Pet Insurance

[Guest wanted]

Introducing Sindbad!

 

Edited October 26, 2009 by wanted

[WJM]

There was an excess I had to pay, I don't remember the amount. But I do remember the two cheques for £2k which came very soon after the claim went in.

[Guest]

There was an excess I had to pay, I don't remember the amount. But I do remember the two cheques for £2k which came very soon after the claim went in.

 

 

Cheers - for a moment there I thought we'd found the 'Holy Grail' of pet insurance.

 

PS that ruddy fly still won't die, no matter how many times I swat it.... :lol: :lol:

[WotEver]

Do check out MoreThan while you're at it. They were HALF the price of any comparable quote when we recently took out two policies and they cover any condition for the life of the pet, not just the life of the (one year) policy.

 

Tony

Just to resurrect this thread, one of our pups has sadly had to have remedial surgery on her rear legs. So far the bill is over £3,500 and is set to grow by at least another £1500 by the time all the surgery is complete. More Than have paid promptly without a murmer. They've also accepted that the two legs are two different claims, so we have a total of £14,000 cover for both legs. They're even happy to deal direct with the vets so we only have the excess to pay.

 

So it's a ringing endorsment from me for More Than pet insurance.

 

Tony

[Guest]

Just to resurrect this thread, one of our pups has sadly had to have remedial surgery on her rear legs. So far the bill is over £3,500 and is set to grow by at least another £1500 by the time all the surgery is complete. More Than have paid promptly without a murmer. They've also accepted that the two legs are two different claims, so we have a total of £14,000 cover for both legs. They're even happy to deal direct with the vets so we only have the excess to pay.

 

So it's a ringing endorsment from me for More Than pet insurance.

 

Tony

 

Just so we have the complete picture - how much was the excess you had to pay??

[WotEver]

Just so we have the complete picture - how much was the excess you had to pay??

£125 I think. But that's per claim, so if there are for instance a series of operations (we had two on one leg) then they can just be put through as one claim once they're all completed. That's what we did, so leg 1 was one claim, and two operations on leg 2 was a second claim.

 

However... it's about to get interesting and I'll report back, because the initial operations were unsucessful and she's now had to go to a specialist. The interesting bit will be whether More Than consider it a fresh claim (they shouldn't, to my mind) or whether they will accept it as an ongoing part of the initial claim (as they should in my opinion).

 

Tony

[MartinC]

More Th>n is a better policy than most. Just two points to bear in mind:

 

The ongoing cover for existing treatment is, as one would expect, subject to your renewing the policy. However there does not appear to be any guarantee that the renewal premium will not be increased.

 

The excess can also be increased (Special Condition on the last page of the policy), currently for dog under 9 £70 plus 10% of vets bill per claim, per policy year.

 

That said I am sure that a company with the reputation of Royal Sun Alliance would not take undue advantage. Has anybody raised this with them?

[WotEver]

£70 plus 10% of vets bill per claim, per policy year.

Yes, that's right. I'm at work and couldn't remember.

 

Tony

[ionadragon]

Cheers all, will start the research now! I guess it's based on personal opinion and situation. I'll also have to look into curtain insurance which seem to be doubling up as swings!

 

Thanks again

 

Pet Plan and Marks and Spencer are probably the best - they pay out without quibbling and continue to pay for ongoing treatment year on year.

[alan_fincher]

Pet Plan and Marks and Spencer are probably the best - they pay out without quibbling and continue to pay for ongoing treatment year on year.

We looked at PetPlan because when we got our dog Charlie from the rescue centre, he came with 30 days "free" cover from them , clearly designed to entice you to use them.

 

When I actually looked at the cost of carrying on with them, even their so called "Value" plan, (that really has very low cover levels), the prices I was being quoted were truly eye-watering. Not quite that they had the decimal place in the wrong place, but getting that way. They would have to be offering something very exceptional, but they didn't seem to be.

 

Rightly or wrongly I have just gone with the alarmingly named "Protect Your Bubble", which I had never heard of, but appears to use the same underlying underwriters and web-site structure as things like Homebase, but with considerably lower premiums.

 

I suppose only time will tell, but delving into the small print seemed to yield no greater nasties than other people charging far more.

 

More than, by the way, also came up fairly expensive, (but certainly not in the PetPlan league!), but I was discouraged that even for a young dog you have to pay 10% of the bill on top of any excess you have already paid.

 

So, if I read it correctly, if you did end up claiming the full £7,500 "per condition", then you woold have to shell out something of the order of £75 + £750 (£825) of your own cash, anyway. Or do I have that wrong ?

[Midnight Rider]

Stay away from Equine & Livestock --- also trading as Pet Insurance.Com.

 

Reasonable premiums, but a nightmare to claim.

 

It took months to force some money from them -- they wrongly claimed it was a pre existing condition.

 

I dropped them as soon as they paid up.

 

Tony

[tillergirl]

just moved from healthy pets to esure and saved a packet. not the gold package (and they only do 2) 3 years old border collie £5.78 a month. £75 excess.

[Guest]

£125 I think.

