akitas Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 VIP warned me from the beginning about M&S, but of course I didn't listen, their offer was too tempting. They said somthing similar about Halifax. They said all insurer that want to get into the market make these sort of great offers and then increase premiums etc, Whereas insurances like petpals are in the business for a while and have a realistic point of view of cover and premiums. Ian, I wouldn't want to be without cover for any of my dogs, it is not only the vet fees, but as well the liability. I claimed for Jake this year around £400/450 And it wasn't anything major, just an ear infection and he had 2 accidents and needed stitching up. I would be short with just putting £300 aside, beside that I have more than 1 dog and what do I do when one of them has something serious suddenly, which would be more than £300- 500 a year I can put aside. (Knowing me, I would use the money for other stuff anyway ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 VIP warned me from the beginning about M&S, but of course I didn't listen, their offer was too tempting.They said somthing similar about Halifax. They said all insurer that want to get into the market make these sort of great offers and then increase premiums etc, Whereas insurances like petpals are in the business for a while and have a realistic point of view of cover and premiums. I take the view that if something seems too good to be true it probably is. VIP mentioned to me the dangers of taking advantage of the 6 weeks free insurance offered by some breeders and rescues. If you make a claim within that 6 weeks you could be stuffed as to that condition if you decide yiou want to change insurers. May be better to ditch the 6 weeks free insurance and get a policy that you hope will suit you long term from the outset. I've only had the free insurance for one of mine and claimed for colitis. That was with Petplan and there would have been no way I would have wanted to continue with their high premiums. Lucky I didn't intend to insure that dog with another company. We can afford to pay for whatever crops up but I decided to insure our collie as he is a bonehead with no sense of self preservation at all. Lucky I did as he's had a claim of over £500 in the first 6 months for an op to remove a foreign body, so I'm over £300 to the good this year so far. Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Probably not the popular view but personally I'd look at how much you've paid in and how many claims you've made. £25 x £12 is £300 per year & according to pdsa insurance quoted figures their average claim was only £250 - £280 (2 pages each gave a different figure). Now I accept that if a major illness or accident occurs you do have to find much more but if you can resist the temptation to spend on other things then I'd have thought you're better off putting your £300 per year into a an account reserved solely for vets fees. The insurance industry doesn't do anyone any favours - if they offer cover they already know the odds are stacked in their favour! I know where you are coming from, but I've also been in a situtation years ago of having an uninsured dog who suddenly needed nearly £3000 worth of treatment (and that was a LOT of money then, I think I earned about £5000 a year). I was very close to a situation where I might have had to pts because I simply couldn't afford the operation and treatment needed. I somehow managed to borrow and scrape the money together, but it left me in debt for years. I'd never want to go through that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Boy Floyd Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 (edited) Oops didn't realise my sis was logged in will try again. Edited July 28, 2007 by Pretty Boy Floyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pboae Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 With the loss of the no excess option how will it work in future for a dog already insured with them? I mean, Sully's monthly medication is well over £100 for his arthritis, would I have to pay an excess, as it's already an ongoing claim? Or would I pay it just once, and then future claims would be covered, or would I have to pay it every month, or every check-up or every year or something? I don't understand I don't think you can beat the NFU. x I have also heard some really good things about NFU, and the policy seems excellent as well. They don't seem to be very well known amongst pet owners, but definitely worth considering if you are looking to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 You'd have to pay one excess per year I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted July 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 Have spoken to VIP and they were unable to provide any improvement on M&S apart from PetPlan which has a higher excess which I don't want as it would cost me more even if they only made one trip to the vet in a year. The other alternative they offered was Petpals which was more expensive than M&S. I mentioned Sainsbury's and they said that although it wasn't the kind of policy they offered (as it's per condition, not lifetime) they said that they had heard good things about them. Am in a quandary now as to what to do, but I am going to take my time and think about it and not rush into anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 Probably not the popular view but personally I'd look at how much you've paid in and how many claims you've made. £25 x £12 is £300 per year & according to pdsa insurance quoted figures their average claim was only £250 - £280 (2 pages each gave a different figure). Now I accept that if a major illness or accident occurs you do have to find much more but if you can resist the temptation to spend on other