Just wondering, does everyone use the Kennel Club's insurance? If not who do you use? I've been looking at More Than so if anyones got any experience of them i would be pleased 2 hear it :)

We had "more than" for house insurance and they sent in the cowboy builders from hell to do repair work so i wouldn't trust them with my pets lives IMHO

We chose Pinnacle,good cover overall and reasonable cost.Haven't had to use it yet so can't comment on how good they are :) if you do a general search though there have been lots of discussions on insurance on the boards.
Jacqueline.

Hiya!

im with (well cassie my lab is with) ARGOS pet insurance!  they are really good and worth looking into!

Marks and spencer...good continuous cover at a reasonable price.Not had to claim yet though...thank goodness
Archer 

I HAVE TO CLAIM TWICE WITH M/S PAID UP WITH IN A WEEK,VG TO DEAL WITH.

I use Direct Line and they are very good. I pay £12 per month per dog and they have probably paid out thousands for me. I have had to claim loads of times for pyometra, anal furunculosis, cut paws, skin infections etc.,etc.,etc.
I would probably never use another insurance company. They pay out every time and even send the money to the vets so I only have to pay the excess (£45) when I'm there and not have to pull out the full amount
Good luck finding one that works for you and make sure you always read the small print some are very sly and wont cover certain things
Amy

I have just changed from Petplan to Marks & Spencer and have saved £217 a year on two dogs.  Cover is just as good and better in a few places.
Sandra

I use Tesco and they were fabulous.  Had to use them when Jas broke his leg.  They sent out the forms first class for me to fill in and then sent the payment direct to the vets and the specialist.  It costs me £8 per dog.

Was using petplan, but after Molly had cancer 3 times in a year her premium was so much, we couldn't afford it.  Just put some money away each month now instead.  Her insurance was costing more than that on 2 cars!

DBI/Dog Breeders Association.  I pay £13.17 for Kassie (2 yr old GSD) and £9.95 for Rico (11 week old GSD)- I've not had to claim yet (touch wood) but have heard that they are very good at paying out :-)

Stacey x x x 

Be careful to check that the policy limit is in ££ not in time. DBI will only insure a condition for one year - which with a chronic illness is not long - I've been stung with this with arthritis and hypothyroid - and by the time the dog had these conditions it was too late to move insurance (over the age limit for new policies). If the policy had had a limit of £5000 per condition or whatever it would've covered it.

Janet

It is only for a period of 1 year.  It says per policy- your policy is obviously only for a year since it's then renewed.

Stacey x x x

A policy that is renewed is still the same policy and they will only cover the same condition for 12 months. This is a real restriction particularly for the type of conditions that older dogs develop. I wouldn't use them again if I had the choice. Anyone know of a company that will accept 10 year old dogs??

Janet

Your policy is the insurance you hold on your dog.  If you renew it, it is still the same policy, just being continued - therefore the limit to any condition is one year unless they specifically say -'reinstated each year' which few companies do.

WEndy

I have DBI for Bree, only claimed once in 14yrs, but they do not cover the repeat of an  illness/complaint after 12 months :(
Libby is with More Than, and I've had to claim twice in 2yrs, I can only say they were excellent; and they cover any illness/condition up to £6000, regardless of timescale.
I'm just sorry it's too late to change Bree over, due to her age.

liberty :)

Also use Direct Line - sensibly priced, and I've also been a nightmare to them with huge bills on my accident prone beast :D - but all bills have been paid promptly and in full.

M.

Just after getting my dog, I started researching pet insurance and the first thing Google brought up was an article from The Daily Mail or some such newspaper which ran a report on pet insurance in Dec 2003 and discovered that so often the small print was catching people out and they weren't covered when they thought they were.  They suggested that pet owners might find it a better idea to put an amount of money away each month into a 'fund' for their pets health and I'm inclined to agree, although I haven't made a firm decision yet and am still investigating pet insurance policies for a policy that suits me.  I think the main thing to take into consideration in such an instance is that you have to be able to stump up a lot of money quickly should an emergency arise - ie by having a credit card, because you don't want to find yourself with a pet needing £3,000 worth of treatment and only £150 in your pet health fund - if you follow this method, make sure you have a credit card and are prepared to use it should it become  necessary.

