We have a 30 days free pet insurance with Petplan. It will expire on the 18/7/06. Got a new quote from the Internet for life insurance around £40/m (ouch!!). My concerned is that we do not have any history on our puppy or her parents (hip score etc...). Will this be a problem? Also will Petplan require a full medical beforehand?

Pinnacle don't cover hip, bone related diseases...

I would be interested in the inof on Pinnacle not cofering boen problems?  as our imported boy is insured with them.

Hello Brainless,

Sorry if I mislead anyone. The actual MIE message that comes up after the quote is:
"We will not cover any claims in relation to hip dysplasia or hip lameness unless the averaged hip score of your dog or both it's parents is a least 3 point below the British Veterinary Association/Kennel Club Hip Dysplasia Scheme breed mean score valid at the time of your dog's date of birth".

I scanned the word "hip" and assumed BONE!!! Sorry again.:rolleyes:

BLIMEY that's a bit hard!! 3 points below, so they won't even accept parents bang on the average score for their breed!

That seems to go along with KC advice, which is only to breed from animals with scores WELL BELOW the BMS.

Yes that's fair enough JG, certainly in numerically large breeds, but not only aren't they asking for any proof presumably (?), but certainly in Malinois it would make it more or less impossible to have ANY dogs to breed from, or would drastically reduce the genepool -which already is tiny!- if we had to stick to that. Our breed average is 10 yet most Malinois in the past decade or so seems to score between 9 and 12 (which let's face it isn't awful, and higher scores than that is VERY rare indeed).

I have just looked through scores of 105 Malinois. Out of them only 29 scored 3 points less than average eg. 7 or less. Some of those 29 dogs are no longer alive but go back years. I only found 18 that are still alive, and out of those 18, only 6 are show dogs and the rest working lines that most definitley would never be mixed with the show dogs. So 6 dogs in the entire breed!

It would certainly be throwing the baby out with the bath water if breeders were bullied into this type of selection process :rolleyes:   As per usual, the KC are great at homing in on the perceived finer points yet leaving the floodgates open for far more damaging breeding practices than using a stud outwith the BMS.

Incidentally despite Tervueren being notably more prolific than Malinois, the restrictions in the gene pool across all BSDs are very similar ;)

regards, Teri 

It would certainly be throwing the baby out with the bath water if breeders were bullied into this type of selection process

Make far more sense to pick certain breeds particularly badly affected by HD for a start -but then again there are FAR worse problems in many breeds and no restrictions on them.

A case of well-meaning but not joined-up thinking.

Well none of my 3 are 3 points below the breed mean score, which varies between 13 and 14 depending on what the current years scores were.  I have a 12, 14 and 15, and my first two were 13, and 9.

Most people would agree that hips under 20 will be functionally normal hips and in countries like USA where hips are graded equivalent scores of our 18 - 25 would be considered borderline for HD.  Anything below 18 would be in the normal range (excellent, Good and Fair).

As HD is a multi factorial trait, and inheritance is likely to be 40% then the policy is somewhat unreasonable.

All mine have been sound, and in some cases really excellent movers.  The two eldest never suffered any mobility problems right up to death.

I believe that is the BVA advice generally, but of course that applies to breeds where the mean is very high, I don't think in breeds where the mean is quite good that this is needed to ensure healthy pups.

Petplan certainly isn't the most economical out there - try Tesco, Asda, M&S 

Crossbreeds and mongrels are insurable so that means many pets have no parental history recorded.   However you will have to read the small print very carefully on any insurer's terms and conditions to determine what exclusions apply re conditions deemed as hereditory.

regards, Teri :)

Line, just out of interest, who gave you the puppy insurance -the pet shop or the vets that vaccinated the puppy?

The pet shop! The same one that point blank refused to give us details on Amber's parents (at the time I was only trying to find out if her parents were also small).

Interesting. I wonder if PetPlan HAS a policy for shops specifically, as otherwise the shop will have broken every rule there is in PetPlan's puppy charter......

I wonder if they would cover if you put your pup down as a crossbreed?  Without a pedigree or history, it may as well be.  I'm not into fiddling but in the circumstances, I consider it to be true.  Just a thought.

