Insurance

sillysmiles

I know a particular website can not be mentioned - so with that in mind can people give any advice on pet insurance?
What to look out for? Loopholes that you have noticed? Things to avoid?

We have two, a dog and a cat and I'm not sure if it's a money making scheme or an essential or somewhere in between.

Nody

Well the golden rule is to get insurance on day 1 because any known issues at the time you buy insurance tends to be excluded. For breeds known to have issues that is twice as important as multiple vet operations can obviously be costly and easily go into the thousands of euros.

The second thing to look out for is if there's an age exclusion (i.e. cats over 7 years can't be insured) and if they handle more normal stuff (i.e. yearly check up, vaccinations etc.), self risk and if it's you pay & claim or if the vet can claim directly from the insurance company. If you got a vet you like it never hurts asking them for advise as well.

tk123

I think you need to ask yourself how much money you can afford to pay if you don't have it and if you have a vet that will let you pay in installments if something goes wrong. I know some people say it's a scam and they put money in a jar every month but you'd need a few grand in it imo? Bailey's operation 3 months was €2500 all in and I paid €100 Our renewal was around €400 - our total claims to date at renewal time was nearly 5k so it hasn't jumped up dramatically because of claims - less than €50 a year which is fine with me. I'm with Allianz and the vet handles all of the paper work which is a relief - the last thing you want when something goes wrong or god forbid your pet dies is to be filling in paper work.

My friend's dog was very sick last month and in the vets for the best part of 2 weeks - bills came to €3000

cocker5

OP, Im with Allianz since I got my dog (it will be 10 years in the summer of 2015) and I wouldn’t be without it… we’ve claimed a number of times for blood tests and other bits in pieces etc. nothing too major so far thank god – we had no problems whatsoever…
even though it costs us around €280 per year (approx.) it’s worth every penny, we pay by monthly direct debit so the cost is fine.

eoglyn

We went with the company that shall not be named. So this is not a specific review.

All i can say is that we had insurance from day one, we have a breed with some known issues. Thankfully he has escaped all of those, but he did have a very common issue across all breeds, luxating patella - or a loose knee cap, very painful for the little man - insurance worked like it should and we are very, very glad we had it. Have had two similar claims, thankfully he is flying it now and exceptionally fit for such a lazy beggar. All we have had to pay is the excess.

I wouldn't recommend one company over another, but i would recommend getting insurance

rannerap

I got all three of my cats insured the day I got them. People scoffed at me for doing it saying it was stupid as they're young. Nothing will happen. It's a scam etc etc. I was very glad I did it though when one of them randomly got very sick and ran up 5k in Vets bills!!!, all covered an insurance. My excess was only 100 I think. And for all three it comes to 17 a month I think it is. I'm with Tesco insurance.

This Fat Girl Runs

I got insurance when I first got my cat, but when it came time for the first claim I realized it was useless because, as a rescue cat, his medical history was incomplete and the company wouldn't accept the claim. I promptly cancelled it.

So, my 'insurance' is to put a little away each month into a savings account for those 'just in case' situations.

Whispered

I got rid of my insurance. Both dogs had illnesses when I got them and the policy didn't cover anything pre existing or related to pre existing.

So when Harley scratched his eye they wouldn't pay because he had previously been treated for an eye infection.

Harley wouldn't be covered for many common illnesses including cancers because according to the person in the call centre "sure parvovirus destroys their whole insides"

Phoe had demodetic mange when I got him, so again, not covered for a lot as they consider it an immune deficiency and also it can wreck some major organs apparently, can never be fully cured and of course anything to do with skin complaints of any kind, even unrelated to his previous condition, are not covered.

Both dogs are perfectly healthy, but you'd swear they were falling apart with the amount of exclusions on their insurance. So in their case not worth it.

If you get a healthy pet it would be worth your while to get a policy before they start to apply all of the exclusions.

tk123

My vet was saying one we can't name has a new exclusion where if it's a genetic condition you can only claim it up to a certain age. My friend ran into a similar issue what that insurer where they wouldn't cover a skin complaint because the dog was over 3 years old

Esterhase

It's a pity that currently healthy animals can't be given any cover that's worth the effort and expense. But for young pets I think it's a good idea to insure them early, before anything happens that could exclude them. Even if they're too young to be worried about illness, accidents can always happen.

I got my dog insured with Allianz for €160 and it's worth every cent to know I won't be stuck with a huge bill if she should get sick.

sillysmiles

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

I got insurance when I first got my cat, but when it came time for the first claim I realized it was useless because, as a rescue cat, his medical history was incomplete and the company wouldn't accept the claim. I promptly cancelled it.

Oh, that's a good point to check.
The cat is a resident of the house we bought - so her history is unknown other than she is neutered. The dog is an expound dog so again no known history. Both are - we estimate 3 ish years old.

Pumpkinseeds

We've our cats insured with Allianz and haven't had a problem. As someone else said, get it from day one, if you can, as anything that the animal has been vet treated for prior to the insurance won't be covered by the insurance. Our excess is 100 and I think it costs about 30 a month for 3 of them

Alun

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

We've our cats insured with Allianz and haven't had a problem. As someone else said, get it from day one, if you can, as anything that the animal has been vet treated for prior to the insurance won't be covered by the insurance. Our excess is 100 and I think it costs about 30 a month for 3 of them

Be prepared for it to go up as they get older! We've just got our renewal letter and it's now €444.47, or just over €37 a month, for two cats. Our excess is still €100, but, and this is a big 'but', we then only get 65% of what's left after deduction of the excess. This clause kicks in for dogs aged 7+ and cats aged 10+.