Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls on March 12, 2009, 15:16:16 PM
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Just a quick one, I need suggestions for a good pet insurance for Macey. She has already been warned (well I have :-[ ) that her weight may cause diabeties.
So names of a pet insurance that would be good for her. Also a good one for multi pets as I may need to get some of the others insured in the future.
Thanks and sorry to bore ya's, again :evillaugh:
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tbh its a really hard one, I think whoever you go with the premiums creep up quickly enough, I'm with sainsburys but the excess is £75 and my vet charges £15 to fill in the form so I've never claimed in three years but the premiums (about £6 each cat the first year) are now about £12 per cat
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I use petplan, they are pricer but they are good and do cover things that have happened before once a set time period is up which was good for me. Take a look at AXA, dont be sucked in elsewhere by cheap premiums, you dont get the cover you need when the crunch comes
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We alreadyy told you the current best is AXA, when you last asked and nothing has changed!
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*feels around* is my head still on :shocked:
The last time I asked was last November Gill, things do change.
I was looking at more than and it says cover is £7000 a year, but that plan covers for the term of the condition. It was only £6.38 a month too.
So does that mean in total they would pay upto £7000 a year and no more? Its only £50 excess too.
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They would pay 7000 every year
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I would be a bit wary with that CC, it might mean £7000 per year for all conditions, whereas policies like AXA are £7000 per year per condition, which is what you want, just in case there are multiple health issues (which can happen, i had that problem with Tiger).
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Axa hun without a doubt - staff have been brilliant ever time I have called, cover elderly cats, excess is reasonable, cover yearly even if same illness.
I have been with E&L - useless and just could rant abou tthem for ages.
I have been with Tescos - cheap and yes will pay most of the time but only will cover an illness once and thats it.
I have been with Sainsburys - put excess and prices up and are same companies as Axa but don't cover annually like Axa.
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Gill if you dont like a topic just dont post! Personaily I feel what you said was rude and out of order!
Thanks gals I will have a look at AXA :)
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I would be wary with More than. I have Mogs insured with them and a couple of years ago I claimed somethinglike a total of 50 pounds after the excess and age percentage. At renewal it went up £5 a month. I complained and was told ti was because of her age. The next year I didnt claim and it only went up £2 a month. I currently pay £21.99 a month for a 17 yr old cat who has had no claims in the last 2 years but who does have high blood pressure meaning I cant change companies
love
Tab
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CC, I had a quick look at more than, it is £7000 per condition, not per year - not too bad for older cats, but wouldnt recommend it in a young cat, as if they are unlucky enough to develop something at a youngish age, you could end up reaching your limit.
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Thanks Des :)
Thats what Im trying to understand as I dont really understand any type of insurance at all :-[ lol
Had a look at the AXA and its only £6.09 a month. With insurance companies if the cat develops something while you are with them, does that mean you will have to stay with them for the rest of the cats life? I know not many compaines will insure against an existing condition.
I really didnt want to bother with insurance before but with the vet warning me about Maceys weight, I would rather pay out a little a month just incase rather than paying out a lot over the long run. I have learned my lesson with Ollie!
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I wish insurance would be cheaper for indoor cats - If it's true what they say about indoor cats live longer & healthier lives. If I went with AXA it would cost me £11 per month, which I can't afford.
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I can't understand why the premiums are the same for indoor cats, and those confined to an enclosure, and those who can roam freely
the veterinary costs of an RTA can be huge, so it doesn't make sense to me - at least someone should offer a reduced premium with RTAs not covered
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Indoor cats can be more prone to obesity and bladder problems, obesity can lead to diabetes so you cant say an indoor cat is less likely to get ill so make insurance cheaper, indoor cats may jump out of windows more and break bones :shy:
Thyroid/dental/crf problems are common claims for all cats living in or out
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I think some policies in the US do offer indoor cat cover, but pet insurance is very different over there (generally less good). I guess that while indoor cats are less likely to be involved in a rta, they may have an increased risk of some other things, eg behavioural problems, cystitis etc
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well it bugs me - I paid more than £2000 to have a cat-proof fence built around my back garden, so I reckon it ought to be taken into account >:(
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With insurance companies if the cat develops something while you are with them, does that mean you will have to stay with them for the rest of the cats life? I know not many compaines will insure against an existing condition.
