Last year I insured my Estrela Mountain Dog with M&S for £15.70/month and a £0 excess.

Just had the renewal documents through and it's gone up to £28.99 with a £70 excess!!  I phoned to ask why and they said "vets bills are going up and your dog is another year older"... 

I pointed out that she's still only 14 months old but they weren't willing to reduce the premium, so I am looking elsewhere.  She has never had any serious health problems.  Should I be worried about changing insurers?    Once my dog has existing conditions I won't be able to change anymore, and I'm worried that insurers have you over a barrel because they can just put their prices up and up and you can't change.

Are there any insurance companies you can recommend?  I looked at Healthy Pets and their premiums are reasonable, but I find it complicated to understand whether the cover is 'good enough' for what I need!  I've never had a pedigree before...

Try AXA direct. They WERE the underwriters for M&S and the cover is the same, as near as dammit. Think yourself lucky with £28.99, my dobe has gone up £12 to £36.99 with £70 excess!

My Dalmatian went up from £26.99 to £38.99, from nil excess to £70 plus 20% of the vets fee as he is now 9 years old. 

I have been with M&S for 5 years and have only had one small claim 3 years ago.  I asked the question how could it go up so much because he is a year older, I to was told vets fees have gone up.  By 69%, I don't think so.  My 5 year old BC also went up by 26%.  I cancelled my policy for both and went elsewhere for my BC's saving £60 a year and £20 off the excess. I have decided not to insure the older one as most won't take them on a new policy over 9 years or it is too expensive.

I was with M&S, but cancelled when they put their prices up.

At the moment there is a policy with Tesco's that suits us.   40% off if you do it on line.   Ours is about £12.50 for £4000 cover vets fees, which I don't think is to bad.     They do an economy one for about £8.00 .

Mind you, I still don't insure all our dogs, just the youngsters who might do something stupid!

Jo

Mine didn't go up much at all when I renewed it in March this year.  It was £13.99 each dog and it is now £15.90 although I do now have a £70 excess instead of a £0 excess.
I have stuck with them as I have claimed a lot over the last year and another company would exclude the conditions I claimed for which could be recurring problems.  So I am quite happy.

I had the same problem with M&S.  I have two policies with them. Both dogs are the same breed, both the same age.  One policy was due for renewal in Feb 08 and was only an extra £1 per month (£16.90 now).  The other policy was renewed in March - just one month later - and I was quoted over £38.  Couldn't understand why.  I've claimed quite a bit for both dogs in the last 12 months.

I rang them up and asked for explanation, also said I was going to cancel both policies.  The lady then went off to speak to her manager and when  she came back she reduced the 2nd policy back down to £16.90.  But informed me that they would both rise next year.

I also have gone from having no excess to having to pay the first £70

This problem with insurance suddenly rising is a frequent topic on here and one that I have followed with interest.  My own thoughts are that even though companies such as Petplan may seem more expensive initially, the fact that they have not yet been accused of sudden excessive increases means that over a longer period thay are more likely to be cost effective.

What most people don't take in to account when taking out insurance for the first time, is that as soon as you make a claim against the insurance, you are tied to that company forever, if you still want to claims for the same or a similar complaint in the future. So  it is much more important to choose a reputable and experienced company at the outset.

Remember if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is!

My parents (both retired) have a 2 year 3 month old Cavalier, never had any health problems so far, but the first year with M&S it was £8.10 a year, second year £14.50 and now this year they want £18.49 plus a £70 excess, they are now looking else where!!  for it to have doubled in such a short space of time, with no claims seems ridiculous!

I had M&S but they doubled my premium - no reasons, that's cost of living and older dog (he's 9) blahhhh.  I tried AXA who insured my dog for my old £15 premium I had with M&S with £50 excess.  As it goes, Copper had to have a lump removed recently, a few months after I'd taken out the AXA insurance, and they paid up about a week after the claim went in. 

I have to be THE biggest insurance moaner/cynic on the planet, but, I was impressed with AXA.  Whether they'll move the goal posts next year is another thing!

CG

PS - be aware that if you're dog has been referred to a behaviourist you will have a monumental task getting anyone to insure it.  Don't cancel existing insurance before securing new.  AXA will do it but with exclusions.

try swinton

they are very resonable.

I currently pay £11.99 for each of my purebreeds (small breed, I'm sure you could guess what they are ;-)) and £9.99 for my staff x. Thats with Morethan and I think the excess is £70.

To me an excess of £70 is a small price to pay for the average cost of treatment. I had to claim for a ruptured corneal ulcer which needed major and highly specialised surgery which would have cost me over £1000 in all. Much less stressful than paying for it out of my own pocket or putting it on the faithful credit card!

I dont know if they will be putting up their premiums by that much this year, but it might be worth trying them.

I phoned the 'Dogs Today' insurance advisor and took out a policy with Pet Pals last year that was for life, they supposedly will pay out for any medication as long as needed. Also stated that they did not go in for yearly price hikes.

Got my renewal notice 2 weeks ago and the price has increased by a 100 quid! apparently they have realised there prices were too cheap and have reassessed all policies. I've made no claims or anything and I'm absolutely fuming.!

I had 1 month's free insurance when I got my pup (Patterdale) with PetPlan... they quoted over £30 a month to cover any on-going claims (over that magical year's worth of treatment) + an excess of £70 - got the same cover with MorThan for just over a tenner a month.......