can anyone recommend a good reliable pet insurance company?

[paisleyII]

i don't trust pet insurance. i imagine that in times of need when you come to make a claim it turns out you weren't covered for that particular thing so i am aprehensive about taking one out. any advice would be much appreciated, ta

I'm sure someone will be along later with more info paisley but what I do is put a sum aside every month as my own "pet-plan" as my last cat lived till 21 with only 2 trips to the vets I reckon we saved loads!

I also have an emergency credit card with up to 4K available if absolutely neccessary but obviously try not to use that.

Like any insurance it's a waste of money unitl you need it!

We insure with petplan. They are a bit more expensive than some others, but they will insure chronic conditions for life, where others may have a cut off point.
We have claimed several times with our dogs, and never had any trouble at all.
I can definitely recommend them :)

I'm with More Than. They've been fine on the one occasion I've used them in ten years...

Don't use axa. They were a nightmare when I tried to claim last year. I wanted to get a claim form. The phone number was an answering machine. I must have left 4 or 5 messages but I never got a claim form off them! In the end I found one in the original pack they sent me. They did pay out after I sent in the claim form. But I don't think I can ever claim again since they didn't send me a replacement form with the cheque. needless to say im not renewing with them.

My vet recommended pet plan. Will be watching this thread with interest.

Same as Faver.

thanks chaps, i'll give pet plan a pop. bossy - your idea seems like a good one to me although i think i would end up dipping into accumulated cash that was in the house, i don't trust myself. interesting in an upbeat way to read how your cat of 21 only went to the vets twice!! i always assume/only hear tales of cats going to the vets regularly costing their owners hundreds over the years. i know someone with a horse who just spent £10,000 on their horse to have an op!!! i'll give pet plan a call, thanks all

Animal Friends - they're just lovely. Sometimes sounds like you've rung your gran and her mates when you call up, but been very reliable and reasonably priced.

Before you insure, ask your vet to look up your records to see what, if anything, will be counted as conditions already present. It's not necessarily something you may be aware of, but if you've been in with a slightly itchy dog a couple of times in the past, then the insurance company may exclude skin conditions for example.

And NEVER change pet insurance without checking with your vet first, as you may end up with no cover for your dogs main problems.

We use tesco and they have been excellent the two times we've had to claim: once for our cat who was lost and they covered advertising and a reward. Secondly, when our other cat injured her tail and had to have an x-ray. Both times they paid promptly with no fuss.

Healthy Pets were great when Oscar had jaundice.....one month into the new policy after we had exchanged from tesco!

With pet insurance you pretty much get what you pay for. Check closely all the details of the policy, Animal friends has a pretty dubious clause about how quickly you must submit your first claim for a condition. Direct Line and Tescos often take up to 3 months to pay out. Pet plan are the most expensive, but they rarely harass your vet for additional details ( one relatively small claim recently we have had to make 7 phone callls and send 2 additional letters for the client to get £250 for what should be straightforward) and normally pay out quickly.

I'm another Petplan user, good thing too as my cat now has two chronic conditions I'd be paying for. The excess is higher than most, but all the claims have been processed without any problems, and quickly.
The helpline service is good too.

More Than have always been excellent with my two (very accident prone) cats. I have never had to chase up payment or do anything really, it was all sorted between the vets and themselves.