Pet insurance - anyone found a good bunch?

Ambers Mum · Old Hand

RE: Pet insurance - anyone found a good bunch?

MacysMum · Graduate

I've not heard anyone mention this one - Macy is insured with Pinnacle Pet Insurance, which is a lifetime policy, with no monetary limit on any one claim. We pay about £15/month, and I thought that was good, but I'll certainly check out M&S next time. Toot is covered by the Dog's Trust Full Foster scheme which we're very grateful for - one packet of his heart tablets is £70!!

Julie, Allan, Macy & Toot xxx

Alisanpack · Old Hand

Ambers Mum wrote:

Does anyone know whether this means that, say, a condition which happened last year and was sorted and claimed for - would it be covered again if it recurred again this year?......

No, that's not a lifelong policy and means that you will not be able to claim for that condition again, whenever it occurs in the future, after the first 12 months. That's why I am switching two of mine...

Alisanpack · Old Hand

Alisanpack wrote:

I would like to know who everyone thinks is the best for oldies though, because I have had an expensive quote for Betty because of her age (she will be 10 in July) and as they are more expensive for pedigrees, and of course the lurchers are insured as crossbreeds...

Oh, and the poor old lady also had a mammary strip when she came into rescue in January, so she is a bit of a risk

Ambers Mum · Old Hand

Thanks, I feared you may say that!

I sometimes wonder whether I'd be better putting the £700 annual insurance I pay to one side instead of paying insurance companies, but, we all know that the day I make that decision will be the day I get landed with vets bills of £1000s !!

Chas · Old Hand

Alisanpack wrote:

Scout and Otis are insured with Tesco but it is not lifelong and as soon as the 12 month period is up on their pre-existing conditions (Scout has hip dysplasia and Otis is hypothyroid) then they will be switched to M&S no excess lifelong policies like Theo.

Maybe I'm just being a bit thick, but how does the "12 month period on pre-existing conditions" work? I always thought that if your dog had been treated for something, and claimed this against the policy, it remained pre-existing.

Freddy and Wilma are both insured with E&L and Freddy has exceptions on his policy as he has been treated previously for urinary problems and mild epilepsy. He hasn't had any treatment for either condition for about 18 months, but the excpetions remain. Does this mean that if I move his insurance to M&S these conditions are not classed as pre-existing as there has been no treatment for more than a year. If that's the case I think we would consider moving both policies.

Is this correct or just me being thick???

Chas

-- Edited by Chas at 20:03, 2006-03-11

Ambers Mum · Old Hand

After a number of you recommended M&S over the last few days I thought I'd get a quote today.... and if I move all six of my pets (3 dogs, 3 cats) over to M&S from Direct Line, the annual saving would be just under £100 which is pretty good when I am currently paying £720 p.a.

One thing that worries me is that once I move over to M&S, will the premiums start going up drastically, so much so I would've been better sticking with Direct Line?.......

Has anyone been insured with M&S for more than 12 months, so they can give me an idea how much the premiums have increased? Have M&S been doing pet insurance for over 12 months?!!

Thanks

Alisanpack · Old Hand

Chas wrote:

Alisanpack wrote: Scout and Otis are insured with Tesco but it is not lifelong and as soon as the 12 month period is up on their pre-existing conditions (Scout has hip dysplasia and Otis is hypothyroid) then they will be switched to M&S no excess lifelong policies like Theo. Maybe I'm just being a bit thick, but how does the "12 month period on pre-existing conditions" work? I always thought that if your dog had been treated for something, and claimed this against the policy, it remained pre-existing.

Sorry, I didn't explain that very well, did I? When I can no longer claim for Scout and Otis for their ongoing conditions (ie. the twelve month period is up with Tesco) then I will switch to M&S. M&S will not insure them for those specific conditions, as they are 'pre-existing' but it will mean that anything else they then have will be covered for life, unlike Tesco which only cover each condition for 12 months.

