pet insurance

[vampiresdontsparkle]

Hi ive been looking for some pet insurance and its all a bit confusing to be honest. we have a 8 week old puppy and he will have his jabs [1st lot] next week and will be chipped.

So who are you insured with?
What cover do you have?

thank you for any answers

[shoutymcshoutsmum]

I have an 8 week old puppy too so I haven't taken any insurance out yet. All I know is that our vet said to make sure we got "life-long cover" because that prevents the insurer refusing to renew the insurance if the dog has developed something long-term like diabetes. Don't know if she is correct but she should be!

[MartyrStewart]

Get the highest level of cover you can afford and like shouty said, make sure you get a policy with life long cover.

I am with Healthy Pets gold plan and it costs about £20 per month for a very good standard of cover.

[vampiresdontsparkle]

cool will speak to the vet next week then. not getting him any till hes been chipped and had his first lot of jabs. its all very confusing with all the different types. thanks

[MartyrStewart]

Oh, and I would avoid E&L - their reputation is not great, and PetPlan - as they are happy to insure puppy farmers.

[shoutymcshoutsmum]

Vampiredontsparkle, what breed is your puppy?

[rootietootie]

Make sure you read the small print. We had insurance from Tesco for our dog and took out the extra accidental death cover which we had to pay extra for. Our dog died while undergoing the snip, and we were told that he was not covered because it only covers accidental death from an injury to the outside of the body. It was really infuriating and heartbreaking at the same time. Have since discovered that apparently Tesco have a really bad rep for trying to avoid and wiggle out of as much claims as they can.

[vampiresdontsparkle]

he's a Australian cattle x border collie. thanks for all your advice so far

[Avantia]

Definitely ' life long cover ' and one that is happy to deal with vet direct and pay them direct without you having to fork out first - especially when bills total a couple of thousand ! ( Only £600 left for insurance to pay out ...)

Get it done asap as they have a two week non cover clause when you first take it out.

[yesbutnobut]

What Avantia said about the 2 week non cover: so if you go to the vet for a check up before you have insurance or within 2 weeks of taking it out, and something is found, that condition will not be covered by your insurance.

You could ask your vet's advice about insurance. I know a lot of them like Pet Plan as they will pay the vet directly (saves you having to pay and then claim it back). However they may be more expensive than others and they do provide insurance to puppy farms.

[ByTheWay1]

Always take out the best insurance you can afford for the first year of a dogs life, that way if there IS anything nasty waiting in the wings it is usually covered

[PersonalClown]

I've got Homebase for my hooligans. The reviews I've read for them seem fine (you'll always get some that don't like it/had a bad experience)
Just under £40 for a pure Staff and a Labradoodle. £7500 vet fees a year with lifelong cover. They'll also pay my vet direct if I was.

My vets said to avoid E&L too.

[PersonalClown]

If I wish.. I blame the hangover.

[winterreise]

Direct Line let me pay only for vet's fees, not all sorts else which I don't want.
You don't think of chronic diseases when you have a new pup, they're more likely to have expensive accidents, but I wish I'd taken out life cover. My 3 year old dog has epilepsy and is only covered for 1 year's treatment.