Insurance (again)

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Thanks will jave to see what they quote for Lupin.

I think I am paying nearly £60 for misa and Sasa together but at least only have £65 excess but Lupin with axa is £16.

Every where I have tried getting quotes for Lupin wanted the earth and more!

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

It's classic cover btw. 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

It's £21.33 a month for £7000 per year cover.  That's for a 9 year old Somali.  It's cover for life and the excess is £105.  At the moment.   When renewed it will no doubt change to a percentage or percentage plus fixed amount as they inevitably do increase the excess considerably for cats over 10.   I got 4 quotes and they were all about the same or more.  LV was a fair bit more.  Co-op was a bit cheaper but mainly due to 20% online discount (although I think petplan had 10% online discount) and had lower excess but someone on petforums said that  co-op charge an excess of 35% of the total amount for cats over 10. 

I am always wary of being lured in with a low premium as it inevitably increases on renewal and once they are over 10 there are few insurers who will take them on for the first time.  Plus the chance of a pre-existing condition increases.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

How much is Mosis cover and what plan and excess cos I am sure I am going to have to reinsure Lupin in Aug

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I've signed him up with petplan.  Feel relieved now.  NCI can take a long walk off a short pier. 

He started off his insurance life with petplan, then after a bit of a gap he went with Axa and has been with them for a good few years.  So now he's back with petplan.  At least they are unlikely to go bust or decide to get out of the pet insurance market.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I read on another forum that another pet insurance company were pulling out of the market.  I forget who (not one I had heard of) but their underwriter has, apparently, gone out of business.  According to the post on the other forum (petforums) it is the same underwriter that NCI insurance use.....   I don't think I will touch NCI with a barge pole.  They didn't ring me back yesterday as promised but I did get a voicemail about 6pm (no missed call) from someone saying they would be willing to discuss this if I would ring them and giving their opening hours.  Well I am not going to ring them because I am feeling less and less inclined to even consider any quote they might offer.

I am 90% sure I am going to go with petplan. Few people have bad words to say about them.  Their premiums and excess may be a bit higher than some but at least I would feel I have a reliable insurer to help with larger bills.  If it feels as though I am paying too much I can always cancel it but I need to get Mosi with someone I trust given his age.  Once he turns 10 the options will be very limited.  And of course as time goes on the chance of him developing a pre-existing condition increase.  I am still considering co-op.  20% discount is attractive but that's only for the 1st year.  Take that away and the premium is similar to petplan but they will pay out less.  I'd be ok with £5000 per year tbh but it is the £70 excess that is attractive compared to £105 for petplan.  I don't know what happens to over 10s with co-op - ie whether the excess switches to a percentage of total cost or even percentage plus flat amount.  I did a google and got a comment about co-op that was a bit negative (scored quite low on some site comparison).  I feel I've had my fingers burnt now and want something that feels safe and reliable.

[Rosella moggy]

It's been a while since we left Axa and we never took out any further insurance.  It was costing an arm and a leg to insure our lot and more often that not the vet charges were not that much more than the excess.  As the crew are getting older (Billy will be 11 next month  ), the cost would only ever increase and by a lot more than inflation.

We have been incredibly lucky not to have any major accidents/illnesses since then but continue to put aside an amount every month to help with veterinary bills.  It was however so very useful to have cover when Fred had CRF and when Bob had cat flu.  The cost of treatment on Fred's last day was circa £550 as it was a Sunday.  Out of hours costs are just extortionate so can only hope the pot we continue to add too is sufficient.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Boiler still ongoing but Lupin being a pedigree everyone wanted me to pay the earth for him. He will be 5 in aug as the current period with axa finishes so mybe as he is older he will be cheaper but not with the one that Misa and Sasa are with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

waiting for bolierman to return with another new part so hope fully he will be back before 1700

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

NCI sound like a nightmare and they have not rang me today as promised.

I can't afford not to have insurance.  I am thinking that petplan may be the way to go even though they are not the cheapest.  I was originally with them when I got Jaffa and Magpie (and Mosi to begin with).  They paid out about £2000 for Magpie when he died and I could not have afforded that so would have had to decline treatment for him and then I'd never have known whether he could have been saved.  It was nearly a lot more but he took a turn for the worse before some treatment could be given.  They also paid out for a dental for Jaffa - again paid the lot minus excess.  I am a bit worried about the excess when they get older - I recall when Jaffa got older it was going to go up to a large amount (about £100) plus a percentage.  The quote for Mosi just shows an excess of £105 and no percentage but I suspect that may change when he turns 10.  I'm happy with the service I've had from petplan in the past and I feel that they, at least, will not withdraw from the pet insurance market as that's what they do.  I suspect the reason they are still doing it is because they charge a bit more.  I think many have realised it's just not profitable if the premiums and excess is too low.  So it's really a toss up between them and co-op who are a bit cheaper but will increase on renewal and the excess might increase then too.

[JenGeorgieBob]

Just to add, NCI have refused to pay for any of Fred's treatment and when it came to Benji's policy they wanted £851 to insure him which we can't afford, so he is uninsured now. We are lucky our vets are so good and will let us pay in instalments to cover the bill (£2,500).

