Pet Insurance - any good recommendations , any to avoid ?

[CaptainUnderpants]

Will be looking for pet insurance for a labrador pup in next few months . Besides doing the compare websites would be interested in peoples personal recommendation ? Any companies to really avoid ?

Well careergirl you must have just struck lucky with your claims handler. They didn't want to know with us and I can only go by experience.

Remember that a lot of these schemes for pet insurance are actually underwritten by the same insurance companies, they just have lots of partners "fronting" the marketing material etc for them. Lots of them have virtually identical terms and conditions and you go through to the same call centre - they simply answer "M&S" or "Tescos" or whatever, depending what line you come through on...... EG. Last time I checked, M&S and Sainsburys amongst others were all run by the same company. That is a year or two ago though.

But that said, yes, some will of course be better than others.

Neighbour told me Greenbee insurance is the way to go

dawnybabe
I've never ever even dealt with a claims handler at Petplan. When the animal went in for treatment I signed a claim form. The vet filled it in and posted it off.
Petplan then paid the vet direct and sent me a letter saying the payment had been made.
Vet would then write to me saying account settled in full less the excess and then I would just call in to the vet surgery and pay the excess. That's another reason I've stayed with Petplan over the years the whole experience was so stress free.

My cat is insured with greenbee too, but I've not had to make a claim yet(happily). They came out well in a which test,but I would be interested to know other people's experience too.

On the dog forum I belong to nearly everyone is with Argos, and that's who I'll be using next time.

Pet Plan I wouldn't use not only uncrupulous but extortionate too.

They are all well and good until your dog is over the magical 5-7 years (when it becomes impossible to get another policy with another insurer), then watch your monthly payment rocket once they have you over a barrel, would never use them again.

I'm with Homebase. It costs me about £40 for 2 dogs and that's at their platinum level.

Never had to make a claim(touch wood) but any time I've phoned about something, It's all sorted very quick.

Amounts are £7500 per condition per year for the length of illness/treatment. Rewards, boarding, liability cover etc.

Interested to know as no experience of - I've been tempted by other insurance providers on the basis of price i.e. cheaper than Petplan who I admit are expensive. Can your vet claim direct from say Argos, RSPCA etc or do you pay the vet first then claim on the policy? One of the reasons I stay with Petplan is the convenience of the vet claiming direct from Petplan but if you can do this with other providers I'd be interested.

I would avoid Petplan like the plague.
They are very efficient at taking your money but much less so at paying out. They have staff dedicated to avoiding paying claims and unless you have 8 hrs a day 5 days a week to spend on the phone and writing letters like the staff do, you will not get anywhere with a claim.
They say they record all telephone calls but believe me they only record the ones that fit their case. IF you do ignore this advice, RECORD every telephone call yourself and send every letter or document by special delivery or they will "lose" them. Keep notes of who and when you spoke to them and date stamp all correspondence you receive as it seems to take 10-14 days for important letters to arrive in the post !!
Good luck and if you come unstuck, Dominic Littlewood is doing an investigation into Petplan at the moment, contact his office if you have had problems. 020759873474

Avoid "More Than" and any other pet insurance underwritten by RSA

Our insurer gave us the PUSH-OFF': The name for harsh new fees for pet owners with 'lifetime' cover – because providers DON’T want them to stay
•Lifetime pet insurance is supposed to cover a pet for their entire life
•Dog owner Tony Dearsley's yearly premium rose to £7,410 to stay with insurer
•'Push-off' fees are designed to persuade per owners to lapse insurance policies
•Ombudsman sent more than 1,500 pet insurance gripes in the last financial year

Tony Dearsley was left stunned when he was told he could keep his lifetime pet cover – but only if he was prepared to pay an annual premium three times higher than the year before, a massive £7,410. ▶ Full story on dailymail.co.uk
Read more: www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-5403419/Our-insurer-gave-PUSH-cover-pet.html#ixzz599ftF0Yh
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www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-5403419/Our-insurer-gave-PUSH-cover-pet.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rsa-results/rsas-hester-sees-higher-shareholder-payouts-after-2017-profit-beat-idUKKCN1G60NZ