Insurance for my cat

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Yes just one type of cover that covers everything it needs 

I think its onlt Petplan from the top companies that have different levels.

[tigerbaby]

Thanks for all your answers.

When getting a quote from Axa it seems like they only do one type of cover, ie they don't seem to have 3 or 4 different plans to choose from. Is this correct?

[J (Indoorcatsuk)]

I've been getting quotes for house insurance, and the guy asked me if I had any cats or dogs, I couldn't work out why till he told me that their insurance includes accidental damage to items by cats or dogs !

[coffeefilms]

I'm with PetPlan and have to give credit where due, my eldest, Coffee, was diagnosed with Polycythemia (very rare form of Leukaemia) and ran up a huge bill with our vets and the Animal Health Trust hospital where she stayed for specialist treatment for a couple of weeks, she's now on drugs for life and has to have blood tests and check ups all the time, nonetheless Pet Plan pay out with no quibbles, let us off of an accidental lapse of renewal caused by a house move and even though they'll be paying out on her for life her premiums are still only about £5 per month higher than our youngest which is 6 years her junior and not even fully grown, the excess is about £60 but that seems to be about the average.

[CharlieFarley]

jamiesonsmum - I'm not Charlie  but the policy I have with petplan is the Cat policy which offers £6000 cover per year.  I don't think that particular policy is mentioned on their website.  I was told about it when I rang up to take out the budget policy - they asked me if I wanted to upgrade to the Cat policy.

I have the same cover, unfortunately because of where we live our excess is £80    Luckily as Charlie was on the 6 weeks free when we claimed the excess is only £55 for that claim 

[sixfurballs]

I agree that this is a minefield. I used to be with Direct Line but thanks to Purrs realised how poor their level of cover actually is but they were pretty cheap (get what you pay for). I have 4 cats and I have switched to Axa. Because I have more than one cat I get a discount on 3 of the policies. Direct Line have also put their prices up now. They have increased their cover slightly but Axa is still better and both policies cost similar now (Direct Line may even be more expensive but I haven't sat down and worked that out accurately).

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

AXA now provide a better deal than M&S and also cheaper.

I am one who changed to M&S and left to join AXA. Have claimed once already for Sasa and no probs with paypout.

I believe to get comprable cover with Pet Plan the excess is higher and its more expensive but they are a good company.

[Team Svartalfheims]

Halifax pet insurance is very good and very reasonably priced.

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Oh thanks for that Susanne!!!!!! I will definately check my policy and ring them to check as that seems ridiculous and is worrying! It would be something that would definately make me change as well - thanks for the heads up 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Word of warning about M&S - they used to be very popular on here but recently they have made a few changes, and one of those is to introduce a clause that requires you to ring their help line (staffed by vet nurses I think - not vets) before you take your cat to an out of hours vet.  If you don't (and let's face it, if you have a sick cat who is going to waste time talking to M&S to get their permission to go to the vet?), they could refuse to pay up.

jamiesonsmum - I'm not Charlie  but the policy I have with petplan is the Cat policy which offers £6000 cover per year.  I don't think that particular policy is mentioned on their website.  I was told about it when I rang up to take out the budget policy - they asked me if I wanted to upgrade to the Cat policy.

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Hi!

I was with Petplan and was paying quite a high excess fee and so changed to M&S. For the first year I didn't have an excess to pay and it was fab, but they've changed it now!

I get 7000 pounds a year for vets fees and also a lifetime cover for things like arthritis/heart disease etc so she's covered if she has a long term illness. I have a 55 pounds excess and pay 9.50 a month for Katie. I've been really pleased and the one time i've had to claim they settled it quickly and have a very good customer service team.

You can probably find cheaper deals out there, but from my experience they aren't as good cover and only do a years cover for many things!

Hope this helps!

[tigerbaby]

Charlie - which cover do you have with Petplan if you don't mind me asking?

[CharlieFarley]

I went through all this rigmarole a few months ago and settled on PetPlan.  We pay about £11 a month per cat.

We've already had to claim £150 back for Charlie so we've already saved money so its definately worth it!

Pinnacle are worth a look too, I nearly went with them but when we claimed for Charlie he was still on his 6 weeks free insurance that Petplan give out, so thats kinda tied us to them lol!

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I'm not terribly familiar with either of those either, but I do notice that Healthy Pets is underwritten by Axa so you may be better off going direct to Axa for a quote.  Would probably be a better policy too as the Healthy Pets cover is per incident (condition) and doesn't cover dental.

Pet Pals seems to be cover per year which looks better but other than that I have no experience of them.  The exclusions do say something about not paying for pre-op blood tests unless there are symptoms or illness requiring them, so I guess they wouldn't pay for them just because a cat was older and the vet recommended them.

I'm with petplan and am happy with them although they're not the cheapest and their excess for older cats is high.  Axa are popular with a lot of people on here so I'd get a quote from them.

[clarenmax]

Hi, insurance is a real minefield, and there's been some quite good posts about this in the past (am at work so won't have time to search for them, sorry hun).

The most important thing to check is whether the amount paid for a condition is a per year sum, or just up to a certain amount and then it stops.  Its best to get one which covers a condition per year, as if its onging, they will carry out paying, whereas if the cover is only up to say £5k, once that runs out, that's it.

M&S were always very good, a few of us have gone directly to AXA (as they were the underwriters anyway) and saved a bit of money, but I think they've increased their prices to match now.

Defo worth shopping around to get the best deal.  Personally I've had no dealings with the companies you've listed, so can't really comment on how good/bad they are.

[tigerbaby]

Hi all, and happy valentines day!

Which insurance company do you use for your cats and which cover have you chosen?

I have done loads of research about this, and finally going to get it sorted (had to get Jamesons vaccinations up-to-scratch first)
I'm not made of money, but appreciate that it might be better financially to get him insured (in the long run).
I just cannot afford the more expensive covers (£15-£20 per month), and have been looking at a few companies that do good covers for less money, these are:

Healthy Pets
Pet Pals (also covers dental)

Does anyone know anything about these companies, or does anyone have any other recommendations for reliable insurance companies with good, affordable cover? Any tips, hints and advice much appreciated!

When I recently took my kitty to the vets, I picked up a leaflet for a company called Lifelong. They seem to have good rates and you get a £25 voucher towards vet fees each year.

Many thanks