Hi All

I am getting a westie puppy on Saturday who will be 8 weeks old, my older westie is currently insured with petplan whom i have had no problems with, i have been looking at M&S insurance as i was told they were a lot cheaper, they are around £50 cheaper for the year but with no excess which i think is very good, i am currently paying £80 excess with Hamish, the fees are unlimited with petplan and £7000 per year with M&S.
Has anybody had an experience with M&S compared to petplan just before i decide who to insure Robbie with, as i say petplan have been very good and have paid up quickly but i am just looking around to see if i can get a cheaper quote, petplan have quoted me £285 per year and M&S have quoted £236.

Thanks
Helen

Doesnt matter which company you choose just make sure your new addition is covered for life and that all possible illness are covered. Some of the cheeper ones dont offer all the available treatments on offer or have clauses on certain conditions. My motto is "if in doubt ask, Then if still in doubt walk away" hth

I am not with either but be careful, I had a good cover and thought £7000 per condition would be fine, I was wrong, currently running at £13,000 so far though now on one condition, she is no longer insured for that condition with her insurer as she reached the limit, plus she hit old age and the premium shot up to over 800 per annum! Mine is pet healthcare, I will say they never quibbled about paying up, but was shocked it went up so much when she got to 12, and that her origional condition was not even covered with that premium.  Have phoned around to change and no one wants to know except I think sainsbury and they  were more expensive due to her age lol so no winning for us!
justi

PetHealthcare is actually owned by More Than....

When they were just PetHealthcare they were very reasonable.
I had my old bitch insured with them and they were excellent.
I had an unlimited policy and I think when I lost her 5 years ago it
had gone up to £20 a month..from about £6 a month when I first started with them...

Now I have two dogs insured with them on the £7K per condition policy and they are
£23-26 a month. My older bitch was insured with them until they wanted to hike the
premium to double it's value!

Ouch:rolleyes:

I have just switched over to M&S for my 2 dogs. No excess, and cheaper than Kennel Club. Looks a pretty good policy for my needs. Admin slow, BUT they have just paid in full for a minor aliment, which with previous insurers would not have been worth claiming due to excess.Over the years I have used many different companies, so be assured I shop around. Good luck with new puppy!
PS Buy online as you get a discount

I was paying over £50 a month with pet plan for mine and my mothers dog I never claimed but when my dog died it took me ages to get to talk to someone.  Trying m&s but I don't think you know how good the insurance is till you put in a claim neither me or my friend have put in a claim so I don't know but I am only paying about 30p extra with M&S for no excess on my cat

i'm with M&S too and juat made my first claim. Took about 4 weeks from taking the form to the vets, then only two weeks once they'd received the claim-it was really my vet that was slow.

I'm with M&S - and the day I applied on-line for th policy my dog had to go to the vets because he had a sticky eye.  Turned out he needed an operation the next day - a £272 vet bill - but I received the cheque today from M&S - so it took about 6 weeks in all.  I didnt really think they would pay out though - so - I'm happy so far.

i got all 5 dogs with m/s had no problem with paying out.i will still stay with them even if the polcieys have gone to high.
it better devil than not know,
gollie with pinncle they are good to

I phoned M&S for a quote- they said that you have to have annual boosters or the insurance is void and you can only have two litters from a bitch (one thought to be accidental the other on purpose), obviously I probably wouldn't go over this anyway but I just thought in the case of singleton pups etc I would possibly have three.  Its not as though they would pay out for problems arising due to breeding anyway?

Stacey x

Hi Stacey, you don't have to have annual boosters with M&S, if you don't get them then your insurance doesn't cover you for something that could have been vaccinated against. So if your dog gets parvo you're on your own, but if it breaks a leg they'll still pay out :)

Hi

Thanks for all your replies, do you know whether M&S pay out for dental problems as i know some insurers do not cover dental work.

thanks again
Helen

I have had VERY long delays with M&S, and as I waited for an ongoing assesment and condition/op on my female Chi I put in for a large amount at the end.  As this claim went in I needed to get work done on my other Chi, and it meant that I was paying out for that whilst constantly chasing M&S for the other monies they owed me.  At one point my vet rang me to ask why they kept contacting her and asking for more information and the entire case notes.  The dog is young, fit and healthy and it was my first claim.  Annoyingly I waited a further 5-6 days for a letter to be typed to accompany the final cheque when they knew I just wanted the money and would have been happy with the printout explanation that came attached with the cheque.

