Topic: Need to possibly change cat insurers ... (Read 6675 times)

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #25 on:** August 26, 2007, 18:50:54 PM »

That looks pretty good cover. My insurance doesn't cover quite a lot of those things. Imho the thing to check as well is the amount per condition for life ie will the insurers only pay for treatment up to 365 days after the initial treatment or is it x amount per condition for life. Think that tends to be in the comprehensive policies.
I've learnt how NB it is to keep all vet records as with even a small gap, they won't pay.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #24 on:** August 26, 2007, 18:10:57 PM »

I posted this on another thread but thought I'd post it on this one too... Also did a quote for my boys at renewal age (1 yr 2 months) M&S £122.15 v Axa £72.66

Quote from: Tiggy's Mum - Helen on August 26, 2007, 10:41:04 AM

I saw on another website a comparison with M&S insurance and Axa insurance (bearing in mind M&S is underwritten by Axa). Axa has the all important 7k per year rather than per condition. I just did a dummy quote for an 18 year old cat (pre existing conditions excluded though obviously) and it came out to £129.

If my renewals are silly prices I'm definitely going to switch Lucas to them, will have to stick with M&S for Riley as even though the tests have showed him to be perfectly healthy I'm not going to risk another insurer trying to wriggle out of any heart related claims on the basis it's a pre existing condition.

I've copied the comparison so can't take the credit for it, text in blue is what M&S covers, red is Axa...

M&S vs AXA cat and dog policies as at 12th August 2007:

Veterinary fees £7000 per period £7000 per period

Complementary treatments £750 per period £250 per condition

Referral to behaviourist £250 per period £250 per condition

Cremation / burial expenses £100 £100

Dietary foods £200 £200 per condition

Third party liability £2,000,000 £2,000,000

Emergency boarding kennels and cattery fees £750 £750

Daily minding by someone other than kennels or cattery £750 £750

Advertising costs £1,000 £1,000

Reward £500 £250

Theft or straying £1,500 £750

Accidental death£1,500 £1,000

Death by illness £1,000 £1,000

Holiday cancellation £2,500 £3,000

Accidental damage to own property £750 £500

Quarantine costs£1,500 £2,000

Loss of Health certificate £250 £250

Repeat tick and worming treatment Covered Covered

Overseas Vet Treatment £1000 per condition

Excess £50 but pet over 9 yrs old it is £50 or 15% whichever is more £50

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #23 on:** August 25, 2007, 14:15:21 PM »

My vet makes me pay upfront, but the specialist allows direct payment from the insurers, which is a good job as they do a lot of expensive treatment - an MRI would cost you £2k.

berties mum · « **Reply #22 on:** August 25, 2007, 14:14:10 PM »

I had to pay both vets upfront and then claim back from Sainsbury's, and in a way I was glad it was me standing out of the money, not the vet - although if it had been a bigger amount, we'd have had to live on pot noodles for weeks

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #21 on:** August 25, 2007, 13:37:02 PM »

i have to say I was a bit miffed when my neighbour claimed from them and got a payout in a week or so, and I waited weeks and weeks for mine!! Not sure if the vet hospital has received the money for Tiger's treatmetn yet either.

berties mum · « **Reply #20 on:** August 25, 2007, 13:35:17 PM »

I was surprised too and came to the conclusion they'd made a mistake - after all, surely they'd either increase the premium and continue to cover bladder problems, or keep the premium the same and refuse to cover future problems? By the time the renewal came through though, I was so sick of being messed around that I had decided to go elsewhere anyway. No doubt they provide a perfectly good service to lots of other people but you tend to get put off when you've had a lot of hassle. Forgot to say before that Bella is insured with Argos and they've been really good.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #19 on:** August 25, 2007, 13:31:17 PM »

i am surprised about that with Sainsbury's - my premium for PEbbles went down after they paid out over £500, and there were no exclusions. They were slow on the first payout as she had seen two different vets, but did eventually pay, about 5 weeks later.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #18 on:** August 24, 2007, 17:32:47 PM »

In the terms for M&S it says they cover dentals due to illness/injury/disease. Milly had gingivitis which i call a disease and had a scale and polish and 1 extraction. I thought id try my luck and sent a claim off, they paid with no queries

Do double check your paper work tho as it may have changed since my last policy.

Ralph's mum (angie) · « **Reply #17 on:** August 24, 2007, 16:19:47 PM »

I've just took out M&S insurance for Max as heard on here they were good, do they pay out on dental treatments, dont need it just wondering

berties mum · « **Reply #16 on:** August 24, 2007, 10:57:48 AM »

I wouldn't go with Sainsbury's on previous experience. Bertie was insured with them when he became ill with struvite crystals last December and needed both emergency injections and then tests at our vet's. To cut a long story short, it took 12 weeks to get a pay-out of less than £300, because I kept being told that there appeared to be something "not quite right" about the claim - when it was eventually paid, I discovered they hadn't contacted either our vet or the emergency vet for more info, nor would they tell me why it had taken so long. The real decider was when his renewal documents came through and they wanted to increase his premium by £100 a year because he'd been ill, while also saying they wouldn't pay out for any future bladder conditions.

