Problems with cat insurance

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Argos would have insured him Susanne. They are not cheap, about £35 a month but they took on Misa and Sasa, Petplan would take them for a year but no proper cover as such.

The insurance market is in shreds due to the greediness of the vets.

[JenGeorgieBob]

I had a similar problem with axa withdrawing, they transferred Fred over to the new  company but they refused to pay out for any of his illnesses despite the vets arguing with them.

They then wanted £890 a year to insure Benji, which we couldn't afford given we were still paying off Fred's bill. Sadly we lost Benji soon after. We were incredibly lucky that the vets allowed us to pay it back at our own pace.

Having been stung so badly we have Billy and Zarny insured with pet plan now!

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

Fingers crossed that I'm never faced with that situation Susanne 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I wouldn't trust Aviva either I'm afraid.  what happens if they decide they no longer want to do pet insurance?  over cautious I know but I dread the Axa situation again.  when I first heard that Axa were stopping pet insurance I thought I'd be essentially transferred over to another insurer but what actually happened was they simply arranged with another insurer to offer a quote.  They totally messed up with Mosi and he was without insurance for several months but thankfully had no pre-existing problems and was under 10 so I was able to get him insured with petplan.  Even though Jaffa had gone to the bridge several months earlier, and I had informed them, I received a quote for him which was about £55 a month.  If he'd still been alive he'd have been 17 and no other insurer would have touched him so I'd be stuck with either the £55 a month or no insurance.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Suspect you are right Allison

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

I'm not sure if Aviva would take on older cats. I think if you're already with them then it's OK but once they're past a certain age I don't think they take them on.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I cant move mine again but Misa is costing over £10 a month more than that with Argos but now has serious arthritus  They paid out a load of money for the investigtions to find out why he was ill this year and it came as a total suprise to find he had a back leg pinned and not sure how the vet got it thro but he did!

Just wish I had known. Sasa is 17 now and she is also about £10 a month more! She does not have any problems though.

Lupin is now 5 and with Petplan  who do not seem to penalize pedigrees like others.

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

I'm very happy with Aviva Gill. In fact today I got the quotes from them as my insurance is due for renewal. It's only gone up by 86p a month for the two of them.  I'll be paying £22 a month which isn't bad considering they are both 13 now.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I didnt know Aviva did cat insurance cos house and car with them.

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

I've been with Aviva for a few years now and they've been brilliant. I've had to claim a couple of times and one of those claims was because Molly had cystitis. They paid out very quickly with no quibbles.

[Lyn (Slugsta)]

Thankfully Jack is on the mend as increasing his water intake has worked.

That is very good news 

[Guineapiggle]

Thanks everyone. I wish I had known more about this when they were younger. My mother in law used to deal with it when we lived with her. She just picked the cheapest one. We will not be staying with animal friends. Thankfully Jack is on the mend as increasing his water intake has worked.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

We have to pay a £99.00 excess,  and a surcharge on any bill, which means its better suited to more expensive treatment (ie no good for dental work)

How much do you pay for dental work?  It tends to cost hundreds with my vets so either you have a huge surcharge or a very good priced vet!

Sorry to hear you're having problems claiming for Jack's cystitis.  The bad news is that whoever you go with cystitis will now be a pre-existing condition so a new insurer will not pay out for that, or anything relating to that, in the future.  Surely it shouldn't matter what the cause of the cystitis is? 

I am with petplan and I would now only go with a specialist pet insurer after being one of those who got my fingers burnt when Axa pulled out of the pet insurance market.  They may seem a bit more expensive compared to some but insurance companies need to make money and those that offer seemingly fantastic premiums have to make money elsewhere - e.g. by not paying out or by hiking up the premium when you renew.  I rarely hear a bad word about petplan and when I was with them years ago I had no problem with them paying out quickly and in full (minus excess).  They also pay for dentals. 

Whoever you go with make sure you have lifetime cover.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

So sorry to hear you've had these problems Guineapiggie, and hope that Jack's condition is on the mend.   

I would tend to stick with a pet insurance specialist insurer, because as Gill points out, a number who arent drop out of the market, leaving their clients high and dry if their cats are "a certain age."

I think you have to shop around on comparison sites to get a good deal, but its also helpful to have word of mouth, so am hoping a few others will be on to tell you what arrangeemnts they have.

We use Healthypets, who we've been with now around ten years for both cat and dog insurance.  They offer good standards of cover - we have their mid range Silver cover, which is under £8.00 per month for each cat (aged 2 and 3 and a half), and includes life time cover for conditions (but with an annual cap on fees).  We have to pay a £99.00 excess,  and a surcharge on any bill, which means its better suited to more expensive treatment (ie no good for dental work) but we've never had any problems in contacting them or receiving a pay out when we've made a claim.  They will either pay us, or our vet according to preference.    They use a UK based call centre if you need to speak to anyone.   

Differences in premiums can vary according to where you live too, which is why it's always worth getting quotes from different companies, and looking at the cover they provide, whetehr or not they will pay direct, and how quckly they will help you resolve a claim. 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Cat insurance is like being in a minefield and Animal Friends sound rubbish if they wont believe the vet!

As your cat....name,,,,,,,,,,,,,is 7 you need to move quick because at 8 will be hard to insure!

I like many others was with AXA but they have dropped out of the market, leaving many in the lurch cos the company they wanted us to go to were expensive and new to the market.

I now have 2 cats aged 17 and 14 with Argos who seem to be very good and have life cover with £65 excess but they are expensive but worth doing an online quote.

My young cat is 5yrs and a pedigree and to my surprise they were about the same as AXA and excess £65 for £7000 life cover.

Again worth getting a quote.

Try to avoid any that do not give life cover ie the amoint of bills for a year must be renewed every year.

I personally would also avoid those who have an excess plus a %age of the rest of the bill.

Note boy cats are more expensive to insure.

[Guineapiggle]

Hi
We have been having trouble trying to reclaim money from Animal Friends for Jacks cystitis. Because the vet can't say for definite why he had the cystitis, the insurance are claiming it is behavioural and won't pay out despite the vet emailing to say this is wrong.
We are therefore looking at potentially telling them where to go and going with someone else. As our cats are nearly 7 insurance all seems to be very expensive. I would really like to hear what companies you are all with and how you have found them.
Thanks