Pet Insurance......Minefeild!!!

[Gagakev]

Just been looking around the various companies websites for quotes for our new puppy.
They all seem to offer differant level/prices etc.
Can any one recommend one which is value for money, one which will pay out promptly and give a good service.
Mind you if he chews anymore wallpaper, slippers,baubles off the xmas tree, or his fleece bed blanket think I might move into the van until the OH has trained him properly

I only picked him up on Saturday so on that note think in six months I wont have a house to live in anyway

ps Love him to bits really.

 

[JohnGriffiths]

It's very difficult for one person to recommend something like pet insurance to another because their requirements are different. E.g. Do you intend to travel abroad with your pet, and for how long. Do you need cover for every small treatment or are you happy to pay an excess of £250. These things greatly affect the cost and sometime disproportionately. Insurer A may include 90 days foreign travel for £120 pa, insurer B might offer only 30 days for the same amount but if you ask B to quote for 90 days it comes out as £500!
It is a minefield but worth knowing where the mines are before you tread on one. For what it's worth we went with ASDA with our one dog as it offered what we needed. Our other dog has been with Petplan since a puppy as he was diagnosed with a long term illness when he was very young and so changing insurers hasn't been an option. And there's another option that can make or break you, will the insurer keep them on the book for their whole lifes no matter what befalls the dog. Petplan have also been good in that respect but not cheap. Some of the internet comparison sites now offer pet insurance so there's a good starting point, but don't believe the summary on the comparison site, you have to check out each underwriters policy before commiting.

 

[OmOnWeelz]

We have 3 little dogs covered by Sainsbury and all has been OK. Daughter had a battle Royal with the Kennel club when one her dogs needed a corrective op. They approved the very big bill op then after the op said that the problem was congenital and they would not pay. They had to get statements from the breeder than none of their line of dogs had the problem before they would pay out.
Recently she got a new large breed puppy, the Insurance is £90 per month! Didn't realsie that some large breeds come with a large insurance premium

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

We had our dog insured with More Th>n.
About five years ago, I had quite a substantial claim on a leg operation he needed to have, that put the premium up quite alot, and because he was classed as an older dog, that also added to the cost - in the end I was paying £42 per month. I kept on paying without really thinking about it, but last year, I decided to look for something cheaper, and he's now insured with Animal Friends, (they don't seem to discrimate against older pets) so now I pay just over £19 per month!!

 

[LMH]

OmOnWeelz - what breed of 'large' dog did your daughter get?, just out of interest.
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My little dog is with M&S. When I took the insurance out, five years ago, it was £8 a month, now its about £28.

However, in that five year period, I've probably claimed about £1200 and they paid up.

The older dog is uninsured, she has an ongoing problem with her offside hip (arthritis ) but we treat that with glucosamine which seems to do the trick. She had to have an op this year which cost £400 (unrelated to the arthritis).

There is one insurance company which has a terrible name and should be avoided at all cost. It's widely known but obviously people still insure with them. Also, a few of my acquaintances have personal experience of this particular company. I'm not allowed to name the company on here though.

What breed of dog did you get?

Lisa

 

[Gagakev]

Thanks for all the replies, told you it was a minefeild

Think I will spend best part off the weekend gathering quotes and info, thanks for the idea's.
Lisa, think I know which one not to go for, our secretary has had problems as well if it's the same one.
Our first dog was a Golden Retreiver, then we had 3 G/Shepards, so we decided to go
back to the Golden Retreiver, had his health check and first jabs etc etc, on Thurs, all's well.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Kev
Our two are with M&S Pet Insurance. Not cheap at £250 and £260 respectively even though they are sisters! Something to do with an extra dog discount!
The real attraction was the annual ongoing medical cover as long as you renew each year. So a dog with say diabetes or heart problems will be covered for life upto the maximum sum insured per annum.
we've claimed once for a strained leg and they paid the vet direct.

On the other hand we have wondered if we may have been better off not insuring at all , saving the premiums ourselves for a rainy day?

On balance as we are not ,millionaires and want the best we still choose to insure.

 

[Gagakev]

Hi Kev
Our two are with M&S Pet Insurance. Not cheap at £250 and £260 respectively even though they are sisters! Something to do with an extra dog discount!

Hi Dusty, the ones I have already looked at are around the £300.00 mark, but I will keep looking over the weekend

On the other hand we have wondered if we may have been better off not insuring at all , saving the premiums ourselves for a rainy day?

On balance as we are not ,millionaires and want the best we still choose to insure.

Also think it's something to think about with two or more but with one I dont know if its much to think about. The other thing to think about is the accident cover included with some of them.
Time for a beer, puppy asleep, Cheers