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~Helen~

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I've read through various threads here about the pros and cons of pet insurance (rip-off, or vital factor of dog ownership) and thought I'd do what some K9ers have done and not have an official policy but squirrel away £20 a month in the building society, earning the interest for Josie and having a nice little nest egg to pay the vet should something terrible happen.

However, I've just had some literature through via the Kennel Club called Crufts Pet Healthcare which is a new plan for just £11.50 a month. This admittedly low and rather tempting sum covers veterinary fees up to £1500 for each and every illness or accident during the policy year, £1million third party, boarding kennel up to £500, holiday cancellation up to £1000, and a few free helplines.

What d'you all reckon - go for it or not? Seems v cheap as all the other quotes were £15-£20 per month. But there's bound to be a catch, isn't there. Does anyone know about this company, or already have this policy??

cheers,

Helen ;)
 
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What you have to look at is the EXCLUSIONS :eek: many insurance companies only pay out for a specifis treatment for 12 months , so if your dog developes say diabetes , they will only pay for the medicaion for 1 year :(

if you could put more than £20.00 away a month would be better , cos the rate of interest isnt worth bothering with at the moment and vets fees are soo high just for routine stuff. :angry:
 
With direct line it costs just under £9 per dog and that is for £4000 per illness. I do insure 5 dogs though so get a discount
 
ooh, thanks, both.

I'm going to take a quick peek at direct line.
 
Just thought I'd share this with you. Last year Pet Protect put my premiums up by £5 month to £23 even tho I'd never claimed. After shopping around on the internet I came across Marks and Spencers they charge £11 month for £7000 worth of vets fees and all the extras. I had to put my first claim in after " months and have been doing so regularly since. There is no hassle at all, they even pay my vet direct. And best of all there is no excess!!!! I've been assured that my premium will not go up next year as it is not calculated individually. Jess has now been referred to a specialist. They were not happy about direct payment, but I got onto the insurers direct and sorted it all for me. Whenever you speak to them they are really nice people. I can't recommend them enough. :D
 
:D You really do have to look around for pet insurance. I have a lifetime policy through NFU. This cots £15 per month. For this I get all the usual things plus £4000 per year vets bills.

However many policies when you come to renew after making a claim do not cover what you have claimed for plus any associated illnesses/areas. With this lifetime policy at the end of the 12 months you are re-insured for current illnesses.

We had to make a claim recently when our dog was quite ill with what turned out to be a virus. The bill ended up at £650. There was no quibble about paying and a speedy settlement.
 
Hi Helen!

I use RSPCA pet insurance. It costs £12.56/month, and 5% each month goes to the RSPCA.

Cover, up to £4000.00 for each condition (within a 12 month period). Excess £45.00 but you only pay that once for each condition treated. Excludes preventative/routiine/pregnancy related. Dental, cremation, out of hours unless deemed necassary by a vet.

Includes access to 24 hour pet advice line, legal away from home help etc.

Pet bereavement counselling.

£500 to board the animal if you are hospitalised, or £4 for some-one to come in.

Max £1000 for non-recoverable expenses if you cancel a holiday due to pet becoming lost or needing life-saving treatment.

Accidental death cover, and theft or straying (advertising etc).

Third party liability 1 million

I have claimed once when Archie ripped himself. It was no hassle, and they paid the vet direct.

You get a discount on any other animals you insure too.

Jo
 
Thanks to everyone who replied, and I've done a big shop around online. The M&S one worked out the best value for me - £10.65 a month and NO excess, and it looked a really good policy, the payments are up to £7000 (all the benefits were better than that Crufts one) and there a quite a few extras... like complementary medicines up to £250 which I thought was quite good.

However I'm STILL going to squirrel away that £20 a month now that I've set it up, and it can be Josie's treat fund for days out at companion dog shows and K9 conventions!! ;) (w00t)
 
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I will have to check that out. Sounds very reasonable.

Jo
 
We have the M&S Pet Insurance :thumbsup: It certainly seemed the best to us.
 
We've been meaning to insure ours for ages - just checked out the M&S and it looks excellent - think we will go with that one!! :) Thanks Jules!!
 
