Pet insurance

[Tatbabe]

I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that the monthly premium of my M&S pet insurance has increased by about £6.


Have spoken to customer services and was told the premium will increase every year. With an estimated increase of £5 per year this would mean that when my pet is 10y/o I would be paying roughly £60 per month!!! This is outrageous!


I have done an insurance comparison through the internet and if I were to start to insure my pet today with M&S I would only pay £14.28 per month … how does this work???


I will therefore most likely not continue to insure my pet once the insurance is due for renewal as I feel this is a rip-off and it’s not taken into consideration that I haven’t had any claims.

Can anyone recommend another insurance with lifetime cover? Thanks.

[caithgal]

I have taken out the kennel club pet insurance as it is lifetimne cover and i know it wil pay out should i ever be unfortunate enough to have to make a claim. I found it cheaper by £7 per month than the petplan one for slightly more coverage. Of course it depends on your type of dog age or previous illnesses etc

[Tatbabe]

my dog is a healthy 3y/o greyhound with no previous health issues ...

[caithgal]

try them it may be worth a call. i found them the best to deal with but maybe you wont it all depends.

[Birdie Wife]

I put £15 a month aside for each of my two dogs into a separate bank account. I don't use it for regular treatments like vaccinations, but it'll be there if I ever need it - which I hope I never do - but given that insurance companies try to wriggle out of paying anything anyway, it seemed like a good idea. Plus, if I never need to use it, I still have the money.

[Stefan]

I use Animal Friends. I pay £10.39 per dog, no increases the last two years although one of my dogs was down in Glasgow for MRI, Spinal tap etc. Cost £1700, all paid by insurance. It's condition cover though, life time will be more expensive, but I found them easy and quick to deal with.
Drove down to Glasgow after vet sent me there, glasgow animal hospital said my insurance may not cover the costs for such a big bill if I don't get permission up front, rang them from the car park and had confirmation within the hour.
When I compared prices they were the cheapest I could find and they donate to animal charities around the world, so some of your money ends up helping other animals.

Putting away a set amount of money each month is also a good idea if you are disciplined enough to never touch it.... However, imagine you put away £15 a month for say 8 years, that's £1440, even with interest it would not have paid for the treatment of my dog and some operations can be a lot more expensive than that. I have to pay for his medication myself, but had I taken out life cover they would pay for that as well. It costs £24 a month just for his tablets.

[mirandarainbow]

I had a similar outrage. My insurance for this year is £18 a month for my very healthy 8 year old collie whereas it's only £9 for my 3 year old with the same company. Grrrrrrrr!

[Stefan]

I pay the same for my 3yo and 9yo dog....

[_Ju_]

I had a similar outrage. My insurance for this year is £18 a month for my very healthy 8 year old collie whereas it's only £9 for my 3 year old with the same company. Grrrrrrrr!

Your 8 year old collie is equivalent a 50-60 year old human.

[richardj]

I think all insurance companies increase the pet insurance policy annually - we are with Pet Plan and they have been excellent over the 14 years we have been with them (different dogs!) I think the best solution is puting £15 a month into a separate bank account especially if you have more than one pet. However do remember than many operations now carried out by vets and vet hospitals can run into thousands of pounds.
Richard

[Liz]

I have Benjy insured with Pet Plan and considered cancelling the policy. Thank goodness I didn't as he fell and badly injured his leg and the ensuing treatment cost about £3,000!

It is quite expensive but feel that it's worthwhile and they were a great company to deal with and settled the claim promptly.

[Robinwood]

Me and my mom always put some amount for our pets for every month and will use them for our personal use no matter how hard it may be !....