Pet Insurance

[AnnM1]

We have just received our quote for the coming year from a well-known pet insurance company (probably the biggest - to give you a clue!)and it has gone up by £60.00!!! We have not made a claim on our policy and cannot see why the increase should be so high.

When I spoke to the insurer I was told that the policies had gone with in conjunction with inflation! Our policy last year cost us £161.+pence, the new quote is £210.+pence! Does the company think we are stupid - anyone can see that this is a GREAT hike and not in line with 'inflation' - except set by themselves.

Having rung the company concerned they (after some ranting from me) said th

Myey would allow me a 6% decrease - still £197.+pence!!!

If I was a new customer I could get cover for my dog for £177.00!!

My delemma - do I cancel the insurance and start afresh? Because my dog has an eye problem (which they already know about and is not covered!) I have been told that if I take this line of action my application will have to go to the underwriters.

Is this a farse or what?

 

[Tony A.]

Ann,

I have two dogs both are cross bred collies, I love them to bits, but would not pay for medical insurance. I am afraid they have to take there chances, obviously minor ailments are catered for, but if it was anything serious I am sorry to say they would be put down. I may well be considered heartless, and am expecting a lot of flak for my opinions (as has happened before)but I consider pet insurance to be a rip off, you would be better off putting the premiums in a bank account, how old is the dog ? x 200 thats a fair sum, and if your not covered for an eye problem what is the point of insurance, or do they only cover you for 1000/1 chances, ie broken legs , cancer etc

Tell them to stick it and spend the money on eye drops for the dog at least you and it wiil get some benefit.

Tony A.

 

[chelsea1]

i insure and have always insured my german shepherds with large insurance company - pay about

 

[adrian_5071472]

weve just renewed our dog insurance,it went up by

 

[cliff_5040076]

Hi

Sorry to interject but isn't a discussion about pet insurance a bit off topic for a forum about general caravanning issues. There are some very good forums for dog owners - one of the best is www.dogchat.co.uk.

They have a thread going at the moment about pet insurance.

Hope that is useful to you

regards Cliff

 

[Damian]

Firstly to reply to Cliff, no the subject of pet insurance in the General forum is perfectly OK, as many of us have pets and take them caravanning with us, and as such they form part of our "family"

I am sure if people wanted to go to the site you mention, they would have.

Back on topic, one of our dogs was found to be cryptorchid, and needed an op to remove the undescended testicle, Insurance refused to pay for the op as they said it was "preventative" medicine, which they dont cover.

WhenI said to them that I would leave it until it became infected, and then claim, they said no ,that would be neglect!!!

which they dont cover!!

Remedy: stop insurance, refund premium, pay similar amount into high interest building society account and pay bills as and when needed, which has actually saved us a lot of money ove the years.

 

[AnnM1]

Hi

Sorry to interject but isn't a discussion about pet insurance a bit off topic for a forum about general caravanning issues. There are some very good forums for dog owners - one of the best is www.dogchat.co.uk.

They have a thread going at the moment about pet insurance.

Hope that is useful to you

regards Cliff

A lot of vanners own dogs and I was just interested to hear their comments. SORRY!!! If I upset you.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

A lot of vanners own dogs and I was just interested to hear their comments. SORRY!!! If I upset you.

Ann you were quite within your rights to bring up this subject. Maybe if someone wants to nitpick it could have been posted under Chit Chat, but as my dogs go everywhere with me I, and I'm sure the majority of others, regard it as a General subject.

 

[JackieandSteve_5080688]

Hi Ann,

I might be too late here and you might of got it sorted but i can recommend a great insurance company. I won`t actually say at the minute as i`m not sure i`m allowed to.

I`ll give you an example though. I have 2 dogs but i`ll base this on one. I pay

 

[JackieandSteve_5080688]

Sorry not

 

[STEVE_5041381]

Just had the same thing with mine changed to a cheaper company

and all is fine - it is a famous high st catalogue company and the quotes will really amaze you.

 

[AnnM1]

Hieveryone

I haven't yet decided on which insurance (pet) to take out. Still looking. Has anyone insured their pet "That's more than lucky!". I would be interested to know details of the high street store with no excess!

 

[JackieandSteve_5080688]

Hi Ann,

I hope it`s ok for me to say this but it`s M&S

 

[GillandMike]

Hi Ann

My insurance company has a red telephone and I pay

 

[JackieandSteve_5080688]

Hi Mikes wife,

I was with the same company you`re with until July last year and changing was the best thing i did. The befefits i have now far outweigh DL and i pay the same premium every month as i did before. The biggest benefits i have now i`d say are No excess and

 

[GillandMike]

Hi Jackieandsteve

My jaw dropped at the price of your dogs cruciate op. I bet your're glad you were insured. I'm not sure of the cost of the op alone. I have so far paid (or rather DL has) just under

 

[CliveV]

As someone who works with Insurance Companies I can FULLY endorse what Mikes wife says about "entire life" policies.

