Have just received my M&S policy renewal and it's gone up significantly yet again, it's now £35 per month.  When we took it out 3 years ago it was less than half that I was pretty shocked at the hike last year but £420 a year for a 4 year old GR!  So has anyone got any cheaper alternatives

I can't help as i'm with m and s too, but i believe that all insurances are going up due to the increases in vet costs. M and s are one of the best insurance covers you can get, you may find cheaper alternatives but it may not be such good cover. Don't forget if you have had any conditions before (claimed for or not) they may become exclusions if you change policy.

I understand about existing conditions etc but it is getting close to the point where I'm wondering if it is better to go with someone like Sainsburys who will still cover for the lifetime of a condition for £21 per month, the cover may not be quite as good but is that extra cover worth £150 extra per year?  Especially given that the odd visit to the vet for minor problems is not really covered by insurance as there is a £75 excess on all my M&S claims.

All four of our dogs were with M&S, but when our oldest (9-year old pyrenees) had the renewal come through and it doubled from £54/month to £110/month, I decided to move him to AXA despite the exclusions that are now on his policy! I wasn't prepared to pay over £1300/year, which is more than even my own health insurance is!

With AXA, his premium is now £30/month and I am happy with that. At the same time, I have started a pet savings account where I will pay in until I have enough to self-insure all our dogs!

NFU Mutual - I pay £16 per month for each dog and the breeds are Rottie's and Akita's.  I have also claimed close to £4000 in the last 2 years and have had no problems.  Excess is £50.

I'm with Argos for my 3 Rotties, just got the beastie's annual renewal through and it's gone up from £26 to £33, think the excess is £60 (might be £75) and it is a lifetime policy (platinum), up to £7000 per treatment.

My girlies have the gold cover which only covers for a 12 month period, so their HD isn't covered anymore. HAve to say they've always paid out straight away (and direct to the vet), keeping my fingers crossed at the moment though. They've currently got 2 claims 1 to repair a ruptured cruciate on a left leg, and another to repair the right - which she ruptured 5 weeks after the left leg surgery!!! Luckily they pay out up to £4000 per year on the gold, and the 1st surgery came in at £2,000 - £350 just on painkillers!

I'm with you LurcherGirl. The M&S premiums have got to the ridiculous stage. With 6 dogs I just couldn't afford the increases. I've now got 5 of them with AXA which has a good level of lifetime cover and is very reasonable. My old boy (16+) hasn't been insured for about 5 years now.

Its funny i found axa to be the same sort of price as m and s and petplan when looking for ins for my new pup.

I've just had renewals for 2 of mine, a 9 yr old Goldie and a 6 yr old Dobe, and they've gone up by £2 a month - not bad IMO.

A couple of months ago I had renewals from M&S for a 5 year old Sussex Spaniel and a 3 1/2 year old Dobe. Both had gone up, £12 for the SS and £14 for the D!

Don't know what breed you've got lucyandmeg, but Esme's (Goldie, 18 mths) premium actually went down with AXA at the first renewal!

I have to say I changed my golden cocker from M & S to AXA as it was much cheaper.  Have spent nearly £4,000 on her having lip fold problems and then eventually having them removed.  My vet set off the claim form the Friday before last and I got payment from them on Monday.  I can only highly recommend them.   Bentley my blue roan cocker is still with Pet Plan as he had pre conditions.

I've got an australian kelpie, not exactly an unhealthy breed!

Just to give you some examples of the M&S price increases I've had:

Winnie - Sussex Spaniel 5 years old: Insurance 2005-2006 £14.39 pm. 2006-2007 £14.37 pm. 2007-2008 £15.81 pm. These 3 years were reasonable, AXA were the underwriters and there was a £0 excess. The renewal for 2008-2009 was £26.99 with £70 excess and underwritten by Royal and Sun Alliance. Quite a difference I think you'll agree?! The latest renewal for 2009-2010 was a massive £34.99 pm which IMO is absolutely ridiculous!!!

She is now insured with AXA for £15.99 pm with a £50 excess.

Im still with pet plan for my 5 year old rough collie. Its £29 a month. Never had insurance on my westie and shes 15 on the 6th of next month. Be a birthhday party that day
Jean

Axa can insure sengi for 18.88 a month MaS want to increase from 12,99 to 24.99 a month.
Shes been with them six years and I,ve never claimed a penny for her.
I feel its me who should be putting in for a no claims discount from them.
I,m a bit unsure about changing from them but purse strings are getting tighter all the time these days I just don.t know if its worth changing if Axa will push their price up when the renewal is due again.
I was also wondering if I should stick with MaS but change from premier to standard cover.

With M&S the premiums were each year going up by many pounds a months (see my example about for my Sussex).

AXA have either dropped slightly or gone up by no more than a couple of £s. With five dogs insured my purse couldn't cope with the M&S increases, so I really had no option but to change. With the 2 I have just changed the M&S premiums came to about £70+. The same dogs now cost just over £30 with AXA.

If your dog has not got any ongoing conditions I'd switch.

Thanks Pedlee for the info .
No she has no ongoing conditions .
Just one more question is Axa life time cover just like MaS  ?
Thanks Sharon

Yes Sharon, £7000 per period of insurance.

Thanks again.

my older boy is with more than as its gone up from 19.99 to 58.99 in 5 1/2 years so your could be worse.

I don't know how old your oldie is, but I've just done a quote online with AXA and they would insure my 16 1/2 year old Goldie for £52 pm!

Thought I would add to this, just had Fagans renewal through for m&s, 5 year old Irish Setter gone up by £10 per month to £34.99 - when I started his cover 3 years ago it was £9.34  

Im looking to change him and the cats over to another insurer, Alfie has had too many issues so he is stuck with m&s, but already ive found I can get cover for Fagan and the 2 cats with direct line for £34.99 for the same cover.  Im going to take a look at some that have been mentioned on here now.

http://www.insureyourpet.co.uk/

My vet put me onto this site, click on 'insurance types' on the side menu. all the companies listed seem to have a link thru to their own sites for quotes, you can also specify in search what level you want.
Chris

thanks, will take a look at that.

Just to say my 6 yr old Basset's been insured with Pet Plan since he was a pup.  It now costs us £22 a month for him, with £60 excess.  Have only had to claim once and they paid out immediately. 
I thought that was quite expensive but after reading what others pay, I'm quite pleased with it.