Insurance company recommendations please?

[SciFiScream]

Hi,

Just in the process of finding an insurer for our 2 moggies. Currently 8 months old and healthy. Outside/inside cats.

Posted too soon. Looking for recommendations as to good companies and elements of insurance to look for. Thanks. ❤️

I have had huge claims with Tesco and been happy with them.

The most important thing is to choose a covered for life/lifetime type policy - which means any long term condition (hyperthyroidism, diabetes etc.) or a recurring condition will be covered from the day of diagnosis for the rest of the cat's life. Some other types of policies will only pay out for the first year of treatment or have a specific limit per condition.

I'm very happy with PetPlan, they've paid out thousands over the years for my eldest cat.

Tesco paid out v quickly for me and dealt direct with the vet

I'm with Tesco but have never had to claim. It's a lifetime policy

We've gone for a lifetime policy. I hadn't read your updates @viccat but I did mention those 2 conditions to my DH. It's only £5 per month per cat.
We're insured with Animal Friends which I believe also make donations to animal charities.
Does this mean we're stuck with this insurer for the rest of the cat's lives?

No you're not stuck with them. You can take out a new policy at renewal.

£5 Is cheap, what level of cover have you gone for (amount per year)?

If your cat develops any conditions/problems or hints of future problems whilst insured with one company, another company will exclude that condition so check with your vet before switching companies. It’s not as straightforward as car/home insurance in that respect.

Lifetime cover. £60 per year per cat. It's cheap because they are young rescue moggies I think. Only 8 months old.

No I mean the cover amount. I.e. mine is £7500 cover

Aah I see. Not that much.

£1000 isn't much especially for vet treatments.

£1k per year is not much at all, you might want to think if you could put that up, they usually let you do before you claim.

To give you an idea of vet fees, one of my cats had an operation that cost about £4k plus several vet visits/antibiotics/sedations before so probably nearly £5k in all. A friend's cat recently injured his leg really badly and as they used an out of hours specialist hospital, his bill was £6k.

I've gone for £7k annual level of cover for all of mine, my thinking being it would cover most things and I could afford a one off higher bill if needed beyond that.

Petplan are brilliant but I would go with Sainsbury's as it's cheaper but is the same policy and team as Petplan (just branded Sainsbury's)

I fortunately had a limit of £7.500 per condition and I needed it with both of my indoor cats. We had £16000 of claims. I've more than got my monies worth!