Pet insurance - anyone found a good bunch?

Leolurcher · Master

RE: Pet insurance - anyone found a good bunch?

max · Enlightened One

My sister-in-law has been treated with both and it was a long haul for her as a human, animals are amazing with how they cope and as long as he is like this cling on to every moment. My thoughts are with you all. Nora

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

Eleanor, sorry to hear about Leo's condition, but so glad he is out and about and enjoying himself. Its a lovely photo of him on the beach, and yes many of us will send healing vibes, and think of you also

Christine Young · GAL Newsletter Editor

Hi Eleanor

So sorry to hear that Leo is ill. But it's great that he seems to have loads of energy even while being treated with chemo! Dogs are truly amazing. I hope he continues to keep well. Fingers crossed.

Christine

Leolurcher · Master

Thanks again everyone for your good vibes,

My very best wishes to your sister in Law Nora. My computer is on its last legs and sometimes I can't get onto the internet but I will try and let you all know how Leo gets on. If there is any change in his condition or info regarding lymphosarcoma that I think might be of interest to anyone I will start a new thread.

To grey and lurcher lovers the good news is that I met a "working" dog man of many years experience who told me that as far as he knows lymphosarcoma in greys and lurchers is a very unusual but I guess a lot has to do with the cross in lurchers.

Leo has always been a mystery...could be ridgeback, boxer, staffie, pit bull x etc. and the the sighthound involved could be greyhound, whippet or saluki. I have heard all kinds of guesses very few of them being the same

Love to all

Eleanorxxxxxxx

MojoTilly · Master

Really pleased that Leo is doing so well on chemo and seems to be enjoying life. It just amazes me how animals just get on with it when they're ill. Our last dog had lymphosarcoma and went through chemotherapy too and you wouldn't know what he'd been through or even how ill he was - he just got on with it. Hope Leo continues to do well.

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

Leolurcher wrote:

I will try and let you all know how Leo gets on. If there is any change in his condition or info regarding lymphosarcoma that I think might be of interest to anyone I will start a new thread.

Eleanorxxxxxxx

Eleanor

Thank you for letting us know of Leo's progress and please do keep us informed. Best Wishes to Leo and yourself x

Folks,

As Eleanor has stated a new thread will be started with news on Leo.

Archie · Old Hand

Just thought I'd recommend M&S insurance. We've got Bud through them (soon to be 9 yrs old) and at a routine check-up we were told his teeth needed sorted. M&S paid out (with no excess) no problem at all with the only proviso being that it was not cosmetic. Not many policies appear to cover teeth.

Keera is through Direct Line and a week after Bud's teeth incident she managed to puncture an artery in her foot (she didn't complain once although the living room looked like a massacre had taken place whilst I was in the loo). Still to hear the outcome of this one but it'll be interesting to compare them both.

Carol

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

I can only agree with you Carol - Zada had to have some teeth taken out about 8/9 months ago (which M&S paid out with no problem) then she had to go back recently to get more out (even though we brush her teeth regularly and use many dental treatments, her teeth and gums had started to deteriorate) M&S again paid out with no questions.

Zada has now been diagnosed with c.u.p.s. (Chronic Ulcerative Paridental Stomatitis) which will mean regular scale and polish and other dental treatment for the rest of her life and M&S have been informed about this and have no issues whatsoever with paying for the treatment.

It would be interesting to hear if other insurance companies have been so fair with paying out.

Laura · Master

Hi, We have Rosie insured with PetPlan, as recommended by our vet. I think its about £20 a month and that will cover her either for 8 years or until she's 8 cant remember!! Then I think the price may go up after that as theres more risk of her doing damage when she older.

Thankfully my mum deals with all the really pricey stuff!!

greyflintstone · Master

A word to the wise ....... don't touch E&L with a bargepole!!!

7 weeks after we lost Freddy & we are still waiting for the payout! They have managed to lose 3 seperate claim forms - and claim it's either our vet or Royal Mail that are at fault! It's amazing that when it comes to collecting the money they're right on the ball, but paying out .... well that's a different matter!!

