Hi all,
Just joined the forum and am quite impressed with quality of discussion and subjects covered.
I'm soon to obtain a bearded collie pup and am looking to cover it under a petplan type insurance scheme.
What are members experience of these schemes. Are there any schemes out there I should avoid. Do some quibble over claims or get out of payment by clauses hidden in the small print?
Does everyone think they are a good idea. Given the excess you usually have to pay for each course of treatment, is it worth the risk of not having a scheme at all and paying as you go.

Advice and experiences gratefully received -

Regards

Phil

Hello Phil and welcome to the Forum :)

If you do a Search here on the Forum and type in INSURANCE you will find lots of older threads on the subject :)

Melody :)

Hi Phil
Welcome to the forum.
Yes, insurance probably would be a good idea. (Mind you, its always the way that you insure your dog and nothing ever happens....or you dont insure it and you end up looking at thousands of pounds worth of vets bills.)
Firstly I would say avoid petplan. They are expensive and not terribly good or reliable. Its the one that vets always plug but arent actually very good. Also, a huge NO NO is E&L. Avoid them like the plague you wont see your money for dust!

When you do get your insurance, be aware that companies are very very picky about what they will and wont cough up for. Things like dental work (which in fact IS extremely necessary in most cases) is not covered as they think it is cosmetic. Also, castrations/spays are not covered.
If your dog has something which started before you took out the poilcy (eg an illness) the company wont cover it.

I believe people like Tesco insurance. Also, a lot of people mention More Than.

Try to avoid the less comercial ones (like pet plan) as they are a lot more "about the money" than others.

Some people do like to just pay as they go, but to behonest, I have seen one too many vast expenses where the owner is left penniless. They are sometimes things that you would never even imagine happening.
Good luck
Steph

A major disadvantage to Tesco and More Than is that they won't accept home bred dogs - makes me wonder what else they will wriggle out of

Christine

What counts as a 'homebred' dog then?

I had it narrowed down to Direct line and More Than but I'm still looking so any info would be helpful!

I have my home-bred bitch insured with PetHealthcare services a subsidury of More Than.
They insure her they will pay for her 'purchase' price.
I just have to supply a receipt for one of the other pups as proof of value.
But I will re-check just to be on the safe side.

Yes Petplan is expensive - but I haven't heard that it isn't good or reliable (I haven't had to claim on it yet) - in the past here, people have said that they always pay up without a problem - have you any different experience ?

Daisy

I have had to do clients claim forms at the vet and have heard on a few occassions that Petplan havent been reliable in paying up. Slow and not keen to cough up for various reasons.

Steph,

"Firstly I would say avoid petplan. They are expensive and not terribly good or reliable. "

If you do a search on insurance, you will find that this is not most people's experience with Petplan. More expensive than some other plans, but very good and reliable. Based on my own experience, I would happily recommend them to anyone looking for pet insurance.

Have you had a negative experience with Petplan?

Stacey

Stacey...look at the post above the one you just did.
I have had bad experience through other peoples experiences. I have seen hundreds of claims for various things, and in that lot, petplan didnt come off very well. It is my experience as a vet nurse that I say this.
Glad they have been ok for you though.

Well, the ortho specialist I took my dog to for a broken leg said as far as he was concerned PetPlan was the best. They were familiar with different procedures and they were hassle free. As this is in high-priced Surrey, it honestly surprised me that Petplan didn't even quibble about his fee.

My regular surgery also said Petplan were the best in terms of most knowledge and least hassle.

Anyway, glad I had the insurance .. I almost talked myself out of getting it.

Stacey

Hi, I didn't insure my lad and I've had him 5 years, he has just been seriously ill with distemper (and yes he was vaccinated & up to date with his boosters) for about 4 weeks now and is slowly on the mend. I decided against insurance because I thought it was ridiculously expensive and I've worked out that despite his recent illness, which resulted in significant vets fees, it would have cost me much more in insurance over the last 5 years as every other trip he has had to the vets in the past has cost less than the excess they quoted me, so I could not have claimed for any of them. Also I am lucky in that I have money set aside that could be used in the event of anything really serious happening. It is a personal choice, it also depends where you are in the country, I benefit from being in South Yorkshire where vets fees don't seem to be quite as high as other parts of the country. My friends insure their horses through the NFU, does anyone know if they do insurance for other animals? If so I would suggest you try them, they have a v good reputation in the 'horsey' world.