I don't know of any companies that will insure against pre existing conditions. I think Petplan may cover an existing illness after a certain period of time but assume that's only if it doesn't recur within a particular period so would exclude a number of chronic illnesses? I may be wrong.
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I thouight Axa was £7000 per condition cos when Franta was ill I looked and swear I read £7000 a year......I will now have to look again...and I reported this back to the vets after originally telling her it was per condition.
Actauaally will look now cos have an insurance in the tray on my desk.
ok have policy booklet infront of me and its says
' All reasonable costs for treatment of your pet by a vet for illness, condition or injury up to the maximum benefit of £7000 per period of insurance'............ie that means per year.
It does not say per condition. The only per condition things are complementry, behavioral, cxlinical diet and treatment abroad.
If someone with an AXA insurance has something that says any different please tell me where it says it. my renewal schedule of insurance also says its per period of insurance.
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i thought AXA was per condition per year, which is better than Sainsbury's which is per condition - so AXA gets topped back up to £7k at renewal, unlike Sainsbury's, which when you get to your £7k, that is it, you have to pay.
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Extract from policy summary on Axa website :
"All reasonable costs for Treatment of Your Pet by a Vet up to £7,000 per period of insurance"
as far as I'm concerned that means each year the £7,000 pot is topped up on renewal and covers all conditions.
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I'd contact AXA by email or post and get it in writing as to exactly what that means.
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That says upto £7000 a year to me :-:
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Axa is definitely 7k a year, NOT per condition and NOT per condition per year. You can spend upto 7k each and every year on vet bills spread over various conditions, at the end of the year as long as you renew the policy the pot is topped up and you get another 7k to spend and so on...
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I would question the quality of life of any cat that needs more than £7000 per year on treatment. I have Alic insured with them and I should think about changing the others over soon.
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I would tend to agree Mark but sometimes there can be state of the art treatments (I know you're not a fan but I would go for Iodine treatment for hyperthyroid in the right circs for example) that cost a great deal of money
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I agree Mark, and it is why I wasn't bothered by Sainsbury's being £6500 per condition (it has since gone up, but so has the excess), as with the age of my cats, I would be questioning things by that amount - although an MRI is £2k at the specialist my vet uses, so i can easily see how you could spend half of that in a year, as that is without anything done before that stage or any treatment.The only advantage with Sainsbury's method over AXA's is that Sainsbury's is per condition, so if they developed 2 conditions, they would each have their own allowance (but then you pay 2 excesses, and Sainsbury's is a percentage when your claim reaches £350, whereas AXA is a set £50 regardless)
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I would tend to agree Mark but sometimes there can be state of the art treatments (I know you're not a fan but I would go for Iodine treatment for hyperthyroid in the right circs for example) that cost a great deal of money
I agree there may be very rare exceptions but I think most people can hedge their bets. As I remember t (we went through a lot as the lecture was "An introduction to applied physics in medicine") the idione is bonded to a radioactive subtance. As iodine will migrate to the thyroid, the radioactive substance is deposited there.
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Indoor cats can be more prone to obesity and bladder problems, obesity can lead to diabetes so you cant say an indoor cat is less likely to get ill so make insurance cheaper, indoor cats may jump out of windows more and break bones :shy:
Thyroid/dental/crf problems are common claims for all cats living in or out
Totally agree. I don't want to get into the indoor/outdoor debate but it's definately the case that indoor cats are more prone to these illnesses and therefore wouldn't it wouldn't be appropriate to offer cheaper cover. Indoor cats are also more prone to behavioural problems which can cause costly referrals. At the end of teh day, some cats will get poorly whatever environment we provide and you do get what you pay for where insurance is concerned.
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Indoor cats can be more prone to obesity and bladder problems, obesity can lead to diabetes so you cant say an indoor cat is less likely to get ill so make insurance cheaper, indoor cats may jump out of windows more and break bones :shy:
Thyroid/dental/crf problems are common claims for all cats living in or out
Totally agree. I don't want to get into the indoor/outdoor debate but it's definately the case that indoor cats are more prone to these illnesses and therefore wouldn't it wouldn't be appropriate to offer cheaper cover. Indoor cats are also more prone to behavioural problems which can cause costly referrals. At the end of teh day, some cats will get poorly whatever environment we provide and you do get what you pay for where insurance is concerned.
