Would like to find out your opinions on Pet Insurance.

I have 6 weeks cover from Petplan on my new puppy but I am not sure who to use after this.

Cheers

Heidi

Hi Heid ..if you use the SEARCH option at the top of this forum page and type in PET INSURANCE , you will find that there have been many threads on the subject and you might get some useful insights from there :)

HTH

Melody :)

Cheers Melody - Very informative.

I really have 2 to chose from Petplan or KC cover as these are recommended by my breeder.

Comments about Petplan look good and I would rather pay a bit more and have the best than end up with a huge vet bill at the end!

Thanks

Heidi

Heidi,

Please note that I do not know your breeder from a hole in the wall, and am NOT being judgemental in your case - but you could bear in mind that your breeder will stand to gain financially from either Pet Plan or the KC insurance .......

Just a thought!!

M.

Actually the financial incentives from Petplan are tiny. for so many cover notes you get points, and a largish number equal a £5 shop voucher or contribution to Breed Club etc. I give my odd £5 to Breed rescue, it isn't much.

Pinnacle do a longer cover (think 12 weeks) puppy cover note, so might give their puppy cover a go.

I think that I'm right in saying the KC policy ceases to cover the dog when they get to 10yrs of age.

I have Pet Plan (very expensive:( I'll be paying nearly £54 when I've got the pup) but they do offer unlimited vets pees per policy year - this is a major selling point to me as I live in a very expensive area.

My vet recommends Pet Plan over the KC policy and they don't work on a commission basis so I'm assuming they're genuinely the best.

Fiona
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Hi Fiona,

The KC's insurance cover doesn't cease when the dog reaches 10yrs, it continues for life - so long as the yearly renewals are kept up without any breaks once the dog reaches 9yrs (for PetPlan it's 8yrs, or younger for certain specified breeds) :)

The points I have found in favour of the KC Insurance is that the premium and excess doesn't increase dependent on the dog's age. With PetPlan once the dog reaches 8yrs both the premium and excess increase yearly. After, I believe, 10yrs you also have to pay a percentage of the vet bill on top of the excess.

Hi Heidi,

I use Direct Line, they have been very efficient on any claims so far. (Beware of any companies that are TOO cheap!)

I pay approx. £23 per month for both my Rough Collie girls, and this is the more expensive option with Life Cover (i.e. ongoing conditions will continue to be claimable for the life of the dog).

Vet. cover is £6,000 for each condition, excess payable is £45 per condition no matter what the cost. Usual other categories apply, such as hospitalisation of owner, accidental death, etc.

M.

I use Pet Plan as at the time they were the only ones that offered true life time cover. Also friends experience of some others i.e not paying out, and Pet Plan - always paying out made my mind up (I do know that some people have had issues) I pay just under £40 a month for top cover for two dogs - feels a bit steep but I'm happy to pay whatever is necessary for my dogs.

Our two pups are being insured with this company http://www.scotpet.co.uk/they seem to offer excellent cover (insurance for life ie. they cover the same ilness year on year) and value for money.

Do most people have pet insurance for their dogs? I was thinking of getting it for our lab (especially after seeing the hospital bill when he cut his pad) Pet insurance was not very popular the last time we had a dog, but it seems to be growing. Has it become the norm?

Would have been even more distressing to have had Lil's recent stick accident (info posted on Champdogs) if I'd actually had to worry about cost as well as my poor pooch - vet bill was approx. £1,000!! A fractured growth plate when she was a puppy wasn't far short of that, either. Touch wood, Lil's very healthy, but is as accident prone as they come.

I certainly wouldn't be without insurance for a young dog - as well as veterinary fees, think of the consequences of a third party claim if your dog caused a car accident, or heaven forbid bit someone. (Have known someone who was sued for their dog biting, fairly minor injuries but award was £18,000.)

I also would not have an unspayed bitch which was not insured, as have had two girls with pyo who were spayed at silly o'clock in the morning, at extensive cost.

Have to confess, when my two oldies got to the age where Pet Plan were - and I don't joke - increasing their premiums by 30% per annum, I put the same amount in the building society each month and cancelled the insurance, and came out slightly in credit even taking into account cremation fees. This was a calculated risk with well trained and predictable (as they can be!) dogs, though. Swore from that point on that Pet Plan had seen my money for the last time, although I don't dispute that they are extremely good payers.

M.

I know Breeders highly recommend it. I have had friends who didn't and then ended up with huge vet bills when their cat had a bad accident!

I didn't have my bitch covered when she needed a Caesarian (on a Sunday morning too). She is now covered with Petplan. You never know what will happen and it's best to be prepared!

Stick with Petplan Heidi, they are by far the best policy.

