I've just called PetPlan up as my 4 weeks free cover is about to expire, well i have asked for a quote on what my current boys policy is, which is the top package. Kai has unlimited vets bills each and every year and the excess was i thought £60 per condition each year, just been informed its £90.
I pay £54p/m for Kai's insurance - i do have a select breed.
No discount for having 2 dogs with them either..
Anyway for Bosley who i haven't claimed for, i have been quoted £89p/m for the top policy, they don;t have unlimited vets bills anymore, max is £12k per year. I asked how they can be charging so much for a Bernese now, when 2yrs ago i started off paying £45p/m for Kai. They don't price match either,
To say i am shocked is an understatement.

I think i will be going to with KC insurance as they quoted £45p/m and i think their top policy is the same as petplans.. Wowsers its getting worse out there... I do also have 6 weeks free insurance with the KC too, they keep calling up asking me if i'd like to join, think i will at this rate.
Anyone else help with ideas on insurance?? I want the top best policy i can find and would like unlimited vets bills for every condition, maybe this has all stopped through all of them i don't know.

Hi Sue

Fagans insurance went up with m&s to £35 per month which is alot considering when I took it out 3 years ago it was only £10 per month   I have just changed to NFU mutual, the cover isnt as good, I think it is £4000 per condition per year (they may do a higher policy) but I figured this should be ok unless something extremely huge occured.  Also my excess is only £50 :)

I was close to cancelling his insurance, thank god I didnt  as his latest claim for bloat is currently £1055, NFU have been very helpful too. 

Claire

We're with M&S Sue and their prices rocketed a while back when they changed under writers and also dropped the no excess part of the policy.  I now pay more for insuring my youngest who's been claim free to date than I do for my 4x4.  I don't even want to think what the other two older dogs cost (OH pays :-p )but as one is now 9 years the excess is higher plus we have to pay a further 20% on top of the balance of any claim.

I think it's a case of checking out all deals and companies on-line and studying the small print.  Sometimes better deals are available for new customers than for existing ones but it can work the other way whereby a long term customer gets a keener rate than is available to anyone looking to start out.

Unfortunately everything is going through the roof - except wage rises!
good luck, Teri

Suejaw

Try Animal Friends.  We had our last Bulldog with them and he had some problems which they paid out for with not a question asked.  Unfortunately he died in the end and again they paid out the full £1500 with not a problem.  I recommend them big time.  They are a set price for all breeds which is good and the top lifetime policy is up there with the best around in terms of vets fees etc.  We now have a new Bulldog puppy and the policy is £26.06 a month which is very competitive.  In fact I dont think anywhere could beat it and as I say they were top class in settling all claims and even deal directly with your vets for you also.

> I have just changed to NFU mutual

Think i will ask my father about them, he deals with them on a regular basis for the farm. Maybe worth looking into.

I want a top policy as Bernese can suffer from some nasty things as they go through their lives.
Will stick with PetPlan for my older boy as they have to keep the policy the same as what i took out and signed for which is one blessing.
Certain insurances won't cover Bernese after a certain age either so this has a huge bearing.

You prompted me to check for my insurance. My 1st fcr is insured with pet plan at 26 per month for the standard plan with 80quid excess quote for puppy 30 per month with 1 pound per dog discount. The Supreme plan is 35 per month which compares to 39 with KC think I'll try NFU but have heard some iffy things about them. pet plan do do multidog discount 1pound per dog per month

I got quite a good deal i think with pet plan. I have 3 on the supreme plan and one on the budget as she is over 6 and was not allowed to put her on the supreme, the combined cost is 140 a month. I got 3 months free on the supreme plans and 2 months on the other. I was given a 20% disc on all plans. It was hard and i was on the phone for 40 mins but if your good at negotiating try it. Its worth it. My excess's are only 70 aswell.

Hi

I have insured my westie with Halifax at the moment and have found them really good and quick at paying out, he had to have some baby teeth removed and i didn't think they were gonna pay but they did and very prompt, and they are reasonable, i used petplan with my last westie but found they had gone up quite a bit.

Mahonc i tried to negotiate and they weren't having it saying that the computers are set with a price and they can't change it, i really tried saying i already have one dog with them. but no.. I explained that KC were cheaper and pretty much the same cover and again they said nothing they could do and i said i should shop around.. Obviously don't wish for my business then..

Ask to speak to a manager sue, and just keep going round in circles with them, they wont put the phone down on you and eventually they do give in and give you a disc. And they DO have the power to disc. And the fact you have a premium breed and want to top plan just keep trying and bein hard faced.