NFU do insurance for dogs, as I looked at them recently when I insured my puppy. I shopped around and went for More Than, although I have no knowledge as yet of how they perform. My previous dog was insured years ago and after an operation for entropian, I was glad I had her covered as it was very costly. I think it depends on the severity of the illness and the type of treatment required as to whether it is cost effective, but I would prefer to be covered for the unexpected personally. I look at it as paying for the treatment that may be required in installments as I would not be able to find a large lump sum if it were needed in a hurry. I hope not to need to use it, but in the event, I think I have made the best effort I could to get the most reliable and cost effective cover for my dog. I spoke to other pet owners around me to find out what experiences they had and the best advice I got was to look for a company that provides new cover each year as not all do and a long term illness can cost a lot once it goes over the 12 months and the animal is no longer covered.
Lorna

We have our 5 insured with pet-plan and its peace of mind knowing they are covered for life and not just 12 months.
One of ours has retinal dysplasia and we have to get him checked every 6 months, this is all covered by pet-plan so we dont have to worry about the costs.

been checking them all out this past week...Direct Line cheapest...but best overall (With older bitch to include on policy) seems to be Sainsburys ;)

Never even thought to check Sainsbutys. I wonder if anything will change now they've been bought over

Back to looking now...

I have 2 policies , one is TSB and one is pet plan and even though TSB are only £8.95 / month for a bulldog they take 2months to pay up and only have vet fee covered for about £3000 year. However Pet Plan I have found are brilliant and we receive our cheques no later than 1 week after submission - even for major ops . When shopping about be careful what each insurer states about the Excess , Some say £50 or 15% of the bill Which ever is the GREATER so if you've a bill for £1500 you'll not only end up paying the premium for the insurance but also an additional £225.00 . My advice would be try to find a policy that will always have a fixed excess then you'll know exactly what will be expected to payable back on a claim.

I have recently taken out insurance for my chihuahua, I shopped around everywhere and I thought the best one (other than petplan which is too expensive ) i lloyds tsb, it covers alot and was the cheapest, more than is supposed to be good aswell, but a bit more expensive.

Lloyds covers:

up to 3000 pound a year in vets fees (not including outstanding conditions or spaying etc)

if your dog ever has to go on a special diet Ie diabetic, they would pay the difference for the food

if you have to go in hopital they will pay for the dog to go in kennels

if you have to cancel your holiday or come back early because your dog needs life saving treatment, they will reimburse you the cost of your holiday.

if your dog gets lost, they will pay for advertisements etc

if your dog is stolen,dies (before 11), or gets lost and doesnt come back within 45 days, they reimburse you the cost of the dog.

hope this helps

My experience with Petplan is the same. They have been absolutely brilliant. No quibbles about anything (broken leg with two ops required after only having the insurance for 3 months) and paid very, very quickly.

Stacey

Hi Phil,
When I first got my lab (now six months old) the most useful advice I got was to ensure the insurance gave lifetime cover. If your dog develops a long term illness or problem many insurance companies will only cover problems for one year. With lifetime insurance they will cover ongoing problems for the rest of the dogs life. I'm with petplan and although they are expensive they seem good. I have just made a fairly large claim for xrays and received the cheque within a week.
regards
Jenny

i agree with most of the replys you have ,pet plan and e&l are more expensive i have been with both ,i have changed to the rspca pet insurance . the reason i had them insured was if a little emergeny came along which did (a broken claw) i would not have to worry the bill was about £110 i was supprised when the vet receptionist said i have to pay first,i said i am insured,i was pleased the rspca did pay a full refund within a week though .i think it might be best to ask your vet wich pet insurance do they accept .