Glad I could help. I'm that impressed I've been telling everybody!! :D
 
I've been looking at the M&S policy for about 3 months now and been very tempted to switch Chelsea and Savannah over to it. I've been through the terms and conditions with a fine tooth comb several times and I can't find a catch. They are a HUGE savings on PetPlan and seem to offer better cover - and the few people I know who've had to claim have had no problems.

I have always been happy with Petplan, but having recently added a third dog whos premium was going to be another £18+ a month (which I'm happy to pay for a good product) I just couldn't justify it when I can get better cover for just over £11 a month from M&S - AND a discount for any additional dogs - which PetPlan doesn't offer if it's under 4 animals.

So - today I signed Telyn up with M&S and have also put Chelsea and Savannah across as well - I'll be cancelling my policy with PetPlan in 2 weeks when I'm sure everything is running smoothly.

The bottom line is that 2 were costing me £27.90 a month and would have gone up to £46 a month. With M&S I'm paying 32.07 for the three of them - only £4 more a month than I was paying with 2. AND their senior plan is MUCH better than PetPlan - which I have to consider as Chelsea is 7 and after next year she'll be a 'senior' according to the insurance policies.

I talked to PetPlan a couple of weeks ago to see if they could offer me anything comparable and the only things they could say was 'well we can change your plan to a cheaper one' (but I'm getting MORE from M&S already than I am with your expensive one :eek: ) and 'Well we've been doing this for xxxxxx years so know more of what we're talking about'. I'll give them a bit of credit for the second bit, but a savings of almost £200 a year is a BIG deal. They also tried to convince me that M&S wasn't cover for life, which was true a year ago, but not now.

Anyway, not trying to sway anyone one way or another. If we'd just stayed with the two dogs I would have stayed with PetPlan. They have been great and I've had NO problems with them and I do agree they've been doing this a long time and know their stuff - but they just don't seem to provide any incentive to stay when you've got several dogs.

I just hope I don't live to regret this! :- "

Wendy
 
Cor, M&S sounds too good to be true doesn't it! It is a lifetime cover policy, same as petplan (with whom we are currently insured). I'm off to get a quote myself!!!

Thanks :thumbsup:
 
I'm afraid that I don't read through policies "with a fine tooth comb"....though I know that I should........But I am under the impression that it's VERY difficult to insure a dog which races and courses.

I have no insurance, but obviously use the vet regularly(several vets, actually, depending upon what the problem is).....I have just taken Twister for an infected nail bed (she broke a nail a few days ago), and found that the vet owes us £50, which was a nice surprise!..a course of antibiotics for nothing, and still £20 to the good :thumbsup:
 
John E Greenwood said:
I'm afraid that I don't read through policies "with a fine tooth comb"....though I know that I should........But I am under the impression that it's VERY difficult to insure a dog which races and courses.
I didn't see anytyhing one way or the other on that point, but certainly worth checking if you race or course your dogs. I know that some insurance policies won't cover things happening while 'working' and they may consider racing or coursing as working.

I do know they don't cover anything to do with breeding.

Wendy
 
Just bumping this up to the top for information purposes!

:b

Helen
 
Helena said:
Just bumping this up to the top for information purposes!
:b

Helen
thanks helen :thumbsup: :thumbsup: miss this thread :oops: :oops:
 
Someone suggested that after having to claim with my 'blockage ordeal' with Chelsea that I should put the results on this thread just to let people know how it went.

Chelsea had only been insured with them for about 6 weeks (transferred from petplan) when she got the blockage from the bonemeal. The total cost was just under £1200. Most was paid directly to the surgery and there was a small amount that I had had to pay to the emergency clinic over the first weekend, so they were to pay it to me.

Vets filled out all the paperwork with what was due to them and to me - and we were both paid within 2 weeks of sending it off. No questions no hassles!

Was speaking with the vet today when I was there with Savvy for something else and he was asking about them as he said a lot of the new 'comparable ones' to Pet Plan all sound great, but the proof is in paying of the claims. And I can say that with a BIG claim like this there was no delay in payment so I think we're on to a winner here.

Wendy
 

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