Sharon

Amanda · Master

Here here Sharon E&L were the exact reason for Phil starting this thread!!(Full story on page 1 of this thread) Not only did they loose forms and not pay out they had the nerve to try to charge our account for a service we didn't want (some sort of pet register - Blue is chipped and registered already) Needless to say we didn't renew

It just makes a dreadful time even worse. Sharon it must be so hard coping with the loss of your boy without E&L making it worse.

M&S have been great and best of all no excess!

greyflintstone · Master

Amanda wrote:

It just makes a dreadful time even worse. Sharon it must be so hard coping with the loss of your boy without E&L making it worse.

M&S have been great and best of all no excess!

Hi Amanda!

yes it has made it hard - I don't feel I can have full "closure" until this is all sorted!

Glad to hear M&S are good though as we've moved Wilma to them!!

Calatria · Master

Just got my renewal form in from M&S for Belle - they've got a £50 excess now!

Damn.

Teresa · Enlightened One

I got my renewal for Daisy from M & S too - same excess on mine and her premium has gone up from £10.07 to £16.62.

Oddly, tho, I've not heard from them about Dave's policy and his insurance started on the same day as Daisy's !

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

Calatria/Teresa, has the excess been added as your dogs have reached 8 years of age, or is it just something they've changed?

Teresa, that's quite a hike in the premium too.

I changed over to M & S a while back as they seemed excellent from what other peope were saying, but maybe too good, eh!!, so now they're upping things a bit to be in line with other companies.

I realise M & S insurance is through AXA. I noticed one of the letters they sent me they had printed 'Sainsbury's Pet Insurance' on the bottom in error!

Calatria · Master

Lita, the letter from M&S says

"Over the last year we have reviewed the product we offer you and have taken the decision to simplify the excess under the Veterinary Fees section. With effect from your renewal date, the excess under Section 1 - Veterinary Fees will be amended to:

If your pet is under 9 years of age at the time of treatment, you must pay the first £50 of the treatment costs per condition per period of insurance

If your pet is aged 9 years or over at the time of treatment, you must pay the first £50 or 15% of the treatment costs, whichever is the greater."

I don't know what they're on about "simplify" for - what could be simpler than no excess at all?

I think you're right, they're hiking the prices up to get in line with the other companies. So if anyone out there knows of a reliable pet insurance company with no excess, please post details here.

-- Edited by Calatria at 22:37, 2007-03-18

Teresa · Enlightened One

Lita, none of my dogs is over 9 years of age so I guess they're doing it to bring their product in line with other insurers - that and that fact that it's costing them too much to not have an excess !!

When we got Tom, in September last year, his premium came up at £22.50. Dave and Daisy were both costed at £10.07 two years previously so they've clearly had to re-price !

PeterE · Old Hand

Daz was with M&S but we also noticed the change in excess at the latest renewal so shopped around. Ended up with Sainsbury's because they happened to have a promotion on at the shop and were offering 10% off. It seemed to offer reasonable terms very similar to M&S. Turned out to be very very similar to M&S when the policy docs came through we noticed that both Sainsbury's and M&S are underwritten by AXA and were both pretty much the same policy. We also insured Tess with Sainsbury's. Don't know what they're like for claims. Daz's recent treatment for his back only went over the excess by £11 so we didn't claim.

Peter

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

Hi

Just been on the phone to M & S and they have explained to me that if you had £0 excess, then this continues until you change it, they cannot change this at any time. They do understand all the confusion on this matter with how it is written out.

So bottom line is you, if you have a £0 excess on your policy then this would not have changed.

Katie · Master

Thanks for clarifying that Siouxsie I've got all my animals with M&S Insurance, although we're not due to renew for ages, I worried a bit when I read this as it feels like we have been to the vet just about every week since the start of the year

what with Lulu's little mishaps, Sally has some ligament trouble, the cats both got a visit and Dust got two teeth out if we did not have £0 excess I think we would be bankrupt

Katie

-- Edited by Katie at 15:49, 2007-03-19

Jennifer · Master

Mine are with Direct Line and I have made my first claim with the xrays needed for Willow's spine. They havent settled the claim yet but i think it takes up to 8 weeks. I read at the bottom once i'd filled out the claim form that they didnt cover dogs that had been used for breeding, racing etc so not sure i'll get any money back at all

. So keeping my fingers crossed! If they ask i'll just say he was a stray and i dont know if he has raced or not - although the vet will no doubt put on the form that the injury has been caused by too much racing so im in a bit of a tizz

!! Anyone else noticed that excurision with their policy's? Im gonna change if i dont get any money back from them!

