5 years guarantee :)
 
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