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Original poster

Pet insurance

12 replies

mckenzie · 31/12/2005 20:54

I cant really believe I'm posting about this on New year's Eve - how sad am I?

cat insurance - does anyone have it and know a good provider please? I'm with Direct line just now and have been for about 5 years but it does seem ridiculously expensive for a moggy.

TIA

OP posts:

RTKangaSantaMummy · 31/12/2005 20:56

friends say that they have given up on insurance and opened a saving account as it will earn interest and then take out money when needed

cos so many exclusions and cost goes up after animal gets older

starlover · 31/12/2005 21:01

agree with kanga... put the money aside somewhere else.

another thing they can do, aside from all the exclusions, is only cover you for a certain amount of time, or for a certain amount

so, if your cat was ill and needed ongoing treatment then they may only pay up to a certain amount, or for a certain period of time

of course, there are places that provide a very inclusive cover, but that gets very expensive!

JoolsToo · 31/12/2005 21:01

[rolls eyes]

Original poster

mckenzie · 31/12/2005 21:02

I wish we'd had that wise advise when we first got the cat as we'd have a nice little nest egg by now.
Unfortunately he's now 10 years old and I'm nervous about doing as you say as with my luck, he'd have an accident tomorrow and land us with a £500 vet bill!!

OP posts:

suzi2 · 31/12/2005 21:34

We don't have any and have just been hit for £250 bill for xrays & blood tests for our cat. I said to the vet " I wish he was insured" to which he said that it would only cover about £60 of it. I think it was maybe because it was all exploratory and not emergency.

NannyL · 01/01/2006 10:56

We had dog insurance with PETPLAN. Have to say they were great and we eneded up claiming back more than DOUBLE the money we ever paid in premiums!

at the end my dog was very ill and even had to have 1 blood test sent to California as the only place in the whole world that could do this test!

Make sure you get a policy where the amount you can claim is renewed every year (like pet plan) rather than £5000 per condition (for life of policy) or something, as if you animal gets an illness young, after a few years you may run out of cover.

You also need then to provide cover like the first years policy for life, rather than each year adding mmore and more exclusions (ie anything to do with an illness your pet has had that year!)

I think when we got our insurance petplan where the only insurance provider to do both of thos things. They are slightly more expensive, BUT if your animal gets ill then its worth it.

Also bear in mind that the excesses are quite high, so unless your animla gets a random illness for a long time you are unlikely to claim anything anyway!

magnolianMistletoe · 01/01/2006 14:37

marks and spencer do lifetime cover and are very reasonable. We were with Tesco but are changing to m&s.

Saying that our vet will take direct payment from petplan so we only ever have to pay the excess.

But with m&s there is no excess!!!

Passionflower · 01/01/2006 15:42

We have petplan for our cats. It is about £15 per month for both. The excess is £60 per claim. We can also claim if we lost a cat or if it got killed in an accident, plus expenses for advertising a missing cat and reward money. It also covers us if we have to cancel holiday arrangements because of cat illness or accident. I think it's worth it for peace of mind.

Original poster

mckenzie · 01/01/2006 21:06

thanks everyone for your postings and advice.
It seems that Direct Line aren't so bad after all. M&S and Tesco were both more expensive and Pet Plan wont insure him because of his age (or at least the date section on the form on their website doesn't go any lower than 1998).
Guess we'll stick with what we have for now but next time round (DH screaming that there won't be a next time) I think we'll open a savings account instead.
Happy New year all.

OP posts:

Crystaltips · 01/01/2006 21:10

I have Pet Plan - but with every claim I make the excess gets biger and bigger .... but no-one will take on an aging moggie.

What about Tesco - the do pet insurance

We pay about 7.95 a month.
But it has really paid off .... I'm glad I've got it ..... as it is currently halving my vets bills ...

JoolsToo ( rolling eyes ????? )

tillykins · 01/01/2006 21:12

We pay £15 pcm with Tesco for our dog and cat - think the cat is about £5 and well worth every penny! Excess is £35 but you can choose your level I think
We've never needed it for the cat,actually, but a vet bill can easily reach 4 figures so I would say its worth it

tillykins · 01/01/2006 21:13

yes, I was wondering about the rolls eyes???!!!

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