Dog insurance, annoyed, but then appeased a little.

[borderdawn]

On Monday, I had the insurance renewal for Breeze, it has gone up another 8%!! I have never made a claim and in 3yrs it has gone from £14.20 per month, to £18.84 per month, thats a 28% increase! I was NOT impressed, was already in a foul mood so I rang them to tell them of my disgust.

I had a woman who appeared to be reading from a script tell me the increase is normal, so I said cancel it then, and I will use another company. "I can down grade you" she said! Cheeky cow, I said "CANCEL IT" To which she replied, "If I knock off 10% this year will you stay with us?" "Yes I said for this year!" taking the premium down to £16.98 per month, less than last year which was £17.45! So they can offer the same service for less.

Feel better now!
Dawn.

[Fran]

Good on you Dawn for standing your ground!! Who do you insure them with?

[borderdawn]

Petplan Fran, because of their "lifetime" cover. Other companies do it now, but I am a bit dubious of changing (didnt tell them that though!) because of the fact they do say £6000 per year for life, but its ALL illnesses/problems together, Petplan do £4000 per condition, per year.
Dawn.

[yola]

Did you tell her she was a cheeky cow???? That SO made me laugh, Dawn!!!!

I had that with E&L insurance several years back. I phoned them up to querry the increase and they dropped it down to just above the starting premium. It's worth complaining sometimes

[Fran]

Yes, I insure with Petplan too. Looks like I have a shock coming at renewal time then

We insure the horse with National Farmers Union but they don't cover for life, only upto £5000 per condition or up to a year after diagnosis which ever is the sooner. Wish we had insured him with Petplan as he has arthritic conditions which mean treatment for the rest of his life. Trouble is we had 3 horses and it was so much cheaper to insure with them than Petplan. I think it does pay to pay the higher premiums for a cover for life policy..

[Kim]

Well done Dawn - just proves it is worth complaining!

I would really recommend M & S. Cheaper than Petplan, same good benefits and they cover for euthansia and cremation which Petplan don't. We have a 'no excess' policy for Caleb, a week after I took out the policy he broke his claw and the vets bill was £57 - M & S paid the amount in full no quibble!

[Donna]

Well done Dawn for complaining!

[dinahsmum]

I insure Dinah with PetPlan at present - again, for the 'lifetime/condition cover'. But, when she reaches her second birthday, soon, ( )and has shown no signs of any awful congenital conditions, or of intractible skin conditions, I will go to a cheaper insurer - to cover her for (heaven forbid) accidents or a sudden major illness (remember, abscesses, cuts, simple poorly tummies etc probably cost little more than the excess, so you pay a good %age of the vet bill anyway).
I did a test with Tesco insurance a few weeks ago, and their monthly premium, for Dinah and 2 kittens was £17 and buttons - exactly my PP premium for Dinah now (and it looks as though that is destined to go up, judging from Dawn's experience).
I'll insure the kits for a couple of years (same reasons as above) then 'self-insure'. I've never insured cats before and am perfectly happy that I have come out on the + side in financial terms. Of course, one takes the risk, but that's what it's all about. Weigh up the facts, make the decision, live with it.

[dinahsmum]

Kim
M&S sounds good. I'll look into that too.

[bobbie3917]

yeah M&S are good and do life time cover aswell