Pet Insurance - which one?

[ConsternationStation]

We are getting our puppy home in two weeks and I'm looking at pet insurance. With our previous dog, we used PetPlan and, whilst they were good the couple of times we claimed, they were very expensive, particularly in her "old age". I know that's sort of how it works - it gets more expensive the older the dog gets but I'm just curious if there is any pet insurers that others would recommend?

I'm with petplan for my 12 year old dog. I have to pay an additional 20% excess now he's old but I've not noticed my premiums going up more than usual (I have a lifetime cover). I know you said you've had petplan before and it was expensive so don't know if they've changed how they do it? My dog has addisons, arthritis and a like for eating things he shouldn't, so I often have pretty hefty claims and have found they're always really good at paying. I'm also amazed they haven't declined to renew as I've claimed back more than I've paid every year!

We bought Dogs Trust membership for £25 / year which covers 3rd party insurance for 1 million and also access to 24/7 phone advice from Vetfone their vets. Does not cover any treatment etc but for a low value rescue dogs that don't tend to eat things they shouldn't it didn't seem appropriate to pay a fortune on vet fee insurance.

So far about 18 years down the line we've had 1 x assess for hip arthritis and put on metacam, when he couldn't walk out for his daily constitutional PTS, and 1 x xrays for ACL - which healed itself fine after following advice on minimising activity, we're not sure that dog would have done well having bandages etc anyway , a cone simply wouldn't work for her.

All in all I think this is cheapest way to go BUT if you have a pedigree dog you may see it differently and also you do need to have money saved/bottomless finance/a handy credit card just in case as vets fees are far far more pricey than horse vet fees we found (why? the vet doesn't even travel to the dog!! eg horse both feet xray using portable xray £150 vs almost £500 for the dog! Think we were ripped off)

Like the PP I am with petplan so probably can't help really except to say I have claimed many thousands since he was a puppy and yes it is expensive as they age (now 8) but his premiums are still less than his regular medication for arthritis.

If we ever got another money pit dog then I would go with them again.

My three year old Labrador is insured with Marks and Spencer. As was his predecessor and my elderly spaniel.

Petplan!!!!

We lost our 10 year old lab last year, by which point the premiums were £90ish/month.

Over the years we claimed a few times -

Knee surgery - £4k
Eye problem investigation which needed an MRI - £3k
Ear surgery after ear torn right through when out in woods £1k
4 separate gastro issues from eating stuff when out needing overnight stays - £2.5k ish in total
Last treatments, vet hospital, scans, endoscopy, PTS 💔- £4k

There might have been more but those are the ones I remember,overall we claimed a lot more than we paid in premiums and excesses and pet plan never once quibbled anything and vet always accepted payment directly from them meaning we didn't need to pay and claim back.

Expensive, but it would have been more expensive without it for us and it was good to know it was there so we didn't need to hesitate if he needed vet treatment.

If/when we get another dog we would go petplan again, but not sure we would get one as so expensive!

We have direct line, they've got a good reputation. My friends spaniel had lots of problems and they always paid out which made us want to be with them too

Pet Plan

Without question Pet Plan. It may be a bit more expensive but it is high good cover. Money paid back really quickly or even pay the vet direct.

Pet Plan/ Kennel Club/ Sainsburys - depending on your own personal finances.

Pet Pet is 100% worth the cost.
Sainsburys is MUCH cheaper (at least for me) and they pay out really fast (48hours once!) but they can be more difficult about repeat claims.
Kennel Club is good if you have multiple dogs (which I do).

I switch between whatever is best for whatever dogs I have at the time.

Agria is my first choice, followed by KC (Agria under a different name) and petplan.

Wouldnt bother with any others!

See if there's a "Vets by Subscription" nearby instead of insurance.

Thanks everyone. I think the answers here have confirmed for me that I should just go with what I know and use Pet Plan. They were really good for our last dog, who fortunately never had any real health issues until the very end, and paid no problem that one time she got into a chocolate stash at my sister's house! It's not the cheapest out there but the cover is really good.

I have shopped around over the years for insurance. Waggle were excellent - paid out two expensive gastro related claims in the first year and renewal was not hiked at all. I only swapped because maximum cover wasn't high enough but that has changed now I believe.
Then Many Pets which used to have a good reputation but was frankly terrible. One claim for an accident (he was bitten by another dog and needed stitches under sedation) was refused first time because the vet had only noted the first breed of his crossbreed. Fortunately I had a dna thing done already and could show that the details I had provided to them was correct. Avoid.
Then John Lewis, never claimed but hiked spectacularly at renewal so now with Napo that seems ok but again haven't claimed.
Petplan is just so expensive. My dog is young (4) a crossbreed so fewer health issues and £100 a month is ridiculous. I will probably go back to Waggle at renewal.

The good thing about Pet Plan is that most vets will deal with them direct, so no money from you to pay first and then claim. I am with Emporium Insurance, the only one claim we have had to make for a skin infection was paid by me and then claimed back. The vet took around 3 weeks to submit the form and I got paid within a week. There are cheaper policies, mine included, renewals don’t seem as expensive as others.

We save every month, just in case our dog requires treatment. Our last dog died at age 13 and we never had to dip into our pet savings. Most visits to the vet weren’t covered anyway, due to the excess.

I used Animal Friends for my last dog and found them to be excellent.

I looked around extensively when I recently got my new old (!) rescue and, again, Animal Friends came up with the best cover at the cheapest cost.

I'd still google vets like this where there aren't any bills to pay.