Pet insurance

crimsonsunset

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a bit of advice. I want to get pet insurance for my three dogs, a year and a half old male boxer, a year old female boxer and a 6 month old male dobermann:p I've had terriers for years and have never had insurance for them as they are very 'hardy' and have never had health problems. I know that pure bred dogs are not as resistant to health problems and I really want them to have the best care possible should anything happen to one of them. I have never dealt with the various pet insurance companies before and I've no idea which is best. If it is not appropriate to discuss the merits or otherwise of the various pet insurers publically on the forum, I would be very grateful if any of you who know more than me and could point me in the right direction would PM me.

Thanks

Crimson Sunset

comongethappy

Hi OP,

There are a few options for pet insurance out there:
Allianz (http://www.allianz.ie/Pet-Insurance/Cover_Info/)
123.ie (http://www.123.ie/pet-insurance-quote/quoteApplication.jsf?conversationId=251),
petinsurance.ie (http://www.petinsurance.ie),
petinsure.ie (http://www.petinsure.ie/)
Tesco (http://www.tesco.ie/finance/pet-insurance/).
There are probably a few others out there as well. They all generally give a discount for multiple pets on the policy, and if the pets are microchipped.

I'm with Allianz, when I got my first cat this was the only option available. I have to say I'm very glad I got it. My male cat has feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), and unfortunately, he seems to get a reoccurance every time he gets stressed. He had complications with the last infection, and was in and out of Brayvet and the UCD Emergency Vets, spending 3 nights away, having to put a catheder in and put him on fluids. He received brilliant care from both practices, and is doing brilliantly now. All told from the onset of the inflammation, it was over €900.00. You have to pay upfront, so we had to take some money from savings, but it's a relief we will get all but the excess back. I would highly recommend to anyone out there to get pet insurance, as you never know what may happen. My guy is a moggie, it's not only pure breeds that can be affected!

It's worth checking all the policies out. Some will only cover accident and theft, some will also cover short term illness, and some will also cover long term illness (such as arthritis, diabetes, eczema, etc). I would personally go for one that covers long term illness, as all told, it's been close to 2K in the last 3 years that have gone on his vet treatment for FLUTD alone, and each time I only had the excess to cover. Also, if you do have to claim for a treatment such as a urinary tract infection, remember that if you switch providers, they will not cover preexisting conditions. So I am tied in with Allianz now, but I don't mind, as they have always been very good regarding claims.

ABajaninCork

I think with Allianz you can elect for them to pay the vet directly. All you have to do is pay the excess. Excess amounts on Allianz are variable.

I have Allianz for my dog and elected to pay E75 excess. The higher the excess, the lower the premium generally.

Hope this helps!

jkwxez12yrdgbq

ABajaninCork wrote: »

I think with Allianz you can elect for them to pay the vet directly. All you have to do is pay the excess. Excess amounts on Allianz are variable.

I have Allianz for my dog and elected to pay E75 excess. The higher the excess, the lower the premium generally.

Hope this helps!

You can elect to have the vet paid directly with Allianz, however be careful as not all vets will accept this. Generally speaking, you will still have to pay the vet up front and claim back from the insurance company.

toadfly

ABajaninCork wrote: »

I think with Allianz you can elect for them to pay the vet directly. All you have to do is pay the excess. Excess amounts on Allianz are variable.

I have Allianz for my dog and elected to pay E75 excess. The higher the excess, the lower the premium generally.

Hope this helps!

Depends on the vet, my one insisted I paid them first. Excess is €100.

Taltos

I am also with Allianz.
Found them to be great - reasonably fast in settling any bills.
In terms of paying the vet or whomever - it depends on who the vet is. Our vet claims directly from our insurance company. Just make sure that you always have your policy number to hand.

For us normally we just have to pay the excess. Varying a little on each of our animals due to different conditions around the policy.

After the experience we have had I would say for anyone with a pet a policy is a must. Luckily ours had passed the 2 or 3 week settling in period when our cat was taken ill - saved us a fortune. If I was not sure before I certainly am now.

Best of luck with your choice - make sure to check the fineprint and the differences in treatments covered - there can be some variation...

ABajaninCork

I've never heard of anyone with Allianz paying up front, I have to say.

My own vet is paid directly from the insurer.

comongethappy

Unfortunately it is up to the vet if they will settle the claim, or if you have to pay up front. All of the vets I have used you need to pay upfront.

Also to note for UCD emergency, you cannot have the insurance settle with the practice. I was advised you needed to pay up front, and if upon examination from the vet on duty your pet needed to be kept in overnight, you had to pay a min deposit of €200 up front. It's just good to know if you do have an emergency and are used to settling the claim with your practice

elle_bee

When checking policy details, be sure to check the percentage of the claim they won't pay as well as the excess. Allianz deduct 35% of claim amount if pet is over 7 (used to be 10 except for certain breeds). We got stung on this for our last claim. Could be a significant amount depending on the cost of treatment! Will be shopping around when policy is up for renewal as this seems like a huge percentage not to pay.

piperh

Can't comment on Allianz as we use Petinsure and i have to say have been quite pleased with them. Just had our renewal policy come through and even though our girl has been diagnosed and is on constant treatment for hip dysplasia and both her and the boy have spent so much time in the vets they've given me my own chair and the policy has only gone up €40 this year which i didn't think was bad.

Millem

Nice one Piperh, one of mine had claims of €4000 and the other €3500 due to cataracts and hips and Allianz doubled our premium! But sure I still saved! Unfortunately I am stuck with allianz now. I am not impressed with the 35% excess of each claim from age of 7 as one of mine is 7 in July so we have to get her other eye done before then!