Pet Insurance

[Quam256]

Looking around for some pet insurance for a cat.
I have tried the compare sites,but would also like any suggestions on costs and cover as they can vary a lot.

[Mick Fisher]

My Daughter always uses Tesco pet insurance.

[Quam256]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

My Daughter always uses Tesco pet insurance.

Will have a look thanks.

[joglynne]

Try to go for Life Time cover as some of the cheaper quotes you will come across will only pay out a set amount for any illness and once you have reached that limit cover ceases. OK for one off problems but cats can get conditions that can last for years. Once you have exhausted your cover other insurers will refuse to cover for that illness as they will rule it to be a pre-existing condition. Also think seriously about the total amount per year that you are covered for, a broken leg can rack up the £s.

Some companies are happier paying a Vet direct, such as Pet Plan which means you would only need to pay any excess up front and it may pay you to have a word at the Veterinary Practice you plan to use to see which companies they recommend and deal with, though be aware that the Vets will understandably favor Insurers who pay them direct as their fees will be guaranteed to be covered.

I have also seen good reports about Vets Medicover

I am with SAGA and can recommend them as a company to deal with. Fast payout and no pillar to post passing you around when you phone them up.

I also have a link to a comparison site you may not have seen as it was compiled by a member of a Pets forum I visit.

http://comparepetcare.co.uk/cat-insurance/

Good luck sorting out your insurance and be prepared to tear your hair out trying to compare like for like, I almost lost the will to live.

Oh and don't forget to post a pictures.

add, just come across this article on Money savings expert which covers a lot of ground.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ins...nsurance-costs

[Quam256]

Thanks for the info joglynne
I should have said cats, 3 altogether a mother and 2 kittens.

[soup dragon]

we use tesco for our 2 cats, had 1 claim so far and only paid the excess. no hassles.

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by Quam256

Thanks for the info joglynne
I should have said cats, 3 altogether a mother and 2 kittens.

You're welcome Quam, it sounds as though you are in for a fun time just make sure you get a multiple pet discount. I had to do all the comparisons myself in January so the pain is still fresh.

Oh and if you are planning on getting them chipped keep an eye open for the policies that give you a discount towards the chipping costs or check with your local RSPCA as they sometimes offer free chipping and will always happily accept a donation to help with the kittens less fortunate than yours.

[v0id]

Also don't forget if you're eligible (or if you know anyone who is ) you can get vet care and male cat de-sexing from your local PDSA Petaid clinic for free

[MikeyB]

From our recent experience with Halifax pet insurance I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They have messed us about so much with the last few claims for our dog, and they currently have a backlog of claims it's taking nearly two months before they even look at a claim.

One claim for ongoing treatment they requested more & more info from the vets to the point they wanted complete medical history, but why now after about 3 years of this ongoing treatment, held the claim up for about 6 weeks.

Saying we'll get the full amount then the cheque arrived £150 down, say they changed their mind it's a new case so took off the excess when it clearly wasn't, took the vet some time to convince them it was the same course of treatment.

And lastly claim somehow changed it from an operation on her ear to a split tounge and were questioning why the vets bill was so much and would not pay any where near the amount.

We'd love to changed but she has an existing ongoing condition so no one else will start insurance on her.

[joglynne]

That sounds like a nightmare MikeyB. It must be very frustrating knowing they have you over a barrel like that. I shall make sure that your experiences are passed on to any members thinking of using Halifax pet Insurance on the Pet Forums I visit. Bad service deserves bad publicity.

[tink4rbell]

Originally Posted by joglynne

Try to go for Life Time cover as some of the cheaper quotes you will come across will only pay out a set amount for any illness and once you have reached that limit cover ceases. OK for one off problems but cats can get conditions that can last for years. Once you have exhausted your cover other insurers will refuse to cover for that illness as they will rule it to be a pre-existing condition. Also think seriously about the total amount per year that you are covered for, a broken leg can rack up the £s.

Some companies are happier paying a Vet direct, such as Pet Plan which means you would only need to pay any excess up front and it may pay you to have a word at the Veterinary Practice you plan to use to see which companies they recommend and deal with, though be aware that the Vets will understandably favor Insurers who pay them direct as their fees will be guaranteed to be covered.

I have also seen good reports about Vets Medicover

I am with SAGA and can recommend them as a company to deal with. Fast payout and no pillar to post passing you around when you phone them up.

I also have a link to a comparison site you may not have seen as it was compiled by a member of a Pets forum I visit.

http://comparepetcare.co.uk/cat-insurance/

Good luck sorting out your insurance and be prepared to tear your hair out trying to compare like for like, I almost lost the will to live.

Oh and don't forget to post a pictures.

add, just come across this article on Money savings expert which covers a lot of ground.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ins...nsurance-costs

I recently had a quote for life cover off Petplan and they wanted 25 pounds per month. Tesco although not life cover charge under 8.

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by tink4rbell

I recently had a quote for life cover off Petplan and they wanted 25 pounds per month. Tesco although not life cover charge under 8.

To be fair you can't compare Insurance charges unless you do so using a Like for Like comparison. So a Life Cover policy such as the one you quote by PetPlan costing £25 will always be under cut by any other insurance policy that restricts payout to a singe course of treatment with a lower total payout cover, or whose so called Life Time cover limits you to only ever being able to claim a set amount for a specific treatment and once you have used that amount you can never claim for that problem again.

A true life time cover will have a restriction on the amount you can claim per condition per year but you can keep claiming that amount every year as long as you pay the premiums.

As I said in my original post sorting out pet insurance isn't easy, thank heavens for the internet, and needs a quiet room and a stiff drink afterwards to recover.

[ComparePetCare]

Originally Posted by joglynne

I also have a link to a comparison site you may not have seen as it was compiled by a member of a Pets forum I visit.

http://comparepetcare.co.uk/cat-insurance/

Thanks for the mention joglynne

We found this thread/forum after seeing a few visitor clicks from this URL today, so thought we'd drop by to see if we can offer any assistance.

Originally Posted by joglynne

To be fair you can't compare Insurance charges unless you do so using a Like for Like comparison. So a Life Cover policy such as the one you quote by PetPlan costing £25 will always be under cut by any other insurance policy that restricts payout to a singe course of treatment with a lower total payout cover, or whose so called Life Time cover limits you to only ever being able to claim a set amount for a specific treatment and once you have used that amount you can never claim for that problem again.

A true life time cover will have a restriction on the amount you can claim per condition per year but you can keep claiming that amount every year as long as you pay the premiums.

This is spot on, it's an unfair comparison to match up a lifelong policy against a standard policy, as the potential for pay outs on a lifelong policy is that much greater.

If you can afford a lifelong policy then this would be recommended as it gives you that extra peace of mind, we've actually put together a separate page of the lifelong policies on our site too: http://comparepetcare.co.uk/lifelong-pet-insurance/

Hope that helps in some way, and good luck finding a suitable policy - it can be a real headache (the reason we started our site in the first place was frustration when trying to find our own pet insurance!)

[joglynne]

Hi Comparepetcare and Welcome to our forum.

I hope we didn't worry you when you started to get unexplained hits from this URL. I am sorry that I didn't warn you in advance that I was posting a link to your site but it was very helpful when I realised what a minefield pet insurance could be and I had hoped it would prove just as useful to our members on CF.

[Quam256]

I have been looking at the compares ,the John Lewis one seems ok.