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Pet Insurance Shock

misty

Well-known member
After 6 years with PetPlan, we've just had an unpleasant surprise :(.

We're very happy with the fact that PetPlan cover illness right through to the end of the dog's life, and also the £65.00 excess is bearable.

However we had an unexpected bill from the vets yesterday for Cazy. We didn't realise, but when a dog reaches the age of 8 (about 3 weeks after I took out Cazy's policy) the excess goes up to £95.00 per condition per year, plus 20% of the value of each claim is disallowed.

The vets tell me that PetPlan don't make this obvious when you take out a policy, but I don't know if this is true.

I have 3 oldies insured with PetPlan :(.
 
I new this.We have had problems lately with our Ins.We have had to wait up to 4 weeks after our claim,they told us its because they are getting alot of costumers and they havent the staff to process quickly.
 
Golly! That is bad :swear: Personnally I'd be on the phone to Petplan and ask them to tell you what the exact terms of your insurance policies actually are! If they are different to what you thought they were then you should put in a complaint about having being "Mis-Sold" your insurance policy in the first place!
It should have been pointed out to you at the time that you took out the policy that there was a higher excess and a lower compensation level for a dog that age!
 
I've never had to claim on oetplan thankfully, but the premium went up from 170 to 210 euro. My dog is now dearer than my car to insure.....
Sins
 
There have been quite a few mutterings, lately, about various insurance companies changing their terms. Some people are, unhappily, trapped with their present company because of ongoing conditions or those which would be excluded should they move, knowing that they, now, get a poorer deal for the same or more money.
 
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Allianz are the only one's that do pet insurance over here..I had Gus insured with the company that ran it before they took over and when they took over they put premiums up by a whopping amount! I decided not to renew.I don't know whether this is the right thing for me to do or not(opinions welcome!) ..but..I have a savings account where money goes each month from my bank,I put in double what the inurance company wanted to charge to insure the dogs and it's building up nicely. The way I see it with the excess and things they won't pay for this is a better way.There is money at hand if my dogs get sick..and if they don't then the money is there for me to use how I please.


PS. MY car insurance is 395 euro and just to see..I got an online quote for the 3 dogs 595 euro!
 
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That's an excellent idea Pippa.If I add a second cavalier this year I may well do that too.What are the odds of three dogs being sick at the same time?and if it's something contagious the vet will usually only charge one fee!!
The only thing to make sure of is that your house insurance will cover any acidents caused by the dog.
My brother in law had a lovely sweet dog who ran across the road and knocked someone off a bike quite accidentally.They were of course sued and had to settle.The house insurance covered it luckily.
The average payout now for a simple dog bite is €7,500 according to the PIAB book of quantum.
At least petplan gives excellent cover in those situations.
Sins
 
The only thing to make sure of is that your house insurance will cover any acidents caused by the dog.
Sins


I'm sure I read in the policy that it does but i'll double check that..Thanks.
 
I've never had insurance and taking account of what I would have paid out , having two, then one , then two , three, four and now three dogs at a time, and the treatment, including heartmeds I have paid for over 35 years, I think the dogs are well into credit. Three , including Monty,have passed the 10 years mark, so their premium would have been very high.
 
I've been talking this over with OH and we're going to cancel some of the policies.

We will keep Cailean and Bradley's I think and stop the other 5, and set up a direct debit into a dedicated savings account for the amount of insurance we save.

It is annoying though, because we didn't take Cazy on lightly and were delighted she didn't have a heart murmur at 7 years and 11 months, so took up insurance straight away. Her recent illness cost £275.00 in vets fees, and we're having to pay the insurance company £95.00 excess + £55.00 (20% of total bill). Seems daft.

I'm going to look into the cost of buying heart meds online, with a vet prescription too.
 
I'm going to look into the cost of buying heart meds online, with a vet prescription too.

I get Monty's from petmeds who knock 5% off any net quote. I last paid 65p for Fortekor5 and 2p per Frusicare. We aren't on Vetmedin, but I know that some people pay less than half the vet's price, online. A regular surf , for lowest price, is a good idea as some sites' prices fluctuate.
 
the only problem with savings accounts is if you have to have something like an MRI done - Teddy's bill came to £1400 whcih is a lot to find.

It is difficult with multiple dogs - I personally am still keeping my insurance running as it has more than paid for itself.
 
It does actually say this when you read through the policy as I weighed up getting coverage for Lucy for this reason -- but I think a lot of people take out the policy without reading the policy details. Their Irish website doesn't give the full policy details and this should really be highlighted -- or more detail should be there.

I would guess maybe most policies are similar to this -- if people have other policies, it would be worth checking.
 
Karlin, is their Irish website connected to Allianz or can insurance be optained from uk? Most uk sites I went on when looking for insurance said not available in ROI and I think Allianz is way too expensive for what they cover.Did you get cover for all your dogs?
 
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