To give it the correct technical term - Swings & roundabouts :-:
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As I remember t (we went through a lot as the lecture was "An introduction to applied physics in medicine") the iodine is bonded to a radioactive substance. As iodine will migrate to the thyroid, the radioactive substance is deposited there.
Apologies if I'm drifting off topic and can't recall the science stuff just remember from last year that, whilst it sounds dangerous, this treatment is extremely effective. Apart from cost, huge downside though is pud having to go into quarantine for such a long time. I imagine a large part of the cost is related to care whilst in quarantine.
In any event I think the per condition vs per annum cover can be very relevant where pud has long term chronic illness when even £7,000 would be exhausted over a few years with a per condition policy esp with cost of regular blood tests if required....Sorry Mark, just realised I misread your post as "I would question the quality of life of any cat that needs more than £7000 per condition on treatment" when I see now you were talking about £7,000 per annum with which I completely agree :-[ Ignore my burbling, it's an age thing :doh:
I sound like a broken record I know but a £50 excess for an older pud beats any of the others hands down.
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Right Im getting quite confused with this, but what I need to work out is which would be best for Macey. The per condition or the per annum? The vet has warned with her weight she could develop diabetes.
So taking into account she would have this condition for the rest of her life I need to choose wisely.
Im working out from the per annum it would only be upto £7000 a year paid in vets fees. This £7000 is to cover all conditions/ injuries / illnesses the cat may get.
And the per condition one, they would pay upto £7000 for every condition/ injury / illness. So if the cat had 2 vet bills ongoing at one time, they would BOTH be paid upto the value of £7000.
Is this right in understanding or am I totally confused :-:
If so which one would I need? as its a worry of her getting diabetes which she would have for life.
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Personally I'd go for the 7k per annum.
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If you are worrying about a lifelong condition then you need per year. That means you have £7000 for every year compared to just having £7000 to use on the diabetes condition.
Personally speaking I would never touch a per condition policy.
Edit to add - if Macey developed diabetes and for one reason or another used up the full £7000/per condition after a few years it would fall on you to pay for any further diabetes treatments, for her remaining life. As she would then have a pre-existing condition you wouldn't be able to get her reinsured without having the diabetes excluded.
However, if you were with the per annum policy you wouldn't have to worry about funding the treatments, as each year they stock the pot of money back to £7000 [provided you keep renewing the policy on time].
It is highly unlikely that yearly vets bills for Macey will exceed £7,000 but it is possible that a life long condition over a few years could exceed the £7000.
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I would get the per annum cover CC. Have you compared the per annum quote from Axa of £6.38 p/mth with cost of other companies' per condition policies? Please look carefully at excesses when comparing.
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I would always go for the per year. With the per condition, once the £7000 has been paid out, that's it. So if a cat develops a chronic condition which may need treatment for many years, you will eventually run out and end up having to pay for it all yourself. With the per year, they refresh the pot each year so even if you ran out one year (say the cat had an unexpected illness or accident that needed expensive treatment on top of the chronic condition), the amount would be renewed the next year. You'll also find that many that pay out per conditioin actually have a time limit on that, eg a year, so they will pay out a certain amount per condition, but there is also a time limit on how long they will pay out for. So when they say £7000 per condition, that may only be up to £7000 and within a 12 month period. They won't necessarily let you carry it over into another year.
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Ahh so it would be £7000 per condition for the rest of their life, so would not be good for Macey really. And with the per year if I had of spent the £7000, it would be topped upto £7000 again the next year?
I already checked with AXA for her and it quoted me £6.09 a month. But if she did get diabetes within this time would that mean I would have to stay with them? It would be hard to get another to cover an existing illness.
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Sorry cross posted there, I understand now thanks :)
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if I had a policy with AXA and my cat got a lifelong expensive to treat condition, would AXA simply refuse to renew the policy after the first year of paying out?
or hike the premiums up to some astronomical level?
