Best pet insurance

[Justasec]

We are bringing home two kittens tomorrow. Having lost our cats earlier this year at the grand old ages of 16 and 17 I suspect this may be something of a shock! I've got them booked in at vet for check over but I need to organise insurance. Any recommendations?

Always always always get a lifetime policy. And look for a healthy yearly limit per condition that renews every year. Beware of E&L and it's sister companies, they are terrible. Don't get a policy that slaps on a percentage excess per claim (most will when the pet is 8 year plus, but you don't want to be paying that before you have to). Companies that are good for cats are Animal Friends, Legal and General, Tesco, Asda, Argos, More Than, PeT Plan, Vetsure. Give Versure a ring as they aren't on comparison websites and are very good, but won't be the cheapest out of them all.

Oh and get a five week free voucher with Vetsure or a four week free voucher with Petplan immediately activated whilst you shop around for a permanent policy.

Tesco, have been excellent with my two, who between them ran up bills of £10,000. Never any quibble and claims settled very quickly.

How much do you pay Tesco a month? Petplan is £46 for two

Petplan have been great with Harry. We do have a percentage excess but it didn't kick in until he was 10. Of course we had to make our first claim when he was 10...

I'm surprised that you say Animal Friends are good Wets, I haven't heard anyone say that and I seem to remember seeing them on Watchdog. Harry was insured with them for a while but I changed when I read the reviews.

My vets said to stay away from Animal Friends. We use Tesco and they have been amazing, a few years ago my cat was very poorly in and out of the vets for about 2 weeks with various operations and the bill was in the thousand. It was all sorted very quickly.

Thanks! I will do some more research and look at those free vouchers as a start.

£28 a month for both of my girls. They are 6-7 years old. Dread to think what this years premium will be, but I really can't fault Tesco at all.

That's for the top level cover, it renews every year.

Look for a policy that will deal with the vet direct. Our dog with epilepsy is covered but it takes 6-8 weeks to get payment from our insurers so we have to pay up first. Currently £2k+ this year so far.

@Borntoflyinfirst I've never heard of a pet insurers who refuse to deal with a vet direct, only a vets who will refuse to do direct claims. So this may be your vet practice's policy.

I say animal friends as personally I've never had a problem with them paying out for any of my patients and they are a cheaper alternative than some companies.

We're with petplanfor catface. It's around £8 a month.

Looking to change from Tesco, as my dog ate a stick which got stuck and had to be removed via emergency op = £1000, premium jumped from £21 to £33 the next year which I paid but this year we have had no claims and it's up to £39, my dog is 2 and has no apparent health issues as a result of eating the stick. If I have to pay this we are moving to Pet Plan but I will phone them first to see if they will reduce as overall I'm happy with them and they paid out without quibble.

That's the thing, you are free to move around until your animal develops a condition that any new company would exclude.
Then you're kind of stuck with your current company. So it's a good point to check out which have a rep for big premium increases.

It's up to the vet if they do direct claims or not. My cheap routine vet doesn't, but my more expensive hospital and the referral centre. both did. Though you still have to pay an admin fee for it.

I'm really confused as to why Petplan charge different premiums. Like each I pay £46 p/m for my 2 indoor/outdoor boys - a 6 yr Moggy and a 3yr Devon Rex. Up to £7000 payable in vet fees each on a lifetime policy. Then ememem's policy is £8 - are your cats indoor only? Or am I just really crap at negotiating?

rubbish Catface is indoor only. I suspect that when/if she goes outside it'll get pricier as there are more risks involved. She's also only around 2 (we think - she was a feral rescue) so still fairly young.

Also I live in Channel Islands so this may account for the difference. Although usually things are more expensive here....

Petplan, is excellent. They charge different prices because they have lots of different types of policies, from the best being supreme cover for life, which has no max limit per illness, to the regular policies that pay up to an amount per illness.

Direct claims are down to the vet, but some vets exclude certain insurers - for example ours won't do direct claims for any company underwritten by E&L.
I would second going for a lifetime policy, and check excesses, limits and exclusions with a fine tooth comb.
Eg when looking recently I saw several that seemed great value, but only cover £40 hospital fees, or £500 for an MRI, or wanted 35% excess for pets aged over 8 years.
Petplan seem to be in most cases "the best" in terms of no exclusions and high cover limits, as well as being good payers. However their price reflects that, and you may not require everything they offer.

Others that our clients seem to use frequently are Animal Friends, Royal Sun (which includes Tesco, More Than, John Lewis, etc) and Agria.

I've only recently taken out insurance myself though, so can't comment on them from the owner's perspective!

In the end we went with Purely Pets - they seemed to suit our needs, but wouldn't be great for everyone. (For example they have really strict hip dysplasia limits, which doesn't matter so much to us as ours are cats).

Rubbish - we have 5 cats, and noticed differences for Petplan based on age and gender (boy cats are a couple of quid more expensive each, and premiums go up with age even if they're not senior). I would guess that pedigree cats also probaby have higher premiums (especially if you put in a "value" for them), as well as outdoor cats and area you live in. You also get 10% discount for going online.
I wonder if any of that may have affected your premiums?

I'd bet you'd find most insurance companies are cheaper for new customers too, so the same cat might cost more if you'd been insured for 3 years as opposed to one, perhaps? Just a guess though!

PetPlan also price premiums based on location. So if you live in central London it's going to be a lot more than living in Northumberland. This is because of risk and vet fees in the area. I imagine most insurance companies do this, its standard.

Ah thanks, I always get mad confused with all the differing prices and the dreaded small print...

Weird, I actually pay slightly less for my Devon, probably because he's the youngest of the two, and I opted out of receiving his 'monetary value' on the event of his death.

Off track slightly - are Devon rex' those lovely curly haired cats?? Gorgeous

Ahh ok that may be the case. To be honest we just paid the bill and then climes it back. It just frustrates me that I have to chase and chase to get our money back even on a continuation claim. And my dog will be on meds his whole life (he's only 4) so I'm a little concerned about his renewal quote (will try elsewhere of course but I think we're going to be screwed on price now).
My point was maybe misplaced then. All I meant was check, if possible, about how long claims take to process. Especially if paying out first.