Pet (Dog) insurance

thedonkeycentrehalf · Nov 9, 2016

Following on from the recent thread on rescue dogs, we have passed our home check and hope to pick up a rescue dog from Allsorts this weekend.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good pet insurance? Having read recently about companies offering insurance but then not paying out for claims, it would be good to get some NSC recommendations. Also any thoughts on what to include such as dental cover, jabs, etc

Thanks.

Miximate · Nov 9, 2016

Tescos have been good for us. No problems when making a claim for our lab

Raleigh Chopper · Nov 9, 2016

Read all small print and take advice from people on here, but still read small print as their dogs may not have had what your dog will.
Pet Insurance can be a nightmare.
I know a couple whose dog got cancer, the insurance paid up £4000 for treatment leaving them a bill for £7000.
I am interested as well as after 2 years of the press gang i have finally given in and we will be getting a mutt in the new year.

Cheshire Cat · Nov 9, 2016

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cut-pet-insurance-costs

You won't know what the company are like until you make a claim. If you look at customer forums, everybody hates the one they are or were with because they think they were ripped off so there are very few good reviews out there which aren't countered by lots of loathing. The cheapest isn't necessarily the best.

They won't cover pre-existing conditions,and apparently the definition of this can be stupidly wide. So if you make a claim for one condition and then change insurer,the new one won't cover if anything similar happens.

n1 gull · Nov 9, 2016

thedonkeycentrehalf said:
Following on from the recent thread on rescue dogs, we have passed our home check and hope to pick up a rescue dog from Allsorts this weekend.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good pet insurance? Having read recently about companies offering insurance but then not paying out for claims, it would be good to get some NSC recommendations. Also any thoughts on what to include such as dental cover, jabs, etc

Thanks.

We got a rescue from Allsorts, good luck we love our dog!

We use Tesco pet insurance who have been great. We had a £4k claim last year after our springer impaled himself on a stick. They paid no problem at all.

The Andy Naylor Fan Club · Nov 9, 2016

Shop around on the comparison sites. You can tailor make your cover to include/exclude what you need or don't need and the level of financial cover you think you may need. Don't be affraid to do this every year as the premiums will go up with your dogs age. My dog was £8 a month when we got her aged 3 but as she got older (14 at the time of my last policy ) the quotes ranged from £30 - £100 per month. At the end of her life she needed quite a lot of treatment and the insurance covered around 70% of my final bill.

Brighthelmstone · Nov 9, 2016

In addition to insurance i'd look to see if your vet runs a Petplan scheme as well. its a standard monthly amount and that covers their flea/worming, annual injections and a couple of health checks, ours also gives us 10% off all vet bills, works out cheaper in the long run. from memory its done on dog weight, ours is 25+kilos for £18 a month i think.

Also with the insurance, check whats covered for the dogs age as they can be sneaky with removing cover once the dog gets older!

brighton_girl87 · Nov 9, 2016

I use helpucover.co.uk and they paid out, without any issues, when my Cocker Spaniel was bitten by an adder a few months ago.

Arthritic Toe · Nov 9, 2016

Be careful when switching policy. I very nearly got stung. If you shop around say 2 weeks before the policy ends and then take out cover with a new insurer dated on the expiry date of your existing policy - then cancel your existing one effective at the end of the policy, you run into these rules:
old policy - they will not pay for any expenses incurred after the end of the policy.
new policy - they will not cover any claims as a result of an injury that occurred before the policy start date.
If your dog then gets run over on the last day (or hours) of your old policy, and needs treatment beyond that switchover point, you are scuppered on both policies.
My dog got run over at 11:30pm on the last day. Fortunately, the vet was wise to this and recorded a time of 12:10 am.

Moral - if you switch (and it makes sense to do so), leave it until the last day and make sure cover on the new policy starts immediately.

Crispy Ambulance · Nov 9, 2016

Another vote for Tesco here. We sadly lost our 7 year old Collie to cancer yesterday and they've covered the £2.5k of vet bills incurred since she was diagnosed less than 2 months ago, which was tremendous piece of mind.

JCL666 · Nov 9, 2016

We used M&S insurance for years. At 6 years old our dog had brain lesions. She had to have an MRI, a bunch of consultations at a specialist care facility, plus chemo for two years (as well as 3 months of steroids). The insurance paid out for it all, although we did have to pay a small excess.

The only issue was that when she hit 9 years old, the premium went through the roof. She's not insured any more!!