 

Sorry I would know, don't you have a receipt or bank statement.

 

How strange....

[MartinC]

Sorry I would know, don't you have a receipt or bank statement.

 

How strange....

 

Tony has replied to this (5.50pm yesterday). Excess is £70 plus 10% of vets bill per claim and per policy year, so this is a fair chunk of money., depending when the policy year ends, and assuming they do not exercise their right to increase to increase the excess as a condition of renewal. Noted that treating it as two claims increases the total excess.

 

I steer clear of pet insurance. Having worked in the insurance industry all my working life (now retired and enjoying boating) I am well aware of the loopholes open to insurers and the attitude of many claims handlers. There are very few non-life policies which have any right of renewal. The insurer is otherwise free to alter any terms of the policy at renewal, increase the premium or even not invite renewal. Mind you, in view of the statement made in their publicity by More Th>n concerning the "run on" situation for a claim, I think that even the FSA would get tough if they refused a renewal, or tried to remove the "run on" provision where there was an outstanding claim. They would, however, in view of the "Special Condition" be entitled to increase the excess, in practice you are reliant on their risk to reputation.

 

I have owned pets for 40 years plus and I know that my total vet bills have been significantly less than premium costs less amounts that would have been recovered as claims. Remember insurers are not charities, in simple terms if net claims plus (a very big plus) overheads exceed net premiums plus investment income the company will be out of business.

[Guest]

Tony has replied to this (5.50pm yesterday). Excess is £70 plus 10% of vets bill per claim and per policy year, so this is a fair chunk of money., depending when the policy year ends, and assuming they do not exercise their right to increase to increase the excess as a condition of renewal. Noted that treating it as two claims increases the total excess.

 

I steer clear of pet insurance. Having worked in the insurance industry all my working life (now retired and enjoying boating) I am well aware of the loopholes open to insurers and the attitude of many claims handlers. There are very few non-life policies which have any right of renewal. The insurer is otherwise free to alter any terms of the policy at renewal, increase the premium or even not invite renewal. Mind you, in view of the statement made in their publicity by More Th>n concerning the "run on" situation for a claim, I think that even the FSA would get tough if they refused a renewal, or tried to remove the "run on" provision where there was an outstanding claim. They would, however, in view of the "Special Condition" be entitled to increase the excess, in practice you are reliant on their risk to reputation.

 

I have owned pets for 40 years plus and I know that my total vet bills have been significantly less than premium costs less amounts that would have been recovered as claims. Remember insurers are not charities, in simple terms if net claims plus (a very big plus) overheads exceed net premiums plus investment income the company will be out of business.

 

Agree 100% -

[WotEver]

So, if I read it correctly, if you did end up claiming the full £7,500 "per condition", then you woold have to shell out something of the order of £75 + £750 (£825) of your own cash, anyway. Or do I have that wrong ?

Yes, that's correct, you don't have it wrong.

 

With the policy costs only being £10/m for the first dog and £8/m for the second, we considered that the 10% cost to us for any ongoing claim was a good balance between having no insurance and having insurance with a lower excess but eye-wateringly expensive premiums (and lower cover) as offered by companies such as PetPlan, who we've used in the past.

 

With our last dog we were paying something like £40/m by the end of her life and PetPlan wouldn't pay out on a claim because they considered it to be a continuation of a claim we'd made around 7 years previously. If I recall correctly, the claim was only for a couple of hundred quid.

 

As MartinC observes, any insurance is a balance. If you don't need it or only ever make a small claim then it could be considered a waste of money. If you do need it and the cover isn't sufficient it could also be considered a waste of money. So far we're relieved that the cost of CAT scans, numerous x-rays and 4 operations with at least one more to go on the poor little thing have been 90% covered by the insurance. A total of £216 paid in premiums in the first year, and claims totalling nearly £5,000 so far. Yes, MoreThan could insist on raised premiums next year but we'd also have the choice to not renew. Of course, unless they went really silly with any renewal costs we'd not consider cancelling the policy, and if we end up paying back all we've claimed (and maybe more) through our premiums over the lifetime of the dogs then I don't consider that as unfair to either party.

 

Tony

 

Quick edit to add that the OP was asking about recommendations for Pet policies and the only reason I resurrected the thread was to say that in my opinion we have a good deal with our insurers. Others may disagree.

Edited May 17, 2010 by WotEver

[Smelly]

Having done a significant amount of debt advice over the years...

 

I could afford pet insurance to an extent and in my time have shipped a couple of 600 quid bills out of pocket as a result of not doing so. A system I have seen is where vets ask payment by an installment "arrangement". It's been quite common but to be fair I've never asked "have you been compelled to put your pets down as you can't afford their vets' bills?" as part of the work up, so know not whether my experience is significant, however I've known a couple of people with diabetic cats pay a huge amount in medication who could afford it.

 

I tend to aggregate moggies who have evolved to the best of health so do not worry too much, although as they age this becomes more of a concern; although as my overheads decrease those concerns may change.

 

The crux is probably summed up with this: In the absence of a Hippocratic oath (?) should a vet deny treatment if there is a means of payment; albeit drawn out?

