Insurance - Petplan cost

[Jamsroll]

Hi everyone,

I recently adopted two cats who came with 4 weeks free insurance through Petplan, which is about to expire.

I've seen a number of threads recommending Petplan, saying it's not the cheapest but is great at paying out and easy to deal with.

I've checked the cost to renew and it's £30 a month per cat for short-term cover only. If I want lifetime cover, it's £65-100 a month for each cat. The cats are 3 and 4 and have no pre-existing conditions.

Looking around, I can get ManyPet (also seen some recommendations online) complete lifetime cover for £60 a month (total for both cats). Or I could get any of The Insurance Emporium, Animal Friends, Healthy Pets, and Whistle & Wag for £30-50 a month (all lifetime cover, for both cats).

Am I missing a trick or is Petplan really that expensive? I expected it to be maybe £60 a month vs. £40 a month for others, but £130+ each month is crazy. Especially when other companies are offering it for <£50.

If I don't go with Petplan, any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance

The vet grimaced when I told her my dog was covered for up to £5000 per year. She said that scans would use that up before any treatment.

Talk to your vet before making a final decision.

Cats and dogs are often fine until they're not, and then it can happen that the condition is serious but very treatable and all of a sudden the eyewatering premiums you have been shelling out for over as much as a decade allllll get paid back to you AND MORE as you claim for their treatment.

Vet fees are going up (inflation), the number of vets relative to the number of pets seems to be going down (so harder to shop around).

We stuck with Petplan and when our dog was 10 it was over £150 a month for 80% fees cover! OMG... And when he was 10 1/2, he got cancer. Twice. Treatment bought him a very happy 18 months - think 10 years in human terms.

Talk to the vets as they know how much it can cost to treat an older cat and they will have seen which insurance companies come through when you're at that stage.

That does seem very high. Ours is about £60 for a 15 year old cat, had some health issues, lifetime cover, 7k excess. We've found them great, very easy to deal with.

I learnt the hard way that 4k enough isn’t enough 😟 my 7yo cat went from a healthy indoor cat to seriously ill within months and that 4k wasn’t enough, I was almost another 3k out of pocket. Never thought it would happen to us. She did pass.

we got a new cat and didn’t mess around, went for the 12k.

petplan are so easy to deal with they are worth it to me. But don’t underestimate the amount of cover you need.

Pet insurance is such a scam. I have two dogs with animal friends, pretty good value for first couple of years, but now their fees have rocketed. They sent a renewal increasing the payments for one of my dogs by £15 a month, making it £35. I went onto a comparison website and the same company quoted £22!!

I cancelled and swapped to another provider, so far there are no ongoing health issues so I haven’t shot myself in the foot. I believe legislation was brought in for car insurance companies to stop doing this to their regular loyal customers, and have to quote their best prices. It appears that the pet insurance industry hasn’t yet been spanked for this disgusting behaviour.

Nope, didn’t jinx it - got an email today to confirm that they’ve paid out another £1.5k for his teeth. In the last 6 years I think petplan have paid out a good 7k on my moggy!

I was still curious about the Petplan quote so re-did it with my parents' address to see if any difference. They live in the countryside up north, we are in London zone 3.

£20-30 a month per cat for lifetime cover at my parents' address, vs. £65-100 at ours! It really is just the London premium making it eye wateringly expensive!

That’s a huge risk and rather naive, given the advances and cost of Veterinary medicine these days.

I didn’t think Petplan good value for money.

Ask your vet which insurers pay out fast. They aren’t allowed to recommend insurers (except the ones theynhave deals with which is often Petplan) but sometimes give hints. If vetnis no help read trustpilot reviews.

We found Animal Friends excellent.

I know this is an old thread but am looking to change insurers for DCat aged 10 currently with ManyPets. Premium quoted from next month has gone from £66.78 to £97.64 per month! Vet fees covered up to £15K annually. Any advice/suggestions appreciated!

That is really high coverage, our insurance is for life with PetPlan and we're only paying £65 (cat about 15) which is I think £5k a year limit and we haven't blown that yet, despite a full MRI scan one year!

Just realised that doesn't include vet fees, ie basic check ups. But still we don't rack up that much a year.

We have a 1yo Maine Coon and his insurance is double the other cats'. Couple of weeks ago he started walking funny. We all though "Oh no, hips," since it is a risk with MCs. One GA, several X rays and just over a grand later they found put why (constipation!) and vet confirmed not hips. Petplan didn't blink. We got it all back bar the excess. Worth the cost definitely. Our 11yo moggy was very unwell earlier this year and racked up over 2k. Apart from the 20% excess for >10yo, Petplan paid up without issues.
But I do know of someone who was denied a claim as they thought the cat had a pre-existing condition. So if your vet does complimentary health checks, it's worth getting one when you get a cat or kitten so their baseline health is recorded regardless of insurer.

We have always used Petplan and they do payout with no problem. One of our previous cats had chronic bladder issues so the lifetime cover was good. We have recently adopted a 9 year old cat ( so more expensive as she's older) from Cats Protection and continued with the cover after the 4 weeks expired, we pay £22.61 a month for her. We have reduced the level of cover to £4000 in a year and pay the first £105 of any claim - reducing the total amount you can claim dramatically reduces your premium. We have had cats for many years and they have had surgery etc and have never exceeded this level. Just balance the risks and the costs

Timely to see this - madam turned 10 this year and I just got my Petplan renewal quote. Gone up from £250/yr to £325 (admittedly I pay monthly so it’s more expensive) plus the additional 20% co-pay. That’s for £4k cover. John Lewis seemed to offer good cover for less money but the supermarkets all declined to quote for a cat over 10 years old.

We are SE and my sons Siamese are on the 12k , all singing and dancing policy and it’s about £30 per cat per month . Petplan pay out much quicker than Direct Line , which is who my late dog was insured by . Direct Line ( life policy) does not do the co pay over 10 yrs old , or they didn’t for me .

I’m with many pets and am so glad I went for the £15k a year cover - Finlay broke his spine and pelvis at 5 months old, with all the physio and hydrotherapy on top of surgery it was heading towards 9k, since then I’ve spent another £1500 on his 2 recent hospital stays and that’s in a single year
when I took it out was £27 a month, at renewal went up to £43

That's a lot per cat! We have PetPlan Lifetime cover and it's £37 a month. It would be worth phoning them up as they often give deals over the phone.