Theo has been insured with M&S since his arrival here (July 2004) and there was no increase in premium on renewal - it stayed at £11.67 a month with no excess. Fingers crossed it stays the same this year

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

Both Saska and Zada are insured with M & S, Saska had to go to the emergency vet twice (one time being on New Years Eve 2004) with cystitis and theyhave paid up no problem and very quickly as well as not excluding this from her policy. Zada was taken to my vets with smelly breath even after brushing weekly since being with us, and the vet obviously suggested giving her a full dental and they also paid up for this too (because I hadn't went to vet asking for a dental). And my premium has never changed for Saska (she has been with M&S since we got her 17 months ago) i am not expected Zada's to change either.

Regarding the epilepsy I would suggest contacting M&S direct and finding out for sure.

Teresa · Enlightened One

following recent posts, i was moved to get a quote from M & S. the upshot is that the premium for both my dogs is similar, to within pennies. however..........

M&S cover up to £7000 per condition but direct line only cover up to £4000. both companies continue cover for the life of the pet.

M&S quote has no excess, my current excess with direct line is £130.

methinks i may switch as soon as direct line cough up for the current claim!

(crikey, i almost sound like and insurance salesperson!! i'm not)

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

If you have no outstanding claims on insurance can you switch to another company at any time or do you need to wait till the renewal letter comes through for another year?

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

Lita,

I am sure you can cancel your existing insurance at anytime and if you pay by d/d then just cancel it with the bank and let the insurance company know you are doing this.

I have done this in the past with other insurances (house etc).

-- Edited by Siouxsie at 14:25, 2006-03-13

Ambers Mum · Old Hand

Hi, With the insurance companies I have dealt with, you can cancel at anytime - they just pro-rata the premium and return anything they owe you.

You might want to check with your insurers though as I think some insurance companies will charge you an admin fee (which is only usually about £10 I think!)

Don't forget to set up with your new insurance company first though. Some insurers have a clause which says that anything being claimed in first 14 days will not be settled.... Not sure whether you can 'overlap' your insurance...... does anyone else know?

Kate

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

Thanks Kate, for that tip about taking out the new insurance first - makes sense.

I must admit I never went for the cheapest price I could get when I started pet insurance, but I read all their policy details first to see what would be most beneficial. I am against some of the cheaper packages that offer lower grades of insurance cover (i.e. bronze cover, silver cover, or gold).

-- Edited by Siouxsie at 22:37, 2006-03-17

carolineasb · Old Hand

Hi all

I also wondered about the limits you are quoting of £7000/£4000.

My thoughts were - what happens, say, if your pet has an illness which necessitates medication of say £100 per month and your limit is £4000 on an all of life policy, does your pay-out stop 3 yrs & 4 mths later (even though it's all of life)? & then what do you do?

My 2 are on Petplan's unlimited premium policy but it's really getting extortionate now as we're almost paying the same for the 2 dogs as 2 cars fully comprehensive!!

Caroline

UndercoverElephant · Master

Suzanne, Marks and Spencer actually sold the M&S Money business in 2004 to HSBC. I don't think that HSBC are in any way likely to go out of business.

-- Edited by UndercoverElephant at 14:32, 2006-03-14

Calatria · Master

carolineasb wrote:

My 2 are on Petplan's unlimited premium policy but it's really getting extortionate now as we're almost paying the same for the 2 dogs as 2 cars fully comprehensive!! Caroline

Couldn't agree more with what you said, Caroline. We used PetPlan for several years, but the premiums were getting out of hand, especially considering the excess. We finally decided to leave PetPlan when we'd had a run of bad luck with the dogs, and every single treatment came to just under the excess. We began to wonder why on earth we were paying through the nose, and getting no benefit whatsoever.

The first claim we made on the new M&S policy was also less than the PetPlan excess, so if we'd stayed with them we wouldn't have got a penny back.

Suzanne · Guru

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Suzanne, Marks and Spencer actually sold the M&S Money business in 2004 to HSBC. I don't think that HSBC are in any way likely to go out of business.