Have been generally unimpressed with NCI and not been happy with their customer service. Simple things like when they phone me the number of security questions you have to answer is ridiculous. Would not recommend them at all.

[Dawn F]

I've had more back from insurance than I've ever paid in that is for sure, in the last couple of years, we had Tilly's eye (£1400), Amber's long drawn out illness (£1200) and Oscar and his horrible tumour (£700) I've used a few at the moment Tesco and argos

[hollycat]

I had a Quote from Pet Plan for Astrophe and Zoonie when they were 5 months old. They wanted £14 pm each. There was a £1 multipet discount. There was also a £100 excess plus another thing where you have to pay 20% of the cost as well, and this was their basic pack.
Needless to say I didn't take it and Astro and Zoonie remain uninsured, it's just too expensive.

I use the PDSA anyway but it would have been nice to afford to insure them.

I hope it al works out for you and Mos,i Susanne

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I think you will still be with them until his policy is up for renewal then you will get a quote from NCI Insurance (supposedly).  I had a letter recently about Jaffa's policy - saying that it expired in May and would not be renewed due to their withdrawl from the pet insurance market.  That's when I realised something was wrong as I rang up to cancel Jaffa's policy last summer.

I posted on petforums about this also and it seems that some people have had ridiculous quotes from NCI and there is a FB page about the whole Axa/NCI thing (I'm not on FB so have not looked that up).  It sounds as though I am lucky that Mosi is still under 10 and has  no health problems at present so I can at least get him insurance.  If he'd been older than 10 I'd struggle to get anything at all for him.  NCI are supposedly ringing me back today as when I spoke to them yesterday they were closing in 20 mins so she said it might be yesterday but may be this morning.  Even if they can re-instate the quote I don't think I'd go with them.  I don't feel I can trust them.  I think it is likely I will go with petplan as I feel they are the safer option although I am interested in co-op as they have a lower excess than petplan.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Sorry with boiler probs no chance to look for my insurance but will tonight if boiler stays on and I get some sleep!

Thinking about Lupin AXA are still taking bthe money for kUPIN SO HIS INSURANCE MUST BE STILL WITH THEM oops, will have to check that again but was sure that was right when I checked.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

You're right - it is a dodgy game now and worrying when you think you  have cover for life and it turns out not.  A lot won't insure cats over 8 for the first time but some will up to 10 years old.  I want to get Mosi sorted before he's 10 and while he has no pre-existing conditions.  Co-op has the same underwriter as Petplan apparently and they offer lifetime cover (including dental treatment) for a bit less than petplan and with a lower excess (£70) but it's only £5000 per year cover.  Plus it includes 20% discount which is good this time but add that and there isn't much difference with petplan other than the excess which is good but am not sure whether that won't turn to a percentage after age 10 anyway.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

You are right its a dodgy game now and cant remember who I moved |Misa and Sasa too now, added Misa I think last year...........Argos maybe but no dental work covered at all..........will try and find out for you.

They have life cover and I think £65 rxcess but its expensive I think...............Lupin is still with ACA as far as I know cos also havent heard anything...............personally wouldnt trust that new company cos its new!

Pet Plan are tried and tested but thwy would not insure my senior cats as many others would not.

Off to see if I cabn find policy

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

Susanne, I've been with Aviva for a few years now and have to say I've been extremely pleased with their service. My premiums are really very reasonable considering Toby and Molly are both 13 and I have the Gold cover. I pay just over £20 a month for both of them. Also when I had to claim for Molly just before Christmas they were very efficient and I got my money very quickly.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I know there have been numerous threads regarding this in the past but things change so much that info quickly becomes out of date.

Now that Axa have stopped doing pet insurance Mosi has been dumped and I've been left with a 9 year old cat and no insurance.  Axa did send a letter saying details would be transferred over to NCI Insurance and implied I needed to do nothing and if I did not contact them the policy would be transferred to NCI.  However, they have transferred contact details but telephone number and email address out of date.  NCI say they sent a quote but I received nothing.  So now I have no policy.  NCI are looking into it to see if it can be re-instated (Axa policy ran out end January) but if not I'm uninsured.  I don't know their terms either. 

So I'm looking at what is out there once again.  I've got a quote from petplan which is quite expensive but tbh I trust them more than other companies.  I feel they are a better bet if you want an insurer who isn't going to withdraw from the pet insurance market and I had great customer service and quick payment from them when I lost Magpie 10 years ago.  Their covered for life policy offering £7000 a year is £21.33 a month with £105 excess.  I'm tempted to just go for that but I suppose I'd better wait for NCI to get back to me to see if they can re-instate the quotation they say they sent previously.  Mosi is 9 and is a Somali.  No pre-existing conditions but not all insurers will insure a 9 year old for the first time. 

Any recommendation for reliable pet insurance?  I wouldn't say the monthly cost is not important but tbh I value a good insurer and would rather pay a bit more for a policy I feel I can trust than go with the cheapest quote. 

ETA looked on website for a quote with NCI and they will  not give a quote for a cat with Mosi's dob.  so I guess the quote NCI offered was because of the transfer from Axa and now that that has expired they are unlikely to offer a quote now unless they will agree to re-instate the one they sent earlier.