Insurance

[midnightstar66]

I've been trawling through insurance companies and been becoming more and more baffled. So many extras with the more specialist policies, like chats with vets etc, that probably add a fortune and I don't see me needing bit the more general policies often have a large excess or limited cover. Can people share which insurance company you use for your dog and why. Puppy is a Jack Russell so less breed health conditions compared to many.

I use Bought by Many for my cats. They have cover for dogs too

I'll look back at them thanks. Looked at so many now they've all blurred in to one

They paid out really easily when I claimed for one of my cats. Renewal price was very reasonable too

I was with pet plan for my Greyhound ex racer. Changed to Bought by Many. Pet plan were increasing policy to £54 per month for £4000 vet fees. BBM £42 per month for £15000.

I'm with Tesco and we have the Premium standard cover which is a lifetime policy and covers us for upto 10k per year.

I've used them with all my pets and have never had an issue. The dog is 2yo and we pay £27 a month, the cats are 3 and 5 and their policy costs me £17 a month.

That sounds like a great deal @vanillandhoney I'll take a look. I hadn't looked at Tesco at all

Tesco was cheap in our first year of cover but then it jumped after that despite no claims so we swapped after that to bought by many

I'm with John Lewis and have heard from other dog owners they have been good in the event of making a claim.
The most important thing is to get a lifetime policy, with a decent top limit.

My sister is a vet and ours is insured for up to £7500 per year. She is also just claiming for her 7 year old dog who is lame with shoulder muscle wasting and has a slipped disc in his neck on MRI scan (scanned this week) plus elbow joint injury. He is a German shorthaired pointer . The scan he's had alone will cost thousands...

I'm with Legal & General for our dog, English Bull Terrier.

£10k per year, lifetime cover and has extras like MRI scans and hydrotherapy, advertising if lost and if lost/stolen/he dies they pay out what we paid for him too.

£75 excess.

I pay £27 per month.

I've only had to claim once, they paid out within 28 days and no issues.

We keep £10k in savings to cover all our pets and don’t insure beyond third party liability.

We're considering boughtbymany as it is loads cheaper than pet plan for more cover.

A dog can absolutely smash through 10k no problem, my teenage dog had diabetes and cost a fortune, thank god for lifetime cover.

Tesco was cheap in our first year of cover but then it jumped after that despite no claims so we swapped after that to bought by many

It's interesting how much it varies.

Ours has just been renewed and it's only jumped by a few pounds a month and we've never claimed either. The cats' policy has been going for several years now and it's barely gone up at all in that time.

We use Bought by Many. They had good reviews when I was looking around. The policy covers what we want, and it isn’t ridiculously expensive. This is our first year though, and we haven’t had to claim anything yet...

We were with John Lewis and they were good , but they rapidly became extremely expensive (£2500 for £7500 cover for a 7 year old) Changed to Petplan and although they don’t cover for pre-existing conditions, it’s affordable and works for emergencies.

I think we're going to go with BBM for our new puppy as they pay the vet direct. I can't afford a policy where I pay for treatment up front then claim it back.

MiniChoc, the decision to accept direct claims is your vet’s, not the insurer. Do contact them for their insurance claims terms and conditions before you take out the policy, as many won’t accept direct claims or only with a pre-approved list of insurers. There may also be an admin/processing fee.

Thank you! I did ring them and they confirmed BBM and PetPlan, but said no to Tesco.

Thanks everyone. I went with bought by many regular policy with zero excess. My vet doesn't allow direct payments anyway, I asked before I took out the policy. I will probably move vets in the future though. I've just gone with this one for now as it's practically next door and also has great reviews, so in the current climate I thought it was best to minimise unnecessary travel. It's good to know BBM is accepted by a lot of vets who do allow direct pay.