My Boxer is insured with Kennel Club - they offer 10k cover for each 'issue' for life with an excess of £60 plus 10%, and charge £34 per month.  I have claimed on this this year, to the tune of 2000.00, and they paid out very promptly, so I guess my premium may well go up dramatically next year, but of course if I move then the new provider will exclude my dogs previously existing condition, which in reality he will need further attention and thus there will be further claims in the future.  Hence in theory I am now tied to Kennel Club.  However I have been unable to find an insurer who covers to such a high value, and for life too!!!  Most of them seem to do X value per year, and then they'll exclude it at the next anniversary of the policy, as my horse insurers do.  Personally I prefer to stick with a company who pay out when a situation arises, but I would try to get a review on a massively increased premium.

KC quoted me £45p/m with i think either 10 or 12k cover per year for each condition, which to be honest very few of us will spend anything like that.. Can't recall excess at this time.. Will have to have a check on that, but with PP they have gone up to £100excess.. I thought they were on £60, they were and never told me they had hiked up mine to £90(prob in small print but never read it).

I think i'm going to be happy with KC, if they pay out easily and to be honest they don;t need any more bad publicity so its in their best interest to have a good insurance and not cause any fuss on payments..

I'm with Animal friends too and they have been really good paying out for Sasha's broken pelvis.
we pay £26 per month and the cover is for £5000 per condition per year.
They have even paid back all hydro sessions she has had, not limiting it to some number like most.
Our excess is £40.
As I have only been with them since September( only paid one payment before the accident!) I do not know how much the premium will go up as we have claimed for £5000 just for the pelvis...

I think this is going to be an increasing problem when we have vets that assume because there is insurance they can do any and every test available.  There was a tv programme a month or so ago about the cost of vet care and it was commented on there.  I have the greatest respect for my vet, and appreciate that the cost of vet care is high, however, I have lost count of the number of times I've heard vets say - 'well you've got insurance so lets just get the tests/xrays/etc done anyway.  It is only a matter of time before insurance companies will start to have to charge higher premiums

Try AXA, got Zuma on top level lifetime cover for £164 for the year (about £14/15 p/month) started in Oct and had a 'no problem' claim for over £1000 just round xmas. Vets like them and will claim direct from them.
I spoke to NFU when I was looking and they told me the £4000 per condition was for life not per year so if you had epilesy or something and ran out when the dog was only 5 yrs then tough.
Chris

ive just been right through my policy details and cant find the cover details - typical.  But I did double check on the phone when I took the cover out and it was definitely £4000 per condition per annum.

I have my oldest Dacihe with Animal friends,Have no probs with them.It was thier previouse underwriters ,they were very slow to pay out.They were E & L. There underwriters are now Red Sands I believe.But thier top policy is only £6000  I have to stay with them now as Tilly had the back op £4000 The Pup will be insured with the K Club as they do a policy that pays up to £10,000.If God forbid the pup should need the same op in 5 or 6 years what would it cost then.So that is why I chose to go with them.

Interesting post.

The reason I say this is because recently we have been seeing our Vet every week for a long term condition with my Briard. We were talking about insurance and she told me that recently, some insurance companies were no longer accepting Bernese Mountain Dogs. Why? Because there has been a nation wide run on claims and their computer statistics have ruled that they are not a good risk! Yes...purely computer statistically based!!  This subject came up purely because I questioned my insurance company as to the hike in premiums next year on my boy because of the claims this year and also discussed it with the Vet. I was assured that his premiums would only go up because of his age not his condition. My Vet is a pain management specialist and deals with lots of breeds and insurance companies, she was disgusted because in her opinion, BMD's are no higher a risk than any other large breed.

I used to be with M & S pet insurance but changed to Sainsbury's after a considerable M & S price hike for no reason. Sainsbury's are underwritten by the same company that used to underwrite M &S, AXA. So far they have been very good. I think I pay £28 per month for a 6 yr old male Briard and £22.00 for a 4 yr old spayed female Briard and mine are insured with the knowledge that they haven't been vaccinated. So far they have paid up on time and to date they have paid out £4,500 for my boy plus paid me back in excess of £300 that I paid initially. I got a 10% discount for insuring 2 dogs with them.

My policy has a maximum of £7,500 per condition per year. Plus £1,000 for complimentary.

