best pet insurance.

[thesunshinesbrightly]

my circumstances have changed and i need pet insurance for 1 dog and 2 cats.

who are you pets insured with?

Their are so many too chose from my pets were previously insured with MORE THAN.

[thesunshinesbrightly]

who are your pets insured with??

[thesunshinesbrightly]

anyone??

[Yorky]

Our cats are insured with virgin and I regularly look at the payment on bank statement and wonder why we keep paying it. We looked around before taking out the policies but haven't moved it since, never had to use it so can't sat if they're any use. Try confused.com or moneysupermarket or similar

[thesunshinesbrightly]

thankyou yorky

it appears that not that many pets are insured.

[morocco]

check out www.topcashback.co.uk before you buy - there's some good cash back deals on there sometimes - up to £50. tesco and asda not bad, we're with someone I can't even remember the name of but they're 'ethical' and profits get donated to charity or something [vague]

[thesunshinesbrightly]

thankyou morocco will look into that.

[queenrollo]

dp has always used Petplan for his two dogs. They have been highly recommended. I'm not sure they will be the cheapest but as far as i am aware some pet insurance companies put restrictions on what they will pay out on older dogs, where Petplan simply request a slightly larger excess. They also only claim one excess payment for subsequent treatments if it is for the same illness, as long as the vet can certify it is 'continuation of care'. DP has stuck with Petplan as he has had a LOT of treatment for both dogs over the years and claiming from them has always been easy.

Obviously you will look into different companies yourself but hope this gives you some idea of what we get with ours, and what to check for.

Dp just said there is an annual amount you can claim per year, this doesn't carry over but is reset every year which he has found useful (some very expensive treatment for both of his dogs means this feature is particularly useful for us). Some plans have a limit you can claim over the whole life of the policy before they wack the premiums up. He currently pays £50 a month for two elderly labs.

[thesunshinesbrightly]

o.k thankyou i have looked into petplan and they seem more expensive than more than, but will have to read up on them to see what i'm getting.

is it better to get the highest insurance available??

[queenrollo]

you just need to compare across them what you are getting for your money.

Our oldest lab had an emergency op two weeks ago that cost £2000 but we will get about £1500 of that back. We pay a higher percentage excess on her because she is 13. The other lab is still on the basic excess because he is 9 but that will change when he turns 10.

I think it's worth reading a bit into the breed dog you have. Our younger lab has had problems with his joints which are common in labs. Our older dog has been struck with an aggressive cancer which is common in older large breed dogs. We found that out from the vet when it happened.
Not sure about the cats. Are they prone to any illness, problems with ears or eyes for example? maybe someone with better knowledge will help. I guess the point of insurance is to cover you for the unexpected, but if your pets already have any history of recurring problems then that may guide you as to which would be the best for you.

Any insurance will be better than none at all, and of course you can change to another company after your contract is up if they aren't providing you with the cover you need.

I never insured my old dog, and was lucky that in 13 years he's only cost me about £1000 in unexpected vet bills. DP's dogs have always been insured and the younger one in particular has had many thousands of pounds worth of work done over his lifetime.

[thesunshinesbrightly]

i thought you just paid the excess??

howcome you had too pay £1500??

i thought the whole point of having insurance was so you didnt have too pay the massive vet bills??

sorry if i've misunderstood what you have said.

[queenrollo]

sorry.....to be clear.

we paid the bill in full on the day (because we had funds to do so luckily, but most vets arrange payment plans if you need it)and filled the insurance claim form in and returned it to the vet the next day. It's been sent off and then we will get a cheque from the insurance company for the amount we are due minus the excess that we have to pay. So we will have paid £500 and get the remaining £1500 back.
We could have waited for the cheque to come and then settled the account with the vet.

[thesunshinesbrightly]

oh i see queenrollo thankyou for explaining to me.
i've got my thick head on tonight

[queenrollo]

not at all, i can see why my post was confusing

hope you get something sorted.