I give it under a year.....then forgive me if I say "I told you so"

Im not being funny Phil or taking the Michael - I really hope Im wrong & just being paranoid. I was very good pals with the woamn at GUVS who dealt soley with Pet Insurance claims every single day in her working life....her horror stories would make your leg hair curl !

However, I am no expert - I just scare easy. What with being a skint student, if I was left in the lurch & couldnt pay for my pets treatments I dont know what Id do....well I do, but it would involve selling the house & renting a kennel for the 3 of us at Rachel & Eddies....

Teresa · Enlightened One

i scare easily - i'm now wondering if i should switch to M & S !

btw, finally got my cheque from Direct Line today - almost two months since Daisy's original accident. took them about two weeks to process my claim.

MojoTilly · Master

We have insured Tilly with Tesco as they now have a "super" cover option, which covers for life and has a much higher limit per condition. Tilly is roughly three-and-a-half years old and it costs us £14 per month, which isn't bad. It's one of those things you hope you won't need to use, but definately worth having.

Our last dog was insured through Endsleigh who were exceptionally good and quick when it came to paying out for the treatment of his cancer, even though we all knew it could not cure the condition. Endsleigh I think are a broker and were insuring Eeyore through another company (Pedigree Insurance springs to mind but I could be wrong) but I think they have now changed who they use for some reason. Definately worth a look though, although for us Tesco were cheaper this time - for now!

Leolurcher · Master

Leo and Flash are insured with Tesco which has been fine in the past re the more usual type of lurcher injuries gashes due to getting snagged on branches etc. Sadly now Leo is getting chemo for multicentric lymphosarcoma. After the initial £200 or so for diagnostic biopsy etc his weekly costs vary from £45 to £100 a week depending on whether blood tests are required. We have made financial adjustments so that we can afford to carry on with Leo's treatment if God willing Leo is still alive and requiring treatment when the insurance cover runs out.

What has been brought home to me with Leo's illness that is that vet science will throw up the same problems as the NHS faces. Many new and expensive treatments coming into play that are financially prohibitive to anyone or any institution with limited resources. Example being recently a ground breaking heart operation carried out on a maine coon? cat that cost approx £20,000. What does a charity or an ordinary person do when faced with the dilema...an animal might be saved but the costs are enormous. Good insurance is becoming a "must" for the peace of mind of all but the more wealthy pet owner.

I have had one or two local people suggest that perhaps it would have been better just to let Leo go in peace in the six to eight week time scale that the vet said he probably had left if he wasn't treated after the intitial diagnosis. Those people had the opinion that it would be better to let Leo go and replace him with a healthy rescue dog that otherwise might be pts. My answer to that was...try standing in a vet's surgery with your faithful pal that doesn't seem to know that he is ill grinning at you and wagging his tail ..a dog full of trust in you to do the right for him while the vet talks in terms of perhaps saving his life but it will cost. Faced with that position you do tend to start thinking of paying whever is required and finding the money somehow. I would say that you really have to be in that position to learn the lengths that you would go to to try and give your dog a chance.

By the way for anyone that is wondering the chemo being used on Leo gives non of the awful side effects that you would expect from what you see with people getting chemo. Yes I want to keep Leo with me for as long as I can but there is no way that I would let him suffer. Treatment will continue for as long as he seems to think that he is healthy and can live a decent lurcher type life. Only sign of illness was when his neck suddenly became swollen and even looking like a giant hamster Leo was still full of life, eating well etc and acting as through nothing was wrong with him.

Hope this makes sense as I am writing in a hurry before we are off to the vet for Leo's next iv dose of chemo.

Love to all

Eleanorxxxx

Ambers Mum · Old Hand

Hello Eleanor,

I am so sorry to hear of Leo's illness but it sounds like he is getting the help he needs to keep him well and happy.

I can sympathise with your situation completely. We all want to hold onto our beloved pets as long as we can but we won't do that selfishly at the expense of their 'quality of life'.

I think you are doing exactly the right thing and it's always the onlookers who have something to say about what's right and wrong for YOUR pet (who also happens to be YOUR BABY!)

