Pet plan

Re: Pet plan

Fiona Leathers — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:24:41 GMT

Its possibly only Fiona Andrew who will understand that line!!

Re: Pet plan

Cat Woman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:23:32 GMT

[quote user="Bouncyfi"]And if you're really lucky they'll give you a lovely blue sash to wear too!!![/quote]

Eh?

Re: Pet plan

Fiona Leathers — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:12:02 GMT

And if you're really lucky they'll give you a lovely blue sash to wear too!!!

Re: Pet plan

FionaA — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:14:22 GMT

Hi Rebecca,

Inurance usually goes up by the price of inflation or retail price index every year. Like you I got my petplan renewal through and was a bit surprised at how much it had gone up by, however when I thought about it I asked myself if I wanted my money to go to a company who puts lots of money back into the veterinary industry (sponsorship at BSAVA, BVNA, petplan charitable trust etc) or give my money to Tesco, More Than, Direct Line etc who have never sponsored anything as far as I am aware. Please someone out there correct me if I am wrong.

I know on nurses wages we all need to look at every penny, I change cover on home and car insurance every year, but I stick with petplan for my 3 cats and my dog.

Just thought that this is a different way of looking at things.

Fiona

Re: Pet plan

bonny10 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:20:09 GMT

Thanks for the information , it has enlightened me into the world of insurance.

I am glad my cat is insured and hopefully i will never have to claim but its piece of mind really knowing i am covered for his life.

Re: Pet plan

Vicky RVN — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:54:43 GMT

[quote user="Doolally"]

Talking about insurance companies trying to wiggle out of things....horse insurance is a nightmare as they only offer 12month policies

Althought petplan have been great and I've had more paid out for claims than i've paid them in premiums. My horse damaged a hind suspensory ligmanet in one leg, she went to the RVC and had 4k worth of treatment. She's now excluded for anything 'resulting from or connected to tendon or ligament disorders in BOTH hindlimbs' ....she injured a LIGAMENT on ONE leg...the other leg is fine, and her tendons are fine thanks!...sigh.....I really should get round to calling them and arguing that one

[/quote]

Blimey that's very cheeky of them!! How on earth can they justify that?! Madness!!!

Re: Pet plan

Doolally — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:50:39 GMT

Talking about insurance companies trying to wiggle out of things....horse insurance is a nightmare as they only offer 12month policies

Re: Pet plan

Saskia Quinn — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:53:15 GMT

I would say insurance companies are very similar to banks! Have to watch them like a hawk and check everything!

I vowed a few years ago to insure any new pet I got. I got a rescue lurcher - Daisy. She had been quite badly treated and was very insecure. She could be very sharp towards the other dogs too, though finally she settled.

I lost count of the amount of time she bit my other dogs and really thought I was going to have to pts her. Thankfully it didnt come to that.

But the moral of the story is, she bit my then beautiful Lurcher, Jake, on the ear. Poor Jake, as much as I loved him, he was a wee bit of a wimp. Trip to the surgery, sedation, stitch ear plus head bandage. He managed to get the bandage off during the night so another trip to the surgery the following morning. Another sedation and another head bandage. He had to be sedated even for a bandage as he was very sore and a little wimp at heart.

Anyway, to cut a long story short lol!! Daisy was the one who was insured and still ended up costing me money. Sadly, Jake died at home very suddenly and very unexpectedly later that day. It was a Friday evening and I will never forget it Vets said it was most likely stress hyperthermia. I never found out for sure. He was such a babe and it totally broke my heart and miss daisy belle is still here!! Though a much calmer and well mannered dog now!

Re: Pet plan

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:25:46 GMT

Petplan tried to wriggle out of a claim i had for one of my dogs, they tried to do the 2 seperate claims thing, she was lame, and had numerous meds and x rays, no better was re x rayed and it was an osteosarc, this claim was put in, and they basically tried to say it was 2 different things!!!!!!!, NO she was lame because of the Bloddy cancer!!! arghhh , anyway it was eventually sorted out. And she had a lifetime policy I might add, not a 12 month one.

Re: Pet plan

Fiona Leathers — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:04:04 GMT

To be honest, Sonny's hyperthyroidism was only found cos we got a new snap thingy from Idexx & didn't have any cats to try it out on!! He didn't even realise he had it!!

