Pet insurance for a puppy

[Lifeonrepeat]

Our 4 week Free insurance is about to expire and I want advice as to which insurance to take out for our puppy. Petplan is the one that my vet mentioned but they come out more expensive than somewhere like John Lewis which seems better rated.
There seem to be a few different plans within each company. Do you need to stick to the same plan throughout? I would probably opt for a more standard plan for now and go for something more premium as dog gets older. Which rates LV top. I've never heard of them and would be worried that vets would not work with a lesser known company.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[missbattenburg]

I think it can be hard to switch as the dog gets older without incurring huge premiums so have opted for the right level of cover for the rest of his life with mine. You also risk the dog developing a condition early in life that insurers will refuse to include in any new cover you set up later on. e.g. if the dog develops diabetes then any new policy you might want to set up won't cover this and you'll have to pay those costs yourself.

Petplan consistently gets great feedback on forums like these and pay the vet direct (rather than you pay and claim the money back - which can be tricky if you don't have the cash reserves). I use boughtbymany because the cover was higher and have had no problems with the claims I've made.

Also worth noting that most policies have a waiting period before you can claim - so if your 4 weeks is almost up you face a couple of weeks or so wait until the dog is covered by a new policy. Be prepared to pay the full costs yourself if anything happens before the waiting period is over.

[TheHodgeoftheHedge]

Pet plan does tend to be slightly more expensive but it is the only insurance company I would recommended. Make sure you take out lifetime cover.

[AnotherOriginalUsername]

Petplan every time.

What do I do for a job? Veterinary insurance claims processor

[itallhappensforareason]

Definitely Petplan lifetime insurance straight from the off. You'll be thankful for it in the event you need to make a claim. Also most vets will deal directly with Petplan only.

[BiteyShark]

The problem with switching policies when your dog is older is that 'anything' you have consulted your vet on even if you have not claimed is a pre existing condition.

My dog isn't quite 19 months old and already we would have so many exclusions if I changed company as we have had many illnesses and accidents. We now have a lifetime condition but fortunately I got a life policy with petplan so he will be covered for as long as I keep paying the premium.

Like with any insurance cheap does not always mean better. Different policies will suite different people depending on their financial circumstances. Always read the T&Cs and try and get the largest cover you can afford as vet fees mount up very quickly. For example I have claimed over £4500 already.

[BiteyShark]

And as mentioned by missbattenburg most policies have an initial exclusion period where they won't cover any illnesses when you take out the insurance. Petplan is 2 weeks so if an illness was to occur during that time you would not be covered and it would then be considered a pre existing condition so you should look to get cover ASAP rather than waiting until your free cover is up.

[User467]

We're with petplan for our cat and have been since she was a kitten. She's nearly 12 now and despite several claims our premiums are still reasonable. If I was just changing to them now they wouldn't insure her. I would find one you are happy with and plan to stay with them. We had a recent £600 trip to emergency vets and I didn't have to pay upfront (apart from excess) because we were with petplan.

We are with John Lewis for the dogs, just about to make our first claim so will see how well it goes but have heard good things.

[Elphame]

Just make sure you don't let your pet become obese if you choose Petplan

metro.co.uk/2018/04/21/pet-insurers-refuse-pay-cats-dogs-fat-7485434/

[pigsDOfly]

Another recommendation for PetPlan. And get lifetime cover which ever company you end up with.

Don't know if other insurance companies cover teeth now - not cosmetic, so not cleaning but any extractions are covered - when I took out my dog's cover 7 years ago they were the only company that did.

[ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax]

Petplan.
But I am surprised you haven't heard of LV. They have been around for 175 years. I wouldn't say they were a lesser known company.