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I've got Memphis with AXA. Back in November he got a blocked bladder caused by Struvite crystals. It cost just under £800 to get fixed. The policy started off at £7,000 .. there is now £6,200+ left for the remaining policy year.
His policy is due to be renewed in about a months time. When it gets renewed there will be a fresh £7,000 to use [or not :evillaugh:] for the new policy year. So *if* he were to suffer a blocked bladder again, £700-£800 would be deducted from the fresh pot. It would be like this every year the policy gets renewed.
If he was on a per condition policy and suffered 2 blocked bladders he would be down to £5400 for any bladder/urine related problems for the rest of his life. Or those problems would be excluded if they go by what Susanne says - that they won't carry it over to the next year.
Does that make sense?
Also any pre existing condition would cause you to stay with the insurers. Otherwise you risk that condition being excluded, meaning you would then have to pay for the treatment yourself.
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if I had a policy with AXA and my cat got a lifelong expensive to treat condition, would AXA simply refuse to renew the policy after the first year of paying out?
or hike the premiums up to some astronomical level?
They won't refuse to renew if it is cover for life. It shouldn't go up as a result of claims either - it may go up but as a result of overall claims rather than individual claims.
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Yes thanks Den , that makes sense.
I suppose they are banking on you not making a claim really but paying out a little a month is a chance I have to take and have at least their £7000 as back up. Rather than her getting something and me not being able to pay for it.
Although I could be throwing away £7 a month that makes no comparison to what I could have to pay if she did get ill.
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I certainly can see the per year is better than the per condition, especially as the insurance company would probably be able to argue quite often that one condition led the next
I'm convinced - I'm going to switch from Tesco, even though it's cheaper
who wants to claim the commission? :rofl: :rofl:
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Trigger I was with Tescos and have no real complaints but what Axa offer in terms of per year is just brilliant.
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what are the renewals like for Axa I just had Tilly and Oscar renewals from sainsburys and they have now gone up to £14 per month each
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what are the renewals like for Axa I just had Tilly and Oscar renewals from sainsburys and they have now gone up to £14 per month each
Bunty was with Sainsburys which is owed or part of the Axa group but it isn't - the people from Axa explained it to me but its complicated but does make sense when they explain it - and I changed Bunty from Saisburys as I got hit with the £14 renewel and its a lot less at Axa. Bunty was with Sainsburys as she is an older cat but Axa's wasn't as expensive as Sainsburys and offers more. Sorry that all didn't make sense I know but phone Axa and ask as when I got Sainsbury's paperwork out and realised it was the Axa Group I was curious.
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Renewal costs for all companies vary from year to year and also every so often the policies get complete overhauls cos of the prevailing market conditions.
I think axa and £7000 a year with £50 excess is the best deal going currently .
Franta will have used over £1000 of the money so far this year and policy does not renew until late October.
Paying £7 a month is never a waste cc because you work out how many years I would have to have been paying to cover Frantas bills and have only been with AXA 2 yrs in October.
Insurance means you are protecting yourself against the unexpected and allows you to get the best possible treatment for your cat, if you delay too long then that unexpected may happen and then no insurance company will cover them ever!
I am a total believer in insurance and if Franta had needed an MRI scan it would have cost around £2500 at a specialst care centre plus other treatment probably, so could see the £1000 moving to over £4000 ...probably closer to £5000.....in that event. To most people like me that kind of money is frightening and I would have been devasted if I couldnt do all I could to help him , if help was possible.
I am so pleased that Franta is still with me and I could not afford to pay out the current vet bills for him without insurance.
This is to all who are hesitating about getting insurance,,,,,,,,,,,,,,do not hesitate any longer cough up and have some peace of mind that you can help your cat if that need is desperate.
I know I thought long and hard about the cost of renewal for both birmans because there insurance doubled last year but they are both 16yrs old in Aug and pedigrees so cos more to start with. An extra £20 a month for the two of them has been far outweighed by Frantas sudden illness and the knowledge that he has only one working kidney, all since last November.
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just did an axa quote for Tilly and it came out at just under £10 per month and I currently pay £14 but I'm not sure I can be bothered with the paperwork which is what sainsburys want me to say isn't it!!
