A week to go before the freebie month of Petplan insurance runs out on the rescue mutts. Oddly enough we’ve never had any insurance on any of our previous 5 dogs and only been stung for big bills once. Petplan have quoted over £50 a month for the pair, Comparethemarket tell me I can get lifetime cover for less than £20. Trouble is I’ve no experience on this. Who’s any good and who’s to avoid. Thanks in advance from Abbi and Poppy.

If you can afford the £50 per month I would recommend PetPlan for peace of mind. They have a high payout rate and pay directly to the vets so you should only need to pay the excess upfront. We have our Poodle insured with PetPlan and all being well we will be getting a second dog soon which will also be with them.

We used a company called Healthy Pets with our last dog, a Border Collie, they also offered life cover. At the time they were cheaper than PetPlan for us, but they weren’t with our current choice. We had to claim a few times for ongoing health conditions, referrals to specialist vets etc and they did always pay up, but sometimes we had to chase them. They also pay directly to the vets. WE haven’t used them in about 3 years so I don’t know if they’re still good, but they might be worth looking in to.

We use pet plan. Two big ops on the dog, hugely expensive, they paid out no bother each time. The second time directly to the Vet so I didn’t have to put a huge lump on a credit card just the excess which was great. They’ve never been an issue to deal with and service has been top notch. Bit more expensive certainly, but we’ve got what we’ve paid for. So I’d recommend them tbh.

Archie on petplan since he was a pup, he’s now 12yrs and we now pay £55 a month and never had a claim. 😐 Only time he’s at vet is for his annual check up.

hey ho

I put 50 quid a month in a savings account for 2 dogs and 1 cat, this pays for regular stuff like vaccinations and also emergency things. Cat just had a broken jaw which was 425 quid but there was enough in it to pay it. It seems to me that some vets bang up the price when they know it’s on the insurance.

This method is a bit risky for a couple of years at the beginning but it is worth it now I’ve been doing it for about 8 years, the plan was if anything big happened it would go on a credit card and get transferred to an interest free one. So far so good!

Petplan have been fantastic for us.
Dog has arthritis in various joints, compressed vertebrae & a dodgy heart so has a few different drugs, regular check ups, mri, x rays etc.
Petplan have paid out thousands without quibble. We pay £35 per month but we have easily had that & more back over the last 5 years. First 4, it seemed like a lot of money for nothing.
Like all insurance it’s expensive until you need it.

Decided not to pay for insurance for our current pair of hounds and put the premium we’d paid into a savings account which now stands at £8k. They’re now 10 and 11 and expect we may get a few bigger bills, but hopefully we’re quids-in. Seen the price of vets bills and insurance premiums get into silly figures

Thanks all. A gut feeling tells me to insure this pair as they are into everything and full on all the time they are off the lead, and it’s bound to catch up with them eventually. I think I’m tempted to go a bit cheaper than Petplan though. Over their lifetime there’s at least a three grand difference in premiums.

A week to go before the freebie month of Petplan insurance runs out on the rescue mutts.

Get ready to block their number on your phones, they are very persistent about getting you to carry on! Both the wife and I have had to block their call centre numbers as they won’t take no for an answer.

Friend of mine is a vet and he says that PetPlan are the best to deal with from his end. He said that if if needed pet insurance (obviously he doesn’t) he would use them every time.

Just don’t use E&L. Heard nothing good about them.

Have a look at More Than – they offer good cover.

And 2nd don’t use E&L – my wife works in insurance and avoids them at all costs.

Our two eldest rescues are self insured. But when we got Nell the springer as a pup we decided to insure. Initially with John Lewis, they paid out well when at a year she ran through a barbed wire fence and ended up with 4 stitches in her thigh.

Moved to Petplan last year as they came out cheaper (JL put prices up loads) and they paid out no problem when she ran over some broken glass on the beach and had an emergency vet visit on holiday to have the wound stapled.

Currently 30 /mth.

In both cases Nell didn’t even notice she’d done anything…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/R86t7d]IMG_20161022_164152[/url] by Evil Goat, on Flickr

A friend of ours had her dog run off a cliff in the lakes this summer, massive surgery including pins in the pelvis. With some dogs insurance is well worth it.

Have previously used Petplan. Who were easy to deal with on a claim.

Now with Agria

Steer clear of Ultimate Pet insurance..
very poor, wriggled out of paying out when we really needed them to.

Please, Please,Please,Please,check the small print as this applies to most pet insurance, If your pet is injured ‘out of hours’ they do not cover ANY ‘out of hours’ costs! To make a claim the claim form has to be completed by your vets which they will charge for……and is not covered…..there are many many more exclusions to the point we recently had a bill for £260 but could only claim £39 back, consequently we are not renewing cover and will just put money aside instead!!