Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: AliCat on March 11, 2008, 15:54:15 PM
-
Hello!
I was just wonder who people use for their cat insurance? Dawn (the cheesey one) has recommended AXA to me, but there are so many out there, I wanted to make sure we are getting the best deal and the most stuff covered.
Any recommendations?
:thanks:
-
I would agree with the Cheesy one. I've got one with AXA and one with Tesco. I did the Tesco one before I found out about AXA.
The cheapest isn't always the best with pet insurance and there are loads of things to consider. It's a bit of a minefield :Crazy: . For example, the payouts vary per year/per condition etc... so using Purrs members' recommendations is always a good place to start!
My 13yo boy cost me less than £100 to insure (AXA) for the year which I think is brilliant. Cpl Smokey (2 1/2yo) costs £6/month with Tesco but I can't remember how the cover compares.
-
I'm thirding the Axa idea, but I'm sure there will be others with alternatives lol :)
-
I am with AXA too
-
I strongly recommend Halifax pet insurance, reasonable price, decent cover (even covers dental once you've had a policy for 2 years) and they pay out very quicly with no hassle.
-
AXA or petplan, im worried about axa putting prices up again, they have already done one increase :scared: petplan are more pricey but everywhere seems to be catching up in cost.
-
I'm with petplan and happy with it, although it's not the cheapest and their excess for older cats is rather high. I think petplan, Axa and Halifax seem to be the most recommended on here.
I'll move this to health and behaviour where it will get more views ;D
-
How much are you covered for with Halifax Lottie?
-
Bilbo's got £1000 a year cover (£69 last year) and Miss Boopy has got £6000 a year I think (£102 last year) as she's got the 'xtra' policy.
-
I'm probably getting halifax if I get my 2, its been recommended on here, I get £20 cashback from quidco.com plus 5% off for online signup and 10% off for mulitple pets.
-
AXA is better then, so i shall continue to recommend it - I would rather have an extra £1k per year.
-
I've always used petplan. My 2 cats are on it at present and iot costs £40p/m for both on the mid range scale with an excess of £80 per cat per year per illness. It also covers dental work as long as they have annual vet check ups (which they do during booster vaccine time).
-
I'm with Direct Line, have been since I got Lexy. No probs with them. Good cover.
-
Can anyone answer this question? :scared:
I'm with direct line, and they've just put the excess up from £50 to £70.
Merlin is 10 this year, so i'm not sure whether this is the reason.
How does this excess figure compare with other peoples insurance? :Crazy:
Thanks!
-
my excess is £80 and thats for young cats!
-
Can anyone answer this question? :scared:
I'm with direct line, and they've just put the excess up from £50 to £70.
Merlin is 10 this year, so i'm not sure whether this is the reason.
How does this excess figure compare with other peoples insurance? :Crazy:
Thanks!
Ours went up to £80 in Jan with Direct Line and Jess is only 22 months and we'd never claimed till now.
-
All five of my cats are insured with Animal friends Insurance, I have to pay a £49 excess they are all on the gold super policy which covers them up to £4k per condition per year and I pay them £10.38 pm for this. Not exactly sure why I chose them against any other insurance company. One person say's one thing about one insurance company then somone else say's something about another. For me it's a complete minefield. I don't ever see AFI mentioned on here so I hazzard a guess that they might be a bit iffy or people have had bad experiences with them. Hopefully none of my cats will need to find out.
-
Thanks fellow furrie lovers!
Perhaps my £70 excess isn't soooo bad after all! (4k vet fees cover aswell). ;D
-
I'm thinking of creating a "cost of my three's insurance" doc so I can copy and paste in future ;) but here goes again
All with Axa and each with £50 excess and £7000 per annum cover each i.e. cover not limited per condition so could be covered for a condition for life.