things then I'd have thought you're better off putting your £300 per year into a an account reserved solely for vets fees. The insurance industry doesn't do anyone any favours - if they offer cover they already know the odds are stacked in their favour! I think pet insurance is worth it for peace of mind. A few years ago we had a lurcher, Ben who had spondylitis, we made several claims for him, and eventually he was referred to an orthopaedic vet for an MRI which resulted in an operation. The MRI was in excess of £800 and the op + meds, hospitalisation etc, another £1000. Our greyhound Daisy, fell awkwardly when out for a walk one day and slipped a disc in her spine, treatment as above so another £2000! She also developed tendonitis and then so sadly developed liver cancer and we lost her. I dread to think the total cost for both of them, Even after paying the excess the insurance company paid out big time, which we could not have afforded. Like any insurance it is a gamble. We have 4 cats, and never really claimed much for them, but I still like the peace of mind. Even with paying an excess I still think M&S is a good policy, although I am peeved (if not surprised) that they have done away with the no excess policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemimap Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 Have spoken to VIP and they were unable to provide any improvement on M&S apart from PetPlan which has a higher excess which I don't want as it would cost me more even if they only made one trip to the vet in a year. The other alternative they offered was Petpals which was more expensive than M&S. I mentioned Sainsbury's and they said that although it wasn't the kind of policy they offered (as it's per condition, not lifetime) they said that they had heard good things about them. Am in a quandary now as to what to do, but I am going to take my time and think about it and not rush into anything. Alex i insured mine with Tesco last year - bit of a rush job as my previous insurers ceased trading. I knew it wasn't lifetime cover and intended to move to one which was at renewal. Anyhow, Dylan has had a lump removed, been diagnosed hypothyroid and is now having xrays and quite possibly an op on his shoulder. All these and related conditions will be excluded from now on. Its unlikely to happen but just bear it in mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akitas Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 I am now waiting for a quote from NFU, if that falls through I will insure Larkin with Halifax, just hoping it doesn't turn out to be similar to M&S, cheap to start with and then the premiums go up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 Thought I'd just add a reply I've got from the FSA, where I asked a few questions, inc whether an insurance company should inform existing customers 'at the earliest opportunity', of a significant change to policies........ 'However, our rules state that if an insurance provider changes the premium or any term or condition of an insurance contract, they must provide the customer with this information in a durable medium, in good time before the change takes effect. If you believe that your insurer has not provided this information within reasonable time, then you may wish to make a complaint. In this instance, you should: - Complain to the firm in the first instance to give them an opportunity to investigate your complaint and, if appropriate, put things right. Our rules require firms to investigate your complaint within eight weeks. - If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (the Ombudsman) to consider your case. The Ombudsman is an independent body set up to help consumers resolve disputes against financial firms.' It seems nothing can be done about the significant increase in premiums, nor the decision to remove the nil excess,(commercial decisions) but the possibility of a complaint being upheld because they are not notifying existing policy holders of the change now, esp if it means someone could make a claim between now and their renewal, which could effectively 'trap' them. So I'm off to complain to M&S about the fact that they are not notifying policyholders now of a significant change to their product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 I had a look at AXA and think I will probably go with them, I also looked at NFU and found a complaint about them that they insure per year and not per treatment, this poor guy only got about 30 quid of a 250 claim because the dog's treatment went over the policy year complaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted August 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 (edited) I have switched 7 out of my 10 pets to Axa because not only were they the cheapest but the cover is good and they pay out £7k per policy period. The only ones I haven't switched are Tabitha and Timmy because they are having treatment at the moment and Max because of his pre-existing conditions, though I may end up switching him as well because neither of the conditions are treatable anyway. Edited August 15, 2007 by madmerle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LurcherGirl Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 Our four guys will be staying with M&S... for three of them they have already paid out big time this and last year (so we couldn't change even if we wanted to) and though expensive, the cover is good and we have never had any problems claiming for anything. Vera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel n Hardy Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 both my boys are with pet plan at the moment but might look around at renewal time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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