Best insurance recommendations please

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Our new puppy should be arriving in three weeks or so. I need to start getting some insurance in place. I've heard good things about PetPlan and looking at their website, I could have full cover for life starting from about £25 a month. I'm sure it will increase with age. He's a labrador.

Anybody got any recommendations or cautionary tales?

Tesco.

Tesco what? Recommended or avoided?

We're with Tesco. Started at £24 per month, risen steadily and now £65 per month for a 7 yr old Lab. To be fair, we've cost them about £3,000 for two separate ailments, so I guess they're just clawing it back now.

We have pet plan for our 2 year old lab and its £32/month now. I dread it getting to the £100/month+ mark when he's older and its the main reason we haven't went for a second dog.

We've used it twice and both times when the vets asked about insurance and we've said pet plan they've appeared pleased, said they are easy to deal with and nearly always paid out. Just got whatever is needed done (~£500 each time), gave vet the forms, paid excess and they've paid out directly to vet no problem.

Try animal friends. They are really good for cats and horses so I assume dogs :)

Ok thanks. Just had a look at Bought By many, which seemed well recommended, and it took me straight to More Than so just another generic insurance company.

Is it better to go with a dedicaterd animal insurer or are they all underwritten by the same people?

be wary of Animal Friends, if you look at them make sure you read all the small print carefully. They are very reasonable cost wise but can have a battle getting them to pay out. There is truth in the saying 'you get what you pay for'
My oldie has been insured with them for years and I have only ever claimed once and have just had a £1500 claim rejected (heart disease) as they said it was due to his cushings disease (which is excluded) that's despite my vet challenging them as in her opinion it isnt related. I now have a list of exclusions as long as my arm and as the old boy is over 16 I think I will just cancel the policy now as I think they will simply relate everything to the cushings disease which is well managed and monitored regularly.

No problems with Tesco paying out btw. Two different vets, prompt payment.

Another one who says be wary of Animal Friends. I know their premiums appear reasonable but their lowest cover is nowhere near enough and once you've claimed on it, you them have a pre existing condition.
You need to read the small print because they have many exclusions, and I know of many cases where they have not paid out because they have managed bend the exclusions to fit the claim being made.
This isn't a bad site to check if you are interested in other people's experiences of various companies.
www.petinsurancereview.co.uk/animal_friends.asp

We have used Tesco in the past and they have always paid out promptly. For a dog I would go with the £7500 per illness option, we had our previous dog insured for £4K and it wasn't enough.

I am not allowed to promote insurance companies but you do get what you pay for. Make sure you get a life time policy which renews the amount you can claim every year. I would also not settle for anything less than £7k a year (make sure it's not per condition). I use Petplan.

We are with MoreThan and its increased to £30-something a month for our 6 year old Lab - but they did pay out £3k in the first year for surgery! Paid out quickly though.

Blimey FiveHours that link is scary.

Still thinking about PetPlan tbh. Lifetime cover, rolling cover, fees up to £7k and a good reputation. Need to check out Tesco's first though.

VetNurse why not per condition?

I'm not Vetnurse but will say if you pay per condition, then there is a limit on how much you will get back. Some conditions, especially in a dog, will easily take you over that limit. Rolling cover tops the pot up each year.
Per annum cover will be cheaper.
Basically get the best insurance you can afford. It's all a gamble as hopefully you'll never need it.

So it should say that it will pay out eg. £7k per year, not per condition, is that right?

I cannot fault Petplan. My 12 month old lab has had a number of conditions. They have paid up every time, no quibbles & very quickly. We have claimed close to the max £7k this year, unfortunately. Not sure what our premiums will go up to next year but so far, very happy with them.

We had Tescos too. We have two labs. Every year it rose and rose, despite us never having claimed for anything ever. Last year I decided to scrap the insurance. I worked out I'd spent £10k on animal insurance policies (dogs and horses) over the last ten years and claimed nothing. Despite this they all kept excluding things and increasing premiums as the animals got older. I have third party cover for the dogs through Dogs Trust membership and a credit card while I save up for emergencies. I also like that I decide (with my vets) what treatment they have, I don't have to wait for permission.

Ps, I must say with the horses I've found the vets more sensible when the horses aren't insured. I think some vets run up bills from tests and scans that aren't always urgent at that point...

Yes, £7K ( or whatever- you probably should go for more- perhaps £10K) per year would be ideal.
We spent £8K on our dog in about a month. She got hit by a car and had chest injuries and damaged her leg. She had 3 days in intensive care and two operations. Unfortunately she died after the second op, but we still had to pay the money. We had only £4K insurance cover, obviously that isn't enough, but feel that £7K is the absolute minimum cover we need for our dogs from now on.

Wow - I thought my £39 monthly payment was a lot- but apparently not! We have lifetime cover as made 3 claims in his first year! I would thoroughly recommend my insurer, John Lewis, - they have paid out without a quibble on each occasion, directly to the Vet if Vet accepts that.

I would agree that £4000 isn't enough cover. I'd only gone for £4k for our cat - he was hit by a car last year and needed a weekend stay at the emergency vet (£1500 inc scans) then surgery for a broken pelvis (£4000). It was scary how quickly the bills mounted up ...

We are with Pet Protect and while they have paid out eventually its a lot of money to pay upfront. In hindsight we should have gone with pet plan as they seem to be the only company vets will take direct payment from

One of the advantages of petplan over other companies is that they don't suddenly hike up their premiums.

Also most vets accept their claim forms as payment rather than having to pay upfront and then claim it back.

If you only have cover per condition then once that money is used that is it. If your dog got diabetes and you had £4k cover then that would quickly be used up and not renewed. For a lot of people this could mean having to euthanise their pet due to the cost of ongoing treatment.

Of course the best insurance plan of all is not to insure at all. Pet insurance is a money spinner for the insurance companies. They make a profit on your premiums even after employing all those people, running all those ads, and producing all those glossy leaflets. Like all insurance, if it isn't compulsory and you can afford the loss, it might make sense not to insure.

I've chosen not to insure my dog. We have savings that could meet any health eventuality. I'll let you know in 15 years if that was a good move. I've joined the Dogs Trust whose membership includes £1,000,000 3rd party liability insurance for your dog.

www.dogstrust.org.uk/get-involved/membership/

Oh I see, so £7k per condition means that you can only claim up to £7k over the lifetime of the dog? For all types of claims? Whereas the £7k is actually renewed each year whatever you have previously claimed for?