HTH

I have pet plan but am contemplating paying the monthly payment by standing order to a bank account instead. £75 month woukld soon mount up and act as self insurance- there when I need it instead of paying to the insurance company. I still have the fear factor though - What id I get a £5000 bill- It's a tough decsion.

My dogs are with NFU insurance, they are very easy to deal and discount for every additional dog. They pay out very quickly and will also pay vet direct. My excess, even with the Bernese is £40.

Also, you get a discount for every year you with them. Worth ringing for a quote.

Thanks Karen,

Been passed our local office number by my father for a chat with them. An excess of £40 for a Berner is very good..
Will give them a call on tuesday...

Speaking very quietly in the corner so as not to draw too much attention but OH and I use Tesco for our 5 girls, age range 1yr to 11yrs, no age restriction, basic cover, doesn't cover dental, no limit on number of illnesses with 2.5k max per illness. Mind you ours are not special breeds, just GR, BC and Shelties.

Have used it twice already for the oldest girl, i.e. X-Rays for Arthritis + treatment and surgery for removal of fatty lumps, they pay out with no questions, total cost for 5 girls £72 per month.

The old chap is from dogs trust, so that doesn't really count as they pay for everthing except jabs and worm and fleas.

Berners are a high risk because of high incidence of malignant histiocytosis and the usual issues relating to big breeds. Having said that, sadly, MH usually kills quickly so is unlikely to incur that much in terms of veterinary costs.

While on the subject, I am impressed by the health pages on the UK Club's website - proactive, honest and frank. Pleased to see they're doing a new health survey, too:

http://www.bernese.co.uk/2009%20Health%20Survey.htm#2009_Health_Survey_of_British_BMDs_head

One of the saddest things I ever heard was the BMD breeder at Manchester Dog Show who said to me: "You have to REALLY love them, as we don't have them for long."  

I would love it if more breeders could feel more empowered about tackling health problems in their breeds.

Jemima

Our Bernese is with M&S, its £17 a month excess is £70 I think

this is a great tool for comparing policies.

> Pleased to see they're doing a new health survey,

I was pleased to see this too having lost our first Bernese aged only 4 , but I only knew because I happened to visit their site for something completely different. They only sent requests to members of any of the breed clubs, not to all owners, so if you are not in a breed club, which I'm not, you wouldn't know anything about it unfortunately. I sent mine off to register as soon as I saw it and I hope other owners will do the same.

> register as soon as I saw it and I hope other owners will do the same.

Yep, finally got around to it, mine was sent off about a month ago. They want healthy and unhealthy dogs alike to be added to this.. Should make for interesting reading once they have compiled all the results once the actual survey has been sent out and then back in my owners.

The Breed clubs don't have lists / details of non members, so can only send to the those they know about.

Many of the BMD breeders pass on details of the breed club to new puppy owners. I know some of the breeders in the club also register the new owners with the breed club as part of the 'puppy pack' So the new owners can get lots of info on the breed.
Every little helps.

> I would love it if more breeders could feel more empowered about tackling health problems in their breeds.

For your next program ??? Border Collie Breeders have already instigated multiple health testing & research before in some cases even the Veterinary world considers te condition to be of concern-wouldn't make very good TV though would it ?

I was pleased to see this too having lost our first Bernese aged only 4 , but I only knew because I happened to visit their site for something completely different.

Yes, and this was a flaw of the KC/BSAVA health survey, too - club members only.  The KC is often saying they don't want to be too proscriptive because it will drive people away and then they won't know how to contact them. Well, here is their golden opportunity...  if I was running this health survey, I'd ask the KC to do a mailout to all registered BMD owners, even if meant paying the KC to do it. You'd get a much better picture that way.

Jemima

Pet insurance has rocketed and is far too expensive for the amount of cover issued. My car. my life and even my home and contents are cheaper to insure.
So I now set up an account and play £50 a month per dog into it, and also set up a credit card which remains empty, but it gives me instant access to £4000, on top of my normal credit card and loan facilities. Which I can then pay back at the type of monthly rate expected by pet plan for their up front premiums. This way I only pay for what I require. And if I never need to 'claim' the money is stuill mine for use in the future.

With pet insurance I was paying to make sure the dogs were covererd for the future but as there is no knowing what the insurance companies might be charging in 4-5 years time there is no way of knowing if it will be affordable - in which case they have me over a barral. I could either pay what I couldn't afford or loose the 10 years of payments I have already made towards guarenteeing my pets needs are met when they grow old.

There needs to be a better contract with customers for this type of 'life' cover to make sure it really is for life -  practically.