Best insurance cover? What to look for?

[mummymermaid]

We are adopting a cat in near future and I was just wondering if you could tell me your experiences with pet insurance? What's the best one and reasonably priced? What kind of cover should I get? Please tell me anything I need to know and what you wish someone had told you when you first got insurance! Tia

[viccat]

The main thing to look for is lifetime cover per condition. That means if your cat gets diagnosed with a chronic condition, the insurance will continue paying throughout the cat's life. Many policies have limits per condition and if your cat gets diabetes or another ongoing illness, the insurance limit gets maxed out in a year or two.

Personally I've always had great experiences with Petplan.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Tesco, can't fault them, and I've claimed a lot!

[Ski37]

I’ve gone with pet plan unlimited lifetime cover at around £18/ month. He came with one month free from Blue Cross and to be honest I was so confused by all the options available I stuck with them as it was the easiest option ( and I am lazy that way). Also, from word of mouth, they seem to pay up when needed without to much trouble and my vets also accept it.

[Roguexx]

I went with Tesco. Cheap and great cover. Just a cheeky suggestion.....whoever you decide to go with, see if you can access them via a cashback site. I did with Tesco and got £60 cashback for taking a policy which pretty much covers a years worth of insurance.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Harry is with Petplan and they've always been great. They've paid out when our vet doubted they would.

[Icequeen01]

Another vote for Petplan Lifetime policy. Vets seem to like them too as I think they are easy to deal with from their point of view.

[Toddlerteaplease]

I've had £12,000 of claims with Tesco. It'll take. Me 19 years of premiums to be out of pocket. Just hoping the wil renew next year!

[WeirdAndPissedOff]

Ideally you want to look at:
-Lifetime cover (as pp have said above you otherwise risk a poorly animal losing cover after the first year).
-Following from above, an insurance company you think you will be happy with long-term. You can chop and change until you pet becomes ill - any changes after that will mean your pet is excluded from anything related to that illness.

• Check the excesses. Some insurance companies have a % excess as well as a flat fee. And most companies' excess will increase for senior pets, but some more than others.
  
• Check the fine print for any exclusions. I've found insurance polices that look perfect, but on reading the fine print they only cover £50 hospital fees, or £250 for an MRI, or won't pay for cancer etc etc.
  

You can also ask your vets what they accept - some vets won't accept Direct Claims (where the insurer pays the bill direct, rather than you paying up front then being reimbursed) from certain insurers, or certain underwriters as they're notorious for being bad payers.

I'm with Petplan as well - they're fairly pricey compared to some others, but you get what you pay for.