Hi
Does anyone insurance their dog/dogss through Tesco's?  Would you recommend them? 

Many Thanks

I have used them in the past. They were very good and promptly paid out over £1000 when my dog required reconstructive surgery after being attacked by a very aggressive dog. They even tried to recover the cost of the excess on my behalf but the police were not cooperative. In a great twist of irony the dog who did the damage was later put down by the police after attacking an officer!!

They can be very slow to pay out - after the practice I work for had to wait 6 months for Tesco to pay out we no longer claim directly from them, but require the client to pay us and then we'll help them reclaim the money.

Yes I use it, and have never had a problem with them paying up promptly.

I have their premium policy (cant recall what it is ) , I `ve made 3 major claims,  one costing  around £4000, and they paid within a couple of weeks, was very impressed with the service.

A vets I used to volunteer for said Tesco were one of the worst for paying out.

Yep. They've paid out very promptly for all claims I've made directly to the vets. Maybe speed of payment depends where you are based if they have regional offices-I don't know, just speculating.

I was with Tesco at one time and they paid out to myself very promtly after I paid the vet.
It was quite large payouts but had no problems at all.

Have 3 insured with them. Only had to claim once, for a small amount, but they were fine

Thanks for all your replies.

I have Opi with them.  Only made one claim so far and they haven't paid it BUT - it's been sent in as a behavioural disorder and it's not.

They say they won't touch anything resulting from a behavioural problem (or a behavioural problem itself, i.e. behaviourist fees) - I've got to speak to the admin bird at the vets tomorrow about it.  Might be worth bearing in mind though - basically if you take a dog in because it's behaving out of character, they won't touch the claim.

Opi is on the £4k cover, not sure if it's the same at a higher level.

nothing but praise for them, they have paid out many a time and I have always received a cheque within 7 days of the claim being submitted.

> A vets I used to volunteer for said Tesco were one of the worst for paying out

Our vet said that too, but we had no trouble at all the one and only time we ever claimed on that policy.

Ive just insured 2 of mine with Tesco last week from being with PP for years.  The policy was almost the same as the PP policy but it was less excess to pay.  I saved myself £181 for the years insurance too in the process. That was taking out their better policy too  :)

Never had a problem with PP but the premium was just far too high this year, especially considering 3 of my others are insured with them and these pair have never had a claim since I took up their policy.  Hopefully I wont need it but I shall keep my fingers crossed they are no hassle with paying out.

Are tesco's offering a policy for life now? They used to only do policies that covered each condition for a year?

George has been under the lifetime policy for years but I believe they offer a higher policy with even more cover now. It wasn't available this time at renewal to upgrade, just for new customers, but I'd the price difference isn't much I'll be upgrading.

My youngster (1 of 6) is insured with Tesco and I recently had to make a claim and they've settled very quickly, found phone staff very helpful too. My first experience with them, they came highly recommended and I will be recommending future pup owners to look into their policies ... half the price of PetPlan, ok, not so much coverage, but when you have 6 dogs you have to make economies, including insurance!!

I looked at Tesco recently but felt very uncomfortable with the   Tesco Pet Insurance is a monthly contract which will run for as long as you continue to pay the monthly premium. The policy will renew each month unless you tell us otherwise and we may change any details about your policy and premium on each anniversary date of the start of your insurance policy.  I called and asked that if I had ongoing claims for the rest of my dogs life would the policy continue regardless. I was told that they have the right to change details and premiums as stated in their terms ....so not a good answer because if my dog had ongoing illness it would prevent me moving somewhere else if Tesco made my policy too expensive to continue. Not anywhere did I see 'this policy is for life'

Also 'Tesco will not cover any referral, second opinion or specialist treatment or fees unless we have specifically agreed to it;' I told them that I need to know that my dog will be covered for any treatment my vet feels is essential, they said that ' it has to be agreed by Tesco that the referral is necessary before they will pay' again not a good answer as if my dog needs extra treatment I need to know that it will be covered regardless.

Just my own concerns, maybe I am reading too much into it, but I don't trust insurance companies and their very clever wording.

