# Dog Insurance



## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

Hello

I'm looking for a good insurance cover, who are widely accepted & pay the vets directly after the excess.

Any recommendations or complicated claims ? please.

Thanks 

(I'm leaning towards petplan at the moment)


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## cheshiregordon (Sep 24, 2011)

I buy pet insurance mainly for the third party cover. I'm with Tesco at present but that could change at renewal.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We are with Tesco

£2500 limit on one illness

And yes we've had to pay out a lot in excess

But we have a hound who is very very well

Or bordering at deaths door 8O 

Have been pleased so far with the cover within the limits we choose

Aldra


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Only one place vets trust is Pet Plan. PP will sort pre-authorisation in majority of cases if needed... say they were to have a major op done and you do not have the money to pay and claim back... ring and get it pre authed. So long as it is pet plan then vets are happy... other companies will do it pre-auth but not to the extent that PP do.

If a couple of things are done say remove a cyst and remove a lump in the same op a lot of companies charge 2 excesses on one operation 

Do not put huge leap ups on your cover each year. 

If 4 samples are sent off for histo lots will only pay for 1 lump even though generally the labs allow 4 lumps. The ins. companies divide the cost of the histo by 4 even though it is not/lump. 

And so many other nasty sneaky tricks.

I think it was Halifax sent a letter out to cancel all policies as they didn't want to do pet ins anymore. I think the ombudsman made them continue with clients they had as any pets with problems or to old were not insurable to others.... but l lost track of that little jaunt.

Make sure you get the for life policy not one that needs re doing every year or insurance companies will only cover for that year even though it may be a life long problem.

Also often if not for life it ends when the pet reaches about 10yrs old...just when problems may well kick in as they get older.

And don't fall for places that offer £....k policy or £.../per condition once that money is gone it is gone and you will pay a fortune. And it doesnt take long for money to be chewd through esp. if it is referral as so often is needed. A for life with pet plan is for life. 

And make sure your pets vaccination stays up to date for all insurances.

If you are swapping from another company make sure you declare any problems. If they say had a sore leg a few months ago they will generally discount that from insurance for a year but if there was no further problems then can ask them after 1yr to reinstate. 

Hope above helps ... no l am not paid by pet plan l just hate the other companies behaviour for every good story there is to many bad that is seen most days in practice :-(


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## froggy59 (Jan 18, 2009)

we are with Tesco and they are paying the vet direct every month.
but just had the renewal and its gone up to £35 per month for our diabetic cocker.
but they have been very good  

Alan


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## Jamsieboy (Jan 14, 2011)

Pet Plan for me very time.
I had cover for two Boxers. One with Pet Plan and one with Direct Line.
IMHO Pet Plan were streets ahead and the premium increased steadily over the years. Direct Line increased by much more and in my experience were less helpful to deal with and we waited longer for payment.

Both Boxers were the same age and last year aged 11. Premium with PetPlan £61pm Direct Line £101pm. The one with PetPlan had the poorer health!!


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## The-Cookies (Nov 28, 2010)

pet plan here to, only downside as with all insures i would think is premiums and excesses rise as the dog gets older, £39 here now per month, also £120 excess + 20% of the claim.

but have never had any problems with the claims we have made.


John


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## Jimblob44 (Oct 26, 2013)

We have all our pets (2 dogs, 3 cats) insured with pet plan, we have never had any problems and they have never declined a claim, in fact our vet swears they are the only company that doesn't put him through administrative hoops on a claim. The vet fills in the form and gets paid and we pay whatever the excess is to him.

My border collie Ben needed a pacemaker and spinal surgery and cost was astronomical but petplan came through and took a lot of the stress and worry away, I don't have any knowledge about how good other insurers may be but I don't believe we will be changing from PP anytime soon.
Jim.


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

M&S. Had it 12 years now, excellent, good cover levels, great service. Vet has no issues with it


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## Jamsieboy (Jan 14, 2011)

One thing to watch if you are thinking of changing insurer. The new insurer will exclude pre-existing conditions and is likely to ask for a history from your vet to ensure existing conditions and maybe even symptoms previously recorded may exclude a new claim.


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## shirleydeputy (Jul 31, 2009)

We are with More Than now after we discovered that our Pet plan policy of last year reduced the 3rd party coverage by half when out of the UK. I resented paying for the upgrade! 
I can't review More than for their service reference to pets but they were good when I had to claim on home insurance some time ago! Good luck! 
Shirley


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## scrinchy (Jul 17, 2007)

I did a comparison between Pet Plan, m+S, John Lewis and Saga for our new little pup. Went with Saga. One of my main criteria was public liability for Spanish campsite.


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