Following this I would always have a pool of money available to cover the fees and the slow claims service just inscase my dogs were ill all at the same time.

They have just had a price restructuring and the premiums have risen significantly, but I think the nil excess means that they win hands down on saving you money.  I had a guy walk into my Chi in Kings Cross, and I took him to be examined as his rib seemed sore, they ruled out a fracture, and didn't give him anything for pain, but M&S still paid the consultation fee.  The delay in processing things does now mean that I don't take them for minor things though, ie Cino my younger Chi caught his ear and head on a thorn, he cut himself wriggling to get free and ripped the tip of his ear open and it bled like a main artery all the way home - but I just applied pressure and good old salt water, and hoped it didn't get infected.

On the plus side it's 100% worthwhile with no excess otherwise I'd not bother with an excess of £80 or so, I found the little niggly things were the things that were lots of little seperate conditions and I lost money paying for these, whereas M&S no excess policy covers anything.  They haven't quibbled with me at all, and are very polite to deal with, and always get back to you if they say they will.  Occasionally I have been misinformed but if you want a good value for money policy that will save you money and you're not too bothered about waiting for the claim to be processed it's brilliant cover.  All I would say is that if you have an ongoing situation claim each visit instead of waiting and saving it all up over a few months like me, I know it's more paperwork but it does mean that you're not waiting for a huge amount for a long time, and it's awkward if you have other pets needing treatment (as I did).

BTW it was dental work that my younger Chi needed (removal of baby teeth) and they covered it no problem, just took their time - this said the lady looking after my case did explain that she was new to the job and was doing everything by the book.  Embarrassingly I know staff there on first name terms now! LOL and they are friendly, concientious and polite which goes a long way in my book.

M and S has had a lot of bad press recently with the increase in premiums, but it wasn't really unexpected as with the no excess policy they wouldn't have made any money at the premiums they were charging. I have claimed well over what i paid to insure 3 dogs for this year, and a lot of that were little niggly amounts that probably would have only just gone over pet plans £80 excess. Until they stop the no excess policy i think it is the best value for money, plus they cover all the little things like £250 for prescription diets per year and for behavioural consultations per year.

They won't pay our for dentistry work if it is not related to an illness or injury.

Hi Helen
I used to be with Pet Plan and like you have no complaints at all about them.  However, I looked around for our new puppy and found M&S to be the same cover for half the price Pet Plan quoted.  I notice from some of the posts that M&S seem to have increased their prices now.
I guess even if M&S double our premium next year we will still be paying the same as we would for Pet Plan; I can't remember the exact quotes but Pet Plan was around £22 per month as opposed to £10 and a few pence from M&S!
Hope this helps!
Maria

Harley, they paid for the removal of my Chi's baby teeth (2 of) one was poking into the inside of the bit above her lip and the other was further back (a big tooth) that would have caused further decay.  Maybe this was because it was saving money on decay and descaling on the long run.  It was the dentistry claim that took the longest, so maybe that was why?  It certainly wasn't related to an illness or an injury though..............although initially it did affect her ear and keep making it sore - so maybe that's why they paid it?

They have said that they have had an unusually long time to process claims of late and normally turn them round in a week.

I wouldn't bother with any of the other companies, I looked around before insuring and it was the best deal, and as it's been pointed out with the price increase is still good value, so far I have claimed back more than I have paid.

I think Harley meant dentistry as in routine de-scale :)  It sounds as though your dog's teeth were irregular and in danger of causing pain by protruding into her lip.

>and as it's been pointed out with the price increase is still good value, so far I have claimed back more than I have paid.

Yes, unfortunately M&S was a good find initially but those of us enjoying the benefits were a bit too quick to share - hence I reckon they've almost routinely been paying out more than taking in.  Many folks premiums have been raised and the "no excess" element removed :rolleyes: