brie renewal came in today at £1310.52 for the next year rise of 50%
tangle came in at £738.36 rise of £30 extar months
thing i be changing

oh my god, why have they put it up so much, i am dreading mine. I pay 17 a month for my pug,but he has now turned 7 so i have a bad feeling its going to shoot up,also i cant change as he has alot of problems, i also pay 14 for my newfie but he is only a puppy
jo

brie 10 1/2 years old tangle only 5 years old

all mine came in at extortionate renewals too-
changed to axa- same policy and half the price

The premiums for my Newfie almost doubled this year - I was paying about £26 per month and it's gone up to £47!  I rang to ask why the huge increase and I was told that they now base premiums on breed as well as other factors (age, postcode etc). The lady I spoke to was very nice and quite apologetic but she also explained that rapid advances in veterinary medicine and surgery techniques means that they are now paying out for very expensive procedures that weren't even in existence just a few years ago.  Can't really argue with that as M&S have so far paid out for 3 expensive operations on my dogs and we're looking at another in the very near furture - this one will be keyhole which I imagine won't come cheap either.

Due to pre-existing conditions, I can't change insurers but, on balance, I think my premiums are still fairly reasonable taking into account how much M&S have already paid out (without quibble) and what I am likely to claim in the next few months.  I have so far paid about £2.5k in premiums (very rough figure) for both dogs and have claimed in excess of £7.5k.

but brie and tangle not had that much of a claim,
going with another compamy for tangle and may be with brie but she at a age that if some thing was wrong with we would go down that route beacuse of her age.

I changed 2 of mine to AXA at half the price I was paying at Petplan for virtually the same cover ( less excess as well ) however my gsd has ongoing problems so I had no option but to leave her where she is with PP.

Are AXA good at paying out?
I'm just thinking if i change mine, one is due for a renewal soon i think, though last time PP never advised me and i noticed a hike in price on my bank statement.. Not good and i did complain about it..

I haven't been with AXA long enough to claim but having read good reviews re AXA paying out on this forum I'm sure someone will be able to confirm this.

> Are AXA good at paying out?

I am with them, had 2 claims in the first year, my Vet is quite happy to be paid direct from AXA so I guess they pay quite quickly.
Premium was £164 for 1st year, made 2 claims totaling about £1k in first year and renewal went down to £158 for 2nd year.
Chris

My Golden is almost 13 and her renewal from M.& S. is almost £1200. That is an increase from £720 and I thought that was bad. I have told them where to put it!
With her on-going conditions, I may come unstuck but can't afford that amount. (I have another 13 yr old now uninsured and 2 younger ones whose premiums are just about affordable.)
I have worked out that by buying her medication on-line, even taking into account the prescription and check up charges, I shall be saving £600 p/a by not insuring with M & S. I just hope she doesn't develop something else. Her excess with M & S was £70 plus 20% of the rest.
My vet thinks that these companies actually want to opt out of the pet insurance market.
I thought AXA were under-writers. Do they market dog insurance under that name? Does anyone know the maximum cover and if it is renewable per anum? I am looking to change the other 2 away from M & S and Sainsburys next year. NFU seem to pay up well but only seem to offer £4000 vets fees max.
I prefer to have £6 -£7 k

Sandy

A friend of mine has just increased to £180 per month with M/S and she is unable to leave as her dog has epilepsy.

OMG my bernese is with M&S. Premium went up last year and I was going to move her as we have never claimed but found it was almost impossible to get insurance for a 5 year old Bernese, even with no pre-existing conditions. If is goes up that much then I will just have to dump it and hopefully get her covered elsewhere!

If you go onto the AXA website you can do an online quote to get some idea of the cost. My pup is around £15 per month and my spaniel just over 8 years is £17 per month give or take a few pence

Cover is £7000 per year per animal ( for life )

> I thought AXA were under-writers. Do they market dog insurance under that name?

Hi Sandy
They were the underwriters originally, and at that time the premiums were very reasonable (and any renewals), and there was even a £0 excess option. But, when the underwriters changed the premiums started going through the roof. With 5 dogs insured with them I had to make the decision to move elsewhere, even with ongoing conditions that would have to be excluded.

