# Confused about the insurances



## andreauk10 (Jul 9, 2011)

All right, that's my first kitten here in UK. I was used to have 6 kittens in Italy, but there were not a necessity to have an insurance as most of the cats are stray and they establish at your home without consent 

So I've never did an insurance for any of them, but now the story is different. I bought one, and I want to give her a "protection" buying an insurance.

However, I'm pretty confused about all the offers around. 

Any suggestions? What should I have a look at?

It looks like the one from Tesco is a good compromise between cost and coverage.

I'll look forward to read any comments.


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## Shimacat (Feb 14, 2010)

The main difference between the various cover plans are that some offer a 'lifetime coverage' for a total amount; others offer to cover an amount which renews each year.

Example: our cat Indy was insured, and then injured. He ran up a £4200 vet bill in the first year we had him (don't ask; long story!). We were covered by Petplan with an annual £4000 renewal coverage. This meant that in the first year, we had to pay just £200 plus the excess. The second year, we got another £4000 of Petplan coverage.

If we'd had one of the 'lifetime coverage' policies, our insurance cover for his condition would have run out after the end of the first year, and we'd have had to cover all his vet bills after he'd run up a vet bill to the amount covered. Because we had a policy with an annual renewal, the insurance covers his bills each year.

Hmm. This isn't very easy to explain, but hopefully you know what I mean. Basically, because of the good insurance cover we have for Indy, all our cats are insured with Petplan which costs us about £11 per month, per cat. Annual vaccinations are not included in the cover.

Does that help?


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## andreauk10 (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks a lot. Your answer clarify me quite a lot. The funny thing is I was considering the lifetime one better as the word sounds better. 

In this context, it means that I the pet it experience the same problem x times and your "credit" had gone, you have to pay the difference. 

I think I can't recap better than this, which I assume is what you said. 

Right?


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## Celador (May 12, 2011)

I am not an expert, but I believe the previous poster may have gotten the types of insurance mixed up (no offence) 

LIFETIME Policies are much much better in the event of your cat getting a chronic / longterm illness.

Lets say, for example, your cat gets an ongoing condition like diabetes. With LIFETIME COVER, any costs incurred due to the condition will be paid out for the entire life of the cat up to the value of the policy each year.

So, if you have a *Lifetime*, £6,000 a year policy and your cat suddenly gets diagnosed with diabetes, which the vet tells you will cost £800 a year to treat. Then EVERY year for the *rest of the cats life*, the insurance will pay out the £800.

An ANNUAL policy will do exactly the same EXCEPT after the first year, the diabetes becomes a *pre-existing condition* and they will NO LONGER pay out for it. So that £800 a year bill becomes *yours to pay*.

So essentially:
---
*Lifetime Cover*
More Expensive
Covers Short term illnesses / accidents & one-off treatments
Covers chronic / long term illnesses for the life of the Cat (as long as you keep up payments)

*Annual*
Cheaper
Covers short term illnesses / accidents & one-off treatments
Will only cover a chronic / long term illness for the first year / maybe only up to renewal date
---

I believe that even Lifetime cover won't protect you from a condition that the cat has BEFORE you start the policy, so if you can afford Lifetime cover and want to do it, then it's probably best to do it when your cat is healthy and young.

You have to remember that not having Pet insurance is basically like gambling in Vegas  you are basically betting that your cat will never get ill or have an accident. Getting annual cover protects you from things like accidents, but again, you are betting that your cat doesn't develop a long term illness.

At the end of the day, it's up to you which one sounds best for you and your Cat.

_Celadors Disclaimer: You should read your policy documents carefully once you get them and ask the insurer questions about long term illnesses *before* you sign up for a policy. For all I know some insurers may call their cover Lifetime, but actually have a clause that gets them out of paying for it past the first year._


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## andreauk10 (Jul 9, 2011)

Sounds a bit more what I've originally understood. 

And would that be possible to switch from an annual to a lifetime? 

I assume that any pre-existing condition won't be carried over and will be considered as such. Is this correct?


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## Celador (May 12, 2011)

andreauk10 said:


> Sounds a bit more what I've originally understood.
> 
> And would that be possible to switch from an annual to a lifetime?
> 
> I assume that any pre-existing condition won't be carried over and will be considered as such. Is this correct?


