I have my 7 yr old insured with John Lewis.  I have claimed once for him, in 2011, for the removal of a small slow growing malignant lump from his leg.  Thankfully he has made a full recovery - so far so good.  Although I thought the insurance was not cheap(!) I trusted the good service, reasonable value for money and good customer care that I associate with this company.  I expect premiums to increase as the dog gets older and I understand why they do and the assessment of risk which all insurance companies carry out.

BUT - received my renewal letter yesterday.  Premium has increased by over 77% !!!   I have questioned this staggering quotation and just received the standard explanations (age of dog, breed of dog, it's a pedigree, vets' fees, post code etc. etc.)   The company has told me nothing which in my opinion could possibly justify the amount they are asking and I feel such a dramatic rise is neither reasonable or acceptable.  I have asked for my complaint to be taken further.  I am not hopeful of a satisfactory outcome but I feel very angry about such an eye-watering increase in just one year for a 7 yr old healthy dog with one claim ...

Am obviously considering my options but would be grateful to hear about other peoples' experience of insuring with John Lewis if there is anybody out there who uses them.

Many thanks in advance.

Looks like they are going the same way as marks and spencer
:(

I'm sure recently there was a programme on this and how many people basically felt ripped off. Quite a few went to the ombudsman to resolve things. Not sure if this helps but you are most certainly not alone :(

My guess is that insurance companies use various methods of removing risk to their profits and they would be in possession of statistics which would let them know when the risk becomes greater.    They then raise premiums to a level where many feel that it's too expensive for the pet owner - result, risk removed entirely, or the customer bites the bullet and pays the premium, result risk is offset  by the price hike.

I've never believed  in pet insurance.    I'm old enough  to remember what it was like before insurance for pets and the changes after  it was invented.    Vets fees went through the roof very quickly -even for routine things!

The same happened to me with my 2 oldest with Sainsbury's.  Increased from £32 per month with £75 excess to £74 per month, £250 excess + 20% of total bill. 

They have done it because they only want to take premiums from people with young and statistically healthier dogs. Older dogs generally need more healthcare so they want you to cancel your policy to avoid ever having to pay out.  I had to cancel mine as it just wasn't worth it, luckily I have a credit card to fall back on.

Thanks, everyone for your replies.

I've always been sceptical about pet insurance for all the reasons you mention.  However, there have been times when I have been very grateful to have my animals insured (sudden unexpected illnesses/accidents, for example) and it has saved me a lot of money, so it can feel like quite a dilemma whether to insure or not.

I was not really that surprised by my latest quote but I was still shocked by the HUGE leap in price in just one year for a healthy relatively young dog.  I will not renew at this price so if they were trying to get rid of me they have succeeded!

I was really wondering how companies might vary in when and how they increase premiums and if some increase at a more reasonable rate than others.  I now know what I think of John Lewis which is why I was interested in other people's experience of this company in particular.

Oh well, back to the credit card!

Thanks again  

I have one of mine insured through John Lewis.  I have used other insurance companies in the past but decided on John Lewis on this occasion.  I will be renewing next month or March (sorry can't remember exact date right now) so it will be interesting to see if the premium has increased substantially or not.  The insured dog is 2 years of age, and I've had her insured with John Lewis since 7/8 weeks of age with no claims so far.

I'll let you know what happens.  :-)

Thanks, Megslegs.

I was pleased with John lewis for the first 3/4 years as I felt the annual increases were both gradual and reasonable at that stage.  I hope your premium remains good for you.  It may well do so for such a young dog.

My 'new' pup is insured with Petplan.   They were, I have to say, marvellous during the traumatic illness and eventual loss of my young dog last year and also with the illness and loss of my cat one week later.  (It was not a good summer for us!)

Perhaps the answer for me will be to insure while the animals are young (and the premiums manageable) and then as they get older cancel and resort to credit card/savings and Dogs Trust cover for Third Party insurance which is free with the modest membership fee.

One thing's for sure, insurance companies will always make sure they are well in profit!

You will find that most companies will hike the prices drastically at 7 to 8 years old as a dog is considered to be a senior dog from then on. This is also often when the excess is increased including a percentage in addition to the standard excess.

My Labradors insurance with pet plan went up to £58 a month and the excess was £135 pluss 35% of the bill when she reached 10 so I canceled it and save money each month for vet bills now

puggy - that sounds like a sensible plan for your Lab.  I expected that I would have to do similar as my boy gets older but I did not think I would have to  do it when he reached the age of just 7!  (I know that makes him a veteran, but still ...)

