www.123.ie V Allianz for pet insurance

paultf

Thinking of getting pet insurance for my 2 cockers: Clara is a year old, while Darby is 6 years old.

There seems to be 3 insurers: Allianz, Pet Insure and www.123.ie

Allianz quoted 390 euro and Pet Insure 370 euro. Allianz possibly offers a better package than Pet Insure IMO.

www.123.ie only came on the market in the last couple of months. They quoted 320 euro. A saving of 70 euro on Allianz. There are 2 main differences between them:

(1) Allianz offer a total of 4000 euro in vet bills in the year. While www.123.ie offer 2500 euro for each treatment in a year AND the dog can have multiple treatments up to a value of 25,000 euro in a year (I think).

(2) Allianz: if the dog is 10+ years old you have to pay 35% of the bill in addition to the excess. Whereas with www.123.ie you have to pay 15% of the vet bill in addition to excess but this applies from when the dog is 8 years old.

So which is better? Allianz would probably have a better relationship with vets and probably have a better reputation as a company. But would www.123.ie offer of multiple treatments cover in a year be better than Allianz's lump sum of 4000 euro? And would www.123.ie excess of 15% be better?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

cowzerp

Not pet insurance but i got car insurance with 123 a couple of years ago and when it arrived i read the small print and the policy was no use for the 1st 5 grand, the car was worth about 2k so it was a pointless insurance, i rang to cancel straight away as i'd been mislead and they kept 350 euro of the money i payed, so i gave them 350 for nothing..

i would not reccomend them as this showed there lack of good customer service and taking money off people for nothing in return..

star-pants

I'm with Allianz - 2 lhasas, ones almost 3 and ones 6months old, so for both it was 450 ish (I can't recall at the min).

Cutie18Ireland

Just gone with allianz was 196 for our bichon pup or 16 a month
There was another company supposed to launch pet insurance on June 30th www.blueinsurance.ie but it still hasnt launched and the email I sent went unanswered.

Waterfall1975

Can't offer direct advice but I've made 2 claims from allianz in past year. Both were paid out quickly & without fuss.
123 offers a good price, so i'll look here for comments when renewal time comes.
Perhaps your vet will have 'experience' with both insurers.

I went with Allianz for my Husky . It seemed to be the better package.

VB

from experience I can recommend Allianz. My dog has had at least three operations in three years and they have covered them all. I just had to pay the excess amount to the vet, sign a claim form and the vet deals with the insurance company from there. Overall I would say they have forked out more than 4k or 5k in as many years so for me it was well worth paying the insurance premium.

Gordon Gekko

It annoys me about Allianz that they make no allowance/discount for the vastly reduced risk which indoor-only cats have. Haven't got around to checking formally with 123.ie but their online quote thing makes no mention of it so I doubt they give a discount either. Unfair as the risks are massively reduced.

Elliee

Im with Allianz also. A 6 month old Cockapoo. 130 euro for the year.
Seemed to me to be the best package.

jen_23

My 6 weeks free is up so I'm renewing it for my samoyed puppy and it's looking like 190euro for the year for him.
Seem to be the best though!

spurscormac

hmmmm - when I got my puppy last year the cost was over €300 per annum to insure.
Just got a quote online of €196, which is pretty decent. Might consider it - but I'm concerned about one of the questions...

Has Your Pet ever been seen by a vet, been unwell or had any skin complaint?
Technically, by answering no, I'm lying, as he's been for check-ups, injections, neutering, but not had any illness.
Could they make the policy null & void if you answer this as no?

As you can see - I don't have much trust in insurance companies.

jen_23

spurscormac wrote: »

hmmmm - when I got my puppy last year the cost was over €300 per annum to insure.
Just got a quote online of €196, which is pretty decent. Might consider it - but I'm concerned about one of the questions...

Has Your Pet ever been seen by a vet, been unwell or had any skin complaint?
Technically, by answering no, I'm lying, as he's been for check-ups, injections, neutering, but not had any illness.
Could they make the policy null & void if you answer this as no?

As you can see - I don't have much trust in insurance companies.

That was a bit wierd to me as well. I might phone them just to ask. I clicked no for everything as they wouldn't let me proceed unless I did
From what I gather as well the premium will be almost 250 next year as there's a one year only discount of 50euro if your dog is microchipped.


Just rang them and you only click yes if your dog has been unwell and would need on going care. Though they should make that a bit clearer???

Blueprint

When I applied for the Allianz insurance for my dog, I mentioned that when I first got him, he had an infected mole which needed attention, but cleared up completely with better nutrition and also had to have a tooth extracted due to being bitten in the mouth by a dog while in rescue. Since both these things were once off conditions, they didn't attach any clauses to my policy.

This was on the paper form (which if I remember correctly they send out even after you've filled in the online one).

paultf

Hi all,

Thanks for all your advice and info.

I have decided to go with Allianz. My local vet deals with them so if I ever have to process a claim I am hoping the relationship my vet has with Allianz will speed things up.

Although www.123.ie works out cheaper they are only new to the pet insurance market. Allianz has more experience IMO and a better reputation.

I'll review the situation again next year.

Thanks.

badboyblast

I pay 240 a year with Allianz for my bassat hound and I checked 123.ie and the bronze package is 79 Euro......so I think I will be changing, thats a crazy saving!!!!!! what do you think?

paultf

The Bronze package with www.123.ie would be their basic package. Their Gold package would be the nearest thing to an Allianz package. It depends on your preference.

Check the policy document for Bronze. Its doesn't offer Kennel costs, holiday cancellation, etc. Also vet fees cover only injury/accident. For example if there is problem with your pets teeth and it wasn't caused by injury/accident then it wouldn't be covered.

By my reckoning www.123.ie have cleverly come up with insurance packages that offer an alternative to Allianz and Pet Insure. Bronze and Silver offer cheaper packages but Gold is the only one on par with Allianz. Even at that though its slightly different. You need to read the policy document on the website.