They are all insured with AXA now and the renewals have had negligible increases (have even gone down on a couple of occasions) and I consider the premiums very good for the cover you get (£7k, lifetime cover).

Here's a link for an online quote (http://www.axa.co.uk/insurance/pet).

i going with liverpool/victoria lv insurance

brie they wil cover on two different levels.
half to cost of m/s and the high level is life and for £5000.

Just tried to do an online quote for my eldest Bernese (3yrs)and it give the option for my breed and at the end it states that no cover can be given for my breed..:-(

This is for AXA.

Called AXA and they said that a Bernese is one of the breeds they won't insure, they double checked and said they would insure a Bern cross but not a pedigree Bern :-(.... My search continues.

Hi, Have you tried Healthy Pets? My daughter has a Bernese insured with them and they have paid out for an expensive cancer op- no quibble.
He is now 9.5 and still going strong. She pays £70 a month for him and a nearly 4 year old Leo. Both expensive breeds to insure.

My M&S premium for a 5yr old Flatcoat has just come in with a 16% increase, (now £348 annually) considering others on here have received much higher ones, I consider myself very lucky!  Particularly, as I claim 3 lots of Synoquin a year and they pay out on two of them.

My vets fees are reasonable and I have a very rural post code, so I can only assume it is these factors which are keeping it at an affordable level. I have a young Golden insured with AXA at £15  a month, am interested to see what her renewal will be.

Best wishes.

I might go to Pet Guard for my Bernese if M&S go up again. I insured my PBGV puppy with them and they seem OK and reasonable when I got them to quote for both before - £24.17 per month for Bramble which has life cover and £7500 vet fees

I think its because he is 3yrs old, they've not even asked if i've made any claims etc on current policy with PP. Actually checked with PP and if i started a new quote with my 3yr old now it would be £84p/m.... Way too high..So will be cancelling policy as from next month..
I contacted PP and they don't have any reasonable lower policies. Contacted KC where my other boy is and the quote was through the roof.
LV wouldn't answer their phones, but need to know if any condition arises they will cover for the life of the dog.

I will look into Healthy Pets and also Pet Guard.

The dogs have been with the same insurance company since pups, KC Healthcare plan and I was getting realy worried reading this, yes it has gone up, but only a pound difference from AXA (except that they will not insure pre-existing conditions) so I'm thinking that £339.50 each with both having had claims (younger of the two close to £3,000 in his first year) is not too bad.

When I tried to move Bramble last year one company would not take her because she was 5. Pet plan would only give her their limited cover - hence why I stayed with M&S - never claimed for her. You could try Direct Line - I think they were quite reasonable

LV don't cover for the life of the dog, they cover for £5k max and once this runs out thats it, no good if your dog needs ongoing treatment each year, like Cancer treatment.
Will now try some of the others, getting quite peeved with all of this..:-(

Looked at PetGuard and they will cover my eldest for £28p/m, which is £7500 of vets bills each year and cover each condition for the life of the dog!! Just waiting for PP to send renewal letter through so i can cancel the plan with them...
Thank you so very much for putting their details on here.

I thought it was quite good Sue. They don't cover a lot of the incidentals (foreign travel, holiday cancellation etc) that others do but lets face it, most of us just want to make sure we are covered for our vet fees. I haven't had to claim anything but haven't heard anything bad.

They don't cover a lot of the incidentals (foreign travel, holiday cancellation etc) that others do but lets face it, most of us just want to make sure we are covered for our vet fees. I haven't had to claim anything but haven't heard anything bad.

It would be interesting to know by what percentage, cover for foreign travel, holiday cancellation etc has increased premiums. It will of course be many times less, than the availability of more and more expensive treatments, particularly for cancers.

However, I do personally feel, these 'extras' should be covered under a different policy or indeed owners to bear the costs themselves. My rationale being, foreign travel etc is very much a matter of choice, your beloved animal falling ill is not!

I did make this point to M&S but it fell on deaf ears!

Therefore, the Pet Guard policy, in my opinion, appears very attractive.