Thread: Pet Insurance

I was with Petplan for a while but I'm now with Animal Friends and I have no complaints - I would suggest they might be worth a look. Like you, I wanted lifetime cover and that's what I have now. Of course the real test would be when and if I need to call on the insurer to refund but the reviews were good. I checked reviews of all insurers that I considered and was put off one or two by what was said.

I have never had to pay huge vet bills for a cat but my dog was very ill towards the end of his life and I probably spent about £2k in a year which was at the back of my mind when I was considering pet insurance.

Another thing that I took into account was that some companies reduce the level of cover or increase premiums as your pet ages. I suppose it's all about balancing risk.... Good luck with your investigations

Hi Wivel, Thanks for your reply

Thats a very good point about reducing cover/increasing premiums as the cat ages- it didnt even occur to me that they may do this! Thats a question i will have to check with them, thank you. Sneakies!!!

Are there any other hidden naughties that the companies screw you with anyone knows of?!

I know that with lifetime cover you Have to be with them literally for the lifetime of the cat- you cant cancel for 2 years and then go back to them, there cant be a break in the cover :( If you take out the 7k cover and then want to upgrade to 12k cover you can do so but only if the cat doesnt have any 'long term' illness which would indicate why you decided to upgrade. Heart problems and diabetes for example. Injuries wouldnt count. I would be concerned as to how they decide what is a long term problem- what if they tried to say that your cats sneezies you claimed for on 7k were the result of some deeper ongoing problem and therefore no you cant have 12k cover now (basic example!!)

I will check the reviews and hold out here for more opinions

Thanks! xx

Hi there,

Our last cat was insured with Petplan and they certainly paid me lots of money on a regular basis, they were nice on the phone and I have no complaints. This time round we are using Vetsure who are affiliated with our vet practice. They came out about the same as the other "premium" insurance policies on Go Compare and Compare the Market (they have several levels of cover if you want something cheaper) and worked out at about £16 per month for Sidney. However, for an extra £10 per month you get a bundle of vouchers for neutering, vaccinations, microchipping, flea and worm treatments and various other things. I did the sums and worked out that it was a good idea to do this in the first year, but after that the vouchers would be less useful as there were several for things that you only have done once per lifetime. So far so good, but we haven't actually made a claim yet!

you have the right idea with lifetime cover , check for percentage excess as some companies have a 10% excess risingto 20% at age 9 i think ...and if you are refered for something serious you could be looking at an excess fee of £400-£500!!! i have stuck with petplan but mainly because i get vets discount as i work there. E& L do a policy that seems too good to believe, not sure if its only a dog one but it is £5000 per MONTH i.e they pay out up to that each and every month!! Not sure what the premiums are though.

I have had bad experiences (dogs) with e and l so would not use, my kitten is with Animal Friends

Have to say my heart dropped when I saw a certain insurance company mentioned & have known it to be a company we have had most problems with all the while I have been working at a vets,didn't want to mention it by name but someone else has,phew.....
Whichever company you go with they all seem to stack the price up as your animal gets older even if you have never claimed which seems a bit unfair as it is obvious with aging you are more likely to need them,we have quite a few come into work who have paid in all the animals life & over the last couple of years when they have needed help by the time they have paid the higher excess & in some cases even a % of the bill they have been better dropping it altogether & just using the monthly premium to pay for their animals monthly prescription out right & have been money into pocket... Like all things it is great to have it behind you if needed but to what level you take it is very hard to say as there can always be a "what if "scenario",good luck with your hunting,read the small print but also remember if you think you have got it wrong & move companies they will straight away rule out covering any pre existing conditions,had a few clients caught out on that too....!

Thank you very much for your very helpful and interesting post. It definately seems a tad unfair that they would raise premiums like that if you've been loyal to the company for ten years or more! I think we need to find the 'right' deal whilst she is still young and no ailments transpire.. We slipped up big time with Tink, spent weeks researching insurance but we were also researching house insurance and we each thought that the other had made the final decision on which pet insurance company to use.. cue 12 months later when Tink became ill and we rang round every provider to see if they had us on their system and none did- the realisation of our stupidity hit us and we werent covered for Tinks many trips to the vet, chest drains, x rays, tests, antibiotics, painkillers, specialist consultations and referrels, repeat tests and eventual overnight stay and surgery at Langfords.. over the course of maybe only a month we clocked up vet bills of near to 5k. Devastatingly Tink didnt make it, and financially we were crippled also... I used every penny in my savings account to pay for her treatment at Langfords- money I had been saving since I was 16 (i'm on a fairly low wage and for the past few years literally dont have any money left at all after rent and bills.

ANYWAY, That shocker of an experience has made us vow not to let that happen again! I am thinking of getting our new coonie tested for hcm gene and as this affects a third of mc's I think that the results will help guide the level of cover we choose in the first instance.

I think i need to go online to independant review sites of each provider and see what people are saying about them..

Its a pity theres not something similar set up here? Maybe a poll or something... I think I would trust folks who have owned maine coons for many years!

I think that it would be really important to make sure that everything is insured just the way you want them to be. But there are some people who do not fancy the idea of having to insure everything saying that life has its ups and downs and whatever things you experience will help you build your true character, which also makes sense, quite frankly.