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In the end we decided to go with Direct Line for our preferred provider and this is our experience so far.
Getting started was easy as we already had a motor insurance with Direct Line and therefore knew the website address and logging on there it gives you all the information you could ... Read review
Advantages: Cover for emergencies or illness which could be very expensive otherwise Disadvantages: Cover only limited to a certain amount and a certain time frame on my policy
...we decided to go with Direct Line for our preferred provider and this is our experience so far.
Getting started was easy as we already had a motor insurance with Direct Line and therefore knew the website address and logging on there it gives you all the information you could possibly need. I actually phoned through my application, as I do prefer to speak to a human on things like this in case I missed anything online. Various details ... ...benefits.
Direct Line will pay in the event of your pet dying in accidental conditions, for example if they are run over (could be very useful for cats!). You are asked to provide proof of the purchase cost though and for us this would not be relevant as she was dumped in a box by our car as a pup and cost us nothing. However this could prove useful if you had a very expensive pedigree dog or cat that you paid a fortune for. The same ... more
We always used to use Pet Insurance for our cats and were loyal to Pet Plan, one of the leading Pet Insurance providers for many years. However following the death of our cat (at the time) and a visit to the vets with our dog, we decided to take out a pet insurance policy on our dog. Doing price and quality comparisons between Pet Plan and other Pet Insurance providers, soon made us realise we were paying well over the odds with Pet Plan, despite their excellent services.
In the end we decided to go with Direct Line for our preferred provider and this is our experience so far.
Getting started was easy as we already had a motor insurance with Direct Line and therefore knew the website address and logging on there it gives you all the information you could possibly need. I actually phoned through my application, as I do prefer to speak to a human on things like this in case I missed anything online. Various details were taken about our dog and us and literally a few minutes later Chloe was covered for all manner of illness/accidents and their comprehensive cover doesn't stop there.
Our monthly premium for this year is £9.41 per month to cover a Border Collie dog over 8 weeks old (they do not insure dogs under this age) under the Essential Policy cover. In essence his allows us to relax knowing we have cover for Chloe of up to £4,000 for each claim for a new condition for a twelve-month period. For instance if she were to be run over and broke her leg we would be allowed £4,000 worth of treatment, be that operations, medicine etc to mend her leg. Then if 6 months later she developed a heart condition and it was unrelated to the accident we would then be entitled to another £4,000 worth of treatment for that illness. This policy, much the same as any other Insurance Policy, attracts an excess figure of £65.00. This basically means that for every new claim we make we have to pay the vet's bills up to the first £65.00 and anything over we can start claiming on the policy. This does seem a pretty high figure and we have been caught a few times when Chloe has needed treatment for something and the bill has come in around the £50-60 mark, meaning we have to pay the whole lot. This is frustrating when you think how much you pay over the year but they have to protect themselves from constant claims for small amounts I guess. There are also a lot of things they will not pay out for like dental treatment for example, unless it is external damage caused by an accident, but regular cleaning of teeth or vaccinations will not be covered. It is essential you read thoroughly the policy before committing yourself and make sure you are familiar with the covered liabilities.
Whilst we have opted for the Essential Policy, they also offer an Advanced Policy which comes in at £15.49 per month for a Border Collie, and while the excess is still the same the amount you are covered for jumps up to £6,000 and there is no time limit, so if you pet is suffering an illness that is taking two years or more to get better, you will be covered the whole time as long the bills don't go above £6,000.
In addition to the amount of cover we can use for illness/accident also included is a number of other benefits.
Direct Line will pay in the event of your pet dying in accidental conditions, for example if they are run over (could be very useful for cats!). You are asked to provide proof of the purchase cost though and for us this would not be relevant as she was dumped in a box by our car as a pup and cost us nothing. However this could prove useful if you had a very expensive pedigree dog or cat that you paid a fortune for. The same applies to if your animal has been lost, stolen or strayed. Relevant proof is again required in terms of either a crime number from the police if stolen, or receipts for advertising costs if they are lost. Again we have never used this service thankfully, as Chloe is very good when we are out and even if she could get out the garden on her own, she'd be back by dinnertime!
