pet insurance- driving me mad!!!

Belle's 4 weeks insurance runs out soon and my head is minced looking for new ones!! I've read other peoples posts about insurance but still I'm non the wiser apart from the fact that I will be choosing lifetime cover. can anyone help me out about what I should be looking for when getting quotes? thanks everyone

I am in this same pickle aswell, i want life time cover and a fair price and that i can take my pup into the vet without having to pay anything but im not sure how it works

I've just switched to Petplan as I've heard such good reports about them. I was with Direct Line and their quote for the coming year was £28/month for both dogs and Petplan is costing £38/month for both dogs, that is with lifetime cover.

Shop around. Sometimes its not the insurance company that chooses if you pay upfront but the vets. I am with animal friends and they where great when i had to claim x

You definitely need lifetime diver, but shop around I'm with direct line but due to shop around soon myself

animal friends seems to be the best one at the minute aswell for us from what ive found, did they pay the vet straight away janey? just that's what id prefer than having to pay the vet then claim back.

They did pay my vets directly but that was down to my vets also so do check with them

we are with Pets at Home , pay around 40 for 2 but we have to pay 20% towards any claim . Cover is lifetime and 9000 each so the best I could fine and on balance was prepared to ride the 20% as the better option due the level of the cover ( If I had an expensive claim and ran out of money at say 6K it would cost me more than the 20% )

We have insured Rocky with Argos Pet Insurance on a Lifetime policy. The premium is £19.00 per month.

We were previously with PetPlan who wanted £22.50 per month for the same cover.

With Argos we went for the Platinum Policy which should pay out £7,000 in vet fees, £2 Million in 3rd Party Liability and with £65 excess per incident.

Recently made a claim for his cut foot couldn't fault them for paying out very quickly (within a week of them receiving the claim form from the vet). We did have to pay out initial ourselves though then claim it back, thank goodness for the credit card.

Hope this helps.

Pet insurance is a nightmare in finding the best cover to suit yourself. Have you tried using a comparison site like GoCompare? At least all the options are lined up and you can see what you are or are not getting for your money.

I was with Direct Line last year and they did pay out (less £80 excess), but it took 6 weeks. The when renewal came round they wanted double the premium (£30 per month as opposed to £15 before). So I switched to M&S for the same sort of cover at £14.90 per month.

Good luck!

I got a quote earlier today at John Lewis Pet Insurance just to see what the prices were like with them

Our Essential Cover includes:

   Up to £3,000 per year for vet fees
   Up to £1m Third Party Liability (dogs only)
   Up to £250 for Treatment food.
This comes out at £16.53 for rocky insured as a Staffy cross which he is.

Our Plus Cover includes:

   Up to £7,500 per year for vet fees
   Up to £2m Third Party Liability (dogs only)
   Up to £3,000 Holiday Cancellation Cover.
This came out at £21.93

Our Premier Cover includes:

   Up to £12,000 per year for vet fees
   Up to £3m Third Party Liability (dogs only)
   Up to £500 for Behavioural Treatment.
This came out as £26.72

Prices are per month for the policy. They do Long Term Cover which is explained below:

What is Long Term Cover?

John Lewis Pet Insurance offers long term cover for your pet, which means you’ll be able to claim for ongoing conditions. There is no time limit on how long treatment can last and we'll pay up to your chosen vet fee limit each year as long as we can continue to offer cover, your premiums are paid and the policy is renewed each year.

For example, if your dog gets arthritis you’ll be covered each time they need treatment up to your chosen vet fee limit each year, as long as you’re insured with us and your premiums are up to date.

Kathy's post reminded me - Third Party Liability is a must. We often forget that it is not usually covered under our household insurance.

Dave wrote:we are with Pets at Home , pay around 40 for 2  but we have to pay 20% towards any claim . Cover is lifetime and 9000 each so the best I could fine and on balance was prepared to ride the 20% as the better option due the level of the cover ( If I had an expensive claim and ran out of money at say 6K it would cost me more than the 20% )

Rite let me try and break this down for me self (not clued up on this)

So you pay for example £20 a month for 1 dog that insurance to that dogs says if you pay £20quid a month we will give you a £9,000 allowance to treat your dog if needed and with every time you use your cover you need to still pay 20% of what ever you vet bill is

That's right. A lot of companies are doing the same. 

I was with Sainsbury's but they doubled the premium so I changed to animal friends. They're pretty good, but they don't cover dental work.

thanks so much for replying everyone, ive done the comparison sites millions of times and now argos seem to be the better one atm. its sooooo much to take in (well for me lol!)

It is very confusing and all we want is the best cover for our babies!!! So you not on your own