Can anyone recommend a really good pet insurance and supply a phone no. or web address. There are so many out there promising our pets the world and when it comes right down to it you have difficulty trying to get them to pay out. My greyhound Jenny has had cancer in her earlier years which called for her to have a hysterectomy. Jenny and I would appreciate any recommendations anyone can offer and that will put her needs before cost. Perhaps even a company that will still treat on previous ailments, although I know that is probably asking to much. Many Thanks. Diane and Jenny x.

Diane,

I think it would be a good idea for you to go and ask your vet for their recommendations. They will probably have experience of which companies pay out and which ones try to get out of it.

Kell and Lucy are insured with TESCO and we had to pay up front for Lucys recent operation (still waiting on TESCO coming back to us with, hopefully, a cheque!) and I think it is increasingly common practice for vets to require payment up front. I've heard that some vets recommend PetPlan and are happy for them to settle any claims meaning you do not need to pay the fees and then reclaim.

Hope this helps

Steve,

Thanks very much for your sound advice, i'm getting on the phone to my vet now.

Diane and Jenny

My two are insured with Petplan. It's not cheap but haven't had to pay a penny for any vet bills. In the past I've given my vet the claim form, they've filled it out & sent it off on my behalf. Cheque was sent to me & promptly paid to vet. All settled in less than 2 weeks

Hello!

I am bound by my professional regulator not to recommend any particular company (seriously!) so I can't make any specific recommendations but I can tell you about my own experiences.

We're with Petplan (as recommended by our vets). When making a claim I paid the excess to the vets and they sorted out all balance with the insurer, just asking me to sign the odd claim form so I didn't have to worry about the paperwork. We also have what is called a "cover for life" policy so we're guaranteed to get cover so long as we keep on paying the premiums, no matter how old our dogs get (though presumably the premiums will go up with age!). Our policy recently had its anniversary and the premium didn't go up on renewal by too much, despite our having made one claim for Missie and two for Shandy, one of which was substantial when he had his accident.

They are more expensive than many others so I suppose you get what you pay for - if you're happy to shop around you'll probably find a much cheaper premium with the other companies.

I have no experience of the others so it's good to hear about Steve's experiences with his insurer - you do need to shop around.

I would suggest you check the small print of any policy documents as there's a lot of caveats and conditions attached to policies, such as:

Level of Cover - usually a set upper limit per dog per policy year. You may also get cover for things such as rewards and/or expenses incurred in finding your dog if he/she is lost and liability cover (eg, presumably if your dog causes an accident and someone makes a claim against you as a result)
Excesses - companies will have different excess levels (ie you need to pay the first bit of each claim, ours is around £100 per dog per claim). Different excesses might apply for different types of claim.
Exclusions - Companies will often have "exclusions" so if your dog has an existing condition or history of a particular illness, you may not be able to make any claims related to that if the condition recurs (a bit like medical insurance for human beings!).
Conditions - Some insurers insist on regular (usually annual) checkups and up to date jabs which you pay for yourself, otherwise the cover may be invalid. It's most likely going to be your responsibility to do this (ie the insurer won't send you a reminder), but a good vets should send you a reminder when check-ups and jabs are due.
Dental work - Some plans will not cover "routine" dental work such as scaling teeth. They might even insist that to maintain your insurance cover you have to have any dental work recommended by the vet done as necessary and pay for it yourself. A good vets should check their teeth when doing a regular annual check-up.
Age - Some companies will not insure dogs at all over a certain age. Some might insure your dog but cover will stop once they reach a certain age.
Neutering - they may also insist your dog is neutered before giving cover. Either that, or related claims such as your dog fathering puppies or your bitch getting pregnant will not be valid. But I suspect being one of Celia's your dog's probably neutered anyway!

I've probably confused things terribly here, but I'd say shop around, decide what you're prepared to pay for and what you're not, speak to your vets for a recommendation and check all the small print to make sure you don't get any nasty surprises if you need to make a claim. I don't know if price comparison websites do pet insurance - I've never tried them for that.

If you're getting a quote from a company, I'd ask about all the issues I've highlighted above, in particular exclusions and conditions - they do have a duty to tell you everything. I grilled the poor lady on the other end of the phone when I got my quote but it did mean that I (hopefully) won't get any unpleasant surprises if I need to claim again!

Good luck!
Sally

PS one other thing, being a bit of a cynic, I like to give any insurance company as few excuses as possible to invalidate claims, so I always keep my dogs on the lead when walking. The last thing I'd want is for one to run off when off the lead, or have/cause an accident and the insurer refuses to pay, but then I never walk my three off the lead anyway, on the advice of Celia and Jimmy

JANICE PET INSURANCE I HAVE JUST INSURED MY NEW GREY
WHI I GOT LAST WEDNESDAY ALSO MY OTHER GREY
TASHA. WITH PETPLAN POST TO BE A GOOD ONE
VET SAID IT WAS A GOOD ONE.

Just a quick update - TESCO have paid out our claim no problems, took about 3 weeks from sending off the claim form to receiveing the cheque

Yep pet insurance is back as a topic again...just got Bambi's renewal notice from Tesco and the premiums are up by 50%!!!!! Obviously not happy with this situation and am looking for any advice on where to go? Am having a search around to see what is coming up as good but there are just so many!! Bambi will be 8 on her birthday in November so also am looking for good "more mature dog" quotes - but she hasnt had any claims (touching wood as I say that!!) Any advice would be appreciated!! Ta!

Hi,
We have got quincy insured with marks & spencer, they are not too expensive and we have their highest level of cover and seem to provide a good package, however we have never had to make a claim.
Hope this helps
Karen

Hi Joan
We were exactly the same with Tesco. Year 1 was £28 for 2 dogs then year 2 renewal quote was £52 for the same 2 dogs. When I phoned up to check why the increase was so high, they said it was probably just due to the age of my dogs, 1 was 3 and 1 was 7 ?? We also had made no claims. I cancelled the policy and always had pet insurance on my "list of things to do" but never quite got round to it. I learned the hard way from this as Star then became ill with a tumour and eventually she was put to sleep. So Duke now is insured with Petplan £25 a month which is quite expensive but after now experiencing losing a pet and the cost involved in trying to make them well I think its worth it.
Good luck with your search for finding the right deal for Bambi.

Will look at M&S see what their deal is. The lifetime cover through Petplan is that the one that your dog has to be less than 9 years to start with and then after they are 9 years old you have to pay the excess and 35% of the vet bill? Im sure I looked at that last night online - that kind of put me off as Bambi will be 9 next November, that one if it was that one - I will check again. Thanks guys x

I think it might help you, Joan, when you have a look at this website:
http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pets4homes/home.nsf/PetInsurance/

Thats good because if you buy it online you may get even a 20% discount.
Worthy of consideration. I buy my car insurance this way.
Thanks,
Stan

Hi Joan, I have had a quick look at our policy booklet. The premier cover is the one we have with m&s and gives alot of extra benefits. Its covers you for up to 7,000 a year. We pay around 18.00 a month for quincy he is 4. This was half the price of petplan. The excess for dogs over 9 is £70 plus 20% of the cost of any treatment. I hope this helps. If you book it online you also receive a discount.
Karen