Nope 7 to me is still a young dog I save money for my dogs now I have four. The youngest is always at the vets as he has skin cancer but I pay for his treatment out of my own money insurance company's only want young fit and healthy dogs I found when I started claiming or the dogs got older the premium and excess went up to much

Vet nurse at my old practise only takes out the minimum cover on puppies, and then increases the cover when the dog hits eight or nine.
Her logic being that big expensive things tend not to happen when the dog is young.......hmmm, I bet a fair few on here could tell her different.

I'm with John Lewis too, not due a renewal untill next month, if it shoots up I'll certainly be leaving.

Just an update ...

My renewal has arrived for my youngster from John Lewis and its up 33%.

Not sure how they justify this increase, but they have me over a barrel, so I shall be remaining with them for the moment.

John Lewis had a change in underwriters I seem to remember. Guessing the new one has decided to set an increase. Some underwriters pulled out of the market, maybe their previous one was included in that and they had little choice in who was left.

Looks like it's Royal Sun Alliance - maybe contact them direct, it may be possible to swap as they are your insurers really, just under the John Lewis hat.

My insurance with them is up for renewal next month, be interesting to see how much it goes up by.

my 10yr old dog has been insured with LV (Liverpool Victoria) for the past 2 years, the first year I insured with them via the internet and got an introductory discount - during that year we unfortunately had to make some large claims due to her developing diabetes and then cataracts.
LV were extremely good handling the claims and were prompt with payouts
This years renewal (taking into account that the "new customer discount" does not apply) is very reasonable....which was kind of a pleasant surprise

Thanks for that AnnM, I'll keep them in mind if I " jump ship " .

Megslegs - thanks for the update.  Wow - 33% is a very steep rise for such a young dog even if not quite as eye-watering as 77% for my seven year old!

I did renew with JLP in the end as, like you, I felt they had me over the proverbial barrel, but I reduced the cover to 3k and will keep reviewing.

annM - thanks for the tip about Liverpool Victoria - I will make some enquiries.

Blay 

My dog's renewal with John Lewis has just come in with an almost 100% increase. I know I had a large claim in October but surely that is what insurance is about
( the risks to the company.) I have, with the aid of a broker, insured her now with Pet Plan who I believe do not hike their prices every year and P.P. have only put a 12 month exclusion on the pre-existing condition.  The broker advertises in a monthly dog magazine and have been really helpful.

Phew!  100% increase must have been a real shock!  Glad you have got good help from the broker.  I have one boy with Pet Plan and had my cat with them too.  I have found them excellent so far.  Fingers crossed ... !

I'm sure prices never used to increase this much, you'd expect it to go up a wee bit, but never to this extent.
Are companies becoming greedier, or are claims going up ?.
They will say it's reflecting the increase in vets fees, but I'm damned sure vets aren't increasing their prices by 100% !.

> I'm damned sure vets aren't increasing their prices by 100%

Not the individual items no but with the amount and type of procedures they quite possibly are. These days your dog only has to look slightly mournful for a vet to advise all sorts of to my mind unnecessary treatment.

Examples from a couple of my customers Dog 1 is a 13 year old labrador who had a recent ear infection. He seemed to recover from it well with drops but it did recur so the vet had  him in knocked him out and cleaned the ears and took samples.  Advised the owners that the infection was very deep seated and causing the dog a lot of pain and advised total ear canal removal. Owners did not beleive their dog could be in such a huge amount of pain as he showed no signs. I had to agree with them as he really seemed happy. At this point went to a different vet and got more drops and the infection now seems to have cleared up totally. 1st vet got paid for the exploratory op and would also have been paid for a very invasive procedure which to my mind should not have been offered to such an elderly dog but yes the dog was insured.

Case 2 8yo Cavalier. Had a slipping patella. Was operated on and the leg was fine however she had a type of partial paralysis to her face which was noticeable as soon as she came home from the vets following her op. Vets said nothing to do with the op or anaesthetic (strange how it started immediately afterwards but Hey Ho what do I know?) but could be a brain tumour. They then did an MRI to rule this out. Strangely no tumour was found. I doubt that the owner would have done an MRI had they not been insured. And what if a tumour had been seen? surgery to remove it? probablynot so why do the MRI if nothing would be done with the result?

