We will be getting a rhodesian ridgeback puppy in 4 weeks so need to sort out some pet insurance but unsure which company to go with as heard a few storys of some companies not paying out so just wondering if any one can recommend any. Cheers.
In reply to Post #1
Petplan is good.
More often than not people's complaints about Pet insurance are down to them going for cheapest and not reading the policy properly. Like car insurance I suppose.
Petplan is good.
More often than not people's complaints about Pet insurance are down to them going for cheapest and not reading the policy properly. Like car insurance I suppose.
In reply to Post #2
Cheers. Pet plan and bought by many seem to be the most popular.
Cheers. Pet plan and bought by many seem to be the most popular.
In reply to Post #3
Just beware ,even of petplan. They can all be a nightmare to deal with . Friend of mine took almost 2 months to get layout from them from a very simple case.
Just beware ,even of petplan. They can all be a nightmare to deal with . Friend of mine took almost 2 months to get layout from them from a very simple case.
As always beware the fine print! My insurance covered me up to £12k, i naively assumed any bill up to 12k is covered. But that 15k was broken up into sections. £1k max for xrays, £1.5kmax for CT scans ect. I ended up with a 4k bill amd only 2.2k was paid out. Better than nothing but i expected it to be covered.
That was with debenhams and other than that they were great. They settled everything with the vets first and i was sent a bill later. Ive heard some make you pay up front first then have to claim it back after.
That was with debenhams and other than that they were great. They settled everything with the vets first and i was sent a bill later. Ive heard some make you pay up front first then have to claim it back after.
In reply to Post #5
They do, petplan being one of them
They do, petplan being one of them
In reply to Post #6
I made a claim years ago with more-than, and im sure i had to pay up front for that as well.
Debenhams were great, i literally just sent the form to the vets and they sorted the rest. The vets held onto the bills and lumped them all together so i only had to pay one lot of excess which was nice.
I made a claim years ago with more-than, and im sure i had to pay up front for that as well.
Debenhams were great, i literally just sent the form to the vets and they sorted the rest. The vets held onto the bills and lumped them all together so i only had to pay one lot of excess which was nice.
Petplan gets good reviews but it's bloody expensive. I just went with JL pet insurance for my new dog...... 
Never had a problem with animal friends and on my first ever claim they paid direct to the vet £1400 followed by a £500.
WHATEVER YOU DO PROTECT YOUR DOG FROM LUNGWORM. ITS IN A TUBE THAT IS THEN APPLIED TO THE NECK WHICH THEN ABSORBS INTO THE SKIN.
Sorry for the caps but lungworm is lethal and can kill your dog within hours.
It is spread from slugs and snails that gets into the respiratory system as dogs walk through grass ‘then lick their paws' or drink water from a puddle where they've been through.
My dogs lungs have scar tissue damage which will never repair. Coughs quite a lot but as long as she's happy in herself, happy to go out and enjoys her food still then I'm happy even though it breaks my heart seeing her.
DONT IGNORE LUNGWORM BECAUSE SADLY IT IS ON THE INCREASE.
WHATEVER YOU DO PROTECT YOUR DOG FROM LUNGWORM. ITS IN A TUBE THAT IS THEN APPLIED TO THE NECK WHICH THEN ABSORBS INTO THE SKIN.
Sorry for the caps but lungworm is lethal and can kill your dog within hours.
It is spread from slugs and snails that gets into the respiratory system as dogs walk through grass ‘then lick their paws' or drink water from a puddle where they've been through.
My dogs lungs have scar tissue damage which will never repair. Coughs quite a lot but as long as she's happy in herself, happy to go out and enjoys her food still then I'm happy even though it breaks my heart seeing her.
DONT IGNORE LUNGWORM BECAUSE SADLY IT IS ON THE INCREASE.
Never had a problem with animal friends and on my first ever claim they paid direct to the vet £1400 followed by a £500.
WHATEVER YOU DO PROTECT YOUR DOG FROM LUNGWORM. ITS IN A TUBE THAT IS THEN APPLIED TO THE NECK WHICH THEN ABSORBS INTO THE SKIN.
Sorry for the caps but lungworm is lethal and can kill your dog within hours.
It is spread from slugs and snails that gets into the respiratory system as dogs walk through grass ‘then lick their paws' or drink water from a puddle where they've been through.
My dogs lungs have scar tissue damage which will never repair. Coughs quite a lot but as long as she's happy in herself, happy to go out and enjoys her food still then I'm happy even though it breaks my heart seeing her.
DONT IGNORE LUNGWORM BECAUSE SADLY IT IS ON THE INCREASE.
WHATEVER YOU DO PROTECT YOUR DOG FROM LUNGWORM. ITS IN A TUBE THAT IS THEN APPLIED TO THE NECK WHICH THEN ABSORBS INTO THE SKIN.
Sorry for the caps but lungworm is lethal and can kill your dog within hours.
It is spread from slugs and snails that gets into the respiratory system as dogs walk through grass ‘then lick their paws' or drink water from a puddle where they've been through.
My dogs lungs have scar tissue damage which will never repair. Coughs quite a lot but as long as she's happy in herself, happy to go out and enjoys her food still then I'm happy even though it breaks my heart seeing her.
DONT IGNORE LUNGWORM BECAUSE SADLY IT IS ON THE INCREASE.
Cheers everyone 👍🏻 Will look into the lungworm thing as never heard of it 👍🏻
In reply to Post #1
Had a good experience with Sainsbury's pet insurance recently.
I think my cat fell through a glass conservatory roof and did his leg in pretty badly.
£4K bill was reimbursed minus the £250 excess. I did have to pay the bill and it took about a month to receive the funds back but I was happy with it anyway to be fair.
Had a good experience with Sainsbury's pet insurance recently.
