Pet insurance recommendations please

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Permalink Reply by Tina on November 6, 2018 at 21:39

Hi we are with purely pets. We had to make a claim this year our dog had to have an Operation to remove a broken disc and they were amazing they dealt directly with the RVC so we didn’t need to do anything apart from give the RVC our insurance details. They paid up straight away.

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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on November 7, 2018 at 9:06

Thanks Tina. I’ll have a look at them.

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Permalink Reply by tulips on November 7, 2018 at 10:53

I've always been told by my vet, vet claims handler and friends that PetPlan is very good. I'm with Vetsure, but they don't cover for dental, so I have to pay for that. PetPlan cover does include dental. Like you say, the key is to have lifetime cover. One thing's for sure, as you know, having good pet insurance as soon as you give a home to a pet is vital!

If you've got a month's free PetPlan because you adopted a pet from one of the main animal charities, then if you decide to take out a full policy, 10% of the premium every year goes to the charity for the lifetime of the policy.

For anyone who hasn't got the first month free and thinking of taking out a new PetPlan policy for any pet, use a link from one of the charities for your quote as that way the charity gets 10% of your first year's premium if you take out the policy. Dogs Trust, Cats Protection, Battersea

There is also Animal Friends. I don't have personal experience of their claims handling, but they also do good stuff for charities. Vote here if you get time as they're giving away soon £100,000 to one of 3 charities. I voted for Celia Hammond.

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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on November 7, 2018 at 11:41

Thanks Justine. That’s very helpful.

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Permalink Reply by V&M on November 7, 2018 at 20:04

Be aware that a rolling policy means they'll continue to cover your pet without exclusions as it ages but they'll also rinse you on price in later years. Hopefully when you say lifetime you mean the new fixed price lifetime policies available to owners of young pets :)

We are currently with Bought By Many, which is a sort of collective purchasing scheme. Haven't had to claim yet but it does do dental, the exclusion policy is gentle & it's rolling coverage.

Last useful point, while there are many lovely vets around here, we've found it well worth the trudge into Camden to be registered with the Beaumont sainsbury animal hospital because a) they know everything b) v.good opening hours + appt. availability and c) literally half the price of any other vet we've ever been with. It's saved us a fortune.

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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on November 8, 2018 at 7:38

Thanks for that V and M

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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on November 8, 2018 at 8:10

Particularly helpful knowing about the Beaumont 

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on November 8, 2018 at 8:01

We used Saga for many years and had a good experience.  The person taking out the insurance does have to be 50 or over though.

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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on November 10, 2018 at 11:28

Thanks Michael

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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on November 10, 2018 at 11:28

Very helpful Anka. Thank you

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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on November 10, 2018 at 13:25

Gosh, they look awful.

After serious consideration and having had a number of pets and paid out loads on insurance policies we have decided not to take out insurance for Bernard.

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