Tom aged 18 premium £10 per month
Freddie aged 6 just under £6 per month
Billy Whiz aged nearly 4 just over £6 per month (arranged after premiums went up a few months back)
I haven't heard of better cover from anyone else altho share worry that premiums may increase again this year. Petplan have good cover and peeps say they pay out quickly but it is very expensive, excess very high and crazy for elderly cats like Mr Tom
If anyone thinking of changing from any company to another, remember best do it before your cat becomes ill as companies will not cover existing conditions.
-
Thats impressive R, my quote for 17yo Zi was £14.50 with Axa, and £14.98 with Sainsburys (and I already have a policy with Sainsbury's).
I wouldnt touch Animal Friends, partly cos £4k isn't enough, an MRI could cost you £2k, and that doesn't include any treatmetn before or after. I also think they are underwritten by E & L, who haven't got a good reputation for paying out. Their excess for older cats is one of the worst too.
What cover does Direct Line provide? I like to know, as I do recommend insurance to people who adopt from me.
-
Just came up on the year end for my M&S insurance as they put Penguin (who's down as 6yrs old) up to £10 a month!
So I called and cancelled and I'm trying Lloyds TSB's pet insurance for a year.
-
With Lexy's cystitis being so unpredictable, until she's well and truly on an even stretch I have to stay with Direct Line. First premiums were £8 when she first moved in. Now they're up to £12 a month with so many claims. Have to stay with them now and hopefully the premiums won't keep increasing. She's only 5 next month :Luv:
-
I agree with Rosella ;D
I am also with AXA and have Misa aged 6 £5.69. Sasa aged 10 £6,56, Franta aged 14 £9.19 (pedigree) and Ducha aged 14yrs £ 9.67 (pedigree and 3 legs). I think I insured Ducha first, big mistake LOL and the other three had the discount on.
£50 excess on each and £7000 cover
Like Rosella I was with dreaded M&S who I reckon must have lost most customers by now and I was paying well over £60 a month for the 4 when M&S put up their prices, dropped the NIL excess etc etc.
-
I am a bit worried now as I took out M & S insurance starting last month. Do you think I should change?
-
Hi MM. I think Helen (TiggysMum) was the "expert" on altered M&S cover but think cover altered after M&S no longer underwritten by Axa. There's a thread somewhere but have you tried getting an online quote for Charlie with Axa just to compare cost. I think I'm right in saying that Axacover is at least as good as M&S but don't quote me.
-
If I remember rightly, both Axa and M & S both over the same amoutn, I don't know if there are any other differences. Axa were 48p a month cheaper for Zi (but would have been more if I didn't get a second pet discount through Sainsbury's)
-
Wasn't their something in new M&S cover about telephoning insurance company before taking cat in for out of hours visit?
-
Yep, and I also think M & S have changed the rules on prescription food - I know someone has.
-
Mine are insured with petplan, layla cost just over 80 a year & sisco is 108 a year. Layla's kittens i also insure with petplan before they leave and kind of drill it into new owners how important it is to keep it up. Sisco suffers with FLUTD and i wasnt insured at time so i got stuck with 815 pound bill and also still unsure if the insurance will even help with his diet food which costs a bomb! just shows how arrogance of an owner can turn around and sting you in the butt! so an excess of 40-60 turns into 800+ .. so worth the 7-8 pound a month (price of a bottle wine, take away)!
-
So the general feeling is that it's worth insurance? I was told it's a con and it was better to stick a regular saving amount in an ISA to use BUT then our little one hurt his tail and afetr several expensive xrays he's due to have it removed on monday. Now I know insurance wont cover his leg (recent op afetr getting himself run over and having part of his hip removed) nor his tail area or lack of it (vet thinks got kicked!!!) but I do have two other cats one is 2 and one is 3. Is it worth insuring all 3 do you think even though Fidge wont be covered for much? and any recommendations for companies would be appreciated please. Am with Direct Line for home and car and am thinking of getting shot as they creep up the premiums if you don't keep a close eye on them. Thanks
-
Definately insure. its not a con.
I would look at online quotes with AXA and also try the Post Office who should also come up with AXA, but youned to see the terms and conditions for each. If PO dont come up with AXA wouldnt take it LOL.