You can also claim cover if you need to go into hospital yourself and there is no one to look after your animal. Direct Line will cover boarding fees up to £500, which would equate to around 6 weeks in hospital in our area. Similarly if your holiday has to be cancelled due to your pet being lost or needing life saving treatment 7 days before your departure date and they will pay costs up to £1000 for this. Thankfully we have no experience of this either!
Direct Line also has a third party liability cover of up to £1million, in case you are sued over something your dog has done. Could be useful in conjunction with the Legal Advice line they offer, which promises to speak in plain English!
They have a number of other services like an emergency vets helpline to aid you in finding a vet close to you in the middle of the night if you need it. And also they offer a pet bereavement counselling service, just in case you can't cope if your beloved animals have departed.
It may be beneficial to you to know that the policy you take out will not cover any pre-existing conditions so check things out with them first if your animal is already ill or has suffered an accident in the past which may affect them in the future - for instance arthritis following a broken bone. It is always best to check you will get cover or not in those cases as it would a huge waste of money if you took out the policy and then could not claim a few years down the line.
Overall we have had a very positive experience with Direct Line Pet Insurance. The premiums do go up every year, although only by 80p or so, but if you start off applying online, you can earn yourself a 10% discount, with further discounts applying if you are an existing customer of Direct Line, which we were.
We have only had cause to use the service for a claim once, and this process was extremely easy and straightforward. As the procedure we needed the vet to do was sort of an emergency (Chloe cut her ear open on some barbed wire) we made an appointment with the vet and told them she was covered on insurance and they could do whatever was needed to get her better. She ended up having anaesthetic, shaving, stitches and medication and the bill soon mounted up to well over the £65 excess fee. In this instance we settled the bill ourselves direct with the vet and then made a claim through Direct Line for the refund of monies due. It was really simple and we actually completed most of it over the phone with the claims girl who was friendly and efficient. Once the forms came through we signed it and dropped it off with the vet as he needed to complete his side of the details and then he returned it to Direct Line for us. We had a refund cheque in a matter of days and the whole incident was tied up nicely. If you were having a planned operation for your pet you could make the arrangements directly between your vet and Direct Line to avoid any unnecessary lay out on your part, except the excess of course.
I would recommend Direct Line for Pet Insurance as they have not let us down in terms of policy procedure, efficiency and fulfilment of our needs in terms of Chloe's insurance. We don't have our cat insured anymore but there are further discounts available if you have more than one pet insured with them.
Prior to having pet insurance one of our cats got run over and the bill was in excess of £400 - a shock to the system to say the least and therefore I do highly recommend having insurance for your animals and Direct Line have proved to me they are well worthy of your custom.
Advantages: Small outlay. Disadvantages: Ongoing conditions not covered after 12 months
...now. However, I heard of Direct Line's Pet Insurance Scheme from a friend and decided to make some enquiries ....just in case...
I telephoned the Company, more out of idle curiousity than anything else, but when I was quoted only £5 per month,I decided that just over £1 per week was a small price to pay for peace of mind and therefore took out a policy.
Within weeks, the healthy puppy I had purchased developed problems. She now in addition to having ... ...just £5 per month to Direct Line Insurance ! !
In addition to vet fees, pet insurance also covers legal fees in the event of the animal attacking somebody or causing an accident either in the home or outside. Some, but not all, home policies also provide this protection, so this should be borne in mind when considering the pros and cons of the matter. The Policy does not, however, cover the expense of special diets, yearly vaccinations, booster ...
ANNJSEC 08.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Direct Line Pet Insurance
Advantages: Covers you for any unexpected bills Disadvantages: Covers you only to a certain limit
...websites and finally decided on Direct Line, partly because I already have car insurance with them and party because their deal seemed quite good.
I ordered my pet insurance online and this was very easy to do, the policy could not be used until after 14 days after I had applied for it (I assume this is to save Direct Line having customers singing up at the last minute when they know they are going to have an expensive vet bill. The online process ... ...are not covered for.
