Best place to get insurance

[Mymblesdaughter]

Hi Ruth

I think I'm in an unusual situation as the freeholder also owns the ground floor flat and his son lives there. Also I don't own any of the garden. He has said at long last that he is happy for my cats to go into his garden and I'm hoping to use a cat ladder that just attaches to my window sill and then to the floor. If someone else moves in downstairs and is not happy then I will have to remove it, which is fair enough.

So I would think that as you actually own some of the garden it's not really anything to do with the freeholder but if you want to drill into the wall you would need to tell him/her. If you go for something that attaches to your window sill then to the floor I can't see that anyone could complain. I haven't checked with the other leaseholders as they are above me so probably won't even notice.

The reason it was taking so long wasn't a legal problem it's just that the freeholder is very difficult to contact.   

[ruth]

My two are only a year old and aren't going out until I can arrange a cat ladder down to the garden with the freeholder and this is taking ages.

Hi Mymblesdaughter,
I was wondering if you could tell me more about your situation with your freeholder and proposed cat ladder? I'm considering buying a flat that would require a cat ladder down to the garden. Have you had to speak to your fellow leaseholders first- or did you go striaght to the freeholder- does s/he want payment to alter the lease to allow changing the external look of your property? Sorry for so many questions- I'm nervous to buy this flat as I all I see is that I'd been fitting unobtrusive, wooden 'platforms as steps down to the garden of which I'd own half, but now I'm thinking that maybe it requires permision/horrendous costs? Cheers

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Thank you Louise , he was the most handsome and caring boy 

[LouiseJ]

Hear Hear Gill!

Chelsea's treatment at the Royal Veterinary Collegue cost me £6k in total and whilst the money is immaterial as I had to give her the best I could, having a policy in place gives you peace of mind.

(BTW I am still reading through Napoleon's story, but I did see the pic you posted the other day and all I can say is wow, what a handsome boy)

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Sometimes it takes a big lesson to learn!

I have had two birmans and two moggies for last 6 years and in 2010 my already high premium for the two pedigrees was going up to over £50 each ands I decided that although Napoleon was having seizures and had only one kidney and his brother Ducha had only 3 legs I could not afford on a pension to pay that.

Pedigrees cos much more to insure.

They were both 17 years old and didnt consider much more could go wrong with them.

I put £500 into a fund for them and was adding another £40 a month, enough to cover them you would think?

It turned out to be so wrong as Napoleon was ill from the moment his insurance stopped in October with one thoing and another and in February Ducha broke a bone in his paw on the side where he had no leg and needed cage rest. I didnt have a cage or all the other things that were needed and all of my fund plus loads more was completely wiped out.

In mid April Napoleon became very ill with a blocked bladder, which meant he was in hospital more time than at home and being constantly tested, xrayed and with 24/7 care at the vets. He eventually needed an operation to open his bladder to remove two crystals of the non=desolving kind that were blocking him and sadly he them stopped eating completely and went into renal failure...............his story is in the Bridge section.

The total cost of this weeks was nearly £3000 and my vet knew he was not insured and when we had got to about £700 he asked if I would like to pay on installments. After Napoleon went to the Bridge  He knocked the bill back to £2000 which I will be paying for until the end of this year and its crippling me.

The only thing I would change is not renewing the insurance because I gave my boy every bit of medical care that I could.

Ducha is not insured cos he would have too many exclusions but it terrifies me in case he gets seriously ill and is now moving towards 19 years old.

At one stage in early 2009 it looked like Napoleon would need an MRI scan costing approc £2500 and that was while he was insured but he was too ill to travel across the country for this and he subsequently stabalized on abs.

Soooooooooooooooo the moral of this story is, get the best insurance for your cats as soon as possible or you could end up losing them because you cant afford the treatment and you would never forgive yourself for the rest of your life.

[bunglycat]

I still have to get my 2 boys insured Axa  was very expensive as they are not quite one yet and they were pretty bad when I made a claim for Pandora. They managed to lose 4 faxes from my vet
They are one in July and August , so hoping it goes down a bit by then ,but still looking
Axa wanted more for the boys each than Pandora who is coming up to 7 .
Will look into the PDSA one too.

[LouiseJ]

Getting my girls insured is a job for the weekend and although they won't be going outside yet, they are going to be insured as you never know what happens. I only made two claims under my Direct Line policy for Chelsea who was most definitely a house cat, both in what was the last weeks of her life. One has been paid and I'm expecting to hear on the other (larger) bill in the next few days.

The cost of treatment can be shocking so best protect yourself.

