Having sung the praises of AXA pet insurance, and the fact that their renewals tend to go up marginally each year, I can now say how wrong I've been!!!!

I've just got the renewals for Winnie (7 year old Sussex Spaniel) and hers has gone up £70 to £284.65, Hattie's (5 year old Dobermann) has gone up from £254.23 to £447.46, a massive increase of nearly £200!!!! I've got 5 dogs insured with them and at this rate I won't be able to afford the premiums.

I did an online quote for Hattie which was £100 cheaper at £347.75 but was told by the adviser this would be "new customer" online discount. Did the same thing for Winnie and the renewal cost is practically the same as the online quote. To say I am annoyed is an understatement!

I heard yesterday that the renewal quote from M&S for a two year old dog for whom no claims have been made has gone up by £190! The reason? Apparently being an adult entire male means he's more likely to get into fights and therefore need vet treatment.

I had the same with AXA, after many years with them and very few claims my renewal went through the roof for both dogs. I got very little in the way of customer service when I phoned, they did ask if my bitch was spayed now to which I answered yes would that make a difference and the answer was no so why bother asking.
I have gone with Petguard and have a small claim in at the moment so I will find out how good they are at paying out.

My moms insurance renewal came through for her Japanese spitz it was a whopping £ 750 (yet she's never once made a claim for her). All my renewals with pet plan have all stayed at a good price andthey have always been good at paying promptly

I'm expecting all insurance renewals to be rocketing.  My friends car insurance recently went up by £300.  For an older gent with no claims and driving a small engine honda!  Ridiculous.

Meredith,

Can you let us know how you get on with Petguard? I've moved moved one of my boys over and took a chance and not needed and fingers crossed hope I don't ever need to claim on him with this company. A friend is possibly going to go with them for her pups as they are so reasonable p/m £ wise. I don't want her to log in with them if they are not good at paying out.

I've got to stick with AXA for Hamish and Winnie due to ongoing conditions, but will have to seriously think about insurance for the other 3. My current annual pet insurance bill is nearly £1350 and if they all go up at this rate (2 older dogs, 8 and 11, are due April 2011) I'm not sure I can warrant insuring them, as much as I want to. Are there any companies that just cover vet costs with lifetime cover? I don't want all the holiday cancellations, boarding etc.

> Can you let us know how you get on with Petguard?

Me too please Meredith - I have my youngest with them and I'm thinking about moving the oldest one over too. Like Sue - don't want to do it if they are bad payers!

Pedlee,

Petguard are just this and you can choose if you want 3rd pty liability too and how much etc.. Very good options on the cover.. So now waiting if they pay out or not..I won't get insurance unless its lifetime cover, pointless otherwise.

So here is hoping that they are good, otherwise i'll be looking elsewhere for my Bernese to go.. Or resorting to a vet fee account..

more then have just sent me a renewal for my 3 year old boy, at 77.65 a month ( 27.00 pound increse ) i'll be changing him over.
never claimed on it either.

Had a look at Petguard and am I right in saying they won't take on a new dog aged 8 or over, which would rule out Lottie and Hamish?

Hattie's came in at £266 a year with £7500 cover. I'm not sure I can have the public liability as it says "Please note that we are unable to cover any dog that has previously displayed vicious tendencies." I'm sure most of you are aware of Hattie and her aggression towards other dogs etc. I'm beginning to doubt if she is covered 3rd Party with AXA? Although I'm pretty sure my household insurance covers 3rd Party liability.

They need to quantify "vicious tendencies". I can understand exclusion if there had been a previous 3rd party claim for injuries (other than that how could they check?), but a simple snap where a bitch tells a male off is different to an out and out dog fight and do they class dog-on-dog aggression the same as dog-people aggression?

I read in the Leo notes recently that an online pharmacy was introducing cheap insurance, I emailed them and they replied that it's underway, but not available yet.

The thing is when she was with M&S (from a pup) she had various "behavioural" referrals so has history. She has never bitten a dog or a person or had a claim made against her but I suppose she could have what would be classed as "vicious tendancies" and I knew when I changed to AXA that the behavioural problems would not be covered but didn't consider there may be exclusions to 3rd Party cover.

> Are there any companies that just cover vet costs with lifetime cover? I don't want all the holiday cancellations, boarding etc.

I looked at this for my rott boy last year but none of them would negotiate.  All the things thrown in aren't likely to be used by many so makes it look like an amazing package.

I had a massive increase with m and s this year so changed the only dog i could onto pet plan, half the price m and s were asking for and at least i know they are a reputable company. I think all insurance policies have rocketed but then having seen the vets treatment some peple opt for i can see why. An elderly dog with cancer had a £7000 op at a referral centre when a liver lump burst the other day. Amazingly the dog survived but not sure i would go down this road even if the money was available to me. I guess the insurance companies have got to recoup their costs for this sort of treatment somewhere i guess.

I just got both my dogs renewals from Animalfriends.  Both dogs policies have increased this year by £1.50 each per month (and Ive claimed for both of them before so I figure thats pretty good).

Mine has been with M & S for a good few years now, but has gone up quite a lot,  Have just changed to Sainsburys its a lot cheaper and this is for an 8 yr old westie. 

I have just had a letter from Petguard informing me that payment for my claim will be credited to my account shortly. My dogs treatment ended on the 6th January and my vet can dillydally a bit with submitting claim forms but I am more than pleased with this service.
The only thing I noticed on their claim form was that there appeared to be no option to pay the vet direct.

Thanks Meredith - that is good to know. My current companies don't pay the vet direct anyway so I don't really have a problem with that - if it's a huge bill I can always use the credit card as a stopgap until payment comes through.