 

Admittedly I don't know how PDSA work and possibly their "dispensary" badge belies an inevitable philosophy however is there any form of safety net we can rely on other than "dispensing"?

[WotEver]

Indeed. I consider that £18/m for excellent cover for two dogs with an (arguably) high excess is a good balance.

 

For us.

 

As i said above, others may disagree.

 

Tony

[Amduck]

When we got our greyhound we contemplated not having insurance, as we never claimed for our previous dog in about 11 years. Boy, were we grateful we did when she decided to eat a lasagne for 4, complete with most of the crockery dish it had been in, after opening the microwave (where it had been put for "safety from the dog") and dragging it out Five hours of emergency surgery on a Friday night don't come cheap!

 

Frankly, one of the main reasons we did take it out was for 3rd party cover, in case she got loose, ran on the road and caused an accident - so if we were cat people, I think we might well not bother.

 

We're not with PetPlan, but several vets have suggested that they are the gold standard. Having recently been trawling through the small print of travel insurance, I think there might be an element of you get what you pay for with insurance.

[Guest]

As i said above, others may disagree.

Tony

 

Well at the second invite to disagree yes I do......

 

As I have said a few times in here Pet insurance is the best form of legalised robbery ever invented. It really is not simple to work it out.

 

On average they need to calculate their income (premiums plus policy excesses plus vet fee contributions) - this equals A

 

They then need to work out how much they have to pay out including validated claims, staff and infrastructure costs (including the flashy marketing and website costs) this equals B

 

If B exceeds A they are doomed.....so they ensure A exceeds B,

 

as Alex would say Simples....

Edited May 20, 2010 by MJG

[WotEver]

Well at the second invite to disagree yes I do......

 

As I have said a few times in here Pet insurance is the best form of legalised robbery ever invented. It really is not simple to work it out.

 

On average they need to calculate their income (premiums plus policy excesses plus vet fee contributions) - this equals A

 

They then need to work out how much they have to pay out including validated claims, staff and infrastructure costs (including the flashy marketing and website costs) this equals B

 

If B exceeds A they are doomed.....so they ensure A exceeds B,

 

as Alex would say Simples....

But that's the case with any insurance. Be it life, travel, motor, pet or whatever. It's a balance of risk versus cost. For both parties. I don't see why you single out pet insurance as a special case.

 

Tony

[Guest]

But that's the case with any insurance. Be it life, travel, motor, pet or whatever. It's a balance of risk versus cost. For both parties. I don't see why you single out pet insurance as a special case.

Tony

 

Of course it is - I single pet insurance out because it is optional most of the others are are compulsory either because it's a legal requirement like motor insurance, or a condition of something like life insurance associated with a mortgage - I could also mention extended warranties from the likes of Curry's and PC world.

 

These are optional and I guess my opinion of pet insurance is possibly tainted by the bad experience I had with it which I think I referred to earlier in this or another thread.

 

It's just a view, you and others are entitled to disregard/ignore it if you wish, I just think it has serious pitfalls particularly if your pet develops an ongoing condition from very young - you try an get a competitive quote from an alternative provider then - no chance

 

- you get locked in to your existing provider who then year on year escalates the premiums and reduces the benefits.

[Morat]

I reckon with pet insurance you either don't bother or you go all the way, we have Pet Plan for two Basset Hounds because they are capable of eating just about anything and they can also get bad backs late in life. The bad news is that it is £35/month. The good news is that there is one excess of £70 per year, no matter how many claims you make.

 

We have two sisters from the same litter, Myrtle and Spot. Myrtle managed to trap her head in the electric gates at work and had to be rushed in but luckily no operation required. Spot has had four attacks of Hemorrhagic GastroEnteritis (the first one very nearly killed her) which has cost over £5000 in Vet's Bills so far - and can strike again at any time. they've also had a few other minor things but those were the two lowlights so far.

 

Pet Plan paid up without a quibble for everything. Premiums have not changed.

[Guest]

I reckon with pet insurance you either don't bother or you go all the way, we have Pet Plan for two Basset Hounds because they are capable of eating just about anything and they can also get bad backs late in life. The bad news is that it is £35/month. The good news is that there is one excess of £70 per year, no matter how many claims you make.

 

We have two sisters from the same litter, Myrtle and Spot. Myrtle managed to trap her head in the electric gates at work and had to be rushed in but luckily no operation required. Spot has had four attacks of Hemorrhagic GastroEnteritis (the first one very nearly killed her) which has cost over £5000 in Vet's Bills so far - and can strike again at any time. they've also had a few other minor things but those were the two lowlights so far.

 

Pet Plan paid up without a quibble for everything. Premiums have not changed.

 

Strange - as PetPlan was the very company I had the issues with I referred to above.

[Lady Muck]

Pet Plan and Marks and Spencer are probably the best - they pay out without quibbling and continue to pay for ongoing treatment year on year.

 

I use Marks and Spencer, I've claimed a few times (the dog is accident prone and it doesn't help that our mooring is a tip at the best of times) , absolutely fine, no quibbling. I'm really happy.