I'm with pet plan and they have been good so far. Some other companies do not cover alternative treatments like hydrotheopy (more than dont for one) so what else don't they cover As for breed of dog you will have to tell them what you have as the vets will have it on their records anyway :rolleyes: When i covered my two (x breeds) All they wanted to know of any pre exsiting illness/injury and any clinical signs etc.... Predigree dogs will just have a higher preimium as there are certain condidtions etc... phone them up and just ask them if anything is excluded and they will be honest with you.
pet plan

i use www.healthy-pets.co.uk i find them very good

Be aware that they only pay up to £1000, £3000 or £5000 for each condition, depending on the policy and once that limit is reach, then the condition is not covered.  It doesn't take much to spend £100 with the Vet these days.  M&S covers conditions for life.   ;)

Thank you all, sorry about the hip score... which has completely lost me as I am not a breeder. I cannot put her down as a x breed as her health card, petrac microchip card details issued by the shop and the vet indeed has her down as a GR. My last option would be to go with Petplan after a phone call but obviously if I can find something a little cheaper I would go for it. I was hoping someone had already gone through my situation to save me time.. Not to worry.. Will spend all evening geting quotes from the companies that you have kindly quoted.

Try M&S their cover is comparable to Petplan for about half the price!

Maria

go to pet pals in reading no problems and they pay out wthin three to four days.i have two retrievers and it costs 17 month for both .if you require details feel free to ask
                                                                       joe

Thanks Joe, do you know if they cover hereditary and congenital conditions as long as they last?

Hello everyone have requested quote from Direct Line, M&S, MoreThan & Sainsburys so far (all between £14 - £25). I have also emailed them separately to check if any hereditary conditions are covered for life or as long as they last. We'll let you know.

I have just changed from Pet Plan to M&S I have 2 goldens, one 3 and a half and one 8 months, with Pet plan it was £26 each per month, now with M&S it is £10.50 for 1 and £11.30 for the other....also they insure for £7k which was one of the best.

I've got my boy insured with Petplan and its around 40 a month with no limit and cover for life (supreme policy) and they cover me for hereditary problems too. I've never had a problem with them and they have always paid quickly when needed. 
Its a fair bit to pay but it gives me peace of mind knowing whatever happens to my boy he will be able to get the best treatment and not worry about the costs.
I would recommend contacting various insurance companies and ask them set questions on any concerns about cover then you can decide which is best for you.

Regards
Stu

Petplan quoted £39.55 just for the budget policy (I think there is some kind of arrangement between the shop and Petplan).

I've got quotes from Direct Line - M&S - MoreThan - Sainsburys. I am now waiting for their reply to my email asking if herediatary conditions (no history on Amber's parents) are covered, so far only MoreThan has replied. After that I will also personally phone them before making a decision.

Thank you.

That sounds a lot! I know there are variations for breed and location, but it's double what our Standard Poodle costs for the 'for life' policy.

Line, I would highly recommend M & S - if you have a look at other threads here you'll see that a lot of us use them.   To my knowledge, they are the only company offering no excess (ie - even if you have a £25 vet bill, they will pay it).  They are also v reasonable.  I pay approx £12 a month for each dog.

"Pay a small additional premium to remove your policy excess for pets aged 8 and under"
Yes, I was impressed with that too, I went for it when I requested the quote.

Has anyone dealt with 'Healthy Pets' The Pinnacle renewal is £180 for our 4 year old boy, started off as £112 in 2002, went up to £120, then £140, then £155 last year.

Just did an on-line quote for him with Healthy Pets on the Gold Policy (covers up to £5000 per year) the premium would be £112.35.

I had my crossbreed insured with Healthy Pets when we first got him. Didn't have to  make a claim but I had reason to contact them a couple of times and they were very helpful and pleasant to deal with :)

Considering we only ever had small things under or just over the excess which we haven't claimed for I think £180 is a bit much.  Especially for a health tested dog.  With a hip score total of 6 and eye tested clear you woudl think some insurance companies woudl offer discounts to health screened animals.

as far as i know they do

Hello!
Have you seen the thread posted by MGR re: M&S Pet Insurance 100% policy increase?
Would appreciate reading your comments there (as I went for it from 22nd July - I suppose I still have a few days if I wish to cancel).
I have emailed them this morning but I haven't received a reply yet.

