Bought by many pet insurance

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

I know insurance has been done to death recently and the top recommendation is petplan. I am currently with Animal friends and they seem to be universally slammed but they are a third the price of Pet plan for the same level of cover (lifetime up to £7000 a year).

Boughtbymany have come up a few times on my Facebook feed and their insurance looks good (even includes teeth for a small extra fee) it's a little bit more than animal friends but not as much as pet plan. Pup is a year old and seen the vet twice this year for a limp and for and ear infection.

Has anyone any experience with Bought by many? Is it worth changing to a better insurance company at this point or should I stay with the one I'm with?

I would be concerned that any new insurance insurance company will exclude ears and possibly lameness from your new policy. Usually they do ask for any information of prexisting problems when switching and will exclude those, so based on that it would be worth switching.

It wouldn't* sorry

It's annoying because both were very minor complaints and I didn't make a claim. im worries about being stuck with an insurance company who, from the reviews, seem to randomly refuse to pay out. It seems daft to have insurance which is basically a gamble - will they won't they pay? Even if they are really cheap.

Could you phone other companies and ask given your vet history what specifically they will exclude as pre existing. What did the vet put the limp down to? If any new insurance excludes certain things in just that leg I might be tempted if I decided to go with them for life cover. However, if they said any limb issues then I am not sure I would change but it's a hard one as you only know how good they are when you have to claim. I have had to claim on petplan within 2 months of getting my pup so I know they pay out quickly and easily.

I have emailed them so hopefully they get back to me with an offer.

I work for a referral vet so see this lots.

So usually what would happen is when you take out the new policy they will likely want to review your history and then place exclusions based on the vets notes. I would be almost certain they will exclude ears at this point as ear infections can be related to allergies. This would depend on what the vet has written down also, if the vet has referenced this then this also could be excluded.

Leg wise it would depend on whether it's an injury or something else- again vets notes will confirm. Some insurance companies will accept a removal of an exclusion if the condition has not occoured for 12 months from the date of being seen. Usually this is for injuries that type of thing not a chronic problem.

It's not so much that they look at the problem but more what the problem could turn into. So if your dogs seen with hind limb lameness does it have something that's going to need long term payout if it turns out to be something serious.

Your options at this point would be stick with original insurance or swap but being prepared to cover the exclusions.

Your third option would be to commit insurance fraud and tick no pre existing conditions however I obviously wouldn't reccomend this incase they ever do ask for a full history- although people actually do it!

I always use petplan and have never had an issue.

Thanks for the info Greyhorses, I agree about the ears being the bigger problem as the lameness had no diagnosis and I suspect was just puppy over exuberance (int was front limb, probably a sprain). I think my next step will be to request the vets notes myself and see what they have written so that I can then make a decision.
Although animal friends have been slammed by many, there are a lot out there who say they are just fine and do pay up.

I wouldn't think they can wiggle out of a payment if you read the terms and make sure everything they ask for is up to date and the vets notes are clear and to the point (vacccinations, regular health checks, dental checks are things they look for)

They usually try and get out of paying using clauses in the policy so find those and you should be okay. Make sure you get cover for life not a 12month policy.

If money is an issue I would look for a policy in which you can pay your vet direct. So with your current one the likelihood is that you would need to pay the balance and claim back from the company. If your bill is in the thousands it can be a month or longer in some cases until your money is returned.
Most vets will claim directly from the more reputable insurance companies but I know we don't touch E&L/animal friends etc so that's worth thinking about too.

Good advice. I can afford to pay the vet directly, that's not the issue. I just don't want to be throwing my money at an insurance company who will wriggle out of paying when I need them. I'm considering the option of a savings scheme - pup isn't costing a fortune in vets bills ATM but may do in the future. I can afford a big bill out of the blue, just would rather not. It's just that for what I'm paying Animal friends I would save only £150 a year!
We have the highest cover they offer which is life not per year or per constitution.

There is another option given that your policy doesn't cost a lot. The main worry you have is whether they would wriggle out of paying. First crawl over the t&cs and see if you can spot any gotchas. I know mine covers teeth but they have to be seen by a vet every six months (fortunately I am on a scheme where they get frequent check ups by the vet so am covered there but you can see how easily that clause could be an issue).

If you are ok with all the t&cs given how low amount you pay perhaps save the equivalent of a higher priced policy as a fail safe back up plan. This means you have insurance, you are still covered for all you pre existing conditions AND you have savings just in case you find the company does wriggle out of something (maybe they won't and you will find them ok).

That's not a bad idea. I'm not good at things like Ts and Cs but I'll force myself to concentrate .

I am a stickler for t&cs. Anything ambiguous that seems woolly don't make assumptions. Phone up the company and get them to verify exactly what they mean. I do this frequently for holiday insurance

I think I need you in my life! I'm dyslexic, nothing gets read, ever

Close inspection of my Ts and Cs have revealed some questions that I need an answer to - have emailed Animal Friends.

I received an answer from Boughtbymany.com who state that they will treat the pre existing conditions as unilateral complaints - if she had a left ear infection that side is excluded but the right ear is included in the plan. The lameness would also only relate to the leg that she was lame on so all other legs would be included in the policy. All pre-existing complaints expire after 24 months.
This seems fairly reasonable to me. More investigation needs doing but I'm starting to enjoy picking through small print and emailing insurance companies

The conditions by Boughtbymany don't sound too bad and I agree seem pretty fair.