Insurance

[yogakeepsmesane]

We are picking up two kittens from a rescue centre at the end of the month.

Could anyone recommend good pet insurance companies?

TIA

I absolutely, 100%, without a shadow of a doubt, recommend pet plan.
They’re not the cheapest, but they are the best.
I have claimed many, many times and never had an issue. Plus, you don’t actually have to contact them, ever. You just send the insurance policy documents via email to your vets, so they have them on file and then any appts or treatments your kittens have, the vets put in any claims for you. I just pay my excess (£80) and the vets go straight to pet plan for the rest.
Many of the other cheaper ones, you’re expected to pay upfront, then you claim back from the insurers (and there’s a chance they may refuse to pay out, this happened to my sister after a 3k surgery fee)

Avoid Animal Friends. They are a bunch of crooks who will do anything to get out of paying.

I came to recommend animal friends 🤣 our last cat was insured with them, multiple vet visits and scans diagnosed a massive growth in his chest cavity and we pts, they paid no quibbling and also worked directly with the vets so we didn't have to pay then claim back.

Recently got another cat and insured with animal friends again.

@lochmaree We had a dog insured with Animal Friends. She developed a malignant melanoma on her lip. She was treated by a specialist cancer vet.

Animal Friends refused to pay for her treatment as they claimed it was dental, which isn't covered. We had reports from 4 specialist vets to say it wasn't dental, it was cancer, but Animal Friends wriggled out of paying.
This was about 10 years ago. The press got involved, can't remember which newspaper, who reported on several other cases where Animal Friends wouldn't pay.
There is a Facebook group called Animal Friends Not, which has many many horrifying stories people who've been ripped off by this dreadful company.
You're obviously one of the few lucky ones that they chose to pay claims for. The majority of claims are refused. I hope your luck continues.

I'm with ManyPets
Cheaper than petplan with more cover

i'm with Admiral.
had pet plan first but they shoved the premiums sky high on a one year old cat with no claims and wanted an insane amount for the new kitten.
moved to admiral who did a two cat deal and have been amazing when i had to claim for Eric and his acute renal failure. their claims handler was so kind when i was tired and upset and they were brilliant at dealing with the vets direct with me just paying the excess. they also have a good 24/7 free video vet consultation that i've used.

Mine is insured with Animal Friends, I just wanted a basic cheap policy that would cover accidents as my cat is a clumsy daredevil twat. Thankfully, have only had to claim once in 4 years and it was very straightforward, all done through the vets.

We’ve been with various as we switch but the only one we’ve ever claimed with was Direct Line and it was hassle-free. You do need to haggle with them on renewal (I mean, I’m sure they’re no worse than others but they do seem to try it on a bit with renewal prices for most insurance).

Look carefully at the small print on policies as lots now have a co-pay element, eg you have the excess and have to pay that plus a percentage of any claim. I would avoid these if possible for the certainty of what ou have to pay if you have to claim, personally - on a £3k bill, you could end up paying £800, for example.

Tesco have been fab. And I've had a lot of claims!

All policies are now co pay, when the cat reaches eight years old.

No, they’re not. Petplan is at the age of 10

We are with pet plan and they also cover dental which is good.
As has been mentioned they deal directly with the vet, there is an excess but that's all.

I was with M&S, no co-pay for my 13 year old cat's treatment? Just the normal excess.They were really good paid everything directly to the vet really quickly. Even repaid some of my premiums when the cat died.

Look at Waggel, the excess is flexible (we've set it at 250), it covers dental and there's no co pay for any age cat. I'd always recommend at least 10k, and starting the policies two weeks before the cat arrives as you can't claim for that period.

We were with JL for our previous cat from when she was young through to when she developed cancer and had to be PTS earlier this year aged ten. We only made one claim in that time, for those extensive/very expensive tests, mainly at a specialist vet referral place, and they were very good. The policy was in my name and I couldn't bring myself to contact them and say she had been PTS (DP had dealt with the actual claim) for ages. When I eventually did they actually refunded me a chunk of money which was unexpected.

We now are with Admiral for our little boy and hope not to have to claim ever. Per pp I started the policy two weeks prior to the Cats Protection's month of insurance expiring, just in case.

JL and Admiral both offer a 24/7 helpline which I did actually use a few times with JL and found very useful. It's handy as a sense-check.

😱 I may change when the year is up then! Thanks, that is useful to know. I had no idea