Hi all,

We have recently brought Pug puppy into our family and have been looking around for pet insurance for her, I was wondering if anybody could recommend which insurance companies are good and which to stay away from.

Many thanks,

Tony

Been with animal friends for years and never yet had a problem.
Aileen

Marks and Spencers are expensive but have been excellent - so easy to claim and my vets are v happy to deal direct with them.

My youngest dog is with Homebase and I've had to claim a few times.  All ok so far...  Although I do wish I could have afforded M&S at the time

Imagine the worst medical condition that your breed can suffer with, and use this to model the type of claims you might make to see which company offers the best benefits for your needs.   My recommendation is to buy a good lifetime cover, where the benefit levels are re-set every year.  One of my dogs has allergies and I claim app £700 per year for this treatment alone...

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I will check out both companies suggested.

Regards,

Tony

Sorry for hijacking your topic Burwat but Im also trying to find suitable insurance for multiple pets.
So far John Lewis and Direct Line seems to be quite reasonable.
How do they compare to the others?

There are a couple of companies who are  a nightmare when it comes to getting any claim settled. I would ask the insurance person at your vets who they recommend and who they wouldn't. They should be willing to tell you which companies to avoid.

My guys are with Tesco and Animal Friends, and one with Axa.  If I could afford it they would all be with Petplan - the initial premium has gone up but the annual increases are extremely reasonable compared to many companies;  Soli's policy went up £21 in total over 10 years, and that was despite claiming for four ongoing conditions in the end.  Always quick to pay, in the nearly 5 years I had her I only ever had one hiccup with a claim and that was timing - it was submitted only 4 days before renewal so they tried to put an excess on it.  I pointed out dates and it was fixed straight away.

I'm not keen on Axa any more though and wouldn't go with them again - I just can't cancel that policy now (that's for Saffi, and her arthritis meds cost £100 each month, before I consider hydrotherapy or chiropractic).  The customer services bods are lovely but the actual dealing with my claims has been crap - cheques sent to the wrong people (and I'm still down as 'mrs' despite signing up online and filling it in as 'miss' and correcting them many times), excesses taken that shouldn't have been, 2 months to pay claims and so on.

If I could afford it I would have mine all with Petplan or the KC, the best out there but also the most expensive.
Look for one which covers conditions for the life of the dog not just for 1yr, otherwise if you need to claim for a long ongoing issue you'll only have a year of claims so it can end up being hard on the pocket after that!!

I have one with Pet Plan and one with Axa, My Axa dog is too old to move companies otherwise they would both be with PP. I found that PP was about £1.75 per month more expensive than Axa and worth every penny, at least I know that claims will be paid, and quickly and cover is for life. Peace of mind that they will not stop insuring as with Halifax.

I found that PP was about £1.75 per month more expensive than Axa and worth every penny, at least I know that claims will be paid

I use petplan, I have not made many claims at all in 30 odd years but on the odd occasion I have I just claimed and got paid quite quickly without any fuss or bother whatsoever.

That said, it has not been economically worth it for me to have pet insurance, but I am still in the same position as everyone else i.e. you never know when you might need it!

That's just it, nothing is guaranteed!  I didn't get Tia insured thinking that at 12 with arthritis there'd be no point, but of course I should have as she's since developed abdominal pain and had consults, ultrasound, medications... thankfully not too expensive but they would have been covered.  Doh!

at 12 with

Is that a Dobe?

Heinz.  Bit of dobe in there I think but the rest, best guess lab and maybe a bit of staffy.  Good old fashioned mongrel :-)

Thanks for the replies everybody, we decided to take a policy out with petplan, a little more expensive than some other quotes but happy to pay it to ensure Lucy gets the best cover :)