# Pet Insurance



## nattymariax (Sep 1, 2010)

Hi everyone, my petplan 4 weeks free runs out on Monday and I have been to numerous websites getting quotes and some have been good some haven't!

Just wondering if anyone on here has decent pet insurance with good reviews and pays around £10-15 a month (tesco and sainsburys both have AWFUL reviews)

I want the best insurance I can get for a reasonable price and if possible, from a company who you have claimed with and have actually paid out and dealt with it properly (heard some awful stories about companies refusing to pay out):scared:

Thanks in advance :thumbup:


----------



## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

Louie is with PDSA (AXA) so is Holly but have'nt claimed, however the renewal has'nt gone up much :thumbup: Argos did 

Be carefull with E&L 

You need to get it sorted now though its 14 days till they start the cover except for accidents I think.


----------



## nattymariax (Sep 1, 2010)

Dally Banjo said:


> Louie is with PDSA (AXA) so is Holly but have'nt claimed, however the renewal has'nt gone up much :thumbup: Argos did
> 
> Be carefull with E&L
> 
> You need to get it sorted now though its 14 days till they start the cover except for accidents I think.


Just got a quote for up to £7000 cover for £13 a month...pretty reasonable:thumbup:


----------



## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

nattymariax said:


> Hi everyone, my petplan 4 weeks free runs out on Monday and I have been to numerous websites getting quotes and some have been good some haven't!
> 
> Just wondering if anyone on here has decent pet insurance with good reviews and pays around £10-15 a month (tesco and sainsburys both have AWFUL reviews)
> 
> ...


The cheapest is not always the best as there is varying monetary amounts of cover and different types of insurance, which will give you more protection thatn others.

You need to go for a Life time cover policy, There are different amounts that you can cover for, ie 3000,5000 etc etc. Most companies do a choice of policies with different various amounts. The higher the amount insured for obviously the higher the premium. With a life time, you get either a total amount each year to spend on vets fees, or a few do an amount per condition or illness per year. With life time the total amount insured for is renewed each year in total, as long as you stay with them. So if you insure for say £5000 even if you have had claims and used your whole £5000 then next year you will start again with £5000 to spend. Same goes for the amount per condition or illness ones if its life time. you will get the full amount to start next year again when you renew. So if your dog gets complications the next year after an injury, or a chronic condition that needs regular meds and tests, you will be ongoing covered.

Some give you a total amount to spend per year, but there is a time limit you
can claim for. So if your dog gets a chronic condition, you will only be paid out for 12 months from the date it was first diagnosed. After that you cant claim anymore for that type of condition, even if you didnt use up your whole monetary amount on it in the year. Same with an injury, once the 12mths has gone by, if he gets complications the next year, then no more payments.

There is another cover that gives you various amounts for illness or injury per condition say £6000 and there is no time limit, but once you have usd the whole £6000 for that type of illness or injury then you wont get paid out any more. Many people get this thinking they have life time but it isnt.

Things to be wary of are. You will not be covered for the first 14 days of your insurance for any illness developed in this time. Some even wont cover you after the 14 days if it is already something you have had in the 14 days that your dog gets again. Anything the dog has had prior to you getting insurance wont be usually covered either as it is classed as pre-existing.
Although some companies will cover for accident in the first 14days but something you would need to check.

A lot of insurane companies tend to lump types of illness together, so if you have an amount for illness or injury, you may think it is every illness or injury.
However some lump illness under one blanket cover, so they become illness of the digestive tract. Soft tissue injury etc. so even if your dog has several stomach probs then it will all be put under one. Also some treat anything the dog has more than one of as a single condition. So if you have a total monetary amount insured for per condition with a time limit or until the total monetary amount is used up and say your dog needs hip replacements, then
you could well find you havent got enough to do both. Unless of course its life time cover, where you will get full benefits again the following year.

When you take out your policy, you usually have 14 days cool off period where you can cancel, so make sure you read the paperwork and small print when it arrives to make sure it is what you thought it was.


----------



## Sonybear (Feb 1, 2011)

I have insurance with Pet Plan and have had for the last 7 years, I pay £12.62 for each of my cats and I have stuck with them because they were fantastic when I had to claim for one of my cats. She was having fits and had to have all sorts of tests with specialists and different treatments and the total cost was just under £2,000 and they paid on time and directly to each vet etc that we saw, really easy claim form and really helpful people on the phone.


