just been lokking for insurance for my new pup.
has any used a company called e&l and if so what are they like to deal with.

They have a reputation for being very reluctant to pay out. At one time they wouldn't cover any hereditary conditions at all, but that might have changed. Be very careful!

Wouldn't touch 'em with a barge pole, personally.  There is a reason they are so cheap ;-)

Im with M&S and work in insurance' but speaking with my friend today works for NFU and their household policys cover your pets aswell !!! haven't checked it out myself but said they cover for conditions for life may be worth looking into

I was warned about E+L..never used them other than the initial free insurance with pups I bought over a year ago, switched to another company when the free cover ran out.

Have had some problems with M+S tho..renewing over the phone, then getting letters saying I haven't renewed....very hit and miss, took over 6 months to confirm that 2 of my 5 were covered, and they'd hiked their premiums up....

just read the small print, whoever you go with

just had a very good experience with More Than.. they surprised me really, paid out very quickly!

I've always had good experiences with PetPlan.

Petplan for mee too. Never had a problem.

Following all the threads of recent months and price hikes by most companies I am thinking really Petplan is going to come out trumphs.

im with the pdsa. very good. reasonably priced and they cover up to £5000 in vets bills and various others things. the excess is £50.00. Dont know whether they cover conditions for life though? petplan were really expensive for my dog although they are a good insurance company as i have used them for my horse previously.

DO NOT use e and l heard nothing but bad things they are very reluctant to pay out and will use exclusion clauses to try and get out of every situation, that hip dysplasia was a predisposed condition due to genetics etc etc.

be careful about tescos too

Pet plan i could recommend
Also look for a lifetime cover policy, not a anual policy
Louise

my parents are with E&L and they have paid out everytime and their dog is forever getting attacked by other dogs !!

Well maybe so but i think its more illnesses that they are picky about not general injuries. Eg it took me 8 months to get my purchase price back on my bitch when she died of cancer they p****d and moaned about everything. Changed from them immediately. Also vets who will have more exeperience than most of these situations have told me to stear clear.

Louise

There are some people who have good experiences with E&L but if you research into thier background you will find an overwealming majority of people have bad experiences with them. I can understand insurance companies having the odd bit of bad press but E&L seem to generate a staggering amount of complaints compared to other companies.

NFU do cover dogs on thier household policy BUT it doesn't have the same flexibility as thier cat & dog insurance policy and has limitations & exclusions so read all the small print.

many thanks for the advise.
i will not use e and l.
i will go back and start again as i have a little bit of time the pup came with 6 weeks insurance.

There is a lot of good advice here:-
http://www.fool.co.uk/news/your-money/insurance/2008/02/22/protecting-you-pet-what-you-need-to-know.aspx?source=ioowftxt0010011

Margot

Uh oh - I'm with Tesco.  Anyone got experience or if I should change?  No previous vet treatment so will be fine to move if necessary.  He is a boxer and they always seem to have sky high premiums

Uh oh - I'm with Tesco.  ANyone got experinece or if I should change?  No previuos vet treatment so will be fine to move if necessary.  He is a boxer and they always seem to have sky high premiums

I have always been with the KC , my boys annual premium came through a few wks back,  and as he has reached the age of 8  they have hiked it up from  £34 a month to nearly £60 ..so neadless to say I have cancelled..

Just taken one out with Tesco myself,  it is not the usual cover I like to have  (lifetime)  but it will pay out up to £4000  per illness.. so that seems to be ok .

What their reputation is like , I dont know,  so will be interested to hear any experiences with them.

I have the lifetime one with Tesco and it's £16 per month.

I have one of mine with Sainsburys and one with Marks And Spencer. Both reasonable, both life cover. I used to use Petplan but their premium was three times that of the other companies.
Watch at renewal though, we had to move our Bernese insurance when the renewal came in as it had gone up so much but the setter was roughly the same price as the previous year. Fortunately we didn't have any ongoing illnesses to consider.

I have Tesco's and have made one claim in the last 9 month which was paid promptly.  The excess was £60.  It cost £20 per year for the two of them.

i see in the paper today the post office is doing pet insurance guess whos the underwriter are   AXA

>It cost £20 per year for the two of them.

Really? Surely you mean £20 per month?

sainsburys are good- paid out prompt for my cresteds broken leg and it is still ongoing, the claim is over £2000 and still ongoing. Premiums are £14 a month for my crested and £16 a month for my akita.

I found Healthy Pets underwritten by AXA has been good value for our 6 year old boy for the last two years.  Very little increase in premiums.  Lifetime cover including cover for travelling on Pet passport in the sliver and gold policies.

>my parents are with E&L and they have paid out everytime and their dog is forever getting attacked by other dogs !!

It won't be all gloom and doom with E & L, they will pay out on a certain percentage of claims - they have to otherwise FSA would be down on them.  An insurance product has to be viable in the market place and it must do what it says on the tin.  Insurance companies would have trouble doing that if most of their claims were declined when their clients are paying to insure against risk.   It would make the product worthless.

Notwithstanding, E & L have a reputation of not paying out more often compared with other insurance companies.

I like Allianz Cornhill - Petplan, changed their name to Allianz Insurance plc, decent company, decent product but not cheap.  I just don't like co-excesses I.e 10% of the claim etc, etc.

More Than is a pretty good product too, Royal & Sun Alliance, although known to hike the premiums as the animal gets older. 

AXA - don't like their underwriting - can be very misleading IMO.

I'm with Direct Line, I just wanted a simple life time policy, X amount per condition, with a decent company and underwriter, reasonable priced and it didn't have to cover all and sundry, just the basics.  Can't really fault them but they are not very quick with processing claims, can take up to 4, 5 weeks, sometimes longer.

oooops £20 a months for the two! 

highly recommend M&S.  Two dogs, one classed as a pedigree one a cross comes out at about £22 per month, £7000 per dog per year to use and a lifetime policy.  They pay out within about 10 days of them getting the claim form and have so far paid out £160 for my WSD and over £1500 for my BC x and that is still continuing, they will pay the vet direct or in my case the rehabilitation clinic.