Pet Insurance?

[Jennifer Martin]

 Rio's insurance is due for renewal, he is with AXA at the moment but there's been quite a price hike,
I have been trawling around the insurance companies but with no real idea who is 'Best' so I thought I would ask the UK dog owners who they recommend - suggestions please.   

[Jennifer Martin]

Just looked at E and L Insurance which is a lifetime policy.

[Lois McCullough]

Depending on where you live we use NFU one of the last mutuals for all our insurances house, contents,cars, B&B, and last but not least our 'boys'. Made a claim this year for Wellington and everything went very smoothly, however they do tend to cover rural areas.
Good luck Lois

[silvia]

in my area pet plan and pet-insurance.co.uk offer the best deals for the "cover for life" option (actually I am with pet-insurance at the moment)
Good luck!
Silvia

[Louise Perry]

Yes I heard E & L have bad reviews and I am stuck with them! I started off with them as had 12 weeks free insurance from Reuben being a puppy. Because I had to claim within that free period I can't change as no other insurance wud look at me with a barge pole. However luckily they paid up for everything (2.5 k) though they were a but slow. They are cheap compared to others ESP pet plan and hopefully all will be well with them in the future!

[silvia]

good to know this,

since the pet-insurance group i was suggesting - and on which we are at moment- seems to give us bills coming from E&L in the end.. I was surprised at the beginning, but they explained is part of larger company and I didnt complained about..

we were convinced by them since they give a long lifetime cover, which i think is very very important, for a very good deal, but **luckily** so far we were not making claims, so i cant comment on their efficiency....

the only thing I can notice with them is that they do not cover travel/passport/holiday claims, so if you/we are going to travel we need to add an extra insurance for that period (as for example axa seems to do monthly travel covers for holidays, which is great)

any suggestion and comment is very wellcome :)

silvia

[silvia]

Hi fran! I am not sure i can be "friend" of your, so we can exchange comments.. i would like to know more, if possible, since several insurances are/seems to be part of E&l in the end, even if we subscribe with other companies...

cheers
silvia

[Jennifer Martin]

Thanks for the information on E & L, have also looked at Aviva and LV, pity we can't start our own company and get exactly what we need with no hassles!

[silvia]

thanks for the informations!

Jennifer: as far as I can understand, LV does not have a rolling option of the kind "lifetime" or "cover for life," which I believe is very important (would you need a treatment lasting > 1 year)

best, Silvia

[Cathy Smythe]

Hello
I have just had a quote from LV which gave me two options - 'essential' which only covers for treatment per condition for up to a year which was £12.50 per month or 'premier' which covers 'lifetime' treatment form just over £19 per month.

[silvia]

Hi Cathy

I would go for the premier, if any, but note that, even in that case, LV has a limit of 5000 per condition. It means that, just to make an example, if the dog develops a long term illness and you need medication, let's assume you spend 1000 £ per year, after the 5th year you cant claim on that condition anymore (nor open a new insurance since it would appear as a pre-existing condition..). Maybe is ok for you, I am just pointing this to your attention, just in case..

sainsbury has a similar cover with a bit higher, 7500£ cap.
I went for helpucover premier, that has not cup.. (25£ per month in our postcode..)

best, silvia

[Cathy Smythe]

Thanks Silvia. That makes it a lot clearer.
I think so many of the terms etc are deliberately vague! Another point I have noticed is that they stipulate in their terms that the dogs vaccinations must be up to date, but no mention of the consequence should you choose to Titre test as an alternative.

[silvia]

Ahh the friendly language of dog insurances.. Just to add that the pinnacle that Howard just suggested few minutes ago is helpucover (helpucover= pinnacle, indeed in the end we went with them after reading and comparing the Howard's past suggestions..)

I dont know what is the Titre test, sorry... guess they really want your vet declares that the vaccination are updated..

good luck !