Pet Insurance Know what you're buying

I've written this in response to a thread about E&L insurance and must start with the warning to avoid them. Ask your vet - I bet they will deal with your claim if you are insured with any other company. Tell them you're insured with E&L you'll be on your own and it won't be an easy ride.

Pet insurance used to be a specialist area. Every insurance company has now jumped on this lucrative bandwagon but be warned, they don't all offer the same cover and they certainly don't all offer the same level of service and payout. READ THE POLICY DOCUMENT BEFORE YOU BUY. It will be available as a pdf somewhere on the website.

There are three types of cover.

1. 12 month term cover - the premiums will seem very attractive.
Your pet is covered for one year. If your animal needs treatment during the period of cover then you will only have to pay an excess. That's the simple explanation - the cheaper companies will exclude special diets and 'alternative therapies'. What counts as alternatve? You tell me.

You can of course renew your cover for the next year BUT insurers will exclude any condition your pet has been treated for AND any condition which has similar clinical signs. Good luck to you if your dog has had something as simple as an upset stomach because those 'clinical signs' may, in future, be taken as proof that he showed symptoms of many an expensive illness.

2. Ongoing cover, cost capped.
Many pet insurers offer this. Don't be fooled into thinking this is open ended because it isn't. It is not cover for life though you'd never guess from some of the advertising. M&S describe their insurance as 'lifelong cover' and you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the same as cover for life. The only difference between this and a cheap 12 month policy is that they will continue to pay out for a single condition over more than one year but only up to a set amount. After that they exclude cover for existing conditions and (that evil term) any condition with similar clinical signs.

It can be quite a generous maximum, for example More Than will pay up to £7000 for a single condition but once that figure is reached you are on your own.

The really cheeky thing is that your premium is calculated from your postcode because vets are more expensive in some areas but the payout is a set maximum countrywide. I did test quotes for a 2 year old labrador. In Exmouth you'd pay £163 per year, in Reading £211. Imagine having a diabetic dog. You'll go through your £7000 much faster if you live where vets charge more and be making a difficult decision as to whether you can afford to keep treating a beloved pet out of your own pocket.

3. Cover for life
This is going to be the most expensive because your pet will remain covered (up to your yearly maximum) every year, for life, for as long as you pay the premiums. There are normally levels of cover to choose from. It is worth looking for a minimum of £3000. You would then be covered for £3000 per year for life - imagine that diabetic dog again and you could be looking at £30,000 over the life of your pet.
Petplan are market leaders and are loved by vets.
Pet Protect are fantastic if you have deep pockets.
PetPals are the 'budget' arm of pet protect. They're not budget at all but are an alternative to Petplan so worth a quote.

Petguard is a company I have discovered recently. I have checked with my vet, interrogated the company over the phone and can't find any reason not to give them a go. They will do a bespoke policy. If you want to cover for vets bills alone they will do it though I would recommend you add liability insurance for dogs if your household policy doesn't cover you - CHECK and don't buy it if you don't need it.

My test quote with them for a 2 year old labrador in Reading came to £227 for true cover for life If you input the details you will come to a screen with an initial quote for their lowest level of cover and where you can tailor the policy to your needs. I changed to £3000/year, set the '12 month cover limit' to NO which gives a cover for life policy and added £1 million liability cover.

The website isn't as glitzy as others, you do need to be make sure you have quoted for the cover you need but hey - that's what bespoke is all about. One great point, they don't want your personal details to quote, not even an email address. Just bung in the animal's details and your postcode and you can play around looking at what different levels of cover would cost to your hearts content and you'll never hear from them unless you choose to insure with them. That's my sort of company