I have unfortunately had 2 similar situations in the last 12 months...... one only last month where we had to have our eldest cat - Emily, put to sleep. As a result of medication (for thyroid problems), we stabilised Emily's health for a good while, and she was happy and content. As soon as that changed and we felt her quality of life was on the decline, we made that terrible decision and did what was right for Emily.

Similarly, last summer, Ozzy, our lovely big greyhound had cancer..... we were given the choice of more surgery which could potentially prolong his life, but did we want our poor boy to go through that when his quality of life wouldn't be restored?....no we didn't.

Thankfully, both Ozzy and Emily were both insured which gave us the peace of mind that the costs we incurred would not be out of our pocket. At the end of the day though, had they been out of our own pocket, then we wouldn't have done anything differently - they were our babies afterall.....totally dependant on us, and our decisions.

I miss them both hugely but have no regrets. We did what we had to do at the right time.

I wish you the best of luck with Leo's treatment, and many more happy times.

Kate x

Slippy · Old Hand

Timmy is insured with Sainsbury's. Thankfully we have only had to make one claim on the policy but they paid out super prompt. They must have written the cheque instantly as I posted the claim on a Monday and got the cheque on the Wednesday.

I would caution against E&L. They also offer horse insurance with what seem like fairly low premiums but everyone I know with a horse who has tried to claim from E&L has faced interminable delays. It looked like E&L would try everything to get out of paying up and, when they did agree to pay, the payments took ages.

Carol · Master

Eleanor,

I would move hell and high water to keep my three with me.

Under no circumstances would I have any one of them pts when there was a fighting chance that they could pull through, regardless of financial cost.

My dogs are very much a part of my family and I treat them as such. I would give them every chance that I would give a human and personally, I think you are right in doing the same for Leo.

Keep fighting,

C

Calatria · Master

Leolurcher wrote:

Yes I want to keep Leo with me for as long as I can but there is no way that I would let him suffer. Treatment will continue for as long as he seems to think that he is healthy and can live a decent lurcher type life.

I think most of us would agree with what Eleanor said. It's said to be the mark of someone who truly loves their pet, knowing when to let go.

I hope Leo has many happy times stilll ahead of him.

Leolurcher · Master

Thanks Kate,

Sorry to read about your loss of both Emily and Ozzy. It is a delicate balance between hanging onto a beloved pet for as long as possible without compromising his or her quality of life. I just pray that at no time will I be tempted to try and hold onto Leo for longer than might be in his best interests but as he is such a strong and "in your face dog "I don't think the vets would be happy about treating him to the point where he lost his "va va voom". I mean a Leo that wasn't stroppy demanding and sometimes a bit difficult wouldn't be "Leo" at all.

Eleanorxxxxxx

Ambers Mum · Old Hand

Hi Eleanor

thank you for your kind words

Leo certainly sounds like he's a delight to have around..... I am sure he couldn't be in better hands than with you...... lots of love, good health and best wishes to you both xx

Leolurcher · Master

Thanks everyone for your support. It is much appreciated.

Good news is that Leo had his fifth dose of iv chemo yesterday and the vet is very pleased with his progress Cautious optimism that Leo will be able to travel down to Wales for a holiday in June. Leo loves living beside the beach. Er bit of a technophobe tried to edit in a picture of Leo at ynyslas beach last year for you all to aim healing vibes to. Had to make do with a link.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v439/leolurcher/leoatynyslassmall.jpg

Lots of love to all

Eleanorxxxxx

-- Edited by Leolurcher at 12:40, 2006-04-15

max · Enlightened One

Glad to hear that he is still doing fine and long may it continue.

Nora

yvonne · Master

I was previously insured with direct line. I am now with Tesco and premium is £31 a month for 2 dogs. Angus is nearly 10 and they had no problem insuring him - excess is £60. You won't be able to apply online for an older dog but its dead easy to do it over the phone. They were the cheapest for an older dog that i could find.