Re: Pet plan

Cat Woman — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:00:13 GMT

Blimey, I just hope that when I die, I don't come back as a cat belonging to any of you guys!! Although obviously I would recieve the best treatment!

Re: Pet plan

Fiona Leathers — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:40:18 GMT

Cat Woman - I have one cat with 3 different conditions which will need year after year treatment! So thank goodness for lifelong policies.

I try to explain to clients the difference within policies but even though we give them free Petplan vouchers, they will still opt for the cheaper year-long policy. Whichever insurance company thought this up must be laughing all the way to the bank!!

Re: Pet plan

Steph Worsley — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:45:38 GMT

[quote user="Cat Woman"]

[quote user="Dippy"]As I understand it with 12mth policies (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!), it's not just a restriction on the claim for a particular condition expiring after 12mths (eg diabetes, arthritis etc) but they are more likely to slap exclusions on similar but non-ongoing problems each 12mth period if you have claimed. For example, if a pet injures its left fore, the next 12mth period may say that you cannot claim for anything relating to left fore, even though it may be a totally unrelated condition/injury next time.[/quote]

From past experiences, this would only happen if a very vague claim had been put in. It should be OK if the claim is very specific to the condition - or they will wriggle out of paying!

[/quote]

Dippy is correct in my experience, with some companies if you put cat bite to left fore, they will then exclude anything to do with the left fore the following year, although you and your vet can then argue the point that the conditions are completely unrelated. I have had a case of an rta and they refused to pay for a bite abscess due to the fact it was on the same leg that had been damaged in the rta.

For some conditions you can't put down a specific condition, ie diarrohea, could be caused by any number of things and sometimes tests aren't carried out it is assumed it is a bug....so they will then exclude anything to do with d+, same with vomiting.

Also with some companies if you put a first claim in for something and enter a non-specific condition eg d+ then it is investigated further and it turns out that it is related to gastric ulcers they will try and class them as 2 separate conditions and charge 2 excess or if you find the 2 things are unrelated they will lump them together as they both are to do with the GI tract.

Re: Pet plan

Steph Worsley — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:38:18 GMT

[quote user="Cat Woman"]

[quote user="steph worsley"]I'm not going to list the things but just to say that 5 out of my families 6 cats have conditions that require treatment year after year [/quote]

Go on, list them! I want to know now!

[/quote]

OK.....

my youngest cat has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, she is only 5, I am lucky that I work in a referral hospital as she hates being in the kennel environment, so the cardiologists trust me to keep a close eye on her and only have to take her back if I am concerned...otherwise it would be a trip there at least every 6 months probably more given the state of her left atrium (it's huge), she has also had some pulmonary oedema and she is at very high risk of throwing a clot.

My older girl has chronic skin issues....been down all the usual routes and now is on an off license product that has been trialed by the dermatologists at work

my mum and dad's youngest cat suffers from arthritis, asthma, hyperthyroid and also has constant scraps with the cat down the road and has cat bites on a fairly regular basis

their older cat also has hyperthyroid

my uncles cat (the uninsured one) has had chronic urinary tract problems (recurring struvite crystals amongst other issues) and has had to be referred.

my male cat also suffered with skin issues (allergies) for 3 years but touch wood has pretty much cleared up now, he has the occasional steroid if her flares up.

other lifelong issues cats can get:

diabetes
pancreatitis
ckd
hepatopathy (forgot to mention my older girl has also had hepatic lipidosis of unknown origin so that could recur at any point!)

to name a few!!!!!

I also have seen so many cats pts because of short lasting insurance when they could have gone on for years!

Re: Pet plan

Cat Woman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:52:51 GMT

From past experiences, this would only happen if a very vague claim had been put in. It should be OK if the claim is very specific to the condition - or they will wriggle out of paying!

Re: Pet plan

Dippy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:42:41 GMT

As I understand it with 12mth policies (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!), it's not just a restriction on the claim for a particular condition expiring after 12mths (eg diabetes, arthritis etc) but they are more likely to slap exclusions on similar but non-ongoing problems each 12mth period if you have claimed. For example, if a pet injures its left fore, the next 12mth period may say that you cannot claim for anything relating to left fore, even though it may be a totally unrelated condition/injury next time. This is not specifically aimed at Tesco by the way, just heard it about some 12mth policies in general. At the end of the day, I guess the insurance companies have to make a profit too so as we all know, you get what you pay for. My youngest was with Pet Plan until I had to have her pts 2wks ago and I'd had about £1200 out of them in the first year of her life (and only paid my monthly premiums of £7ish plus one excess of £65 so excellent value in my eyes).