>I wonder if they would cover if you put your pup down as a crossbreed?  Without a pedigree or history, it may as well be. 

Nips is insured with M & S and since he's not a KC registered breed I couldn't provide ancient heriditary details despite knowing that neither his mother nor father have anything ghastly lurking in the genetic cupboard. He was simply put down as purebred (since he is) and there was no drama about the lack of non-existent data!

As for an increase in costs, from my recollection of that topic, the 100% increase  issue applied to one person with others reporting that they hadn't had their premiums increased significantly or that if an increase had been levied it certainly wasn't by 100%.

There are pros and cons with every pet insurance scheme, LINE and there comes a point when too much research simply causes confusion so I'd stick with M & S for now rather than cancel and then leave yourself needing to initiate another round of research!

...I cannot put her down as a x breed as her health card, petrac microchip card details issued by the shop and the vet has her down as a Golden Retriever.

Based on the above I have put Amber down as a pedigree (Is that wrong? - Am I suppose to prove that she is?)
I called M&S a few weeks back and told them that I got my GR from a shop and that I do not have any details/history on her.
They said they do not require any history for pedigree (it is only required for xbreed).

Don't worry roz I am not panicking yet, I did say if I 'WISH' to cancel. I haven't made up my mind yet. I just wanted to hear from the members who updated my thread and gave me good tips about choosing an insurance and if they heard about this increase.

You won't have any problems about putting her down as a pedigree, LINE, in terms of proving it. I put Nips down similarly and then just added his breed where asked to on the form and that was that. As I said before, he's not KC registered so doesn't come with any paperwork. But I'm sure they work on the principle that when you make a claim your vet will be confirming what breed of dog he has treated. Thus if the two descriptions don't match then the claim probably wouldn't be accepted.

I'm with M and S and my policy hasn't increased.  I'm v happy with their service and have made 2 claims this year, both paid up no problems - also both for smallish amounts of money, as we have the "no excess" option.  Think they're probably the only company to do "no excess".

I have just insured my pup with M&S and the premium was just a little less than the other two dogs also insured with them.  Guess I will wait and see what happens next year.  However, I do think, to some extent, you get what you pay for.  My GSD was on Petplan - OK very expensive but we had a lot of claims in the last few years of her life and there was never any difficulty in payment being made or getting further cover albeit at a higher premium - but you can't really complain for an old dog in poor health.

Louise

As I have several dogs, I simply tranfer £150 per month into a special vet account. I then use money from that account to pay vets bills. In the last 5 years, the only unexpected vet bill I've had was for £480 for a caesarian. At present, I have more than enough in the account to cover most eventualities. My point being, at £40 per month, you are going to pay, over 12 years £5,760 in premiums. If your dog leads a healthy, happy life, and you don't make a claim, the insurance people aren't going to give you that money back are they. Even if, at say 3 years old, your dog needs to go to the vet and the bill is £1,000, you will still have paid £1,440 in premiums. I am quite lucky in that I have a breed which is generally healthy and I breed very carefully from fully tested stock, but I'm still ahead of the game.

Ditto.

The only one of mine Insured is the Imported boy, because he is owned by four of us. 

We have so far paid out over £500 in premiums and not yet had a claimable vet bill (£50 excess).

I have certainly heard of a lot more people having huge increases on their m and s policies, in most cases it was up by £70% This only applies to policies that are renewed in august as their underwriters have changed. It does not surprise me as the prices they were charging they would never make a profit. I still think, even if it goes up it is good value for money, so far this year i have claimed over £300 for mainly minor conditions which is about as much as i paid to insure 3 dogs for a year, and i'm only about 6 months into the policy. Their cover is very comprehensive, and you do get to claim for more with no excess, whereas its about £85 with petplan! Our insurance advisor at work reckons the no excess policy won't last long, but that anyone already signed up with have to stay no excess because its in the contract.

I agree most definitely a good idea having your own fund -if you have several dogs.