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Registering on Axa website is quite quick hunnie, they then send out the paperwork for you to confirm and sign for direct debit - it is quite quick honest, I did all my cats in about 10 mins.
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done it! I felt awful though the man at sainsburys was lovely when I phoned to cancel and offered me £40 of sainsburys vouchers to stay
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just did an axa quote for Tilly and it came out at just under £10 per month and I currently pay £14 but I'm not sure I can be bothered with the paperwork which is what sainsburys want me to say isn't it!!
That is what most of them bank on - it's the same with mortgage lenders. I remember about 10 years ago after my fixed rate mortgage ran out, I saw a programme saying most people can save money but are too complacent about it and dread the paperwork. I had an idea to get the best of both worlds. I rang LTSB and said I was going to shop around but before I did, how much were they willing to offer me to stay. They offered me £1000 - I told my next door neighbour who bought her flat at the same time and she got the same deal.
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Renewal costs for all companies vary from year to year and also every so often the policies get complete overhauls cos of the prevailing market conditions.
I think axa and £7000 a year with £50 excess is the best deal going currently .
Franta will have used over £1000 of the money so far this year and policy does not renew until late October.
Paying £7 a month is never a waste cc because you work out how many years I would have to have been paying to cover Frantas bills and have only been with AXA 2 yrs in October.
Insurance means you are protecting yourself against the unexpected and allows you to get the best possible treatment for your cat, if you delay too long then that unexpected may happen and then no insurance company will cover them ever!
I am a total believer in insurance and if Franta had needed an MRI scan it would have cost around £2500 at a specialst care centre plus other treatment probably, so could see the £1000 moving to over £4000 ...probably closer to £5000.....in that event. To most people like me that kind of money is frightening and I would have been devasted if I couldnt do all I could to help him , if help was possible.
I am so pleased that Franta is still with me and I could not afford to pay out the current vet bills for him without insurance.
This is to all who are hesitating about getting insurance,,,,,,,,,,,,,,do not hesitate any longer cough up and have some peace of mind that you can help your cat if that need is desperate.
I know I thought long and hard about the cost of renewal for both birmans because there insurance doubled last year but they are both 16yrs old in Aug and pedigrees so cos more to start with. An extra £20 a month for the two of them has been far outweighed by Frantas sudden illness and the knowledge that he has only one working kidney, all since last November.
I agree 100% - unless you can afford to insure, can you afford emergencies? - I think £2 or £3 a week to cover a loved cat is well worth it - not that we have ever had to claim.
I had this discussion with someone when I did a homecheck a while ago. I recommended AXA but he said he wasn't working at the moment and couldn't afford it. I asked what he would do if there was an emergency. He gave me a vague "I would have to sort something out". It sounded like he had made his mind up so I suggested that he registered with a PDSA vet until he was working. He wasn't even aware that they could help.
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Well done Dawn ;D
I have found out today that AXA have paid my original vet for the first stage of Frantas treatment back at beginning of March, so need to find out if the claim forms have gone in from the new vet.
Frantas treatment for those terrible couple of weeks has come to about £600 so we are around £1300 now into his £7000 this year
The money this time went direct to the vet and wonderful people havent asked me for thge excass yet cos thats still outstanding, so must pay them.
However the rest of the claim should have no excess and as I have paid the new vets for part of it I am due the excess back from that vets.
Have to sat that although I was not impressed with the claim form saga......now have loads LOL............they have paid out very quickly for all of Frantas treatment as soon as they have got the claim forms..............thank you AXA ;D
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Really pleased for you Gill and Franta of course. Axa were also very good about paying up quickly for my boy Tommie's treatment last year :(.
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So do you buy and have to pay at the time or pay once the papers have been sent back to them?
Oh can you choose which day it comes out of your bank?
I dread being charged if they take dd's out on the wrong day!
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We paid once the papers had been sent back and in our case when they were sent back it was around the date I had opted for but on the second month so they took 2 lots out.
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Once you get the papers then you need to fill in the DD form and send it back. Then its likely that two lots will go on the first payment or two lots close together. Other than that they always take it on the same day unless its a weekend or a public holiday in which case its on the next day the banks are open.