I believe you can switch to a Lifetime policy with a different insurer whenever you like, or you can probably 'upgrade' if your insure will allow you to. As an example, I am with Pet Plan and they do a range of policies and will allow you to upgrade.

If I understand your other question correctly, then yes, any condition or illness that the Cat has before you move over to lifetime is likely to be considered pre-existing and won't be covered.

I'm not recommending Lifetime cover, that's a choice you'll have to make for yourself (although that is what we have for Cookie), what I am saying is that if you intend to get Lifetime cover eventually, then you might as well get it while your cat is healthy with no existing conditions. That way, anything they do develop will always be covered.

Going with annual cover for a while and then at some point switching to Lifetime cover is like playing Deal or No Deal and hoping that you pick the right round to say "DEAL".


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## andreauk10 (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks for claryfing


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## AlbertRoss (Feb 16, 2009)

You may find the link in my sig below helpful.

In general, lifetime cover is best as it guarantees continual payout for illness over the lifetime of the pet. Be aware of how much you have to pay in excesses - don't go for a company that charges you a percentage of the claim. The companies on my site have been checked out and provide a good service. There are companies that don't. I wouldn't, if I were you, consider E&L as an insurer.

Do be careful about 'lifelong' and 'lifetime' - they aren't the same. Lifelong is usually a 'per condition' cover NOT a lifetime cover. On the table of insurers on my site I've clearly marked those that do lifetime, per condition and annual - despite whatever descriptions the companies may use.

Hope that helps.


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## shyboots (Jun 29, 2011)

Watch out on price comparison websites - I was looking on one for lifetime cover, and one company was listed as lifetime, when I checked the details it was not in fact "lifetime", but "best value" cover, which seemed to mean (from talking to someone at the call centre) that you are covered up until the cat needs the £7000 or whatever cover, once that is used that is it, you'd need to renew and existing conditions not covered. So, not all things described as "lifetime" on price comparison websites might not be what they seem, check the small print and check the vocab if you don't understand it. Fingers crossed I've got a good one but I've not had to claim or anything yet so can't really vouch for it yet.


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## MoggyBaby (Mar 8, 2011)

After doing LOADS of shopping about trying to find a decent, and reasonably priced, cover for Abby, I eventually went for the Argos PLATINUM insurance cover which appears to be very good and looks to match Petplan on most things - except the price which is almost a third of what Petplan were charging. This little excerpt is from the front page:

_Platinum cover, up to £7,000 vet fees cover per year for all illnesses and injuries, with no limit to the length of treatment _

Here is the link if you wish to look into it further - the only condition is that you keep re-newing with them every year. Which would be the same with any other insurer anyway.

Argos Credit & Insurance | Insurance | Pet Insurance


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## andreauk10 (Jul 9, 2011)

MoggyBaby said:


> ...
> 
> _Platinum cover, up to £7,000 vet fees cover per year for all illnesses and injuries, with no limit to the length of treatment _


Not sure, but it looks like there are other insurance which provide a max amount per year for each single injury. That's means that this is cheaper because they won't cover more than the amount specified. Now, if the cat is a youngster, that would be fine. But differently I believe that a policy like this shouldn't be considered. 
Perhaps I may be wrong, but that's my opinion I got looking through the many different offers around.


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## AlbertRoss (Feb 16, 2009)

MoggyBaby said:


> After doing LOADS of shopping about trying to find a decent, and reasonably priced, cover for Abby, I eventually went for the Argos PLATINUM insurance cover which appears to be very good and looks to match Petplan on most things - except the price which is almost a third of what Petplan were charging. This little excerpt is from the front page:
> 
> _Platinum cover, up to £7,000 vet fees cover per year for all illnesses and injuries, with no limit to the length of treatment _


One small thing you may want to check - Argos is underwritten by Agria and they have, in the past, been a bit naughty about what happens when your pet dies. With most companies they just pay out and the insurance stops. However, some companies pass the monthly collection of premiums to a separate company, usually a subsidiary. They will ask you for the rest of the premiums for the year - and they'll deduct it from the final payout. I don't know if they have this arrangement with Argos - but they certainly have had it in the past. (I was caught by this using the Kennel Club and it's why I've set up my website - to try and minimise distress on other pet owners).