Ela · « **Reply #15 on:** August 24, 2007, 08:28:40 AM »

Quote

I know it's a naughty thing to say, but if we went with an insurer which no cats had been with - and we moved vets - would it be naughty to say that we're not aware of any previous conditions - i.e. the gingivitus, cistitus, dental work - would we be found out or is it just best to tell them everything

The only thing I would say is be very careful, often everything is 'married up' somewhere even if you deal with different companies, somewhere there may be a details of your name, address and pets that any insurance company can check against.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #14 on:** August 24, 2007, 08:15:18 AM »

When I used the rescue's vet, they said they would just ring as and when they needed things, which I thought odd, but I deliberately didn't fully cancel with my old vets - good job seeing as I changed back a few months later!! Good luck.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #13 on:** August 23, 2007, 17:26:35 PM »

M&S cover older pets i think and give you 7k a year

they have stopped the no excess and put their prices up but the cover and service is good. Im sure the other conmpanies will follow will price increases.

Quote

So ... big question is how do I tell our current vets we're registering with another vets - as they will know it's probably down to the fact they want a lot of money for this work and said it should be done within the month (only won £10 on the lotto last night so that didn’t help!).

You dont need to worry about that, just phone the reception and they will sort it out.
Its best for the new vets to have all the info on your cats.

In regards to the vax card, you can get a duplicate copy made out as if you need to use a cattery they will want proof she has been done.

Liz · « **Reply #12 on:** August 23, 2007, 12:58:10 PM »

When we moved house our previous vets gave us a print out of everybody and there was a huge pile of paper and copied the records on a CD for us to but thats cause we were taking away 42 animals from them

Might be worth being economical with the truth and say you are moving and ask them for copies of the kids medical history

scattycat · « **Reply #11 on:** August 23, 2007, 11:45:08 AM »

That's very true and hubbie and I are going to be honest - though hopefully we might be able to knock the exclusion for cystitis off of Sully's policy as he hasn’t had any problems for 2 years now - so who would people recommend apart from Sainsburys who will take on a 5, 8 and 14 year old cats?

Anyway, bit of an update, we've decided to move vets - as ours are just much more expensive - and we've had recent experience of another vet when we had to get Ginny sorted (cyst removal and dental work) - they're cheaper on virtually everything, and they said that dental work should be no more than £200 - that's £300 cheaper in total - or if it's purely dental work still £107 cheaper than our vets are quoting!

So ... big question is how do I tell our current vets we're registering with another vets - as they will know it's probably down to the fact they want a lot of money for this work and said it should be done within the month (only won £10 on the lotto last night so that didn’t help!).

The other thing is that when you change vets - would the current vets forward on the cats history to the new vets ?

We have 2 cats with history of two conditions, which would obviously help the new vets for any future problems - but the big thing is that we've lost Sully's vaccination card with all the dates/stickers of when he's had his boosters etc.

Is it necessary for the new vets to have proof that he's been vaccinated - or do we have to bite the bullet and basically ask for our cats records to be forwarded to the new vets or at the very least the dates he was vaccinated?

sheryl · « **Reply #10 on:** August 23, 2007, 11:00:17 AM »

It would be best to be honest because Insurance companies do liase with each other and they have weird ways of finding things out

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #9 on:** August 23, 2007, 08:25:45 AM »

Scatty, they should have paid out the pts injection for Suki, they did for PEbbles,. she was 11. I personally wouldnt use Sainsbury's for young cats, due to the fact it is £6,500 per condition, not per year, and I remember HElen saying Tiggy had cost her £4,000. think that was only in a few years, so it can add up very quickly. There are also some thigns that are expensive - if you used my vets and needed an MRI, you would be referred somewhere that is £2,000 just for that, never mind any prior treatment/consults.

scattycat · « **Reply #8 on:** August 23, 2007, 08:22:36 AM »

Thanks for all your help on here.

I think it is best to be honest as knowing our luck we'd be found out!

Desley - it's not only Ginny we've got to consider with regards to the age as Sully is now 8 too - so it's 2 oldies and one young'un.

I am considering Sainsburys as we had Suki insured with them - and when we put the claim in for all the treatment she had done which unfortunately didnt help in the end, they paid out for everything (bar the pts injection due to her age) plus a little more the vet said.

The only concern I have with Sainsburys is that is it them who have the £6,500 limit for the life of the cat, that this figure isnt put back to £6,500 each year you renew? have got to think about Jasper being the youngest as we hope to have them all for a while.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #7 on:** August 23, 2007, 08:11:22 AM »

Tricky one - and not all insurers pay out for dentals anyway. Some insurers will ask if thye have been seen by a different vet in teh past few years as well, Sainsbury's do and you are limited with Ginny's age, there are only a small amount that insure over 8yo's.
Bertie's mum - there have been a lot of bad reports about E & L paying out - there is at least one person on here who uses them and has struggled to get money out of them. I personally have never had any issues with Sainsbury's, apart from them being a bit slow.