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Right have sorted that for Macey ;D
Just looking through and done the rest of the cats, theres is well into the 80's and it seems to be much more for males :Crazy:
Macey's was the cheepest by far, only £6 a month!
Glad I got it sorted tho :)
I wonder how they work it out cos for Mace it was only £72.09 and for the rest of them it was near £86, for all of them each even Lyla!
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well done ;D
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Did you use the second pet discount option CC? I got my youngest insured first, to get the discount on the oldest.
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Don't hold your breath CC but, when I recently insured Dinah (1 year) and 2 kittens (now 4 months), the premiums ended up being less than quoted on the website. Hope yours is likewise. Don't know if it made any difference that we already had 3 insured with them.
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Right I have recieved my forms to fill in and there are a couple of things Im unsure about....
It says in the "table of benefits"....
Section 1- vets fees cover including
* complementary treatments £250 (per condition)
* referral to a behaviourist £250 (per condition)
* clinical diet £200 (per condition)
* overseas vet fees £1,000 (per condition)
What Im not getting here is... I thought this per condition thing was not good, although they do offer upto £7000 in vets fees per period of insurance :-:
Could others have a look at theirs and see if its the same please. :)
And yes Rosella its came in at over £10 cheeper than quoated :)
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those limits will only apply to the specified treatments, and will not apply to mainstream veterinary treatment
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That stuff is standard cc and appears in all AXA policies. Other companies also have their version of it and as you can see from the list these are special things not standard vet care.
Dont for get to send the direct debit form back ;D
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That is fine and normal, and better than some insurance policies - if i remember rightly, AXA pay for more special food than Sainsbury's did.
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I got my renewels yesterday and Memph is cheaper this year :wow:
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Ok thanks gals :Luv:
Yes Gill I will remember :evillaugh: once my OH has come home and shows me how to fill it in :rofl:
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did they put the right postage on cc, I had two postcards through the door yesterday saying two letters had been held on to by the post office because the postage hadn't been paid - the two things from axa are the only thing I can think they might be :-:
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Hum it just came through the post, no problems but this is my acceptance form, not the actual insurance certificate. Which I could only guess would be hevier, a reason for the postage not being paid? :-:
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And yes Rosella its came in at over £10 cheeper than quoated :)
So pleased it was same for you CC :). BTW everyone, forgot to mention at the time (as preoccupied with Tom being ill) but pretty sure there was a 4 week time limit on claims for any special foods. Otherwise think I'm right in saying a 6 month time limit on putting claims in.
I've not experienced any problems with Axa and insufficient postage Dawn :shify:.
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I have had a very important letter missing from AXA and its never arrived....wonder if thats the reason!
MY claims docs never arrived but three lots arrived later with special delivery!
Think their mail out system isnt working and you need to report it and try to make sure they actually record what you said.
Best way I discovered, is to start by saying that you want to make an official complaint and through that I found that someone had not recorded that may claim forms had not been sent. The reason I say this is cos all axa numbers are the same, whether it be about a claim, complaint or want a claim form and for claims you get put through to a different number but everything else is just customer service, which is bloomin useless when you want to complain about customer service!!
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Were the letters with insufficient postage from Axa Dawn?
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I think they must be, I emailed them and they said they both went out on 17 March and I've still had nothing, anyway I've asked them to send them again, if I don't collect them they will be returned to sender anyway
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Sorry to bump up this thread but I didnt see the point in starting a new topic. I am about to insure my 2 cats with axa insurance. Insurance is a it of a mindfield for me! I am the one insuring them, and be paying the direct debits. So the policy will be in my name. But at the vets the cats are under my partners surname as we didnt live together when they were registered. Would this be a problem when making a claim if needing to? Also my quote for my 2 cats same age, came up higher for the male than the female is this normal?
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Hmmn, I think that's one to check with Axa themselves as although it sounds reasonable to me insurance companies can be very funny about these minor details when they're about to pay out thousands of pounds! It does say you need to be the owner and in the strictest sense you're not the owner, I guess it happens fairly regularly as animals aren't only adopted by married cohabiting couples so there's lots of animal step Mums and Dads out there :evillaugh:
As for the premiums being different for males and females, that's fairly normal as different sexes are prone to different illnesses and it seems that they deem males to be more of a 'risk'.