so, where for insurance then?

[maxybrown]

Black lab, healthy, 4 months old (had free month with petplan) - we are all a bit bamboozled with it all!

Whatever you do, do NOT choose E&L. They are charlatans who never pay out. (Bitter experience...)

Sainsbos

My sister is a vet and says Pet Plan is the best one for paying out promptly and without trying to wriggle out of it....

Hmm, thanks! sainsbo only cover so much per illness, petplan most expensive, sigh!

Pet Plan not cheap but worth it. Didn't hesitate to pay out for our cat.

ok thanks guys will pass on info to DH, it's a right mine field and making sure you are properly covered too!

We have petplan but its f**king extortionate! we pay £79 per month and have a £90 excess...but they do pay out.

eeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!! what dog is that for Alousie please?

A Bulldog, so more prone to problems than most but its still a piss take. i cant change now though because he had an x ray for a limp while he was a puppy which showed potential elbow dysplasia. The limp stopped without any assistance but its on his notes and if he needs a cat scan or an operation in the future he wont be covered if i change companies.

Ive just looked at your pics. What a cute Pup!

oh damn! WE have been trying to find one with same sort of policies as pet plan........though admittedly it was DH who looked not me

Ah thanks! He is growing rapidly mind! Big soft lump though

We are with Sainsburys and have made a couple of small claims and have found them excellent. Two different vet practices (moved areas) have allowed us to just pay the excess and then claimed direct from them as they say they are reliable.

They do limit amount per condition but it is lifetime cover and up to £7500. I think you'd have to be pretty unlucky to exceed that, surely? Petplan are an extra £15 per dog per month for simlar cover but no upper limit per condition, just per annum and with four dogs to insure I don't think that's justifiable in our case.

someone said on a site this "seems reasonable for minor conditions but useless for long term illness such as skin condition, bone and joint disorders, heart conditions etc. Once your benefit runs out your on your own" about sainsburys.

What does anypone think about that? Sorry, we really are blind here so appreciate all the help thank you

We have PetPlan, they did pay out OK on our previous dog. Current one has never had a claim but still the premiums go up every year - I think DH said it was going to be £450 this year and the dog isn't 5 yet.

I call our dog 'my luxury item'!

crikey DH WOULD have heart failure that's for sure!

If we had to pay monthly for medication, even if it was a fairly large amount, we could afford it so for us we'll take the risk of having to eventually do that than pay all the extra a month.

In our case the insurance is more so we have cover for serious surgeries or injuries which could be thousands in one go.

I have an M&S Platinum policy which provides cover for life and the limits are quite generous. We pay £25 per month for our lab.

We had only made a couple of payments when our dog was diagnosed with HD and they paid out a small fortune in a couple of days.

We use Tescos. It does not cover long term conditions after the first year which meant it paid out for the diagnosis and testing for my labs skin problems but doesn't pay for the longterm treatment but as this consists of a low dose of steroids which are very cheap it doesn't matter too much.

They have paid out promptly for a 4 occasions of cut feet (which when you throw in a general anaesthetic (can't spell) several check ups and drugs runs to hundreds of pounds a time plus a 10 in patient stay for enteritis (£500) so all in all no complaints.

Lab age 9, pup and cat age 12 for £45 a month so MUCH cheaper than Petplan.

I've got M&S Platinum for our 3 labs too - they've been fabulous for all of the (many!) claims I've put in. I've been with them for 6 years and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

They're a little cheaper than Pet Plan if I remember correctly.