Insurance Recommendations

For all your feline miscellany - any interesting stories, news or subjects that do not fit in the other sections.
Post Reply
Laujo
Frequent Cat Chatter
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:34 am

Insurance Recommendations

Post by Laujo »

Hi Everyone,

I recently adopted 8 year old Ivy from Cats Protection and she came with 4 weeks PetPlan cover. I am having no luck getting through to them on the phone to get a quote for extending the cover, so I want to shop around. Can you recommend any providers to me? At the moment she has a clean bill of health and no underlying conditions.

Thanks!!
booktigger
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 2664
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:36 pm
No. of cats in household: 3

Re: Insurance Recommendations

Post by booktigger »

Not sure about providers as I am currently with PetPlan, but don't just go off price, make sure that you get lifetime cover at the most you can afford, preferably no less than £5k per condition. Some other policies can look cheaper, but you get a limited pot, so if she develops something she could live with for years, then you would end up paying for her treatment yourself, which to me isn't the point of insurance. And also check reviews on them to make sure they are good at paying out, there are some that are reasonably priced that have a bad reputation for paying, again, not the point of insurance.
User avatar
Mollycat
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 2705
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:58 am
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: UK

Re: Insurance Recommendations

Post by Mollycat »

For an 8 year old cat even with a current clean bill of health, the premiums won't be the cheapest and you need to watch the exclusions very very carefully.

I used to work in the insurance sector, not pet insurance but I can tell you that on average insurances work on the basis of paying out half of what they collect in premiums. It's not all profit, there are overheads and so on, but it's worth a thought.

None of my animals has ever been insured, I've had 9 cats over 34 years and never had much expense until the last 3 years, when 2 cats and one dog have cost us well over £10,000 between them. I have a credit card with a very high limit and we took out a loan, the plan was to get some savings together but obviously that didn't quite happen. If we had been insured, it would have covered around £6,000 of it if we had paid around £95 per month premiums. That's £3000 in premiums to pay out £6000 and we still have to find £4000 ourselves - and that's if you have 3 years like we just had and not like the previous 30 years we had.

I'm not trying to put you off getting insurance, just saying it's worth careful thought about just what you're paying for and what alternatives are available. Also, I think about the age of my animals and how much treatment I would want to put them through.
User avatar
Kay
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 1961
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 2:50 pm
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: West Wales

Re: Insurance Recommendations

Post by Kay »

I insured an 11 year old rescue cat with Tescos 2 years ago - premiums are currently £30.12 a month which isn't bad for a now 13 year old, though I have never had to claim so far, which I expect makes a difference

this is for their top of the range Premium cover, which gives a maximum of £4000 vet fees each year plus lots of other benefits

having had to find nearly £2000 for radioactive iodine treatment for a hyperthyroid cat, I feel safer insuring these days
Laujo
Frequent Cat Chatter
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:34 am

Re: Insurance Recommendations

Post by Laujo »

Thanks everyone. Really helpful responses :)

I finally got through to petplan and have quotes from them. I currently don't have access to a lot of credit as I am paying off some debt at the moment, so I wouldn't want to rely on that option in case something goes wrong. I have dropped my vet an email to see what insurers they are happy to work with and I will see what they say.
User avatar
Mollycat
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 2705
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:58 am
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: UK

Re: Insurance Recommendations

Post by Mollycat »

Intrigued by Kay's Tesco quote so I just went and played about with numbers. First ran it through as if Molly was born in 2010 so 11 years old, and the premium with Tescos for the top level of cover was £31 a month. Went back and changed her date of birth to 2007 which as far as I'm aware is true and it went up to £64 per month. That's without mentioning her early kidney issues or past hyperthyroid treatment. But one thing I did really appreciate with Tesco is how they tell you before you get a quote that "the cost of pet healthcare roughly doubles every 4-5 years" so expect premiums to increase, honest upfront approach which is refreshing from insurance!
booktigger
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 2664
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:36 pm
No. of cats in household: 3

Re: Insurance Recommendations

Post by booktigger »

Most vets are happy to do direct claims with PetPlan due to their reputation, but you do still have to pay your excess - I think theirs change when pets are 9. I always dismissed them due to their price, but having used them, their customer service is good, I had one instance where the vet put the claim through on Thu and it had been paid by Sat!
Laujo
Frequent Cat Chatter
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:34 am

Re: Insurance Recommendations

Post by Laujo »

They increase when they hit their 10th birthday. I went with the Pet Plan option today with 7k worth of cover. My vets also confirmed they are happy to work directly with them which is good. I also got a month free as it was an extension of the 4 weeks free cover she got through Cats Protection.
Post Reply