Hi have I read you right ?? Ceasarian ??? insurance cover ?????

Every plan I've read has stated no cover for vet bills related to breeding and pregnancy, has there been a change of heart????

Regards Paule

Our male bordeaux is insured with "Vet Select" all the usual cover plus each year they send you a cheque for the cost of the dogs booster. When I rang round pricing premiums they were not the cheapest but not the dearest either.

I have Insured our Imported pup with Pinnacle. They do a true lifetime cover, excess is £40 and the insurable amount is reinstated annually, this means that an ongoing condition does not cease to be paid for after the condition limit is reached as it is in some. For where he lives (Hereford) and my area Bristol it worked out £119 per year or £10 something a month.
They also do a scheme where they pay claims direct to the vet.

Hi Heidi

I can strongly recommend DIRECT LINE for pet insurance. I've had Bruno insured with them since he was 8 weeks old and being a Lab he's eaten things he shouldn't (socks mainly). This has caused problems and one op which would have cost us £800 but they picked up the tab. In March he was diagnosed with bone cancer in his front leg and had it amputated. They never queried the bill which came to £1300. He then had chemotherapy which pushed the bill to nearly £3000. They paid up every time. Sadly Bruno has 3 more tumours in his lungs and will not be with me much longer, although he is fit at the moment. All this for £10.22 per month!!!!!!

Sandra

Well this is going to get cofuseing to Heidi's on the board :D

I use the Kennel Club for my insurance it is £17.50 per month and its like getting blood out of a stone, when you have a claim going through.

I also have a dog that is insured with Argos, very cheap

Heidi :D

I use Asda for Pets and pay around £9 per month. The only downside is that a condition is only covered for 12 months. However they have just paid out £5000 without any delay or difficulty for all the treatment Dime has had to have.

Star

I bet they love you :D

I'm with Pet Protect and have just received my renewal. Monthly payment for 1 dog has gone up from £19 to £27 per month. My excess has gone up from £40 to £70 AND they say I now have to pay 10% of the Vet Fees !!!!! Needless to say I will be calling them to find out who they think they are and what on earth is going on.

It's outrageous :-(

Anyone have any experience with Argos Gold Cover ?
Lel

Hi Heidi,
I recently had the same problem of which insurance to use when my 6 weeks Kc cover ended. Pinnacle was recomended by several people, one had made a claim recently for several hundred pounds and the company paid out quickly and straight to the vet. They cover the pet for life and had all the other benefits offered by petplan Kc etc, but were much cheaper. I pay about £11.00 a month compared to betweeen £17-00 and £25.00 with other companies for the same benefits, for the area i live in.
Hope this helps
Loraine

I think Pet Insurance is fine if you only have one or two dogs but can be very expensive for more.

We used to use Insurance until we discovered that it really only covers serious illness and accidents, very little else. No cover for injections, breeding risks or anything which may prove genetic (even if you don't know about it).

Now our dogs effectively have their own bank account and each month we put a regular sum in here, a guide would be what your insurance cost would be. Our argument for this is that the money is there to cover vet bills (for anything !!) and if you don't use the money, you still have it (unlike insurance).

Because we breed and show, we also use this account to hold those expenses. If we buy a puppy - the money comes out, if we sell a puppy - the money goes in and we use a dog at stud, then that goes in.

We may be lucky but up to press, we have just about broken even most years with a small amount to call savings.

Lel

I have Argos Gold cover :).......... never had a claim though

Hi

I have got both my dogs and my cat insured with company called Equine and Livestock Insurance. They are brilliant and give what I think are huge levels of cover and the cover you get is per month, so with the policy that I use I get about £5,000 per month for vets bills, which seemed huge compared to all the other companies I tried and they're not funny about claiming for a recurring condition either as some seem to be. (Believe me I grilled every company untiol they were sick of me!!!) Plus for my two pedigree large breed dogs I only pay about 18 pounds a month for the two which I think is VERY cheap.

Have a look at this site: www.cheapest-pet-insurance.co.uk which gives you lots to compare.

And this site gives you the page from E and L with their level of cover etc. Hope that's of use.

http://www.eandl.co.uk/dog-cat-insurance.htm

Jenny x

I hate to put a dampner on things Jen but E & L have a terrible reputation for not paying claims or for paying very, very late :(

My cat fell out of a first floor window and broke every bone in one of his feet and it took me over 3mths to get any money from E & L :( They kept sending the paperwork back for more info from the vets yet everything had been filled in correctly :( The cat had to have his leg amputated in the end as his growth plates had been damaged but E & L wouldn't pay for that as they said that it should have been done immediately not 4mths later (the vet wanted to wait and see).

Lots of other people have had problems with them as well :(

Fiona
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