Can you recommend a pet insurance plan?

[Herefornow1]

Hi,

Our lovely boy will be arriving home to us this weekend after an epic journey and many months away from us due to us relocating from abroad.

I'll need to take out local insurance for him but this is not something we've ever needed before as it just wasn't available where we lived previously.

What should I look out for, be careful about or consider? He's 5.5 years old and a small breed. He's been in excellent health up to now.

Another question I have is which brand of tick/flea/worming products would you recommend.

Thank you for any advice.

Speak to your vet and see if they deal with specific companies directly (do it doesn't mean you pay and claim back). You want life cover. Check for exceptions and excess.
We use nexguard for fleas. It's a tablet. I would avoid bravecto and frontline. Worm three monthly too.

Thank you for your reply.

That's a good tip about talking to my local vet.

Thank you.

All this information is very helpful as we've always just paid at the vet as required and been fortunate that any care required in the past has been relatively inexpensive. From what I've read on this board vet costs are much higher than we've previously paid.

We have a Direct Line policy for our dog , it also has dental cover but it's not the basic policy . I use Bravecto and Milbemax for fleas / worms /ticks . You do need to check whether you live in a high risk lung worm area .

Thank you - didn't know about the lung worm!

Definitely DON'T use Animal Friends. Their policy is to refuse to pay out and you have to write several letters to appeal rejected claims, get your vet to contact them to back you up and threaten them with the financial ombudsman before they'll pay up.

[Bitter experience] Really wish I'd gone with Pet Plan.

PS For tick, worming, flea - same as floral: Milbemax and Bravecto.

Petplan - had several claims already and they've been fantastic. No problems at all with payouts. Make sure your vet makes a note on the system that they check dental every time as you have to have been checked within a year for dentasl coverage.

Petplan is one if only as few my vet will do direct payments for (normally you pay first then claim it back from the insurers).

If you want me to sort out a referral code PM me. You may find a better offer elsewhere though so do shop around and don't feel you have to use the code.

Thank you all for your advice. It really has helped me understand what to look for.
I've also called the local vet and been recommended PetPlan so I'll be going for that.