I was with Tescos with my 9 year old girl for years, when the premiums were reasonable.     Never needed to claim a bean.     Then they suddenly hiked the cost up to (I think) £46 a month - I decided that with the rest of my gang, I can just pay the vet myself as and when.      Does hurt that I paid out so much for nothing though.....

Jo

I pay around £50 for 3 dogs with another company. The main problem for me is that neither of my girls, aged 5 1/2 & almost 2 have had any claims made. My boy, almost 7, had a couple of largish claims as a youngster but nothing now for years.

I guess we all fall into the trap of paying because we don't know what's round the corner. I'm thinking of setting up an account just for the dogs and any puppy money left over after expenses if we have another litter will start it off. Does anyone else have something similar & does it work? I just figure that £50 a month over a year is £600, quite a lot of money if 2 out of the 3 dogs here have never had a claim...

... Just that what if??

I pay as I go and put money away for the dogs. I have credit I can draw on of around £3000 plus overdraft limit, so anything unexpected ought to be able to be paid for, even if the savings don't manage to cover it.

A lot of policies have at least a £75 excess, the Petplan one I did a quote for my own puppy to give new owners and idea came to £26 a month with £90 excess and 10% of the bill.

I have a pretty healthy breed, had 8 so far, and never had a Vets bill over £600, and that was a C section (not covered) spaying, (not covered).  Never had anything recoverable on Insurance more than £300, (removal of lumps, as they got older).

> ... Just that what if??

That IS the problem. It's happened to me a couple of times. Cancelled the policies for dogs that have rarely had any problems, then wham(!), sure as eggs are eggs a problem occurs. The only dogs that are still with the original company I insured with are the 2 Golden girls, everyone else has changed due to massive hikes in premiums and some conditions are now not covered.

I've currently got 3 Goldies insured, 2 young girls that cost about £30 pm between them and have rarely had a claim, and an old boy who has many ongoing conditions costing £66 pm (his medication comes to more than that). Then I've got a Sussex who I've claimed thousands for, she's £34 pm, I can't change her now as she has problems that are likely to recur at some stage. Finally there are the Dobes (whose premiums were getting into silly money), one 7 year old now costing £28 pm and the other nearly 10 year old who is now uninsured (of course she developed a malignant mammary tumour shortly after I cancelled her policy).

I did try a "pet fund" bank account but when times are tough I just kept delving into it, it's too easy to do. I do have a credit card which I use solely for dog things, so if the uninsured dog did need something I have got options (as well as some savings).

> ... Just that what if??

That's the issue.  £50 a month is around the cost of the average appointment for me if anything does crop up so if, as often happens, I have something crop up several months in a row, and I was putting £50 a month aside I'd be no better off; if something big then cropped up I'd be worse off.  And that has happened - £50 odd one month, £40 the next, and then over £100 the next!

I would like to have an animal account like that but experience so far tells me it's not worth it - and if I was to put all my insurance premiums aside I'd be putting about £130 aside each month.  Sure, most things don't go over £50-60 but some things do - for example Paige last year dislocated her toe.  Nearly £200 for x-ray , anti-inflamms and chiropractic treatment.  As and when she goes into DCM proper with her heart, the echo scan is around £80; ECG £20ish; holter monitor for 24 hours,  £250-300.  Things like that are what stop me just saving the premium money myself - it would only take one thing to wipe out months of savings then if something else happened, I'd be stuffed.

I would love to have a credit card for emergencies but my credit is shot, and I can't even get the high interest rate ones - so I have to stick with insurance.  Of course that cuts heftily into what I have to use for vet appointments (considering excesses for new problems) but it's still my best option at the moment.

I need a lottery win lol!

I have something crop up several months in a row,
I had an appt this morning taking 3 of our dogs to have stitches removed. My Patt after a knee op ( luxating patella) and 2 boxers having had several lumps removed each ( 3 were found to be cancerous) with these sort of conditions cropping up I wouldn't dare to be without a decent insurance, over the year we spend thousands

"Does hurt that I paid out so much for nothing though....."

It wasn't for nothing though, it gave you peace of mind and that, imo, is priceless.

