Greyhoundhomer RGT Suffolk

Hi

Can anyone recommend an insurance for our Maddie

We keep on looking and researching insurances and I am now fed up of reading the small print, so like any insurance its only a good one when you find out what they are like when you need to make a claim

So can anyone recommend one or one which you would recommend to stay clear of

HELP

Amanda

Insurance can be a real minefield and you'll be inundated with replies! Personally I would steer clear of E&L - they took over 5 mths to pay out on a claim for Jay ages ago and only finally paid up when I got work to write a letter (I work for a firm of brokers and we use them). I've stuck with Petplan - not the cheapest but they pay out very quickly and without quibble.

I dumped E&L but not for your reasons. They paid up quickly enough but it was impossible to manage - I got a discount for three dogs, but instead of one policy covering all three dogs, it was three different policies each with a different payment date. And to top it, payments were based on a lunar month not a calendar month so some months I had three payments go out and some five - I just couldn't manage the financial irregularity. I switched to Tesco, at the moment the basic policy but I have every intention of upgrading when I get a pay rise. At the moment I'm drumming my fingers on my desk waiting for payment for my claim but as I can't honestly remember when I submitted the claim (foolishly didn't make a note) I can't comment on wether they're fast, slow or indifferent. I'd meant to ring them today but left the policy documents at home, so it will have to wait until this evening.
Petplan by all accounts are excellent, but I certainly can't afford them - Jodie's premium alone was more than all three dogs on E&L or Tesco.
The one piece of advice I would give to anyone looking for insurance is to carefully check their "percentage excess" charge on older dogs' policies (this is where as well as paying the fixed excess, you also have to pay a percentage of the outstanding vet bill). In some cases you end up paying so much excess that it's not worth making the claim at all - the money box under the bed insurance plan becomes more viable!

I've always been with PetPlan, as Jac says, not the cheapest but they've always paid out, and the big benefit is that my vet deals with it all, I just pay the excess and the rest goes straight to the vet so I don't have to pay it up front. They've even paid out for dentals which strictly speaking they don't have to.

I've been happy with Petplan too, they have paid promptly and they do cover for lifetime conditions but they are expensive, although when Paddy hurt his foot and needed two visits to the emergency vets over a weekend and the bill came to just under a thousand pounds, I stopped complaining about the cost of premiums for a while.

M & S has been good for us - they seem to pay out really quickly and we've had no quibbles, which has been a great relief!

It will be interesting to see how it goes now that our two have turned seven and are starting to show their age a bit....

we too are with pet plan thankfully we have never needed them our vet said that they pay out quickly and she has never had any problem with them they also cover nelly for life so worth paying a little xtra for peace of mind .

I'm with E&L too for our two dogs.

I've had one claim outstanding since November and am still waiting for payment.

I have a second claim dating from January so how much longer that will take is anyone's guess.

E&L also don't keep to the declared direct debit amounts - they vary them, albeit by only a few pence each month but it's very annoying.

Hi
thanks everyone for advice, will stay clear of E&L, (sorry who are E&L?), and give petplan a call.

Amanda

E&L are Equine & Livestock.
Previously we were with Animal Friends (you could try them) but switched to E&L as we thought they would be a bit cheaper.

We have ours insured with More Than. It costs about £14 a month for each dog. When we had a big claim for Roo (about £5K), we had to pay for treatment up front, but they were fairly prompt with the cheque when we put the claim in. They then continued to pay for his treatment for a further 12 months without quibble, and his premiums didn't go up by much on renewal. They would still be paying now if we continued with treatment. I think the most important thing to look for is that they pay for a long term condition if needed - i.e. the same condition will be covered year after year if you renew.

We're with MoreThan, but (touch wood) haven't had to claim anything so far, but it's good to know you've had no problems with them. We went with them because they seemed to represent the best value for money for a continuous cover policy.

Ha, not only is it car insurance renewal time, but also coming up to pet insurance renewal time, I'm not sure which one I find more confusing!

I'm after life cover now so I think I'm going with PetPlan but have found another company Petguard who are quite a bit cheaper and you can change a lot more options so he doesnt need to be covered for going abroad or boarding if I'm ill or cancelling holidays through his illness etc etc.

Anyone ever dealt with them?

https://www.jltonline.co.uk/secure/Peth ... &promCode=

Been looking for reviews but cant find any which I guess is a good thing as the most vocal people tend to be those that have a complaint.

Nope - never heard of them hun. Might be worth a try - just need to read the small print. One of the big things for me is the fact that my vet deals with Petplan, and I just pay the excess.

Here we go again...
I've just received the renewal notice (from Tesco) and am somewhat taken aback to find an increase in premium of £15 - £188 for the year!
This seems an awful lot.
Except, it is for three dogs, not one (so effectively up £5 per month, not £15).
And, I did make a claim about six months ago which has presumably raised my premiums.

So ... is this increase in line with everyone else's recent experience and it's simply a matter of me being shocked by the figures, or does this hike seem a bit steep to you?

Having bought the policy online last year, it's possible that I got a big discount on the first year that has now ended - I will phone them to check this later.