Choosing puppy insurance with lifetime cover and no co-payment

[GoldenPineapple15]

In 3 weeks time I will be picking up our much awaited puppy . I am looking at insurance policies and can’t decide the best provider . I want a life policy for at least £7000 a year . Pet plan is the most expensive. PDSA insurance looks ok too . I want to only pay an excess , not copay 20% , although I know this usually kicks in at an older age . When putting in detail I have to say that she is unspayed , but this is only because she won’t be old enough . Does this make a difference?

I would go with PetPlan.

I have also heard good things about ManyPets but not as MANY good things as PetPlan if you get me.

We have Petplan for our cat and they are excellent that said we have more cover than 7k , which isn’t a great amount with the cost of care

I had petplan lifetime cover for my dog. I claimed a lot (couple of chronic illnesses), it was very easy to claim and they were great at paying within a couple of days of each claim. I had an excess the first time I claimed for each condition each year, and an additional excess once he was over 12 (I think, not 100% on the age). My premiums went up each year but not ridiculously and I wasn't penalised for claiming (or refused on-going insurance!). The only thing I'd say is think about the lifetime amount because what seems a good amount now may be very different in 10-15 years time with inflation. The other thing I'd recommend is to set your premium to auto-renew so you don't accidently let it lapse (I really needed to make sure that didn't happen as my dog's chronic conditions were expensive).

Cute puppy 😍

We use Petgevity.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply . I am going to go with Pet Plan and will go to the next level of cover . You are right , £7000 will not seem as much in 10 years or so .

£7K isn’t necessarily much now! I’d go up to £10K if I were you. A broke leg can cost several thousand, hip dysplasia 3-4K per hip, eye issues can be £5K.

Not sure what your breed is, but almost certainly there’s some sort of expensive health issue (the down-side of any dog ownership these days).

But I echo others on Pet Plan. Or KC. I’ve used both in the past and both were excellent.

Agree, PetPlan didn’t quibble any claims for my lab. He had pancreatitis for years and eventually chemotherapy for a tumour. The premiums only increased with his age, not his conditions.

I see you’ve decided already but one other thing to say about Petplan (I’ve had many dogs and other pets and always used them) is that they are so well known and trusted that (particularly when it has been a large amount) the vets we have used have allowed us make the claim direct to pay them rather than us having to pay up front and claim later. Quite a few vet practices will do the same if it’s Petplan. Can be very helpful.

@noctilucentcloud That's a good point and one that has never occurred to me. I might look into increasing my younger dog's insurance. It's too late for my older one, as I have already claimed £1000s for her. I'm sure I read increasing the premium counts as a new policy and I can't afford for her existing conditions to become pre-existing ones.

@GoldenPineapple15 I am also with PetPlan and they have been brilliant at paying out promptly. I claimed the full £7k one year. My dog's cruciate ligament ruptured this year and that cost £4k. I'm dreading the other one going before my policy renews. So I would agree with others and advise to go for as much as you can afford.

I'm not sure if being spayed makes a difference. My dog's premium didn't come down once she was spayed.

I'd also advise to start the policy sooner rather than later. My eldest dog needed treatment during the first two weeks, whilst she still had the free insurance cover. These things became pre-existing conditions when I switched to PetPlan. (KC were too expensive to continue with.) My youngest dog was insured two weeks before collection, so she was covered by PetPlan from day one.

Not sure if relevant to your situation, but when my (adult) child got a pet and was looking at insurance, I made contact with the a large specialist animal hospital that deals with oncology, specialised surgery etc and I asked them who they found to be ‘best’ at accepting clams of the nature of what they deal with as that’s absolute ‘worse case’ (tens of thousands). They were very accomodating on advising which insurers, in general, they found to be most accepting and give least grief re claims. My child then just investigated from those.