I use More Than for Ellie they paid up promptly without question. Only thing was, I hadn't realised bills over £350 (I think) you have to pay 15% of the cost, so I still ended up with quite a big bill. Am with Petplan for Leo, but haven't heard from them re his claim yet.
Jan

See, that's one thing that annoyed me is finding out the excess.  Grrr.  Not so bad if you have a huge bill to pay, but for more basic treatments you probably end up paying most or all of the cost.

Does anyone else use the "puppy health fund" method of saving the money instead of insurance?  I'd welcome views on it, because like I say I'm still tempted to go for insurance and haven't fully made up my mind yet.

If I'd used the 'Puppy Health Fund' idea for Bree, I would have been quids in :rolleyes:
With Libby however,within the first year, I had claimed £300+ from the insurance

So I guess it's a gamble you take :)

For me, I'm sticking with Insurance, if Libby should develop a long standing complaint, or need expensive surgery, I feel happy in the knowledge that her treatment is covered, and she can have any available tests etc.

JMHO

liberty :0

Yep, I agree with that!  That's why I'm still dithering, lol!

Just consider 'S*ds Law'...... if you have it, you won't need it. :rolleyes:
If you don't have it, you'll wish you had

liberty ;) :D

Just wanted to say while on a waiting list for our pup we have looked at what seems like every insurance policy under the sun and can't find any that don't either increase the excess and/or add a percentage after the dog reaches a certain age - usually around eight. (Apart from a couple of companies but their policies have other drawbacks... grrr) Plus there is nothing to stop them hiking up the premiums whenever they think your dog is getting on a bit and might be more likely to be ill. So we're with you, jessthepest, in thinking that our best bet is a doggy 'fund' in a nice high interest account and be prepared to use the credit card if need be in the early years. (The insurance bods obviously think our dogs are much more likely to be ill from around 8 years on so the odds must be fairly good that they'll be healthy in the first few years.)

I always advise puppy owners to insure for at least one year while they are growing and going though their most accident prone stage, but rarely do so myself - I put so much away every month to cover problems so with four or five dogs I generally "gain" over a few years as they exclude so much.  As third party - which is all I really want, is covered on the house insurance I prefer to do iit this way.

I have 6 adult dogs at the moment (I had 7 until January) and a 7 week old pup and I don't insure them as the cost for 7 dogs would be prohibitive.  I do have a cash ISA which I pay £200 into a month and consider this to be my insurance.  As yet I haven't had to cash in any of the ISA but it is there if I ever need to.  It also has the advantage that if I don't need to use the money on the dogs health I will still have the money.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

Now that's a good idea.  I got an ISA a few years ago, started with £10...and never added to it!  Rather than just save the money 'indoors', if I put the money into that ISA each month, it will at least gain a little bit of interest in the meantime, I won't dip into it when the window cleaner knocks for his money and I have the money saved if I need to spend it on Millie. If I don't, well then there's a new handbag every year for me with the interest!

My problem with the doggy fund is that im useless at saving money. from my previous 2 dogs they never had that much wrong with them until they got older obviously, but they did have a few problems younger so i think im going to go for the insurance just to be on the safe side with Leo. He's insured for the next 6 weeks so i gace some time to look around and see what i can find.

i use scottish pet insurance and they are excellent even paid out for mastitis after my bitch whelped which is unheard of usually as they usually restrict any pregnancy or whelping related problems - they are very helpful and money was paid within a week

Has anyone used (or heard of) VIP pet insurance? I'm currently with Tesco but i'm aware that they will only cover an ongoing illness for a maximum of 12 months which is a little worrying should the worst happen. I read an article in Dogs today a few months ago and they gave the run down on what benefits each insurance company provided and how much a premium generally costs. VIP is one of the lifetime providers (well up to 8 years) but seems to be one of the cheapest at £8.75, and lots of benefits. I'm still mulling it over at the moment though.

Is anyone in a Union your Union package usually ahs a good insurance company, and if your over 50 SAGA is very good

I use More Than, as they were the most competitive and gave the best cover for my dog. I was Very unimpressed with the Kennel Club insurance.

I got 8 weeks free insurance form KC as the breeder registered him (some kind of deal they had going). Only when the 8 weeks expired, they automatically renewed it for 1 year WITHOUT prior authorisaton from me. They just billed my creditcard, which i had used to change the registered ownership. Apparently it had been hidden away in the small print of the free insurance period, that you had to notify them not to renew. Personally would never use them now as I consider that to be underhand.