Brovion · Nov 9, 2016

When we got out first dog we had pet insurance the first year, and then stopped as we realised it was a huge rip-off. After that first year we put the amount we would have paid in premiums into a savings account. Since then (2002) we've covered all our animals treatment bills (including the mundane stuff like flea treatment) from this account. Currently this account has about £7000 in it, and two of our animals had quite expensive courses of treatment towards the end of their lives.

I don't think it's for everyone (and we have no 3rd party cover), but it might be an alternative to endlessly shelling out year after year only to find that they won't pay out when you really need it.

Eggmundo · Nov 9, 2016

We're with M&S insurance. Was the best value for the amount of cover (Life cover). Also we enrolled in a Pet Plan - £13 a month, not sure if it will work out to be good value or not.

Strangely enough my little pupper has just thrown up all over the place and there were a couple of horrible worms in the sick so we'll be at the vets tomorrow.

Hastings gull · Nov 9, 2016

Crispy Ambulance said:
Another vote for Tesco here. We sadly lost our 7 year old Collie to cancer yesterday and they've covered the £2.5k of vet bills incurred since she was diagnosed less than 2 months ago, which was tremendous piece of mind.

I am so desperately sorry for you. I work from home and my lab is my best mate - always there. It won't be easy initially, but it will get better with time. Another dog might help, if you can -it is not a one for one replacement, but another animal who will give you love and loyalty that no human ever can.

Hastings gull · Nov 9, 2016

Brovion said:
When we got out first dog we had pet insurance the first year, and then stopped as we realised it was a huge rip-off. After that first year we put the amount we would have paid in premiums into a savings account. Since then (2002) we've covered all our animals treatment bills (including the mundane stuff like flea treatment) from this account. Currently this account has about £7000 in it, and two of our animals had quite expensive courses of treatment towards the end of their lives.

I don't think it's for everyone (and we have no 3rd party cover), but it might be an alternative to endlessly shelling out year after year only to find that they won't pay out when you really need it.

We are doing exactly the same.

pasty · Nov 9, 2016

Miximate said:
Tescos have been good for us. No problems when making a claim for our lab

Glad to hear that. We use Tesco pet insurance as well, and have just been told our dog has probably done her cruciate ligaments in and needs an op. We have been quoted over £1K per leg!

Crispy Ambulance · Nov 9, 2016

Hastings gull said:
I am so desperately sorry for you. I work from home and my lab is my best mate - always there. It won't be easy initially, but it will get better with time. Another dog might help, if you can -it is not a one for one replacement, but another animal who will give you love and loyalty that no human ever can.

Thank you for your kind thoughts. We already have an older Collie who is a bit, er, 'special' who can't tolerate other dogs (he accepted the younger dog as she did all his dirty work for him - barking at the postman/doorbell- and providing him with a security blanket) and who has got worse with other dogs as he's got older. It wouldn't be fair on him to get another one just yet as he wouldnt cope. But we will get one when he goes. Thanks again.

Shropshire Seagull · Nov 9, 2016

We've been using PetPlan for 6 years now on our 7 year old Springer - have made 1 claim in that time [not huge] but with premiums at £38 per month now we're thinking it's time to look elsewhere.
Looks like Tesco is recommended - we'll give em a call ....

#GoodThread

m20gull · Nov 10, 2016

Brovion said:
When we got out first dog we had pet insurance the first year, and then stopped as we realised it was a huge rip-off. After that first year we put the amount we would have paid in premiums into a savings account. Since then (2002) we've covered all our animals treatment bills (including the mundane stuff like flea treatment) from this account. Currently this account has about £7000 in it, and two of our animals had quite expensive courses of treatment towards the end of their lives.

I don't think it's for everyone (and we have no 3rd party cover), but it might be an alternative to endlessly shelling out year after year only to find that they won't pay out when you really need it.

Be careful on the third party cover. I totally understand the use of a savings account to cover bills and on average that should work. All of our dogs have always been insured for two reasons. I never want to be standing in front of a vet making a decision on our family 's welfare based on whether I have cash spare. And secondly I want the 3rd party cover. In our local park a small uninsured dog knocked over a fellow walker and broke their leg. She was self-employed and off work for over 3 months. The dog owner was correctly sued for loss of earnings

On the original topic we use Tesco and Petplan. Tesco has improved a lot but prices do increase a lot as the dog gets older. Petplan have better service but a higher excess, the advantage is they are guarantee to insure for life.

One feature of the market is how different the policies are, so shop around and compare to make sure you get the cover you want.

doogie004 · Nov 10, 2016

Another vote for Tesco for our cat after he had to be put down covered bills and sent a condolence card nice touch

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