----------



## AlbertRoss (Feb 16, 2009)

nattymariax said:


> Hi everyone, my petplan 4 weeks free runs out on Monday and I have been to numerous websites getting quotes and some have been good some haven't!
> 
> Just wondering if anyone on here has decent pet insurance with good reviews and pays around £10-15 a month (tesco and sainsburys both have AWFUL reviews)
> 
> ...


All of the companies featured on my website (see below) are ethical and all pay out (including Sainsburys). In most cases claims are refused because the insurance doesn't cover what's being claimed for. Therefore, the first rule is ALWAYS READ THE POLICY. The second rule is - see the first rule.

I've never had bad feedback about any of these companies. But I have had a lot of positive. All quotes will be individual to you - don't bother asking other people. What they pay won't be what you pay.

Just don't insure with E&L (or any company that fronts for E&L). The best insurance is 'lifelong'/'lifetime' but it will be more expensive.


----------



## moandben (Jan 27, 2010)

I feel I have to say my bit about E&L.

They have been great to me, My cat would not be here today if it wasn't for them. I have claimed every month for the last 12 months. They have paid everything we have claimed for and paid within a month on each claim. 

I have had alot of money from them and can only say they have been great.


I also insure my horses with them and have claimed for one of them, they paid out within 6 weeks. £2500 paid.

For my cat, It really was a lot.

Just my opinion.

Jen


----------



## Olly Tosh (Dec 14, 2010)

I have just went with John Lewis. Seems to be a good deal.:thumbup:


----------



## adbrad (Jan 29, 2011)

I'm afraid i'm going to have to disagree with your opinion on sainsbury as trixie is insured with them,but not claimed yet.
I also insured a previous dog with them and had nearly a £3000 claim and they paid out quickly and direct to the vets.


----------



## CDC (Jul 20, 2010)

I have all my cats with the RSPCA and pay around £7 per month for each as I have multi-pet discounts now.

I've had to claim twice now with no problems, the excess is a little high (£75) but a proportion of my premium goes to the charity. 

Our first claim was following one of the girls getting into a fight - because she wouldn't let the vet look at her we ended up agreeing to sedation to make sure she could be treated properly. The claim form arrived within days and the cheque about two weeks after we submitted it.

The second one was when we lost Ollie, the policy includes refund of the purchase price if your pet dies under a certain age. We thought we would have to pay them the remaining premiums as we were making a claim - but they had changed their policy only a week before and that meant we got the lot back as there also was no excess for that type of claim. It didnt make up for losing Ollie but as we had paid over £100 it was a helpful sum of money. 

Again it was all very quick and easy, the woman on the end of the phone was very understanding and helpful when I called as I was sobbing and not very clear at all.


----------



## nattymariax (Sep 1, 2010)

It's not my opinion, I googled Sainsburys pet insurance reviews and they averaged 1.5 stars out of 5 with 60 odd reviews!

Thanks for the advice anyway everyone, I went with Petplan because I had the 4 weeks free and it meant I would be covered immediately from the end (which is today) so don't have the 14 day period before the insurance actually begins. Paid £150 for the entire year (can't be doing with more monthly direct debits):lol: and thats a 'covered for life' policy ...the most expensive :scared: with vets fees up to £10,000 or something like that

Sorted :thumbup:


----------



## AlbertRoss (Feb 16, 2009)

nattymariax said:


> It's not my opinion, I googled Sainsburys pet insurance reviews and they averaged 1.5 stars out of 5 with 60 odd reviews!


To be fair - I looked at the reviews of Sainsburys and couldn't believe some of the ratings. Like someone gave them 1 out of 5 although they'd paid out on her pet's death _because she could have got the insurance cheaper!_ Or the person who got upset because they took a month to pay out for all the treatment her dog had received before it died. Or the person who got upset because they wanted the pet's previous medical history. Or that they refused to cover pre-existing conditions!

Yet it seems that those who were genuine claimants, by and large, were satisfied and gave them 5 out of 5. Indeed one reviewer wrote that they thought that a number of people had jumped in too early and moaned before getting an outcome.

BTW I'm not saying Sainsburys are perfect - I'm sure they have their faults - but you do need to read online reviews very carefully. They can be terribly misleading.


----------