I note that Argos are making a bit of a play about paying monthly on their site, so it might be worth checking.


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## AlbertRoss (Feb 16, 2009)

andreauk10 said:


> Not sure, but it looks like there are other insurance which provide a max amount per year for each single injury. That's means that this is cheaper because they won't cover more than the amount specified. Now, if the cat is a youngster, that would be fine. But differently I believe that a policy like this shouldn't be considered.
> Perhaps I may be wrong, but that's my opinion I got looking through the many different offers around.


There are 3 types of policy:

Annual - will cover up to an amount claimed in one year only. After that any condition claimed for won't EVER be covered, anywhere.
Per Condition - will cover up to a specified amount for any individual condition for any length of time until the monetary limit is reached. Then that condition will not be covered at any point onward.
Lifetime - will cover all conditions (not pre-existing) forever up to a maximum value of claim per year.

If your pet has a long term problem Annual is useless. If it's fairly minor then Per Condition might be OK. If it's serious and runs into hundreds/thousands each year then Lifetime is best.

However, 'Per Condition', tends to be used quite widely. Your cat has a knee problem? They'll say it's the leg and that'll include hip and paw - on all 4 legs. So, if you reach the limit on the knee problem you'll find they won't pay for the injury to the paw on a different leg. Sneaky, isn't it?


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## MoggyBaby (Mar 8, 2011)

AlbertRoss said:


> One small thing you may want to check - Argos is underwritten by Agria and they have, in the past, been a bit naughty about what happens when your pet dies. With most companies they just pay out and the insurance stops. However, some companies pass the monthly collection of premiums to a separate company, usually a subsidiary. They will ask you for the rest of the premiums for the year - and they'll deduct it from the final payout. I don't know if they have this arrangement with Argos - but they certainly have had it in the past. (I was caught by this using the Kennel Club and it's why I've set up my website - to try and minimise distress on other pet owners).
> 
> I note that Argos are making a bit of a play about paying monthly on their site, so it might be worth checking.


Cheers Albert. :thumbup1: Just had a butchers at the policy and it is as you say. This is the first time I have come across this. All previous insurances I've had ceased immediately from when the animal was no longer with us. I'll stick it out for this year and re-evaluate when renewal time comes around.

I hate fecking insurance!!!! It gives me an 'eadache!!!!!!! :mad2:


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## Ouicestmoi (Oct 26, 2017)

Hey guys sorry for bumping the old thread
But I am more than confused myself with all the pet insurance lingo and options.

For what I’ve researched here the most used for you guys is petplan, but some people also mentioned Agria being great (that’s the one the breeder had Gabi in).

Something that the vet said is v important to have in the insurance is: covered for conditions per life and not per year. Is that correct?

And in light of what happened I worry for two reasons: Gabi was taken twice to the vet emergency in less than 24 hours apart and also in the second appt having done several blood tests etc when she was only a week with me.

So how does claims X premiums work exactly? And what will they know about her history as she has microchip if I want to change insurance company for example..

I’ve seen so many different prices.
I got an online quote to extend her Agria for £40 a month on the £12.500 yearly in vet fees.

I did that as I am not sure she will be a poorly cat. The vet really scared me but what if I want to go lower on the coverage? Can I?

Thank you 
X


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## Orla (Sep 16, 2015)

I think you will be better starting a thread in the cat chat section, that seems to get more views. But yes, you want a covered for life policy not an annual one. Read Albert's post above for the reasons for this. Pet plan is generally recommended as they have a good history for paying out and vets will often claim directly from them. I can't comment on Agria but if you post in the main section maybe others have more experience with them.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

Do bear in mind though, you are currently with Agria. If you switch to a different insurance provider, they will not cover you for All the conditions that Gabi has been treated for


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## Ouicestmoi (Oct 26, 2017)

SbanR said:


> Do bear in mind though, you are currently with Agria. If you switch to a different insurance provider, they will not cover you for All the conditions that Gabi has been treated for


Thank you. Staying with them then


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