insurance

[FoodyMcDude]

So we have just rescued this gorgeous cat called Harvey and i was wondering with no health problems where do i go for best/well priced insurance. Its my first time doing this and i dont want rubbish cover and get caught out.

Anyone?

He is magnificent! I used Tesco for my two, and paid in for several years until one developed liver problems and sadly died. Got reimbursed for four figures worth of treatment over several months, easily more than we'd ever paid in and it covered everything except the specialist recovery food she needed. They were also lovely when I cried down the phone to them as I was cancelling the cover after she died.

Only issue I had was that I had to pay for everything up front and submit claims to get the money back. Our vet promoted a particular insurance company where the payments were charged directly to them, so you weren't out of pocket each time. It was included in a package with flea and worm treatment and vaccines. Might have been Pet Plan? No idea what their premiums or cover are like but it might be worth checking if your preferred vet does something similar.

Your boy is gorgeous! I have two ginger rescue boys too. They are such characters .

We insure with Petplan, but it's definitely not the cheapest. We pay £36.54 per month for the two of them (they are both 3 now but been insured since they were 6 months) we have the lifetime cover.

We have made one claim for just over £600 when one of them had problems following a bite on his leg. We did pay in advance as we weren't sure how things worked as it was the first time we had claimed on pet insurance. They reimbursed us really quickly (minus the excess) with no problems and our vet filled all the forms out for us and sent them off. The receptionist at our vet seemed to sigh with relief when she heard who our insurance company was!Apparently they have terrible problems with some of them but she wouldn't say who!

Personally I think you get what you pay for.

HTH

Wow, he is a stunner. He should be called Aslan.

Also meant to add that the premium will also depend on you boy 's age. Some insurers won't insure after a certain age or, if they do, the premiums will be very high. Your gorgeous boy looks young to me so hopefully you should be ok.

I second pet plan. My vet sends off the claim form for you and I was re-imbursed in a week. Definitely not cheap. But great coverage and cheaper than paying the vets bills yourself.

Bear in mind if your underwriters are RSA you will be charged an extra £200 if you are referred to a non- preferred referral centre. This is quite a new scheme, and I imagine the preferred centres will get v busy and may have longer wAiting lists. Tescos are with them.

We're with John Lewis, i like they carry on insuring when conditions crop up, as they do as they get older.

150 quid excess though.

I don't have insurance for Seniorboy but if I were considering it, I wouldn't be too happy with RSA as the underwriter of any policy. The notion of someone 'second-guessing' a veterinary professional doesn't sit well with me.

Another vote for Petplan here. Get the lifetime cover, it isn't the cheapest but they are reliable. Once over a certain age you may have to pay 20% of the costs. So put a set sum of money aside for a cat fund to cover those costs the insurance won't then the bills are less scary.
We have to pay upfront at our vets and claim back which I think is becoming more common now.
He's a handsome cat!

Thank you all for advice so pet plan looks like a good choice we have 4 weeks free with them at the mo from the rescue centre.

Hes only one so hopefully wont be too expensive but i want the best cover really dont want to get caught out.

So....PetPlan are awesome. I have worked for them and they genuinely give a shit and are the best specialist pet insurer around but are not cheap.

HOWEVER....if you get Sainsbury's pet insurance it's the same policy (provided by the same company, Allianz, but using the Sainsbury's brand instead of their own PetPlan brand) and it's cheaper by quite a bit!

Whether PetPlan pay direct to the vet or you have to pay upfront and then claim back is down to the arrangement they have in place (or not) with that vet.

You'll find most vets recommend PetPlan and they don't get commission, they genuinely are the best pet insurer. They get better customer satisfaction scores than most companies even outside of insurance.

Your lad is quite wonderful by the way. I'll confess to a bit of a 'thing' for ginger toms.

He's gorgeous!

We're with Petplan and they've been excellent since Harry broke his jaw. It was touch and go whether they would pay as he also had dental issues but they paid without any problems. We had to pay and claim back (the vet completed the forms) as it wasn't clear whether they would pay, but we haven't had to pay for the follow up appointments. They aren't the cheapest and we've got a hefty excess and 20% of the fees (he's over 10 years old) but I can't fault them.

He's actually the spitting image of The Lodger, big paws and all. Has he demonstrated any mousing tendencies yet?