Re: Pet plan

Cat Woman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:36:50 GMT

[quote user="steph worsley"]I'm not going to list the things but just to say that 5 out of my families 6 cats have conditions that require treatment year after year [/quote]

Go on, list them! I want to know now!

Re: Pet plan

Cat Woman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:31:59 GMT

[quote user="Apple27surf"] Lo and behold, one of my beasts now has a heart condition and goes back every 3 months for scans, bloods etc - approx £400 a visit. [/quote]

What an earth is the diagnosis? Not heard of an animal needing to go back for scans etc so often. Poor cat. Hope he/she gets better - not sure I would want to be taking my cat for such regular treatment - is it a long term thing?

Re: Pet plan

Apple27surf — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:52:58 GMT

Hiya,

For what it's worth, I had my cats insured with Tesco 12 month policies for 8 years (was the best deal at the time I took the policy out). I didn't think to shop around as the years went by and just thought "it's OK they are insured". Lo and behold, one of my beasts now has a heart condition and goes back every 3 months for scans, bloods etc - approx £400 a visit. My insurance ran out within the first year as only 12 months covered (and even that only covered the first £2,500). I have now moved all my cats to lifetime insurance - I NEVER want to be in this position again! I feel a bit of an idiot now but I guess you learn from your mistakes! Sniffle!

Re: Pet plan

Claire Cameron — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:43:17 GMT

[quote user="steph worsley"]

[quote user="Cat Woman"]

Although PepPlan is a lifetime insurance policy & I believe probably one of the better companies, I decided to go with Tesco, for my cats. I pay about £8/month for the pair of them. (There was a good on-line discount). I realise this is a 12 month policy, but on balance I couldn't think of that many conditions that a cat would need treatment for year after year, so I decided to just go with this policy in case of the need for referral. (no need to list all the hideous things a cat could get that would need lifetime treatment!!!!!!)

[/quote]

Hmmm........I'm not going to list the things but just to say that 5 out of my families 6 cats have conditions that require treatment year after year (only 2 have the same condition). plus the 6th one I claimed for for 3 years thankfully now cleared up.

Luckily 5 out of the 6 are insured with Petplan (its about £20 a month for my 3) the 6th unfortunately costs my uncles a lot of money each year.

I have to say as well I definately have had more back out of the insurance for mine than I have put in. (minimum claim is about 250 a year for one cat!)

[/quote]

Agree 100% on this one, seen so many cats pts due to 12month policies and they develop life long conditions and the owner cant afford treatment

In my opinion its worth the peace of mind if not anything else! xx

Re: Pet plan

Steph Worsley — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:35:06 GMT

[quote user="Cat Woman"]

[/quote]

Luckily 5 out of the 6 are insured with Petplan (its about £20 a month for my 3) the 6th unfortunately costs my uncles a lot of money each year.

I have to say as well I definately have had more back out of the insurance for mine than I have put in. (minimum claim is about 250 a year for one cat!)

Re: Pet plan

Cat Woman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:07:49 GMT

Re: Pet plan

Doolally — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:40:56 GMT

Last year my dog, cat and horse insurance all went up £2 a month each. I had made a claim for each of them though

Re: Pet plan

Katy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:02:12 GMT

TBH insurances tend to go up every year anyway.

My car insurance has gone up by £5 a month even though my no claims discount has increased.

My horse insurance has gone up be £5 to. Nothing unusual about that!

Re: Pet plan

Claire Cameron — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:49:09 GMT

[quote user="Louisesadieandshads"]

My excess has gone up alot. I think it was £60-65 last year, it is £90-95 this year (cannot quite remember). Plus, the premiums have gone up quite a bit too. Several pounds per dog.

[/quote]

Also Hydrotherapy used to be unlimited whereas now its limited to 10 sessions per condition I believe.

My premiums have gone up about £3 a month, I think