As for cat trees - we've got two, one from Zooplus and one from Jollyes   

[emmmy_lou]

you can use comparison sites. Petplan were quite pricey, so I went with PDSA, its lifetime cover too, which I would also make sure you get. I didn't get a dicount for 2, but it was cheaper to get it online.

A work friend has just renewed her dogs with Animal friends as hers with RSPCA went up almost £10 a month without a single claim!!! 

I got ours insured as they go outside,  hopefully they will never need it, but you never know could happen.

Emma

[sheilarose]

With two young cats you'll get a discount.

The lady who I rang at Petplan was happy to give quotes with no obligation and they pay the vet direct if you're covered.
AnimalFriends were excellent when Theo broke his cruciate ligament and needed surgery (although I had to cough up for the money first then wait for re-payment), someone said you can shop on comparison sites for pet insurance now? He has continuous cover so when the day comes his bad leg might need to be amputated (we're told it could happen) he's covered for that Op as well).

Like Helen said, though, be wary of the exclusions and continuing illness cut-offs the cheaper policies have.

Don't forget the excess per condition, too. Petplan charged me £85 for Tufty's UTI and then another £85 for his foot.

[Mymblesdaughter]

Yes, it's a difficult decision, I have never insured any of my cats in the past. It really wasn't the done thing, but thing move on, and now everyone seems to have it. I've never had a cat with anything really expensive and always thought I'd just remortgage the house or sell the car if the worst came to the worst. My two are only a year old and aren't going out until I can arrange a cat ladder down to the garden with the freeholder and this is taking ages. So they aren't likely to get into any trouble at the moment. My last cat had lots of visits to the vets in her first year but never had another problem over the rest of her life. 

[sheilarose]

I used Tufty's free 4 weeks insurance after his microchipping with Petplan, (you have to sign up for full insurance if you use this free 4 week period) it saved me around £700 at the time (UTI emergency vet + follow up), and a further £300 when he broke his foot, but his premium has now rocketed to £18 per month.

Think carefully, although I'll keep Tufty and Theo my other accident prone young Buck (who is with AnimalFriends £13 pm) insured I prefer to save the premiums estimated at a further £50-60 per month for the other six older, more sensible cats and take my chances!

[Dawn F]

I used zooplus for cat trees

[Mymblesdaughter]

Thanks Tiggy's Mum for such a comprehensive answer. I will look into Axa and petplan. I heard about one of the insurers pulling out of the market and leaving people without insurance. It must be so worrying for people with ill pets. 

[Tiggy's Mum]

on the new job 

With insurance the key with young cats is to make sure it's lifetime cover which means that each and every year you get X amount to spend on vet bills and the pot is reset each year you renew, regardless of whether you claimed.  Other types are per condition which is no good, especially for young cats, as once the limit is used up over however many years you're on your own. The worst type of insurance is that which only covers that condition for 12 months - avoid!

I think PetPlan have an excellent reputation but they are also very expensive, I'm with Axa who have 7k cover per year (lifetime cover) which is similar to PetPlan's premium cover. I pay around £8 a month each for each cat, they're 5 yrs old now and it's only gone up a few pennies each year although there's obviously no guarantee for next year! You also get a 5% discount on the second pet.

Another thing to watch out for is Policies that are brands and are underwritten by an insurer eg Halifax, Llloyds TSB - they both recently pulled out of the pet insurance market leaving those with pre-existing conditions high and dry as they can't get cover elsewhere. I think there has been a recent ombudsman ruling that they will have to reinstate cover for those with pre-existing conds as the way the policy was worded it made out it was for life but I supect other brands will make sure their T&C's are watertight! Axa are an underwriter in their own right so unlikely to withdraw cover although anything's possible I think the chances are lower.

One last thing, have you heard of Quidco? You can take out a new policy through Quidco and get cashback eg £65 for each new Sainsbury's policy, £45 for More Than. You'd need to check what 'type' of insurance those that offer cashback are though as if you had to make a claim you'd be stuck with renewing that policy for life as if you tried to go elsewhere the pre-existing cond wouldn't be covered. If, like you hope, your boys are healthy you could even switch insurers every year and get cashback every time!

Phew, think that's about it!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

AXA

[Mymblesdaughter]

I have at long last found a job. So that means I have a little bit of extra money coming in. I really need to spend some of it on the kitties. I've ordered them a water drinking fountain and I really need to get them insured. Who are the best company to use? I have two cats so presume I might get a bit of a discount with some companies. Anyway any suggestions would be great.

Also I noticed a while back lidl had an offer on cat climbing trees, does anyone know if they still have them or any other places that sell them at a good price?