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #6 on:** August 22, 2007, 21:40:42 PM »

I had no trouble getting pet plan to pay out for a dental. i think your problem is simply that the condition was diagnosed before you took out the insurance and so it counts as a pre-existing condition. and that would apply to any insurance policy now. You could try to not tell them but they have a habit of finding out and then you'd be in trouble for fraud! best to come clean at the start. Of course if it's the only pre-existing condition then you could still change insurer - the gingivitis would just not be covered as with petplan. You could try ringing up a few others to ask them whether they would insure for future dental work once he'd had this dental, but I suspect they will all grab at that gingivitis diagnosis and refuse to pay out for any future treatment related to that.

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #5 on:** August 22, 2007, 21:37:52 PM »

As more and more insurers are linked in to prevent fraud I would take care not to withhold this. Especially as you have already had one pay out for gingivitis.

If you can get a good deal for all of them with better cover than PetPlan its no harm in changing. I would wait until you need to renew as often insurers will charge you a "admin" fee for the cancellation of the policy. It should be in your policy document.

I know that I have to stick to Direct Line, as they paid out for Lexy's legs etc and if she has issues in the coming years with this I have to have cover as surgeries are mighty expensive.

berties mum · « **Reply #4 on:** August 22, 2007, 21:32:39 PM »

I've claimed from three different pet insurers over the years - two asked lots of questions about previous conditions and checked with both my current and previous vets, but the other didn't, so I guess it depends how thorough the company are - not something you can check in advance though! Two of mine are now insured with a company called E&L (Equine and Livestock) who you will find on moneysupermarket.com, and they're only charging £4.35 a month for Bertie, who was quoted at least £7 a month from all other insurers I tried, because he'd had a period of ill health when I last renewed his insurance. Minnie is also with them and is no more expensive than Bertie despite the fact that she's 7 years old. Sainsbury's messed me about ridiculously when Bertie was insured with them in the past, so I wouldn't recommend them ... hope this helps!

scattycat · « **Reply #3 on:** August 22, 2007, 20:38:27 PM »

Blackcat - knowing what I'm like that's exactly what I'd end up doing!

I think we will have to be honest, and just pay out for any dental treatment Ginny needs doing in the future and also for Jasper

blackcat · « **Reply #2 on:** August 22, 2007, 20:32:25 PM »

See, me, with a dog who has a chronic condition, I would want my new vet to have his treatment records (which I brought with me fromNZ). The problem with insurance agencies is they always find out, unless you are a dihonest type, you often blurt out things in conversation when the cat is being treated by the new vet.

scattycat · « **Reply #1 on:** August 22, 2007, 20:29:09 PM »

We've been told that our pre-claim form we sent to PetPlan for treatment on our 5 year old male for dental work (due to gingivitus) has been rejected.

We were shocked to say the least as we had made a claim for the exact same thing back in 2004, and they paid out.

However, it appears that PetPlan have only just realised that maybe they shouldnt have done in the first place - as our vets put in the dental history about how they noticed this in August 2004 - but we didnt take the insurance out till October 2004 - yet they paid out the first claim. I know it's a case that we should have told them, but we couldnt recall if he had had any treatment - which we dont think he did - I think it's as the vet put in the notes that he had this issue is the main reason it's been rejected.

ANYWAY ... we're considering moving vets as ours do seem to be very expensive (our quote for the dental treatment was £513 - the actual dental work was £307). I spoke to them tonight and they said they could reduce it down to around £300-£350 - though this is still too much for us to magic out of air. We know the vet which we had to take Ginny to when she had treatment whilst under Venture will be more expensive, yet they're further away - so it's all 'swings and roundabouts' for us at the moment.

But my main question is as we're not that happy with Petplan as we were led to believe that any future claims for Jasper with teeth/mouth related items would be paid out for we're considering moving insurers - and trying to get all 3 cats under the one policy.

We've 2 boys - a 5 year old (the one with the gingivitus) and an 8 year old (who has had cistitus) and a female - 14 years old which has had dental treatment.

I know it's a naughty thing to say, but if we went with an insurer which no cats had been with - and we moved vets - would it be naughty to say that we're not aware of any previous conditions - i.e. the gingivitus, cistitus, dental work - would we be found out or is it just best to tell them everything?

Sully's cistutus we do think could not be much of an issue as that was over 2 years ago we made the claim and as he's had no further treatment, even with Petplan I think we could get that exclusion removed.

So what is the best insurance out there - ideally need something all 3 can go on (to hopefully pay out less per month), but that will offer £x amount per year for each condition, not £x for the life of the cat

Author Topic: Need to possibly change cat insurers ... (Read 6675 times)