come tell me about your pet insurance...

[MarmadukeScarlet]

I have been on 'insureyourpet' run by a vet , rec'd by my own vet as good unbiased etc.

I have a pup who is about to run out of 'free' KC insurance, they want £30 per month to renew

Looked at M&S, seems like a good lifetime policy £7k per annum max etc they do not have my breed - if I list her as weimeraner it is £32 if I list her as german pointer it is £24 premium (or 16 for standard) I called them and asked, they said choose most similar breed.

Never had a policy before as had older rescue dogs and a decent income.

I think I need one for her as she seems, ahem, digestively delicate and is vv clumsy.

Any reccomendations?

You need to look at whether they cover for long-term conditions or repeated need for treatment. A lot of the cheaper policies don't. If your pet gets diabetes for example, it could cost you a lot over their lifetime.

We are with PetPlan - recommended to us by the home we adopted from as this one does cover long-term illness. We've had to claim a few times for repeated operations to remove lumps, and some plans would only have let us claim once. All we had to do is pay the excess for each new year, but the rest was covered.

I pay about £36/mth, which is a lot, but ours is getting on a bit now and I think it goes up with age.

What dog do you have?

We have just insured our Bichon Frise puppy with PetPlan on the premium plan and it's £36 a month.

No idea if that's a fair price or not but....

Pet Plan basic here (don't know what it is called). £22 per month for a Border Terrier. Have only had her since July and have already claimed as she had Xrays done (£250 or so). Like the fact that I don't have to pay and claim back, but not the £90 excess I agreed to.

Agreed - pet plan are good for paying the vet directly - very handy! Excess is a bit steep but when you could be facing ops that cost thousands, it's worth it.

I didn't know PetPlan paid the vet directly. My DH set it up. So if pup needs treatment how does the insurance work then?

At our vets, the first Q they ask is are you insured? Then if your pet needs treatment, you take in the insurance documents, they take copies, you sign a couple of forms to say you are happy for them to be paid directly, pay the excess, and the vets do the rest. Not sure if that is the same at all vets...

Thanks Roomfor2. It's a blimming minefield this pet malarkey eh?

Healthy Pets are really good and very reasonable

i have three cats and my GSD covered on life policies (means they cannot dump you after a large claim/ongoing illness) for about £35-40 per month

and they were fab when we swapped over, the eldest cat got hepatitis and jaundice, we had been insured with tesco before, and Healthy Pets had only had one or two premiums out of us, but they paid up quickly and without a quibble.....around £500 in total for treatment and hospitalisation

I have a seven year old weimaraner,we use Argos pet insurance and it costs us almost £60 a month!!.

It used to cost about £25 but they have but it up and my OH has been to lazy to phone and reajust the policy.

I've been looking at Tesco - they have a lifetime policy for about £15 per month for a puppy. Ours is a cross breed though - might be more expensive for a pedigree.

Funny you should say that Miss Scarlet my OH did change ours this morning to Tesco's,he got it for £20.66 after trying to barter Argos down...they would only go as low as £45.

However i think it will shoot up in price when she is eight.

Another vote for PetPlan especially if you are worrying about a dog who may have repeats of the same or similar conditions. Unlike a lot of insurers, they dont' slap exclusions on and will cover each individual claim for the life of the pet.

My dog had a disc prolapse about 2 years ago which left her mildly paralysed down one side. I am still claiming in relation to it off and on now (mostly just for maintenance painkillers or check ups if I think there is some deterioration in her condition). However, if I wanted her to have a course of physio or aquatherapy or something because I/vet felt it would help, I could claim for it even after all this time.

PetPlan are not the cheapest by a long way but they are the best IMHO. Costs me £32 p/month but that is because dog is over 7 and officially classed as a veteran.

We insure our cat with Tesco and it is £7 a month I think.

I would read the small print as you don't want to pick the closest breed and then not be able to claim.

I use Healthy Pets for my Weimeraner cross, it's only about £10 per month, but I've not had to claim so don't know about things from that end.