Pet insurance advise for 12 week puppy

[happymoment]

Just to know where and which type of insurance cover do you use for your puppies.

I have always used PetPlan with the highest premium I can afford and lifetime cover. I’ve had to claim 2/3 times with a high costing op and they have been fab. They paid directly to the vet also which made things a lot easier.

I use bought by many. Premium was lower than petplan for lifetime cover. I did the middle ground of 7k per year and I have had to claim a couple of times and they were excellent.

How much do you pay for your dog insurance?

I’ve got a medium lifetime policy for my border collie, it’s about £20 per month and I’m covered for £7,000. I am with Emporium Insurance. I know it won’t pay out if anything big is needed, but I save a bit of money each month in savings account, just in case it’s needed. You should be able to get it cheaper for a puppy, as my dog is 4 years old.

I found per plan is quite expensive.

Your premium will depend on many things including breed, whether spayed/neutered, pedigree or not and your postcode. When I changed my postcode to my parent's (just to see how much it could change), the premium was much lower! Postcode is relevant because they look at cost of vets where you are and stats for things like dog theft and accidents.

Pet Plan quoted us £97 for an 8 week old puppy! BBM were also expensive!

Shop around. Some vets only work with some insurance companies who settle the bill directly with the vet. So if you can't afford to pay a huge vet bill directly then wait to be reimbursed by the insurance company, that might determine who you go with.

As others suggested, we also went with lifetime cover.

Hope this helps!

We use BBM, £44 per month for 3.5 year old with £15,000 cover

Pet Plan was at least double what I pay with BBM

I use BBM - £15k lifetime cover - and have been very relieved I did so when the dog needed circa £10k treatment for a non-life threatening/changing issue. i.e. one where PTS was not an appropriate treatment but the treatment he needed was very expensive. BBM were brilliant and I'd choose them again.

The only other I'd consider is PetPlan, tbh. Mainly for their excellent reputation. Again, I'd personally only choose the top level.

My theory for always choosing the highest cover being that I can afford the small-mid sized vet bills. It's the huge ones I'd want some help with and, as I've seen, these don't always come with very serious medical problems where I might think PTS is better for the dog. Sometimes, relatively every day ones can cost a lot.

PetPlan is expensive, but they are amazing at paying out. Cannot recommend them enough. They paid out £4000 for my dog's surgery, no questions asked and they paid directly to the vet.

I’m with petplan. I’ve a pug x staffie who’s 2. She’s had major leg issues and now epilepsy. The past 13 months they’ve paid around £9,000. They aren’t the cheapest by a long shot but - petplan were I think the only insurance company that the referral centre would take direct payment from

We use Pet Plan for our dog and cat. Easy system and straightforward policies.

Bought by Many. Our 3 year old is £20 a month, and when we were on holiday recently with a poorly dog, they were amazing. We did a video chat with a vet within an hour and they also found us a local vet to see in person. Think we've got lifetime cover with up to £7k cover.

I've been really impressed with them - we've used Animal Friends in the past who were dreadful, and I didn't rate Petplan either.

Another vote for BBM. We have £15k cover.

Thanks everyone,
I went for bbm for our 12 week baby boy this time. It s slightly over £36 @ month. But just want a peace of mind. Hope we would not need to make any claim and get a 20% off on next years renewal. I had looked at a number of other options eg Tesco, pp, psda, directline, asda, Churchill but the cheaper ones don’t seem to have life time covers. Bbm seems very reasonable in terms both covers and prices. How important is to have a lifetime cover?

How important is to have a lifetime cover?

Very.

Anything you go to the vets for, even without a diagnosis or claim, will need to be declared if you switch policies or companies. For example if you go with persistent diarrhoea then stomach conditions could be excluded. In my experience they typically ask for a full vet history when you claim so they can see everything that has been documented.

I have a lifetime cover and my dog is just about uninsurable elsewhere because we have been to the vets for nearly every dog part . However because we have life cover with petplan as long as we continue that policy each year we have cover.

@BiteyShark does that not mean they put the premium up horrendously though? I've just sorted my pups insurance out and gone with bbm thanks to the recommendations on here. Slightly dearer,but worth it if its easier in the event of a claim.

[quote WonderWomansBoobs]@BiteyShark does that not mean they put the premium up horrendously though? I've just sorted my pups insurance out and gone with bbm thanks to the recommendations on here. Slightly dearer,but worth it if its easier in the event of a claim.[/quote]
Do you mean if you claim?

I am with petplan and they state it goes up on age not number of claims and he is now 5 and the increases have not been related to the claims (we did a few thousand in total in the first year).