The "cheap and cheerful" or better described as just cheap! invariably stop covering for a condition once you have claimed.

A good policy will not do that. It will be more expensive but potentially FAR more valuable.

Interestingly this applies to "Human Insurance" as well. You can have a PHI (Permanent Health Insurance) policy that will pay out each and every time you are off sick, even if for a succession of events such as a series of heart attacks and each time you will be covered. Thus the term of the policy is for many years - usually to age 65.

BUT, there are some policies that are General Insurance Policies that are Annually Renewable. This means that at each renewal date, they can restrict the conditions covered. So if you have a heart attack one year, you are not covered for that problem any more!

I have had a few clients that have been caught out by such policies - sold in there thousands by high street Banks - and whilst the policy was cheap - it left the individual anything but cheerful.

 

[GillandMike]

Hi Clive

Interesting what you say about exclusions after an illness or injury. The vet told me that a certain supermarket who provides dog insurance, tried to wriggle out of paying for a crucuiate op when the other leg ruptured six months after the first. The vet successfully argued that the two leg injuries were actually separate (apart from being joined by the hip!!!)

from Mikes wife

 

[CliveV]

Oh Yes! - I hate the general insurance companies with a vengence. All but a very few routinely refuse to payout until you get stroppy with them.

My favourite example was a lad who lost part of his ankle when a cannon in Spain exploded and a bit of metal severred part of his ankle. The Spannish Hosp & surgeons were great and reattached it.

On coming home he was obviously of work and put in a claim on his Accident & Sickness Insurance that his Bank had sold him to cover his loan and the responce was that when they said he was coverred for "loss of limb" that meant losing it. The fact that he had it sown back on again was not a good enough reason for them to pay out!

In fact the Consumers Association took out a Class Action against the High Street lenders to stop them ripping off people with expensive insurance cover for loans that rarely pay out.

My advice is if you have a loan - get independent advice and take out proper PHI cover - it will be about the same price and provide far better cover.

 

[JackieandSteve_5080688]

Hi Mikes wife,

Yes we`re in the dreaded expensive south. Mind you i know of another rotty who had the same op just before my Mia and i believe she lives up north and she paid

 

[AnnM1]

I will have a look at M&S. Thanks for the information.

I am tempted, however, to stay with the 'biggest' pet insurer (PP) as Maisie (a 4 year old Cairn Terrier) will be adequately covered. I know that you only get what you pay for.

Will let you know the outcome (whatever it is).

Thanks again.

 

[GillandMike]

Hi JackieandSteve

Glad all is well. Thinking about it Jodi probably didn't have quite the same op as Mia. The vet told me that he tried to repair the ligament by sewing on a patch, but the ligament kept breaking. So her used suture to make a sort of artificial ligament! He tells me its like string in there....I hope so. Shes a lively dog and plays hard with our other dog (both Golden Retrievers). This could be why the op is cheaper.

Is the TLPO op the one where they remove part of the bone to reduce the slope of knee joint?

 

[GillandMike]

Hi JackieandSteve

Glad all is well. Thinking about it Jodi probably didn't have quite the same op as Mia. The vet told me that he tried to repair the ligament by sewing on a patch, but the ligament kept breaking. So her used suture to make a sort of artificial ligament! He tells me its like string in there....I hope so. Shes a lively dog and plays hard with our other dog (both Golden Retrievers). This could be why the op is cheaper.

Is the TLPO op the one where they remove part of the bone to reduce the slope of knee joint?

sorry should have added.....Mikes wife at the end

 

[GillandMike]

Hi JackieandSteve

Glad all is well. Thinking about it Jodi probably didn't have quite the same op as Mia. The vet told me that he tried to repair the ligament by sewing on a patch, but the ligament kept breaking. So her used suture to make a sort of artificial ligament! He tells me its like string in there....I hope so. Shes a lively dog and plays hard with our other dog (both Golden Retrievers). This could be why the op is cheaper.

Is the TLPO op the one where they remove part of the bone to reduce the slope of knee joint?

hi should have added....Mikes wife.....at the end

 

[JackieandSteve_5080688]

Yes i think they do do that Mikes wife then they attach a metal plate which stays in. This is all new to me so without looking it up or speaking to my specialist again i can`t remember exactly what they do. The specialist did speak to us about 3 different ops for cruciate and although my head was all over the place the op you mentioned does ring a bell as to one of the ones he mentioned. I know he did say the TPLO was the most expensive but recommended it for Mia because of her size and weight.(She was 7 stone but has lost a bit since then) This time next week i`ll have her back after her second op thankfully. I always cry so much when i leave her and she looks at me with pleading eyes when they take her away.

Jackie