I'm browsing around the websites of all the pet insurers to get quotes for Alfie. So far the best I think I've seen is More Than. Does anyone have any particularly strong views for or against any specific companies?

If you put a 'search' on this topic there has been some sound advice given here before,pro's and cons.It is like a mine-field choosing the right one!so good luck!

Hi, I spent all last Saturday on the internet looking at pet insurance for Barney and like you I found More Than looked very good as does Direct Line (Advanced Policy). It must be great to get out and about with Alfie, we can't wait, we are going tomorrow for our final injection, how long were you advised to wait after the second injection before going out?

We were told to wait seven days, but different people seem to say different things.

our vet always says that the dog is safe to go out 2 weeks after the last injection.

i found Tesco pet insurance good,
Heidi

We went for More Than, trouble is you dont know how good or bad they are until you have to claim. One thing to keep an eye on when you get all the paperwork from the kennel club there's a form detailing the free 6 week insurance you get from them with a box that says tick if you do not want to extend cover after free period,well we ticked it but don't tend to check our bank statements when we looked today they had taken £40 off us over 2 months.They sorted it out straight away but its something to look out for.

Cheers
Steve

I too have recently done a search regarding insurance - it seems that the old adage of "You get what you pay for" is true when it comes to pet insurance. Many companies offer a very similar level of cover for about the same money - the first question you need to ask yourself at the end of the day is "How much can I afford and what cover do I get for my money?". Some policies restrict how much you can claim for each illness and may exclude that illness after a year when your policy is due for renewal. Some will cover the illness for more than a year but only up to a maximum amount. You also have to consider other cover such as kennel fees if you fall ill, advertising if your dog is lost etc. etc. Read the small print carefully. I found that More Than, Direct Line and Marks & Spencer all offered pretty good cover for around the £13 per month mark. The second question is to ask what happens in the event of a claim - does the company pay up quickly and without arguing about what is covered? The last thing you need when your pet is ill, is to worry about whether your insurance will cover the vet fees or not.
In the end I went for the top policy from Petplan who are the most expensive by far, but offer an outstanding level of cover and according to my friends and vet, settle payments very quickly and without too much fuss (some vets deal directly with them in the event of larger claims leaving you to pay the excess only). If I never have to claim (and I hope I don't) then I could have saved myself a lot of money - but if I do, I know I have unlimited vet fee cover, which for me, buys a lot of peace of mind. From my investigations E&L has a reputation for being very cheap but are notorious for not paying up on claims - I was told to avoid them at all costs!

Best of luck with your search

hi Lloyds offer a good cover just under £10 just have a look at there policy,im insured with them.

I suppose you can only go on your own experience,I only pay £12 for breeders insurance and didn't have a problem when claiming,sandra.

I have done the research inside out also, more so the amount of dogs in the house keeps growing :-)

For what I can see the top 2 for all round service including paying out etc are Petplan and Morethan.

If you look at these 2 closer Petplan covers £6000 ( maybe £5000) every year and the figure is reinstated every year, they do not cover the purchase price of the dog and for the budget it is approx £13.49 per month. £55 excess last time I checked.

Morethan give you £6000 not every year but it doesn't end at the end of the year neither, but the £6000 amount is not renewed every year like Petplan howeever the £6000 remains until spent.

Depending on your vet costs this figure may be enough to cover any major incident. Morethan cost £11.49 per month, do cover the purchase price of the dog and they give you 2 months free when purchased on line. For me overall and based on my circumstances, my vets fees etc I felt that Morethan was the best for me.

My vet is very very reasonable, So I feel the £6000 cover per illness meet my need, the cost of the dog is covered and the payments are not too high especially if you have more than one dog.

Hope this helps

I found an insurance feature in one of my doggy mag's - after lots of research I found a company AFI (animal friends insurance) they offer many types of cover the cheaper ones tend to cover for a year at a time but we picked a gold cover at approx £13 a month for an Afghan pup and £4000 per condition - Alot of the supermarket services only insure annually, so obviously a long term illness would only be paid for up to 12 months (no good) - personally for me I found more than quite expensive with pedigree being the most expensive - I'm not tight where my little girl is concerned, but we should shop around - AFI also donate to animal charities with every policy taken out.
Sarah

Rozzer,

:-)

Not contradicting you just wondered how you found Morethan more expensive if the one you picked is £13 with £4000 cover per ilness compared to £11.49 with £6000 per condition.

The £4000 is not reinstated every year it is a bit like more than it has the £4000 per illness in a pot and once it is all spent then it is gone. The AFI Pet Policy is also underwritten by E&L Insurance so I am guessing they are taking a profit from it.

I sat down with about 20 companies a while back and did a spread sheet to make a comparison item by item as I am now insuring 4 animals.

Just wondered if you found something I had missed. :-)

BFN Pam

Hi Pam. The quote I got from More Than was not £11.49 it was closer to £15.49! Probably my postcode/breed or something?? I did later notice AFI were underwritten by E&L which I'm not over happy about because I cant stand E&L (horse insured a few years back) I also spoke to my vet about it who had no experience of AFI but mentioned that E&L were slow to pay out, which of course we know! Hopefully we have picked a reasonable company??? Fingers crossed - pup's dad is paying for the insurance anyway :D But seriously we did research it together and that was the one we went with I just hope it was the right one for us :)
Sarah.

i am with mark/spencer they have pay out over £1000,00 on my dogs in the last year,with £50 excess the cheque was back with 3 weeks,plus i am with pet plan with the two bitch for whelping once they have had their last litter the will go with m/s.
i have insure mty dog the pass 16 years the best i think are at the moment on the market ar m/s pet plan and pinncles

Hi Sarah,

That is it exactly it is a bit of trial and error. It is always informative to hear the good and bad.

Time will tell I guess with them all..

Take care Pam

I was hoping this thread would clarify things not confuse me all the more!

I have Pet Plan cover for my westie it costs me £15 a month. A month after I took it out my westie was diagnosed with collitis and is on permanent medication and they will pay for his medication for life. They settled up immediately as I had to claim for the 3 visits before he was diagnosed as well. They also deal with my vets direct as well so I don't suddenly have to find hundreds of pounds in an emergency. Woth paying a bit extra for

Just have to say that I had my cat insured with DBI pet insurance and just 3 weeks after the "acceptance" the cat was run over and nearly died. The vet was fantastic and saved her although sadly not the damaged leg but the bill came to £1,300. I didn't have to do a single thing except fill in the claim form. The insurance company dealt direct with the vet and I only had to pay £30 excess. There were no questions, no hassle and I totally recommend them. I had my older cat with More Than and they were very cheap for an older animal - some companies won't cover cats over 7 years old. Hope that helps. Both these companies cover dogs as well, of course.

CG