I’m getting confused about what Pet Insurance I should have for my cat. I’ve had lots of quotes and looked up reviews but I’m worried that I’ll sign up for one that won’t pay up. Halifax had good reviews but it was so much more expensive than the others and Tesco was quite cheap but people are saying on review sites they don’t pay up, so any other opinions would be a help.
I am with Pet Plan and I am glad I am as when my Persian cat was ill a few years ago and subsequently died it would have cost me well over £1000 if I wasn’t insured. My other Persian was diagnosed with Crystals in his bladder a few years back and has to have special food for life and they paid for it all for the 1st 6 months. The Persians insurance is just over £15 a month
What Pet insurance for my cat? In England.?
Affilorama Premium
#1 by Sophie on April 5, 2010 - 7:49 am
I’ve got my cats and dogs with Marks & Spencers Pet Insurance.
It has different levels of cover depending on how much you want to spend.
I’ve got the middle level of insurance cover and I think it’s quite enough.
http://money.marksandspencer.com/insurance/pet-insurance/overview/
If you try the Money Supermarket, or Compare The Market you should get lots of different options.
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/pet-insurance/
http://www.comparethemarket.com/more-products/pet-insurance/
I’ve never heard anything bad said about the Marks & Spencers Pet Insurance.
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#2 by lfp78 on April 5, 2010 - 8:19 am
Have you considered self-insurance?
Whether this is viable now depends of course on how old your cat is, but if they’re over 7, I don’t think the insurance companies will take them on anyway – or will charge a lot more.
Basically, instead of paying £10-15 to an insurance company every month, you put it into a savings account of your own and let it earn interest.
By the time your cat’s likely to need major care, you should have 2-3 thousand waiting – assuming you’ve done it since the animal was young.
So after 10 years transferring £15 a month…
12 x £15 = £180
10 x £180 = £1800, plus interest = over £2000.
If your cat never needs special care, you get to keep the money.
If a cat needs so much care it’s going to cost more than £2000, one has to consider if it’s worth the strain it would put on the animal.
I write this as a cat lover and ‘owner’ of two lovable moggies.
I did have 3 until my oldest got run over at the age of 11.
If I’d paid out for her insurance from birth, I’d have nothing to show for it. This way, the money can be kept for the care of the other two – or for the care of any other cats I might have in future.
And if it’s not required, it’s mine to do what I like with!
This does require a bit of financial self-discipline, and of course you’ll have to play the part of "insurance company" when necessary. But read and consider the terms of Pet Insurance contracts carefully – you might be surprised how little they offer over this method unless something really quite rare and expensive happens. (i.e. treatable cancer, treatable injury from accident).
At the end of the day, they only want to make money for themselves.
Remember, this approach requires long-term financial self-discipline and the ability to pay for care yourself if something happens early on before the money has built up.
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Personal opinion based on past research
#3 by jackie g on April 5, 2010 - 8:37 am
hi pet insurance is a nightmare, i would agree with the self insurance if u can do it, i started off with pet plan they are very good but expencive, so i changed to the cheaper supermarket one, think it was sainsburys, without reading the small print, one of my cats was diognosed with a heart murmur, no problems, picked up on a routine check up, then 1 year later he got ill, i contacted the insurance who said he wasnt covered as this was a previous illness, anyway to cut a long story short the insurance starts a new policy every year, so any illness during the previous insurance year is not covered, i have changed my insurance to direct line but i have the gold cover which covers any illness for life or £6000 not just the year, i have 7 cats insured it costs me 40 a month, jaspers heart condition is however not covered and that is expencive with meds every month and check ups and scans every 6 months. before u buy check its for life of the cat not just a year. the excess is £70 for a claim the usual vets bills are about £50 so there is no claim there, they dont cover things like dental work which is a common problem from aboyt 8 years they usually need there teeth cleaning cost about £150, i think pet insurance is a rip off but i have it just in case, i would not want to have to make any decistions based on money, if my cats had an accident, or got really ill, be carefull when chooseing the insurance.
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#4 by willow on April 5, 2010 - 9:09 am
you want one to cover ongoing conditions only ones are pet plan and pet palls,i think Salisbury’s doing it as well,check with vets as well as some vets don’t deal with some as bad at paying,iv had pet plan and palls payed out within a week and covers my cat every year as has arthritis
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#5 by poodle power on April 5, 2010 - 9:39 am
The best is Pet Plan but they are also the most expensive they cover any illness or injury for the life of the pet no other insuarnce company does that. We recently adopted two kittens and are vets advice either Pet Plan, Morethan, Buddies or Marks and spencer. The last three cover any illness or injury for a certain amount for as long as you have the pet all other insurance will only cover a certain amount for a year. Most insurers do a range of cover like bronze,silver and gold . My dog is with Morethan and i have always found them to be very good they have always paid any claim fast with no fuse. But they are quiet expensive we have decide to go with Marks and spencers for are kittens. The cheaper the monthly payments the less they cover.
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#6 by Debby on April 5, 2010 - 9:51 am
I am with Pet Plan and I am glad I am as when my Persian cat was ill a few years ago and subsequently died it would have cost me well over £1000 if I wasn’t insured. My other Persian was diagnosed with Crystals in his bladder a few years back and has to have special food for life and they paid for it all for the 1st 6 months. The Persians insurance is just over £15 a month
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Owner of 3 cats past and present
#7 by tracy on April 5, 2010 - 10:01 am
i have my cat insurance with asda, they offer value, standard or superior. if i were you i’d got with the more expensive cover because they offer more than the standards. I chose the superior one because if my cat was to end up with a condition which he needed treatment for the rest of his life the superior one covers this where as the other ones only pay for the first year. here is a link to their website
http://www.asdafinance.com/insurance/pet-insurance/
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#8 by Jeni on April 5, 2010 - 10:23 am
We are with Sainsbury’s, because they offer the most in their policy.
We had to use it once when my cat was ill. The vet bill was £1200, we just gave the vet the form that comes with the policy each year and Sainsbury’s paid it.
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