Case 3  8 year old labradoodle diagnosed with cancer. Owners opted for chemo etc as they were insured. dog was treated at quite a high cost but after one of the sessions   went totally blind. Owners still kept on with the treatment. In my mind the dog would have been better being put to sleep wit some dignity but the vets kept taking the money for more chemo and did tests on his eyes to see if he could regain his sight. If they hadn't had the insurance he would have been pts earlier.  and would not have had to have such a miserable couple of months before he died.

And my own dog had an eye ulcer which the vet said needed operating on and then further treatment. And then another op and then hospitalisation. In all her bill came to £6000. If she hadn't been insured then what ? probably an op to remove the eye or just conservative treatment to see if it healed. With hindsight I think I should have gone with more conservative treatment rather than all the operations but you get on to a merry go round with vets telling you that this or that has to be done so you just keep going along with the vet and they keep raking the cash in.

It is really no wonder the premiums are going up like they are.

Bit of a late reply but you may still be interested.

My two year old had been insured with John Lewis  since 12 weeks old when I got her, and her renewal came in beginning of March this year, nearly a 50% increase! I hit the roof with them and asked for an explanation. Given the same reasons (must be reading from a card) Breed, postcode, vet's charges etc..

I said that she had never had need to go to a vet, was a young dog, no known health conditions - pretty heathly breed etc, but they would not change their minds.

I couple of weeks earlier I had got a new puppy who was insured 4 weeks petplan and was looking to add him to the insurance. I googled insurance and got an identical policy with Co-operative Insurance, the underwriters are the same as Petplan (Allianz).

The cost of the policy for the two dogs was LESS than the renewal policy for the one dog! I suppose they did me a favour in the end. Their loss, my gain.

Insurance is a very costly 'exercise' these days. I have always had insurance, but my policy with M & S with one of my previous dogs went up a ridiculous amount, and so too with my older girl. Interestingly both were underwritten with Royal Sun Alliance. But here's the thing.....don't think you can't 'jump ship' even with a previous condition. You can still switch insurers if you accept that the previous 'condition' won't be covered. I was about to do that with my old GSD girl, but fate intervened and I lost her to hemangiosarcoma.  Quite often even an ongoing condition requiring continuous medication can be quite easily be paid for out of your own pocket, if you get a private prescription and buy the meds online. With my GSD girl it was cheaper than the cost of the insurance premium per month to buy Metacam privately (incredible cost reduction). She had nothing else wrong with her so moving her to another company would have meant her degenerative joint disease wouldn't have been covered, but that would have been OK. She was over 10, but I could have got £3500 of cover for £35 per month, versus the £117 per month that they put her premium up to when she hit 10 !  The Metacam online cost just £19 for 180ml, which lasted a couple of months. So the cost of her meds was only £9.50 per month. So my reasoning was with the new cover, if we had a disaster/emergency that was unrelated - we would be covered.

I think we need to 'think smart' to outsmart these insurance companies and their practices. You can often get a really decent premium, even for an older dog if you switch to a new company, who want your business. You can also choose to go with a limited (1 year) cover for the same reason. My experience has always been with a condition that the initial diagnosis/referral/operation is the most expensive part of the process, but even with a limited policy you have that covered.

I adopted a rescue GSD and she will be 9 next month. I got her a limited 1 yr cover with £3500 maximum. She has since I got her been diagnosed with Pannus. We needed to go to a specialist referral centre to ensure she got the best and correct treatment for the condition and that cost nearly £300, which I claimed for less the excess of £100 which I had chosen. Her medication (Optimmune) which lasts 6-8 weeks costs £23 a month online...so when that is excluded I won't be too concerned at having to pay it myself (I am actually not claiming it now, as it's not worth it). If she gets any new condition she is still covered for that £3500. The cost of the premium is £18.65 per month....at the moment. It will be due for renewal in about 8 months time, so we will see how much it goes up. If it does go up significantly (and I expect it will), I will change. She wouldn't be covered for the Pannus, but that's under control and I can easily afford the £12 per month the meds for it cost, so I will have no hesitation about jumping ship for the right prciceI will no longer pay more than about £40 a month for insurance. I checked a few other companies for dogs over 9, and you can still get a good premium. I feel I only really need to cover major events, and usually a visit to the vet for smaller things is not covered anyway because of the excess and I can afford 'normal' vet costs.

So that's my take on it these days, I work the system too.