It was very expensive peace of mind when I knew I had a reasonably healthy dog to start with.     We have 11 dogs, so insurance is ridiculous for all of them.   We pay as we go - I had just forgotten all about the Tesco's one until I saw the increase!

Jo

But you never know what's round the corner, 'healthy' dog or not, do you? My apparently healthy Dogs Trust collie, who we adopted at a year old, then became epileptic aged 3. He had 71 fits in the next 18 months until we had to call it a day for him. He was insured and cost the company thousands of pounds as everything was tried to save him. And yes, I have had healthy dogs who have never had a claim but I still insure them 'just in case'. We have 10 dogs (have been up to 12).

If you have one or two dogs, it's affordable for most people.    But with us, it would be 11 x £40 odd a month = over £400 a month.      OK, in the bank it's not going much in interest, but we're not losing it either (unless something dire happens to the bank).     Could put it in premium bonds, maybe, and have a bit of fun as well!

Jo

> But you never know what's round the corner, 'healthy' dog or not, do you?

Exactly!

And to add to my reply earlier, I am now in the midst of exactly such a full-on scenario as I mentioned:

Saffi's urine infection is still going
Paige has had a lump come up within hours on Wednesday, it's not gone down and it's attached underneath so that needs checking
Opi has a soft tissue injury and will probably need hydrotherapy
Raine gashed her foot last saturday (healing thankfully)
Linc got bit the other day, not needing treatment yet but he might do

So out of 8 dogs, I've presently got 5 that need or might need vet treatment and it's all happened within the last month!  If I was just setting money aside, it'd be wiped out in one go with this lot.  And Paige, Opi, Rai and Linc are usually healthy dogs!

We insure the car, hopefully we get through the year without accidents. We insure the house and hopefully it won't fall down. Some people actually insure themselves with life or health, hopefully without becoming ill. To me is seems obvious that I am going to insure the most important part of my life - my dogs, and hopefully they won't be ill. Money wasted - I don't think so, or not for me anyway.

just to add, we have 6 dogs, not as many as some, but still a big enough gang

"If you have one or two dogs, it's affordable for most people.    But with us, it would be 11 x £40 odd a month = over £400 a month."

But it doesn't cost anywhere near that much if you do your research. None of mine costs more than £17 per month and that's on the top level of cover. Multiple dogs also get a discount with most insurers.

> None of mine costs more than £17 per month and that's on the top level of cover.

I'd love to know how you manage that?! My eldest dog (nearly 13) costs £66 a month alone. I've only got 2 dogs that cost around £17 a month each, the other 2 are £28 and £34 respectively and one is uninsured.

When I had my five dogs, i paid just under £170-00 per month for insurance. with the young one's they are healthy and i never really needed to use much. however if you are lucky to have elderly dogs, that is when the insurance comes good. my claims over the last 18 months have been horrendous. just as an example, an MRI & spinal tap cost just over £2000-00. we were lucky that we didnt need another one, but if we had too, we were covered, so would not have had to worry.  i know that i could have put the money away, however we never know what is ahead of us and i would much rather have my girls insured, my house, my car, my dogs & not in order of importance! it does pay to shop around, my two older girls are with pet plan and due to previous claims i have to stay with them to avoid exclusions if i moved to new company. my younger WCS is with AXA i pay so little that i pay a one of payment for the year.

We insure the car, hopefully we get through the year without accidents. We insure the house and hopefully it won't fall down. Some people actually insure themselves with life or health, hopefully without becoming ill. To me is seems obvious that I am going to insure the most important part of my life - my dogs, and hopefully they won't be ill. Money wasted - I don't think so, or not for me anyway.

just to add, we have 6 dogs, not as many as some, but still a big enough gang

well said. ;)

I insure with Tesco and they paid out our claim reasonably promptly; I've no quarrels with them.

We started putting money into an account but then realised that what that doesn't cover is Third Party - what if your dog caused an accident or damage? No matter how careful you are, something can happen in a flash. So, we bit the bullet and have taken out insurance and feel happier for it.

Good point Trishm!

When at the vet school I spoke with a German vet. She told me that they do nof have pet insurance tin Germany

"I'd love to know how you manage that?! My eldest dog (nearly 13) costs £66 a month alone. I've only got 2 dogs that cost around £17 a month each, the other 2 are £28 and £34 respectively and one is uninsured."

