Ramsey Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 I left M&S last month and after a lot of shopping around I've opted for AXA direct this year which is almost the same policy as M&S (without this crazy vet nurse clause!!) and a darn sight cheaper than this years price rise with M&S ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarbear Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 hi, I have been considering changing my Rocks insurance for a while now as last year it went up by £6. Its due in March & as i havent needed to claim of them reading this has definately made my mind up! He will go on the same policy as Amy,ive never had a problem claiming on hers. sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 Mollydog's M&S policy is due, I'll check out the new terms. I'm definitely not paying that kind of money for a service that won't pay out for night-time emergencies unless you muck about phoning M&S before rushing your dog to the vet! Az is with Tesco, and they paid up quickly with no messing after his recent (out of hours) accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 That's plain crazy. My cynical side feels that M&S knows that most people who bother to take out pet insurance would be straight on the phone/down to their vets with out-of-hours emergencies rather than phoning M&S's helpline, and that they're looking for a way of getting out of paying for out-of-hours call-outs. We've only got one dog insured with M&S, the other two are still with Petplan. Won't be moving any to M&S at this rate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebob Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 Slightly OT here (apologies) but when Duke (horse) had foreleg lameness problem I advised Petplan (insurers at the time) that there might be a claim as there's a cut off point for notifying them before you can claim. Turned out I didn't actually need to claim and none was made BUT they still put in an exclusion for any future claim for anything "related" to poor hoof/foot conformation. Sorry slightly off topic from the OP's point, but ARGUE with them. They tried to exclude any condition which affected Frant's hindlegs when he had intermittent lameness behind and the vet thought there were signs of OCD lesions in his offside hock. I argued and got the vet to send a report and eventually they just excluded that condition only in that limb. Your vet will back you up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 thats ridiculous my out of hours vet is my vet when my vet is closed ( does that make sense ) we ring our normal practice number and we get diverted the out of hour clinic is linked to our normal practice and they share the same computer system , in fact our junior vet at the practice moved there as a full time member of staff a few months ago so its likely we will even see a vet our animals know the only difference is that its at a different location to our normal practice and of course it costs more than our normal practice because they are linked to our normal practice they can give us excellent advise on the phone about our animals and make an informed decision about if we should come in , I would be far happier talking to them than someone who may be qualified but has no access to our animals records Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 Thinking about this some more and isn't it illegal for someone who's not a vet to make a diagnosis? Surely if they are to decide, over the phone, without having ever met your animal, whether the situation warrants an emergency out-of-hours visit or not, they are making a diagnosis of the problem/condition of sorts - and yet they are not a vet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pboae Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 This is very important for those of you who have M&S Insurance policies:Crossposted: Can I crosspost this on another site? If so, is there someone I should credit it to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I cancelled Spuds M&S insurance a few months ago as they had bumped up the monthly payments from 10 squid to 20 I'd never even claimed for him, I have just this second taken out an AXA insurance for him which as far as I can make out has just the same level of cover as the old M&S and it will cost 14 squid a month, quite a saving. I also mentioned M&S's new policy's to Spuds hydrotherapist who also happens to be the vet nurse at our practise, she also has her dogs and horses with M&S and she was horrified that they would expect you to phone them first in an emergancy call out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I've just renewed Mollydog with Axa, and it was £60 cheaper than M&S. What's more, it was also cheaper than Tesco, (Az is with Tesco) for a better level of cover. Tesco were great last time I claimed from them, but if the Axa policy goes through with no problems I think I might swap him over as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 .. I meant to say, thanks for letting us know about this, I don't think I would have noticed the change. I think the most likely scenario for me to need to rush Mollydog to the vet would be if she injured herself during an evening walk (Az did exactly that a few months back). If that happened, if I had remembered to take my mobile phone, and if it was charged up, and if I was somewhere where there was a mobile signal (loads of places round here don't have one), I really don't think I'd be in a state to call anyone other than the vet - let alone go through the whole 'what is your policy number' ID thing! What are the odds that they won't speak to you if you can't prove who you are ("sorry, it's because of data protection...") My lovely new vet has 24/7 cover on-site, so probably I would just pile her into the car and make a dash for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nettie Posted December 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Can I crosspost this on another site? If so, is there someone I should credit it to? Yes the OP said to crosspost to any site you think it will be of value to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlebabe Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I did lots of research and comparing of policies/prices after M&S did away with the no excess policy and have switched most of mine to Axa Pet Insurance because the cover is very good, it's lifetime cover and the price was excellent. I did the same Alex, although they don't appear to be taking any money yet . I hope all those with M&S can certainly get a better deal than what they are contemplating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I did the same Alex, although they don't appear to be taking any money yet . It took them ages to take money off me, though I did get my insurance documents through fairly quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlebabe Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 That's ok then! I've had the documents . I also saved a small fortune too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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