Pet insurance

A friend is with Tesco, they have just reimbursed her £8500 after fee dog needed emergency surgery and follow up treatment.
She said they were superb.

PetPlan are the best, but pricy. All my animals have been insured by them

I'm happy with Animal Friends.

Had always previously been with Petplan but they wouldn't insure my new-to-me dog five years ago when his passport said he was a Crossbreed but I couldn't specify which breeds were crossed, and they wouldn't accept "Mongrel" as the commonsense alternative.

I'm with Many Pets. Pet insurance is expensive, especially if you want reasonable cover. Vet bills can easily rack up into the thousands if your pet should have an accident or develop a serious conditions. Go on some of the comparison sites and get a variety of quotes, but make sure you are comparing like for like.

I'm with Animal Friends - never needed to use it but I like that they give a percentage of profits to animal charities. My daughter had two cat which she sadly lost within a year of each other. They both became unwell quickly and despite the best efforts of the vet, had to be PTS. the first was insured by Animal Friends who were outstanding and she had the money back within a week. The second was insured by Saga who were terrible. She had to keep chasing the payment - which you don't want to do after losing a much loved pet. She eventually received her money after three months. So I would say definitely do not use Saga - they may be a little cheaper but there are other providers who are better

PetPlan here for my last 2 and current 2 dogs. It isn’t the cheapest but, it’s reliable. Every claim I’ve made has been paid. Vets work directly with Petplan. I found that helpful when my 6 year old dog became very sick, very quickly. He was put to sleep at home, just 24 days after a slight indication his mobility may be an issue. We were at our vet frequently, X-rays, bloods, then referral to orthopaedic specialist, mri scans and more. It was an inoperable tumour on his spine. I found it a help to just leave the surgery, knowing the vet was liaising with Petplan.

Petplan, here used for about 20 years for my Cats.
One darling old girl had Kidney failure we kept her going with meds, trips to the Vet for about 4 years, we eventually lost her just before she was 20 years. They paid all those meds and Vet bills no problem.

Both our Cavapoos are insured with ManyPets.. quite expensive but provides good, all-round cover, and both the site and the claims process are user-friendly. Touch wood, we've not had to make any claims to date, but are reassured by the reviews we've seen.

Petplan where excellent at paying out and the vets, and referral centre we had to use liased with direct claims, I just payed the excess where necessary.
Couldnt fault them.
My son , and my friend both have petplan, their dogs have illnesses that are dealt with also in this way.

I was also looking for pet insurance and came across a deal through Topcashback with Asda, their quote was really good and you got £190 back through Topcashback.

The quote might have been good and you might have got money back, but who was the insurer and how comprehensive was the cover? That’s what matters. I’m always suspicious of companies who try to lure you with cash back, vouchers or similar - somewhere along the line you pay for them.

Having worked in a vet surgery for a time, I know from experience that some companies are much better at paying out than others too. You need to compare like for like - lifetime cover is the best and be aware that existing conditions probably won't be covered.

Precisely Blondiescot. You want an insurer with a good track record of working with vets, such as PetPlan, rather than questioning every detail of the treatment and taking months to pay. I would be suspicious about the insurer who gave a quote to Elless. The dependable ones don’t have to offer bells and whistles. Why prejudice your pet’s care for the sake of a cheap quote and cash back?

Pet plan for our dogs but agree they are expensive as a company. Just something else to be aware of if medical insurance proved too expensive advise get insurance for your dog just in case they cause road accident or biting someone or chewing furniture then the Dogs Trust offer insurance (not medical) for £12.50 a year as a oap covering all your dogs. Some vets also offer insurance schemes for reduced rates for medical issues. You really need to do comprehensive research. (We’ve paid insurance for many many years but claimed next to nothing but obviously a gamble that your dog remains healthy). Good hunting.

I would definitely talk to your vet. They know best as to who are the best ones, which is definitely the most important thing. They might not be allowed to recommend one but you might get a few pointers. Make sure it’s a ‘whole of life’ policy. Anything less is pointless. I will only ever use Pet Plan. I’ve used them for years and never once had a problem with payouts or claims in spite of having some complicated issues with pets.

Some vets (and I say some, not all) will only recommend one insurer...for a reason. Some actually advertise that particular insurer in their surgeries. Ask yourself why.

Many Pets without a doubt. £15k cover and good customer service.

Thanks everyone for your tips and recommendations.
I’m still looking at reviews and a company at a reasonable monthly cost.
Some of the quotes seem exorbitant. 🐶

Gangster, one year I claimed £15,000. My 6 year old dog became seriously sick overnight, put to sleep 24 days later . During those 24 days he had extensive investigations including the mri scan that identified the inoperable tumour on his spine. A month later our previously healthy 10 year old dog had seizures. Various examinations but eventually brain scan needed. Tumour found in her shoulder. Surgery followed. Having Petplan eased this grim time.

Gingster, sorry that predictive text turned yiu into a gangster

Direct Line - they've been excellent over the years.

does insurance also covered post care surgery? mine just got his tplo surgery and it was all covered by the insurance but not the post care. we've bought a lot of things for his speedy recovery and it was so expensive. i even tried a sleeve instead of a cone.

I am disappointed that no one has given the actual cost of insurance they pay. Just curious.
I don’t have a pet now but when we did we never had insurance for any of our cats over the years. Not sure that anyone did then.
It seems to be taken as read that pet insurance is necessary now.
Just a thought but if it is so expensive ( and May not even be used) it could be cheaper to put aside a similar amount in a separate account and use that to pay for any treatment.

Silverlining I have just checked with PetPlan.

I have the Covered for Life plans for my cat and dog.
It covers up to £12 000 per year per animal.

I pay between £80 - £100 each month for both policies. I’ll have to check.
It doesn’t start off that expensive, it goes up as the animals get older.

They always pay out no questions asked, they also deal direct with the vet, so if you have ongoing treatment the vet deals with it.