Cat Insurance

[puzzledleopard]

My cat went missing and has been found in critical condition I'm not covered this time and the bill is at £1,500 so far. Thinking to the future now because putting the money aside for it instead of insurance hasn't quite covered the full cost. She may never have anything again but I can't take that risk now.

I need to find a decent insurance company that insures even when there is previous conditions (not necessarily pays out on them conditions) but at least accept they have them conditions even if its exempt.

Please if anyone has any recommendations of insurance they have used and have had no issues with covering the costs when it came down to it.

Thanks in advance x

[WeirdAndPissedOff]

I can't offer expert advice, but I think most insurers will cover you with previous conditions - though you may have to pay a little more.
Petplan seems to be pretty good for cover, though they're near the top of the price range.

IME most insurers though will try to link current conditions to old ones. Eg "Oh, you're claiming for arthritis? Well his notes say he was seen for limping 6 years ago, so we think it may be linked to a pre-existing condition".

[WeirdAndPissedOff]

To clarify the above - I believe most insurers will cover cats who gave pre-existing conditions, but are v unlikely to pay out for them, and the premium may be higher.

Best wishes for your cat - I hope he recovers well!

[puzzledleopard]

Thanks for getting back to me

IME most insurers though will try to link current conditions to old ones. Eg "Oh, you're claiming for arthritis? Well his notes say he was seen for limping 6 years ago, so we think it may be linked to a pre-existing condition".

^ This exactly what I am hoping to Avoid

I would love to hear stories of how people have claimed and they have actually paid out as all I've heard from friends and family are more of the above where they have tried to avoid to pay. I've got a few to avoid but wondered about other people's experiences.

My vets have a deal with petplan as I got 6 months free insurance when I had vaccinations but they are one of the most expensive plans but that might be for a good reason I haven't heard anything bad about them yet.

[MaddyHatter]

I was with Petplan, Tesco are much cheaper and offer comparable insurance if you look into it.

Same policy between the two with my 2yo cat was nearly £90 difference!

[CharminglyGawky]

I'm with petplan. Claimed about 4 or 5 times and never a quibble. In fact I didn't even have to claim, the vet did for me and petplan paid the vet direct so all I paid was the excess.

One of the rabbits had a respiratory infection in the rescue before I adopted her so she isn't covered for respiratory issues but everything else is covered just fine.

[Yokebe]

Im with Tesco. £8 a month. £60 Excess. £7500 for each new claim.

[Toddlerteaplease]

I'm with tesco. Very cheap and the same cover as pet plan. Paid up with no quibble.

[Toddlerteaplease]

£7 a moth for my two Persians. For top level cover.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

The problem with Tesco is they are underwritten by Royal Sun Alliance. RSA now have a very short list of referral vets that can be used and, if you choose not to use one from the list, there is an extra £200 fee on top of any excesses.

This doesn't just apply to Tesco but any pet insurance underwritten by RSA.

[Yokebe]

Toddlerteaplease did you use your own vet?

[hugoagogo]

We use john lewis, I claimed for my old cat when she had cancer; they did not quibble over anything and were very nice about me weeping down the phone to them.
I wouldn't risk having an uninsured cat now, I was very grateful not to have to worry about the money ( or even going to the receptionist to pay) when the old cat was ill.

I think it was about £9 for her; my new cat is a healthy youngster runt and we pay about £7 for her.

[YesYABU]

I use direct line. Found them reasonably priced and when I previously had to claim for a dog who got ran over only 3 months after we rehomed him (long story!) they paid out nearly 2k with no dispute.

[Vinorosso74]

Petplan all the way here. They may be more expensive but worth it in my opinion and pay for the top lifetime cover which oays up to £10k and from experience bills soon add up! We couldn't get that as we switched when our cat was too old to qualify.
Our cat was referred last year to a referral practise which isn't on the RSA list. Our vet gave us the option of two but he recommended the one we went with who were excellent. They are more than happy to speak to our local vets should they want a more specialist opinion. I do think that RSA policy is crazy.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Harry came very close to being referred earlier this year and none of the vets on the RSA list are near us. No way would I cart him around the country on the whim of an insurance company so we would have ended up paying the extra excess. Ridiculous policy.

We used to be with Argos (underwritten by RSA) and changed because they put the price up to a ridiculous amount even though we hadn't claimed. If we have other cats in the future we'll definitely be using Petplan again.

[EachandEveryone]

I'm with M and S can't say anything yet as we pick up kitten on Sunday. I did a price comparison first.

[RubbishMantra]

Does anyone know if Vets4Pets (Pets at home) are on the acceptable list by RSA, who I would insure through Tesco.

My pet insurance for 2 cats is more than double my house & contents ins. p/m.

I've been lucky enough not to have the need to make a claim, so am a tad clueless in this matter.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I think you can use any vet, but if you have to be referred for specialist treatment you have to use one from the list or pay the extra excess. Hopefully it'll never be an issue but after Harry nearly being referred to dental specialist earlier this year it's something I would always bear in mind.