Hi

I'm looking into insuring my dogs,but there's one thing i dont quite understand in regards to payments. Do you pay the vet and then the insurance company reimburses you OR does the insurance company pay the amount straight to the vet and you pay the excess,or whatever it may be?

If you have to pay the vet and then get reimbursed,doesnt that kind of defeat the purpose.As in insurance is helpful because you may not have the money to pay a huge bill?? A few times i have had to make part payments to my vet to pay off a bill,if i had the money there and then to pay it in full then why would i need insurance.Do you know what i mean?? Let me know if i'm not being clear enough and i'll try to explain further :)

Some insurances will pay direct, others don't. If you have to pay the vet at least you know you will get the money back if you are insured. When I had to pay £1700 the final payment I hadn't got it and had to borrow it but at least i was able to pay it back quite quickly (takes about 10 - 14 days) And also when on holiday last year and had emergency treatment for her, i used my holiday spending money and friends helped me out for the week but at least I was able to pay them back. So yes, i think it is worth getting them insured whether direct or not. If they were not insured then the money I hadn't got would never have been repaid so quickly, if you see what I mean?

It depends on both the vet and the insurance company. My vet will bill the insurance company direct if needed and the insurance company will pay them direct or I can pay the vet myself ane insurance company will reimburse me. As we are with M&S and have no excess our last bill ( and first one thankfully) was only £40 so I paid the vet and M&S paid me.

Theres a £50 excess with Lloyds, no direct claim via the vets :(
Am definately changing to M&S once her hips/elbows have been done next week :)

As Harley says it does depend on both parties. I'm with Direct Line who will pay out directly to the vet but only if the vet is happy with that. It's worth asking your vet who and what insurances they accept.

I'm with MoreThan (they're cheap with good coverage but only pay 85%) and I pay the vet either with cash or credit card. The vet fills out the claim form and sends it in. Then I get the money; they are very quick at paying. It works for me because I have enough credit but if you don't have a credit card then look for a direct payer.

Agree most reimburse.  A few can pay the Vet direct, but it depneds whether they have an arrangement with the vet, or Vet agrees.

i just had to pay out £150.00 to have two of my dogs teeth removed as they were baby ones that didnt fall out but my vets dont do  directpayment  so i had to pay and wait for the ins company to pay me back

I have always had to pay the vet first and then put in a claim form. I was with Pet Plan for my last dog and with M+S for the one I have now. Saying that, both paid out pretty quickly.