Pet insurance - any recommendations?

[LoonvanBoon]

Our cat's been insured with Petplan since we got her 3 years ago.

The premium was about £90 then. Have just had a renewal quote for £136, with £75 excess.

Does this seem like good value? She's only 4 and has no health problems. We have claimed on our insurance when she got bitten by another cat and needed antibiotics, but that was in the first year. No claims since then.

Would be interested to hear any recommendations of good / better value pet insurance for cats and other people's experiences with it. I should add that Petplan was very good at paying out quickly when we did make the one claim.

I have gone with tesco but haven't had to claim as only just took out the policy

I've been with Tesco for nearly two years. Claimed once and was very happy with them.

Is the tesco one good value? I've been happy with Petplan but don't understand why the premiums have risen by 50% over the past 3 years. Does £136 for a year's cover for a cat like mine seem reasonable / expensive?

Depends what sort of cover you have for your cat as there are several different types. I am paying £23.02 per month for my 2 kittens on the premier level cover that is for £7500 worth of cover.

I'm paying £28 a month for my two 6 year old Persians. The first year it was o my £14 for both. It was a bit of a surprise when the premium doubled but it is still by far the cheapest for the best level of cover.(top level.)

I've only ever claimed from Petplan and I couldn't fault them.

I would never use Tesco for any insurance but that's because I had a bad experience with their car insurance and I bear a grudge!

The policy offers up to £3000 in vet fees (£75 excess) and various other smaller amounts for boarding fees, 'advertising and reward', complementary treatment etc. It's called 'Petplan Essential' so I'm guessing there is a higher level of cover available.

It's only half the cover of your policy, dementedpixie. Do you have the same level of cover, Toddler?

It does sound like I may not be getting the best deal as this works out at over £11 a month but for far less cover than the tesco policies. Think I'll have a look into those, thanks.

I pay £23 a month with Petplan and I get £7000 of fees per year (lifetime policy) with an excess of £120 plus 20% of any fees.

One reason I wouldn't use a company underwritten by RSA (and I mention this every time!) is that they have a very limited list of specialists you can be referred to without paying an extra excess. My cat was referred to a specialist last year and we could pick the one most convenient for us. I'm very wary of restrictions like that!

That's a good point, Pink, though I've just been having a look at the list of referral vets on a link from the tesco website and there are a few in our area.

Tesco is quoting under £100 for a year's premier cover, which does compare very well with my existing Petplan policy. Hadn't actually realized how crap our existing policy is, as it only covers the cat for an illness / injury until the end of that insurance period. We'd have been stuffed if she'd developed a chronic condition under this policy.

I guess there are far better Petplan policies available than the 'Essential' one we've had but I presume they'd be more expensive still.

Do not insure with animal friends. My friend has had a nightmare with them.

Loonvan. Off the top of my head I think they are covered for £10,000 of treatment that refreshes every year. So you are unlikely to reach the limit. Think it also covers complimentary treatment etc.

£60 excess.

I can't fault Petplan, insured 2 cats/kittens, 12 wks old and 10 months, 12 months ago premium £23 pm, £4,000 lifetime cover. I have claimed around £3k on the kitten and they paid out no problem. Renewal has just come through at £25pm so pretty happy with that.
Whichever insurance you go for please make sure it's Lifetime cover so any continuing illnesses are covered.

I have just insured with Agria which is recommended by the cat club .....but don't know what they are like. Someone did recommend them though.

Take care with Petplan. My cat fell ill a few days before the renewal date. So I made a claim. I had to make an additional claim for the same condition a few days after the renewal date as the issue had not resolved itself. They have deducted 2 lots of excess from the payouts because the claim falls in 2 separate years. I have lodged an official complaint. ...which they have done nothing with.

We have just gone with tesco as it was one of the only ones that would not bankrupt us for our 10 yo rescue cat. I think it was around £15 a month and that is for their premium plan which covers any new illness for life as long as you renew yearly. It's £60 excess and you don't need to pay other costs where as pet plan wanted £28 pm with £80 excess and also 20% costs so if a £2000 bill we would have to pay £400! (that was with employee discount too!)

I have gone for the tesco premier cover in the end because it's lifetime cover and still significantly cheaper than the Petplan essential one, which wasn't.

I'm actually horrified that I hadn't realized the significance of the lifetime cover element and that our cat wouldn't have been covered for ongoing / chronic illnesses with the policy we've had for the past 3 years. I thought I was pretty good at checking out the small print but that escaped me completely.