Pet Insurance

[upsidedownmonkey]

Does anyone have a pet insurance advice or recommendations? Our Whippet puppy came with 4 weeks Pet Plan insurance but they are very expensive. Insure your Paws seems to have equivalent cover but I wondered if anyone has experience of claiming with them? Also with lifetime cover do they hike up premiums as the dog gets older?
All advice gratefully received! Thankyou!

Hi we have a one year old whippet and did go with pet plan. Although it's £££ we actually had to make an expensive claim. Was done directly though our vet and we only had to pay for the excess
Premiums have not gone up this year and our claim was in excess of 1k
You only find out how good an insurance policy is when you need it. I promise I don't work for pet plan

Pet Plan have been in the industry longer than anyone else and are very experienced.

I usually consult Money Saving Expert about this sort of thing.

I've gone with Animal Friends for my dog. They've got really good reviews online and cost a quarter of what Petplan quoted. I got the 'Superior' policy and it's £13 per month. I've not made a claim yet so I can't comment on that.

Look at who the underwriter is for the company you are looking at. It they are based in Gibraltar then avoid like the plague as they will do anything to avoid paying out on claims. Fairgame I've heard a lot of negative comments about animal friends and know of a case where they had to be taken to the ombudsmen to fight a claim they wouldn't pay (the person won). You really do get what you pay for but I do know that Sainsbury's, John Lewis, more than are all pretty good at paying out. Also read all the small print so you know exactly what you are agreeing to.

We change every year - when the renewal comes in it's usually higher even though we have never claimed.

First we used Argos, then Tesco and now Pet Protect.

We always go for the bestest cover they offer.

You must have a very healthy dog Pug to be able to do that. Has she/he never been to the vet for any minor ailments which could lead to exclusions on your policy?

Pet Plan seems to me to be the one most recommended.

After a bad experience with Animal Friends (despite being insured with them for a few years, I had to fork out £1k when my cat had cancer on his eye (he had to have his eye out) because the previous year the vet had noted a minor pigment change but diagnosed as normal for his age, once the cancer was diagnosed AF said the period to claim for that ailment had passed), I switched to petplan.

Cannot recommend them highly enough - they aren't the cheapest but they have never questioned a claim & every time the money is paid directly into my bank account within 3 weeks of me dropping the forms off at the vets.

Look very closely at the t&cs of any insurance company. For example, in mine although they cover dental issues you have to have been seen by a vet every 6 months which because we are on a health plan with the vets we are covered but you can see how this might be an issue if you haven't read all the insurance policy documents and only go to the vets occasionally.

Pug, I presume you don't ever go to the vets for odd ailments because even if you don't claim that is considered preexisting conditions by most companies and when you claim they ask the vets for a full history of the pet.

I do pay a lot with petplan but they paid quickly when I had to claim with an emergency vet visit (if it had been my own vets they would have claimed directly).

Thankyou all for your responses- Pet Plan really has cornered the market!
I've done a thorough comparison and looked at the company behind Insure Your Paws and have decided to go with them. Hopefully a decision I won't live to regret!
Thanks again for taking the time to respond