Direct Line will also pay up to £500 in boarding fees for your pet so if you are taken ill and unable to look after your pet then the insurance would cover the cost of you putting your pet in boarding kennels.
It may be beneficial to you to know that the policy you take out will not cover any pre-existing conditions so check things out with them first. If your animal is already ill or has suffered an accident in the past that ...
daylehall 29.08.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Direct Line Pet Insurance
Advantages: Good price, covers the basic and there are other options Disadvantages: It only rstricts to 12 months of treatmentand you've got to wait for 14 days for the policy to take effect.
...£7 for dogs from Direct Line. So I phone them and I was sent almost straight away details about the policy which didn't take long to convince me that it was what I really wanted from a pet insurance.
I was getting more or less the same benefits as with the other insurance company but for only £5 per head. Now that was more likely.
Of course with More Than you get a bit more and the insurance covers accident and illness for as long as your pet needs ... ...always is) but at the moment I'm more than happy with Direct Line, it saved me £10 per month.
So if you are planning to insure your animals, which I strongly recommend, have a look around first. There are cheaper deals than the ones they advertise on telly, sometimes. ...
Kirki 24.01.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Direct Line Pet Insurance
Advantages: Vet bills can be claimed back Disadvantages: Vet bills can be horrendously high.
Having your pussy un-insured, or any other loved pet uninsured is total
madness. You never know when the unexpected will happen, and your pet will need assistance from the vet. I had no insurance, and to be truthful, having had cats for the last 20+ years, have never had the need for it. Until last night that is. Oh how I wish I had listened to other peoples suggestions that I consider it. I will tell you what happened, and maybe if I just save ... ...will somehow soften the blow.
Last year I found a kitten in a sack near my home on the bank of a lake.
I took her home and she joined my family, along with my other pets, to become a much cherished and loved puss. Never having had a female cat, in my wisdom decided to let her have one litter before I got her speyed. So,
at 14 months old she became pregnant. I bought books, researched on the internet, and took her to the vet for a onceover. She, ...
patti 13.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Direct Line Pet Insurance
Advantages: Simple to set up & easy to make claims Disadvantages: None!
...My partner already had a Direct Line policy for car insurance and breakdown cover and there website advertised that you could receive a discount if someone at your address had a policy. It didn't matter to Direct Line that the current policies were not in my name and I received a 10% discount off the pet insurance quote.
Cover & Cost
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The cover includes the following:
Cover
Up to £4,000 for each illness, injury or disease for a maximum ... ...annual cost but the monthly direct debit was approx £7 per month. I signed up via the Internet and had cover immediately.
The policy documents arrived very quickly, I checked them and filed them away. I never had to think about for the next 3 years until I got another puppy. I rang Direct Line up and informed them that I wanted to add another dog onto the policy, I gave them the details and the quote was approx £17 (by that time one dog was £8), ...
kgray71 20.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Direct Line Pet Insurance
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Advantages: Very cheap Disadvantages: VERY high excess
Sainsburys website is very easy to use, and the form is very quick to fill out. I was given a quote which is almost half the annual cost of my DirectLineinsurance.
BUT....
Be careful here, Sainsburys bury the excess information very deep. When I checked, it was £50 or 15% of the claim, whichever is higher. That means that if your pet develops a serious illness or is involved in a serious accident you could be left with a bill for literally hundreds of pounds.
As a comparison, my DirectLineinsurance has a flat, one-off excess charge of £35.
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Advantages: Easy to so business with, good premiums, stable underwriting Disadvantages: none
Background
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I have been insured with DirectLine for something like 14 years now, having defected to them when I worked for a very large well known broker, as even with staff discount, DirectLine's quote was cheaper! We currently have two cars, home insurance and life insurance with directline, and I will ensure they quote us for petinsurance very soon. I have also taken out their one trip travel insurance on a couple of occasions. In fact that little red phone finds it way into my home every couple of months or so.
Back in the early 1990s DirectLine certainly revolutionised the way that insurance was bought and sold. Prior to that there were small brokers, and even large brokers, but the concept of doing insurance over the telephone was not great, and even for someone who gained CII qualifications, I remember ...