AXA standars cover is £7000 per year and set rate of £50 excess, only other company that will better or come close this at the moment is Petplan but they are more expensive and have a higher excess.
-
I'm with Healthy Pets and pay £5 something per month. It is not the best or highest amount of cover, but it is what I can afford to pay monthly at the moment.
-
Pet insurance is definitely worth it in this country, although not in others.
The Post OFfice is £5k per year, so I would try and go with either PEtPlan, Sainsbury's or AXA, all have higher amounts.
-
Thank you it will be my task for the week next week, get all the pets insured! :Crazy:
-
I went with AXA. Looks like you can only buy it online with them, which was a bit odd. They sound good though.
-
Mine is with Halifax and it is £16 for both cats. Its underwritten by AXA but it £6k rather than 7 per year. It was a lot cheaper than AXA direct online though.
-
Is it worth insuring all 3 do you think even though Fidge wont be covered for much?
Fidge will still be covered for all kinds of ailments, diabetes is common, kidney failure, diarrhoea, heart, liver so yes its still worth it. ;D
-
Yes thanks all have decided once I get paid again (the account was wiped out by the recent tail removal) i'll get onto it. Can't risk being in a position to say I can't afford treatment for them. it will kill me. Thanks all :Luv:
-
Question:
Just doing a renewal and switching from M&S to AXA. On the last bit of the form where it says tick all the boxes relating to your pet. It says tick this box if your pet has had veterinary treatment other than vaccinations. If you tick yes it then says any condition will be excluded in the future .. now this doesn't include minor scrapes and things that have found nothing does it - technically it's not a condition.
I'm scared :-: I mean none of my animals (with the exception of Mig) has been to the vet in the past year except for vaccinations that shows there is no ongoing condition right?? :-:
-
As a complete novice I would have said yes that sounds like no ongoing conditions to me
-
I would put none ;D
-
I asked this when initially insuring Billy with M&S coz Billy had an abcess (I still don't know how I got him to the vet so often for his anti biotics :-: but I digress). I was told that non recurring stuff like abcesses would not be excluded from future cover.
-
Wait, sorry I'm still confused ...... I just don't want to screw it up :scared:
They have seen the vet in the past but not recently (a year) .. so it's ok to put no. Or do I put yes and feel comfortable that anything they've have had in the past which may occur again (like a cut foot - actually I didn't even put that on the insurance.) wouldn't be excluded
-
When I switched from M&S to Axa I had to fax them all Riley's notes as M&S had paid out £500 for a battry of tests that showed Riley to be completely healthy and me to be a hypochondriac :shy: They wrote a letter stating that if I made any future claims for respiratory problems then the vet would have to substantiate that it was not related to the inital 'condition' (he panted after heavy play) for it not be classed as pre-existing.
He also had an infection in his foot after he hurt it jumping off something which I didn't bother claiming for - in the letter it said that 'it appeared to be a local infection that responded to anti-biotics and therefore not pre-existing'. If I were you I'd be completely honest, if they have been to the vet for something then tick yes. If you tick no and they ask to see vet records when you try to claim they'd be within their rights not to pay out. From my letter and Rosella's verbal response it seems that they're pretty sensible about everyday scrapes etc
Make sure you get the timings right when you do switch. I started Axa two weeks before M&S runs out, as any new policy won't pay for any illnesses developed in the first two weeks, this way I'm covered no matter what. They're going for their booster jabs tomorrow whilst still covered by M&S so if the vet finds anything untoward it won't be excluded by Axa because I'm in the first two weeks of the policy :naughty:
-
Thank you so much Helen, my situation sounds exactly like yours and since you too switched from M&S to AXA we should be ok too. I know there is nothing there, its just convincing them that there are no existing conditions.
-
Just to confirm I too took out Axa policies 2 weeks before the M&S policies ended.
-
I took out 4 AXA polies 2 weeks before I cancelled the M&S ones. ;D