I think my cat fell through a glass conservatory roof and did his leg in pretty badly.
£4K bill was reimbursed minus the £250 excess. I did have to pay the bill and it took about a month to receive the funds back but I was happy with it anyway to be fair.
In reply to Post #11
In reply to Post #11
The lungworm treatment is only available from your vet.
The lungworm treatment is only available from your vet.
Ive has petplan from the start with my whippet who is now nearing 10 years old......unfortunately we have has to make several claims over the years and haven't had a single issue with them. Paid out in full on every occasion. There has been a few claims well into the thousands which were paid in full....
He now has joint issues and has medication every day which again pet plan pay for, these are the only insurance company whom the vets will deal with directly so i get a small bill every so often for any excess....
They also paid for 10 sessions of aqua therapy to assist with his joint issues.... One thing to remember is get a for life plan, which means they will continue to pay for ongoing issues and dont change your insurance once you have made a claim, as a new insurance company will not cover any previous or existing conditions....
As your dog gets older the insurance gets higher as obviously the potential for a claim increases...
Also when you choose a vet do not go with a large chain and try and find a good local independent... the large chains are just out to get as much money as posssible especially if your dog is insured.....
We've had more back than what it would cost in insurance premiums if the dog lives till he's 40....
Other people obviously have had bad experiences with PetPlan , but from my experience I can not recommend then highly enough
He now has joint issues and has medication every day which again pet plan pay for, these are the only insurance company whom the vets will deal with directly so i get a small bill every so often for any excess....
They also paid for 10 sessions of aqua therapy to assist with his joint issues.... One thing to remember is get a for life plan, which means they will continue to pay for ongoing issues and dont change your insurance once you have made a claim, as a new insurance company will not cover any previous or existing conditions....
As your dog gets older the insurance gets higher as obviously the potential for a claim increases...
Also when you choose a vet do not go with a large chain and try and find a good local independent... the large chains are just out to get as much money as posssible especially if your dog is insured.....
We've had more back than what it would cost in insurance premiums if the dog lives till he's 40....
Other people obviously have had bad experiences with PetPlan , but from my experience I can not recommend then highly enough
In reply to Post #15
Good advice re the for life plan and previous conditions. That's where many people find issues in the small print.
Good advice re the for life plan and previous conditions. That's where many people find issues in the small print.
This breed can suffer with back problems, so make sure you get it insured.
In reply to Post #15
In reply to Post #17
Yes, i no about the dermoid sinus and hip displaysia issues. Ive seen all the kc papers and theres no history of any with previous family tree. Breeder will get him checked out again with there vets as well before we collect him. Hes bloody huge already and only 4 wks old.
Yes, i no about the dermoid sinus and hip displaysia issues. Ive seen all the kc papers and theres no history of any with previous family tree. Breeder will get him checked out again with there vets as well before we collect him. Hes bloody huge already and only 4 wks old.
You must be so looking forward to it if you haven't got them already 
My experience, Petplan, solid, preferred by vets, expensive, my sisters lab had issues at 10 years old they wanted £177pcm, but that's still reasonable considering vets costs nowadays.
Ins companies will happily insure you cheaply when they're young but it will rise rapidly once they turn 8 ish. My insurance company wanted £77pcm at 9yo, which is still reasonable imo and based on my experience.
Please read insurance reviews, not all companies are the same, some won't even be dealt with by your vet or emergency vets unless you meet the cost upfront. Imagine, your dog is starting to become paralysed you rush to the emergency vet at 2am with all the paperwork (I'm organised). Who are you insured with (at the time it was Equine and Livestock), said such to be greeted with did you see the note on the back of the door as you walked in...there was a list of insurance companies that that emergency vets wouldn't deal with and E&L were one of them. I was lucky and the vet agreed to treat anyway, he was lovely, as it happened that cost 7k in the end and E&L paid within 5 days!
Recently one of ours had a hip issue, emergency vets again (different one) if you weren't registered with them you had to meet the cost upfront, another £900 on the credit card until we claimed it back.
Personally I've used Liverpool and Victoria for the last 10 years or so, reasonably priced and very quick at paying out.
I'd also suggest registering with a vet that has 24hour emergency service available, it might save you the issues we had, worth asking anyway.
My experience, Petplan, solid, preferred by vets, expensive, my sisters lab had issues at 10 years old they wanted £177pcm, but that's still reasonable considering vets costs nowadays.
Ins companies will happily insure you cheaply when they're young but it will rise rapidly once they turn 8 ish. My insurance company wanted £77pcm at 9yo, which is still reasonable imo and based on my experience.
Please read insurance reviews, not all companies are the same, some won't even be dealt with by your vet or emergency vets unless you meet the cost upfront. Imagine, your dog is starting to become paralysed you rush to the emergency vet at 2am with all the paperwork (I'm organised). Who are you insured with (at the time it was Equine and Livestock), said such to be greeted with did you see the note on the back of the door as you walked in...there was a list of insurance companies that that emergency vets wouldn't deal with and E&L were one of them. I was lucky and the vet agreed to treat anyway, he was lovely, as it happened that cost 7k in the end and E&L paid within 5 days!
Recently one of ours had a hip issue, emergency vets again (different one) if you weren't registered with them you had to meet the cost upfront, another £900 on the credit card until we claimed it back.
Personally I've used Liverpool and Victoria for the last 10 years or so, reasonably priced and very quick at paying out.
I'd also suggest registering with a vet that has 24hour emergency service available, it might save you the issues we had, worth asking anyway.
Went with bought by many which seemed to come out on top the last two years. £56 for top lifetime policy with 15k cover and it seems to cover everything from illness to being stolen. Think im going down the raw feeding route so nearly £200 a month with food. Its bloody expensive owning a dog these days.
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