As I said, I shop around!

I think a lot depends on the cover. life, standard ect.

to be honest if yoru goign to Insure anything less than life cover is not worth having.

For an idea of premiums I got a quote for my ne pup from Petpaln (as giving out teh free cover for the litter) and it was £24 a month, with 390 excess!!!  The KC one was double that, adn that's a puppy with no ill health history.

It is cheaper to insure my daughter's 20 year old horse than it is to insure my 8 year old bernese. My bernese has never had any claims on insurance yet M&S continually raised the premiums until I finally gave up when they wanted £99 per month for her. I now pay £35 a month with another company as the one I had in between went down the tubes - good job I had had no claims as the cover for a lifetime wasn't much good when the company shut!

I really have very little patience with insurance companies now and if I could start all over I would just save every month!

A lot does depend on the breed as well. My Dobes were ridiculous money with 'most' companies, despite being relatively young, and no amount of shopping around made any difference. If I'd stuck with AXA the premiums for the 7 year old Dobe (very few claims and no ongoing conditions) were more than I was paying for the elderly Goldie who has numerous ongoing complaints.

£390.00excess!!! For what breed? That is more excess than I have for my 14yr old. I would b. questioning that

oops didn't hold down the uppercase key that should be £ not 3, making £90

£90 seems about right.

Also 'Tesco will not cover any referral, second opinion or specialist treatment or fees unless we have specifically agreed to it;

But surely that will be the case with ALL companies,  as long as you keep them informed of what is happening as you go along.

My boy had two referrals from our vet (with a tumour behind his eye)   I kept Tesco up to date on the phone and there was no problem, they even paid out straight to one  of the specialists direct.

His treatment in all cost around £4000 and they paid up without any queries

"For an idea of premiums I got a quote for my ne pup from Petpaln (as giving out teh free cover for the litter) and it was £24 a month, with 390 excess!!!  The KC one was double that, adn that's a puppy with no ill health history."

Brainless you have looked at probably the two most expensive companies on the market!! John Lewis, Argos, Tesco, Aviva etc all offer very reasonable rates with top level (and lifetime) cover.

Oh I know, only wanted to give them an idea, but they are the most reliable.  Sorry about the dyslexic typing typos.

But surely that will be the case with ALL companies,  as long as you keep them informed of what is happening as you go along.


I have never informed my insurance company (p/plan) when I have been referred to a vet hospital/specialilst.  I simply send in the claim form and they pay out without question. Yes i agree they are not the cheapest, but one of the (few) best. i have been with them since 1981 and only had once disagreement with them.....which was resoved.

Same here tadog - Soli was referred to Liverpool to have a huge lump taken off and they paid out no problem.  They could have argued it was unnecessary - it cost just over £1000 for a pretty basic surgery that could have been done at my normal vet, but because Soli had DCM we all agreed she should go to her specialist for that (which wasn't paid for by PP, it was all free as she was part of a study) for more expert monitoring of her heart during the sedation.

Only ever one quibble with them that I can recall - right at the very end, they tried to have me pay an excess for a claim that was just inside the last policy year (literally, 5 days before renewal!), I pointed out the dates on their own letters and they sent the excess they'd withheld straight away :-)

Just going back to marisa's little list - I must say the prices for crossbreeds with Aviva are excellent!  For my dobes though, not really much better than anywhere else, sadly, and they have a 9yr old cut off date which annoys me (considering many dogs live into their teens these days, and many companies will at least do 12 months or max benefit cover for older dogs).  Phoebe at least had an excellent quote so when their site works again, I'll take a policy out with them for her - right now it's being idiotic, it won't let me select a date past yesterday but won't let me select yesterday because it's in the past even for a quote I've saved!

>John Lewis, Argos, Tesco, Aviva etc all offer very reasonable rates with top level (and lifetime) cover.

Lifetime cover is the only one worth having; any policy that only covers for 12 months is false confidence. And check how soon claims have to be made - some won't pay out unless you claim with 28 days, which is often too soon to know if the condition is ongoing.