Cat Insurance?

[Mark]

Another Petplan fan here. Alice was insured with Axa for years and then they pulled out of the pet market. The same thing happened with Lloyds Bank with Kylie. By the time they pulled out, I could only insure Kylie on a 12-month policy, with lots of exclusions (understandably) but when Kylie was diagnosed with cancer recently, she had various treatments, surgery etc and my vet dealt direct with Petplan. It was a complicated claim, butI didn't have to worry. The vet said just to pay them the net amount after Petplan had agreed their share. There was no haggling, and despite the excess and the policy stating that I had to pay an additional 20% over the excess, I didn't think they would pay much, but they paid over 60% of the bill (the bill was over £1000)

At least with Petplan, you know that is all they do. Other companies might have pet insurance as a spin-off, but are likely to pull out of pet insurance if they don't think they are making enough money out of it. In our case, twice bitten. It is a no-brainer for me.

[alisonandarchie]

I have been very happy with Argos for Archie Always pay out quickly

Not so happy with Healthy Pets, Parki was insured with them. Very slow and have so many clauses

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Yes I was with AXA too 

[Sootyca]

I would go with Petplan as well. I was with AXA who then went to NCI - they have been great at settling claims really quickly but the premiums seem to be going high quite quickly (doesn't help that both cats are now over 10).  NCI are currently underwritten by Aviva.  If you do change make sure you are happy with the conditions attached - More than (and a few others) now have a clause where you can only go to a few referal practices if your normal vet can't/won't treat.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Petplan here too. Was with Axa until they stopped doing pet insurance and left lots of people up the creek without a paddle. They passed details to another company but quote for Jaffa was outrageous and was offered after he'd gone to the bridge. They forgot to offer a quote for Mosi but when prompted it was very high too. I can't remember who it was. I went back to petplan (was with them when Jaffa was small for quite a few years).  I made a couple of claims and both were paid in full minus excess and quickly. One was for a dental and some policies don't cover dental treatment.

I think the most important thing to consider is that the monthly/ yearly premium is only part of the story. Many will lure you in with a low premium but then increase it upon renewal. Pet insurance premiums across the board are going up rapidly but I'd still rather have it than be without it. Check what is covered and bear in mind that if you claim for anything that will usually be considered a pre-existing condition if you want to change insurer and will be excluded. So you may be stuck with that insurer forever - think about whether it's an insurer and a policy you'd be happy with long term.

The other thing is to consider whether you're likely to want the insurer to pay the vet direct for a large claim. This is up to the vet but you also need a company that will do this (most do). Petplan is the only insurer my vet will deal with so it might be worth checking with your vet whether they will do it and if so which insurers will they deal with.

[HelenD]

Thanks guys Looks like it might be worth sticking with Petplan then perhaps.

Gill we had similar with Schmoo, long story but short version was we took out in insurance on her when we moved house, she got poorly in first week after that which ended up being her hyperT, so it wasn't ever covered by the insurance as it occurred in that 2 week new policy barrier! So all tests and meds were therefore paid for out of our pockets :/  Hence why we are getting Buddy sorted ASAP lol!

[Lyn (Slugsta)]

Alfie is insured with PetPLan, lifetime cover. Fortunately, we haven't had to claim.

Sky came from RSPCA with insurance from MoreThan. I think hubby has decided to insure her with PDSA. PetPLan weren't doing us any favours when they quoted the 2 cat price!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I would stick with petplam, Lupin is there.

My other two were too old for petplan when their other insurers left the market so are now very expensive with grrrrrrrrr cant remember.

I went thro a period of no insurance for my elderly birmans and one got sick and cost about £3000 and then went to the Bridge    Luckily I have a very good vet who reduced the bill and allowed me to pay installments.

I would never go without insureance again.

[girlinleeds]

our three are all insured with petplan, we've claimed several times and theyve always paid out quickly (even better now they pay it direct to your bank account if your vet doesnt claim direct)

[Cherry24]

Had a really bad experience with E & L insurance. They wouldn't liaise directly with vets like Petplan do. We ended up paying over £1,000 to the vets with approx a year's payments to E & L. Claiming was a real pain and we only received around £300 back due to loads of clauses. We don't bother now. We put money into a savings account instead.

[Judecat (Paula)]

Sorry, can't really help, but I took out a policy for the three kittens (now well out of kittenhood) I am sure it was Petplan, it covers Advantage, wormer etc. and I was told as long as I didn't let it lapse it carried on with discount for boosters etc.

[HelenD]

We are coming to the end of our free months pet insurance from the RSPCA/Petplan from when we adopted Buddy, and I'm now looking into new policies. Just wondering if anyone has any good/bad experiences with particular companies?

After Schmoos loong medical history, we are looking for lifetime plans ideally for Buddy,so we can hopefully avoid possibilities of large vet bills again!

So far I'm wondering if sticking with Petplan is best or we were looking at John Lewis or Aviva I think?