I know that insurance has been done to a death on this forum, but I need a little help.
I am picking up a puppy soon but have never had pet insurance and have no idea what vets charge these days.

I know that I want lifetime cover but i am a little concerned over what has happened with the Halifax recently, and I am not sure how much per year/condition I should be looking at ?
I am going to go on the comparison websites now but any tips would be appreciated
Thanks in advance

Sainsburys £18 a month  for bitch veteran pekingese. AA £16 for veteran Rough Collie. Kennel Club £19 for male pekingese. (2 free mths at beginning )Pekingese are considered high risk  so those figures are reasonable . Some folk put cash in a bank account for vets fees but remember third party ins is important nowdays in case your dog causes an accident.

>Sainsburys £18 a month  for bitch veteran pekingese.

Is that lifetime cover per condition or just for 12 months? And what excess is payable? I found that the KC insurance had a way higher excess than PetPlan, for instance, even for a puppy.

quote from paperwork.''Your ins covers £7.500  for each injury or illness.You policy has no time limit on claims and does not stop paying after 12 months , if ***needs treatment for long term condition.'' plus its for dental injury or illness 7500.
complimentary treatments 1000.
behaviour problems  250 .
diet 200.
overseas vet treatment 2500 .
cremation 100.
personal liability 2 mill.
emergency boarding 100 wkly.
daily minding 100 wkly.
advertising 1000.
reward 250.
theft or straying 750 per incident.
death /trip cancellation or return home 3000.
vet referral 150.
accidental damage 500.
damage to kennel or basket 100.
personal accident to owner 5000.
quarantine . 2000.
loss of health cert 250.
emergency expenses abroad 500

How much is the excess per claim?

£75.

That's better than the KC who wanted £75 + 15%, for only £4,000 of cover!

I only  did Kc as he came with free 2 months .

Personally I put the money I would use for insurance in savings but I don't have a lot of faith in insurance companies

http://www.insureyourpet.co.uk is worth a browse............the menu on the right has a bit called 'insurance types' which explains a lot of the differences and the 'insurance companies' has a link to each firm
Chris

Pet plan is good at it is one of the only insurance companies many vets will deal with direct so you don't have to find a massive amount of money in a crisis.

Petplan tend to be very expensive (though good reputation but you do pay for it lol) and I have found my vets will deal with Argos, John Lewis, Pets at Home etc.

Maybe look into vet discount programs, google around for "pet insurance alternatives" or something .. Personally here in the US I use Pet Assure, instead of pet insurance.

Remember Roxylola  that the cash you bank covers vet fees only, it is wise to have 3rd party insurance now days  if your dog/s cause an accident.Sometimes membership of a breed club will cover this ....

I have some dogs with petplan. i have never had a payout problem. yes they are expensive, but good.  I also have one with AXA (same as J Lewis) they are v resonable. although they say you do not know how good your insurance company are until you place a claim, i have not had to claim from AXA, but, they offer things that others do not.

I left Pet Plan to go with Axa, however after a year, worried about the Halifax saga I have now gone back to PP as I feel pretty sure that they are a company that will not fold, they pay claims on time with no problems. I have the £7000 policy and am only paying £4 per month more than Axa. I feel far more confident now and feel that it is worth £4 extra to be with a safe company.

I rang the vets and they said that they don't deal direct with any insurance company.

Petplan's excess was £90 ! The annoying thing is that I don't want all the fancy stuff they offer, I just want vet bills and 3rd party insurance. So I will keep looking.

Pet plan have been great for me. No questions about any claims I have made and I rarely have to ait longer than a week for a cheque in the post.

I've got Nando insured with Animal Friends insurance. I haven't had to use them yet so cannot comment on how quick they are for claims but I've been pleased with the service and the forms were easy to fill in, and the policy was easy to understand.

I had a look at Animal Friends, just out of curiosity I put in details for a HWHV ( haven't got one yet, but hey, a girl can dream ! ) £45 pound a month !.

I know I'm always moaning about AXA ( sorry, but they just annoy me ) but they are terribly slow at paying out, I've yet to have a claim where I haven't had to chase them up about it several months after the claim was submitted.

I know I'm always moaning about AXA ( sorry, but they just annoy me ) but they are terribly slow at paying out, I've yet to have a claim where I haven't had to chase them up about it several months after the claim was submitted

I have claimed 3 times to Axa for Zuma, last time he was in 22/23 Feb, I got letter from Axa on 16 March saying they were paying the claim and a letter from Dick White Referrals to say they had received payment on 23 April.
2 previous claims seemed to go through fairly quickly as well.
Chris

Really?! It may be worth ringing for a quote to see if it goes down. I know with my car insurance I get quoted ridiculous amounts online (Under 25 and male!) but phoning has reduced it by at least half. For perspective, LV car insurance quoted me 3.5k for a year! Upon phoning it went down to £990 for 11 months.

I pay £18 a month for their top level of cover for Nando. An entire male GSD.

I have a family member and a close friend who have had the same problem with AXA being slow, worst I had with them was a 3 month wait, it was a big claim, but pretty straight forward, they did pay, but it took a phone call to chase the claim, they tend to pay up pretty quick once I've phoned, but i shouldn't have to every time.

Yeah, it was quite a shock with the Animal Friends quote, after that, I didn't even bother to get one for my real dog.

Animal Friends' underwriters recently changed their risk criteria to include postcode effectively penalising anyone in the southeast of england, london and other larger cities. Premiums doubled or more! So perhaps that explains your high quote?

I'm in Scotland, in a tiny village, so I don't think it could have been the area.

I just checked again to be sure..£48.10 for the Prestige cover.

Animal friends have a terrible reputation for not paying out/stalling/not answering emails etc. I know 2 people who really had to fight for their claims to be paid, google animal friends insurance reviews and consider changing at next renewal date :-)

I use Healthy Pets for mine, both my breeds are generally healthy and long lived. I have the cheapest level of cover, the premiums range from £5.22 a month for the youngest up to £12 for the 9 year old. I've had a few claims over the years and they're always settled by return of post, I can't fault them at all :-)   I would use the higher level if I had a breed that was likely to require very expensive ongoing treatment though.

I am with animal friends and more than. So far  both companies have paid out with no problem also have had good experiences with customer queries

Exact same details gives me £22.80 with Healthy Pets, that's the gold cover, that's a significant difference.

I wonder why HWHV's are so expensive to insure ?.

Just had a look at Healthy Pets for Daisy, £35 for gold cover, dearer than the Direct Line she's with, haven't claimed for her though so no idea what they'll be like.