I used to have Millie with M&S but found their customer service was awful so cancelled!

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

I've never had a single problem with M&S. And with finding out about the £0 excess I am staying put :)

FAJ · Enlightened One

The one downside with M&S is that their policy premiums increase fairly substantially as your dog ages or if you have to make claims. Pearly's insurance went up from £10-odd to £16-odd per month when she turned 5. Harry's went up from £10-odd to £17-odd. Bummer. But still worth it for the peace of mind.

Steve and I often joke that some people have flash cars, designer clothes and fancy holidays but our dogs are our luxury item.

MojoTilly · Master

We're with m and s too - just took the policy out last month. Think when we were filling out details we were asked whether or not our dog had been used for racing etc so there may be an excemption for injuries due to racing days etc not sure though. Hope you get your money back Jennifer - eight weeks seems like an awful long time to wait for money when we claimed for Eeyore with his chemo we got paid within a few days and they never quibbled anything - wasn't m and s was endsleigh insurance but when we got Tilly the premium was a lot higher than M and S.

feldandjack · Guru

I have policies with E&L for two horses and one dog, in 20years I've only had one claim on one of the horses. They paid out pronto, with no questions asked. I pay just over £10 every 28days for the dog and £20 for a horse. I never insured my previous dogs and never had a vets bill high enough to make a claim, even if I had. It seems that nowadays vets ask first if you have insurance, then treat the animal. A few years ago, my vet would treat an animal the cheapest way pos. and only use expensive treatments if; a. you could afford it, & b. if the animal was worth it! I don't insure the oldies as the insurance refuses to pay out on all the things oldies suffer from. I know that E&L slap exclusions on any problem you claim on. (injury to a hoof may result in the whole leg being written off) you can end up with a policy that covers so little of the animal it's not worth having. At the end of the day I'm a coward, so I pay for public liability cover for all my animals, and vet cover for the ones that can get proper cover. Good luck with your search, If you find a good insurer, yet me know. Watch out for E&L increasing your cover by sending a nice letter saying how lucky you are to get their extra cover( for only x amount more per month) If you don't write to them saying you don't want to pay the extra they take it off your direct debit anyway.

PeterE · Old Hand

Hi
Not sure if there might be a bit of a misunderstanding with the M&S excess. My understanding is that if you are on a "no excess" policy then that remains for the duration of the current policy period only. When you renew for the next policy period its a new agreement with them and they will put on the £50 excess. Those who renewed a no-excess policy just before the change will benefit for a year but will then get the excess at renewal.

In my experience most vets bills for minor ailments and injuries are just too low to be claimable (Daz's recent bill came to £61). The peace of mind for if he's badly hurt or very ill is reassuring. But the third party liability cover for if your dog bites someone, kills something or causes an accident is essential.

Peter

Amanda · Master

feldandjack wrote:
Watch out for E&L increasing your cover by sending a nice letter saying how lucky you are to get their extra cover( for only x amount more per month) If you don't write to them saying you don't want to pay the extra they take it off your direct debit anyway.

Hi feldandjack.

We were with E&L and had no end of problems with them including the above which they applied AFTER we had cancelled or policy with them! Infact E&L were the reason Phil started this topic. (if you read from the start you'll find out the problems we had) I am pleased they paid out promptly for you though.

It is a tricky one. We have been really happy with M&S but will be shopping around when it is time to renew if they have changed the no excess policy

FAJ · Enlightened One

We've just renewed our policy with M&S for Harry and still have no excess. The wording was a bit confusing but the excess wasn't changed.

Calatria · Master

The friend who recommended M&S to me got her renewal in about six weeks ago, and had no excess. I had a look at her schedule last night, and the wording is different from mine. Under "Endorsements", the final line on her schedule says

"The veterinary fees excess (Section 1) is reduced to NIL"

That line is missing on my (Belle's) schedule.

We're calling them today, it's obviously just an error. Thanks to everyone for checking with M&S and having a good look at their own schedules.