Insurance

[PeekABooPinky101]

No doubt done to the hilt - so apologies, but...


Looking for insurance for my 3 year old female, shot haired cate. Chipped, clipped and everything else.

Guide me oh wise ones.

[SmokingGun]

I've found pet plan offer pretty good deals.

[PeekABooPinky101]

Thank you, shall have a look.

and please ignore my fat fingers care should be of course cat

[OpposableThumbs]

Tesco have paid up for me several times without quibbling and for very little extra on my premiums.

[jaspercat2002]

Pet plan really put their annual premium up once your cat is over 10. The excess also goes up. I can of course understand that you are more likely to claim once they are older but it doesn't seem to take into account how much you have been paying them over the years. I think with any future pets I would put the amount we would pay to insurance away in a separate account every month.

Our 16 year old has just had radio iodine therapy. We haven't claimed for her before and so have been paying premiums for 16 years. However due to her age we still have to pay £125 excess plus 20% of the final cost. This will be about £425 out of a £1500 bill. I also had to supply them with details for every vet we had ever visited, in case we were trying to sneak through a pre-existing condition despite us having been insured with them since we got her at 8 weeks old!

I have heard Direct Line and Tesco are a bit better, but none will take on older cats so we are stuck with Petplan.

[jaspercat2002]

Sorry - have just re-read my post and it is a bit ranty! Am just frustrated that the amount we will be able to claim is such a tiny amount compared to what have paid them over the years. I should feel lucky that we have had cats that have reached a good age without major health issues.

[PeekABooPinky101]

Insurance is such a double edged coin isn't. How frustrating for you jasper.

I went with Tesco in the end. They seemed fairly reasonable and their excess was good too.

Thanks for the tips everyone

[EleanorAbernathy]

I see you've already chosen but remember you can always shop around in the future if the premium goes up and you don't claim.
Have a look on the comparison sites for the best deals.

Go for lifetime or decent maximum benefit policies - others can become useless quickly if your cat develops a long term condition.

Sainsbury's and MoreThan have always paid out quickly for us - new kittens are with HelpUCover as they had the cheapest lifetime policy.

[PeekABooPinky101]

Thank you. Will certainly look around and keep a better eye on it. Glad to have something in place for now, and finger crossed (as I'm sure we all have) it's not needed!

[Stillyummy]

I use animal friends. Cheep, they donate to charity and it is a whole life policy so if the cat (horse, dog or any of the rest of the farm) got a life long condition they would continue to pay towards there care for the pets life.

[FushandChups]

Like Eleanor, I use HelpUCover and they were excellent at the beginning of the year when I had significant bills.. I did have to supply them with the rescue details and previous vets (Dcat was 6 when I got him) but paid up extremely quickly once received. It's lifetime cover and sets me back about £7 a month or so?

Insurance really is worth it I think - you just never know..

[PeekABooPinky101]

Thank you everyone. Making notes for next year!

I was saying to a friend the other day questioning why I was insuring, it's about having options. If something happened and I had no insurance, and it was going to be expensive, I would only have one option. By having insurance options are opened up and dcat gets better chances. To me that makes it a no brainier.

The last 12 months have seen my life change enough. Not being able to do the best for my pet, who has been there for me, is not one of those options.