Best insurance company?

[DressageCob]

I'm hoping to get a puppy very soon. My old dog was insured with Petplan all his life until we lost him in 2015. Never had any problems, although his monthly premium went up to about £100 once he turned 10.

Can anyone recommend a reliable insurance company? I'm wanting about £4-£5k vets fees, not fussed about the excess.

or any company to avoid?

 

[bonny]

I'm hoping to get a puppy very soon. My old dog was insured with Petplan all his life until we lost him in 2015. Never had any problems, although his monthly premium went up to about £100 once he turned 10.

Can anyone recommend a reliable insurance company? I'm wanting about £4-£5k vets fees, not fussed about the excess.

or any company to avoid?

Is that a mistake or did you really pay £100 a month to insure your dog ?

 

[cbmcts]

I have my dog insured with Co Op pet insurance. They use the same underwriters as Pet Plan but were literally a quarter of the price (£20 pm instead of £88 quoted by Pet Plan) for a 3 year old 55kg rottie/mastiff cross). 3 years later the renewal has gone up to £45 pm but there has only been one year that I didn't claim the full £5k, that year the claim was 'only' £2.5k...

Very easy to deal once we got over the issue of there not being any vet records prior to me having him as he's a rescue but to be fair, it only took a phone call to resolve after going round in circles via email. They pay up quickly through BACS (my vet doesn't take direct payments but RCVS did and they were happy to claim direct)

I don't work for them but do recommend them to everyone

Bonny

When I was getting quotes for a 3 yo thought to be healthy large breed for lifetime insurance £100pm was near the average cost for £5k pa cover. In fairness, even at that price I'd be quids in to date as it turns out that he has an autoimmune disease that was expensive to diagnose (MRis and CT Scans) and while the steroid treatment for life is cheap, last year it masked a really bad infection that needed a middle of the night dash to the RCVS with all the expense involved.

 

[DressageCob]

Is that a mistake or did you really pay £100 a month to insure your dog ?

that is really what we paid. I wasn’t in charge then as my parents footed the bill, but that’s what they were charged for £3k vets bills and public liability. He had only had one claim in his life before then, but it was a lot. He was poisoned by a toad which he chose to consume so was in hospital for a week. That got to about £1,200.

I’m sure we were overcharged but he was our first dog so we didn’t know if it was the norm or not. Plus they had paid out before so we trusted the coverage.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Ive always been with Animal Friends, when Diesel did his cruciate a few years ago they payed the vet very quickly and with my policy I had hydrotherapy too.

Both my Dobes current claims over Christmas and New Year for DCM has been dealt with quickly, I payed the vet the admin fee so I didnt have to deal with the paperwork.

The only thing I would say against them is they no longer do multi pet discount but as they are very reasonable anyway I dont see that as a problem.

 

[bonny]

Wow, you can probably guess I’ve never insured a dog but I’m amazed by these prices. Although I had my dog at the vets last week for a blood test and when I went to pay the bill asked if they had the wrong person so maybe I’m just very out of touch !

 

[blackcob]

Petplan are still the gold standard. Avoid E&L (they trade under many different names!)

£100 for lifetime cover on a 10 year old dog really isn't that unusual.

Things to check that may help you make the decision: If/who your vet will accept direct claims with, availability of pre-authorisations, complementary fees cover, dental cover, cruciate exclusions.

 

[satinbaze]

I have had excellent service from “lifetime pet cover” very similar policy to pet plan but almost half the price. They have been very prompt at paying out (recent claim for pyometra , abdo scan, and spay total bill over £2000) also v helpful when contacted by phone. Would highly recommend