I have nine dogs and frankly couldnt afford individual policies .Touch wood there hhave only been a few major traumas in ten years,So was amazed to get a lot of bumph from petplan reference breeders block in surance so promptly rang for a quote .When asked to list my dogs individualy ,I began with Leo 5 year old Tibetan Mastiff and had the reply sorry we dont insure Tms after their 5th birthday so down went the receiver will stick with irish luck and you know the saying FOR EVERYTHING ELSE THERES MASTERCARD
                                     Regards Wes

The trouble with a stash of money put aside is that it has to be a pretty big pot with vet charges as they are, you only have to read some of the sad tales on here to realise that some people have paid out horrendous amounts of money, I can't remember who but someone had paid out over £10,000 in vets fees.
Well for that you could insure the average dog for 100 years I know there's always an excess but its still got to make sense, I couldn't be without insurance because I know I just couldn't afford huge vets bills if the worse was to happen :( and I can't stand the thought of my only choice being to PTS for the sake of £100 a year.

Steve

p.s no im not an insurance broker :D

Hi,

I have the kennel club healthcare cover,they have just paid out over a £1000 for radiology treatment very good no complaints.

However 2 of 4 of Goldies are insured but from now on will not insure and will use Visa.
I'm £200 each dog a year and my Goldie is 6 in September.
While people take out insurance the vets hike their fees up knowing people will claim and at the end of the day pet owners that are out of pocket.,each year insurance goes up.
I think at one time it was a good idea take out insurance years ago when it got started but not anymore.

Just my opinion,
Briony:-)

Hi
DBI caught me out with the 12 month clause, when my last GSD had HD, Spondylosis and Anal furunculosis. Would never use a company again that restricted a condition to 12 months.
We are now with Pet Healthcare Insurance services, who are superb. I also believe that they will insure over 10 years old. If you want to check Becketts, you can get their number from Directory enqs, they are in Henley on Thames.

Never ever have had a problem with them paying out, they're very friendly and very prompt. My 11 1/2 year old mongrel has notched up £1400 in the last three weeks with kidney finsufficiency (failure). I have her stabilised for now, but she will need ongoing meds, possibly sub q fluids at vets/home periodically and she also has arthritis which she is on permanent meds for. I would never ever be without a good pet insurance.
Kat

Kat

I've got an online saver for my two dogs which I will only use for health problems eg:not vaccinations We thought long and hard about this our last dog lived until she was 15 and only started having problems when she was about 13 so it was probably swings and roundabouts re cost .But I do admit it is a risk but at least I have made some provision.

I am insured with them too..
:) I can vouch for them being a good insurer to deal with. Claims always dealt with promptly.
They actually are slightly cheaper 50p per month than More Than (who also own them!)
and their cover is slightly more £1k than More Than for their standard cover. They also do Unlimited
vets fees policy but that's about £10 more expensive per month.
If you have more than one pet insured with them you get the first month free on one policy.
Where as More Than give you 2 months free.
So swings in roundabouts....But Pet Healthcare gets the thumbs up from me!! :)
Their phone number is 01491-571999.

I have had my Tibetan Mastiffs cover by pet plan up to when the old boy died at 14 years old and my girl was 12 when she went we were with More than but changed her to petplan when she was 7 years old with no bother, I pay more for the Newfoundlands and the Dogue de Bordeaux than I do for the Tibetan Mastiffs in the 18 years I have had T.M's I have never had a problem insureing them, evn when I got Ku-she when he was 6 years old we got him insured straight way with no problem

Hi Britney i received in the post an offer for Breeder block insurance from Pet plan so duly rang.I was asked which breeds i had and began to list age and breed when i got to my Two Tms was refused insurance on male as he was over 5 and was told they wouldnt insure a TM after their 5th birthday so waste of time really
                                       Wes

They must have change there rules since we got Ku-She insured, they never flinched when I said his age, he was a private rescue from a Kennels in Darlington, if they had know the state he was in they would not have touch him, but we got him right and he was only show  twice once at Darlington Show and got best dog he was 10 years old and we took him to Crufts, he was nearly 11year sold and he came away with Reserve best dog, he was from one of the very first litter's that Wendy Connett bred when she brought Barnie in and Magoo from Napal. That was in 1986-7