Cat Insurance

[Millys Mum]

Cover for life is still important for house cats as there are loads of conditions that last for more than a year, diabetes, hyperthyroidism and high blood pressure to name 3.

Im with M&S who have just hiked the price but im happy with the service. Try a quote from here and see how they compare   

http://www.axa.co.uk/pet/index.html

[sixfurballs]

Like jetcleo I have been with Direct Line (for 4 years now) but I cannot wait to leave them. They are cheap but when I really looked into the policy recently it provides very poor cover in comparison with other companies and my vets despise them. They have become very difficult to get money from and keep contacting the vets with lots of inane questions that have nothing to do with the particular claim. My Dino recently had part of his tail amputated. I have an excess of £55 and so the difference between the bill and the excess was about £70. Now that amount is a drop in the ocean. It has taken 2 months and countless phone calls to get them to pay up. After chatting on here I was initially going to change to M&S as great policy but quite expensive but now am thinking will go with AXA as fairly comparable policy but cheaper.

[jetcleo]

I've got all 3 of my cats with Direct line, excess is £55 and the policy premium is £19.26 a month for all of them.  The policy pays up to £4000 per condition or for one year whichever comes first.

Jet had some treatment which cost over £2500 a couple of years ago and they paid within 10 days of receiving the claim.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Did you actually get a quote from petplan?  What you pay will depend on your cats, where you live etc. so isn't the same for everyone.  I like petplan but they are not always the cheapest.  Check out AXA as they seem to be giving cheaper quotes than the companies they underwrite.  Get quotes for a few companies and compare them, but bear in mind that all policies aren't the same so you are not necessarily comparing like for like.  Look closely at the excluded conditions.  Some pay for dentals (provided a result of illness - such as gingivitis - or accident) while others don't.

Personally, I'd want more than £2500 cover.  That can soon get eaten up.  When my Magpie died a couple of years ago, he was at the vets for about 5 hours and it cost over £2000.  If you need specialist treatment it will cost a few hundred just for the consultation.  Something like an MRI scan will cost about £2000.  So I'd make sure the cover is £4000 minimum, and preferably more.

Anothe thing to look out for is cover amt per year rather than per condition.  Some policies give you a maximumum amount per condition, which means that once that amount has been reached (and usually in a time frame too) they will stop paying out.  So if your cat develops a chronic condition you will end up paying for it yourself once the max has been reached.  With a max amt per year the amount is renewed each year.  Also make sure it's cover for life as that means they will continue to cover your cat for life so long as you continue to renew your policy each year.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

AXA, M&S and I believe Pet Plan all offer good cover but I think AXA is cheapest and they also underwrite M&S.

I am with the latter but likely to change to AXA next year.

AXA and M&S is £7000 a year payout

[tez2384]

I was with argos platinum insurance for about £5.45 a month but then some people on here persuaded me to go eith axa (probably a good thing) its about the same cost a month,

Im just like you could not afford all that a month as i have 1 cat and 2 kittens

[Steve1977]

Iv been a bit lazy all week and I still havent done our Pet Insurance, but after spending this evening mulling it over there seems to be a lot or things to think over.

When we went to the vets (for their vaccinations), they suggested PetPlan are the best but the plan they recommended was £18 each - Now we love our cats, we play with them but that figure is simply something we cannot afford. The Vets stressed about the fact that it offers Lifetime cover.

But I was wondering which ones you go for? If one of our cats broke its leg...how much would that cost to get better?

I was thinking of going with the Argos 'Gold' plan for £5 - This offers Vet Fees upto £2,500 for 12 Months plus a load of other things, including 3rd party Liability, Pet Minders etc. Whereas the one with PetPlan only seems to offer these extra things if we go for the 'Covered for Life - with unlimited vet fees' (things such as Holiday Cancellation)

Now at the moment the kittens are house cats and if truth be told, we'r not all that fussed about letting them out (when they are old enough) because they have each other to play with. So that automatically rules out a load of potential accidents.

Who do you guys insure with and how much is it?

It truly is a thing dividing line between insuring your pet and doing it properly. I would love to spend the maximum amount on insurance, but there's a reason why they also offer plans which are less in cost - this is because everyones circumstance is different. Personally I think the Argos one for £5.03 is a happy medium between Peace of mind and the financial security if something did happen. (obviously it would cost us £5.03 x2 because we have two kittens )