Pet insurance - do you have it? Who do you recommend?

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

We have two new kittens (v cute, see profile) and I need to get insurance sorted out. Has anyone got any preferred insurers and what do I need to take into consideration when choosing? My last cat didn't have insurance. She lived to the age of almost 20 and only cost about £600 in vet bills over that whole time, but I don't think that is typical, am I right?

I have pet insurance for my 2, with the same company I have my home insurance with.

Tbh, my older cat is 15 and has never needed any treatment, but I'd rather have it than not.

Have a friend who's cat was run over. If she didn't have insurance she couldn't have afforded the treatment he needed and would have to have him put down. As it is now, he's mended and well.

I'm with healthy pets and just dug out my paperwork to check what it actually covers - know someone who has discovered (too late) that they are only covered for £5k a year, most of which was used up on illness/tests before their dog was hit by a car and ran up a bill of £7.5k and it's not over yet! I'm covered for up to £5k per incident and although I realise accidents are pretty rare I'm a bit worried now

anyway, check v carefully for best possible cover, petplan used to do an unlimited one but apparently not for new customers

Dont use Tesco pet insurance - i did and their standard cover only covers any diagnosis for a year plus they are slow at paying out i found. As a result of this we had to find £800 up front for two months and my dog is no longer insured ( nor can get insured anywhere else ) for his skin condition. It was in the small print apparently so make sure you read it

oh and cover for life. some offer this, some don't - it's important because if your cat is unlucky enough to develop, dunno, diabetes or some other long term condition you could be forking out for life

Thanks for these tips. I have been looking online and it is hard to directly compare policies. I was thinking some looked quite cheap but then realised they had severe restrictions on the amount they would pay out for an ongoing condition - I had naively assumed that if they were insured for a certain amount then that is what the policy would pay out. I will look at Petplan and Healthy Pets.

I am upset about insurance all round at the moment, work with animals and have a 'care, custody and control' policy that only covers me if I am negligent - so if an animal, let's say a dog slips his lead, has an accident I'd have to pretend to have done something stupid enough to cause it. it's really hard to find out what is and isn't covered.

also struggling to get insurance for my horse in working livery, hardly a high risk occupation is it? trotting round a riding school for a few hours a week!

anyway have been v happy with petplan and healthy pets in terms of paying out and not quibbling vets bills

DD1 - no insurance, huge vets bills for back trouble sadly died aged 9
DD2 - Fully insured, costing me over £50pcm now he is 15, never had a claim - and he is still in pretty good shape. You can't win.

DD = Dearest Dog on this thread!