Pet Plan Insurance

...They don’t just provide pet healthcare insurance – they also offer home, life, motor and commercial insurance and in 2004 they were the general insurer of the year. One way and another I’ve dealt with Cornhill for over thirty years and I’ve never had a problem with them. Their pet health insurance is available for cats, dogs and rabbits and there’s a separate scheme for horses. My experience has been with dogs and when I refer to premiums and excesses ...
...life”. If you buy pet health insurance from Tesco, Churchill, Direct Line, or Paws they will stop paying out in respect of an illness or injury after the first twelve months. Others such as Sainsbury, More Than and Pet Healthcare Services will only pay a set figure per condition regardless of the actual cost of treatment. If I tell you a little about our dogs you’ll realise why this is so important.

By the time that Kia was a year ... more

There’s a running joke when I arrive at the vet’s. Was my reserved parking space OK? They say my name’s on the back of a chair in the waiting room and when they redecorate I can choose the colour scheme. It lightens the moment, but it also hides an unpalatable truth. Last year I paid my vet over £3000. It’s only the middle of January and I’ve already paid £700 this year.

I have two dogs, Rhodesian Ridgebacks by the names of Rosie and Kia. They’re both well-bred pedigree dogs. Before they came to us I checked, as far as possible, that there were unlikely to be any inherited problems. They’re well looked after, carefully fed and regularly exercised but both dogs have major, long-term health problems.

The one good thing about all this is that I don’t have to worry about the costs. I’m with Petplan.

I didn’t do a lot of research before I chose Petplan. I’m a member of Dogs Trust (then the National Canine Defence League) and a leaflet was enclosed with one of their mailings. From memory I got a free month, there was an immediate payment to the charity and ongoing commission. The charges were reasonable so I went ahead. Next week I’ll be starting my seventh year with them.

Petplan is part of the Allianz Cornhill group which is one of the UK’s largest insurance companies. They don’t just provide pet healthcare insurance – they also offer home, life, motor and commercial insurance and in 2004 they were the general insurer of the year. One way and another I’ve dealt with Cornhill for over thirty years and I’ve never had a problem with them. Their pet health insurance is available for cats, dogs and rabbits and there’s a separate scheme for horses. My experience has been with dogs and when I refer to premiums and excesses these all relate to dogs. There are different figures for other animals and these are all shown on their website, details of which are below.

There are three levels of cover available – budget, standard and supreme. The main expense which most dog owners encounter is veterinary fees. The budget plan covers fees up to £4000, standard £6000 and with the supreme plan the cover is unlimited. Also available under the budget plan is cover for third-party liability (should your dog cause an accident for which the owner is liable), boarding kennel fees if the owner is hospitalised for four days or more and advertising and reward money if your dog is lost or stolen.

The standard plan also includes cover for death from injury, loss by theft or straying and a contribution to any holiday cancellation costs caused by the dog needing urgent surgery or going missing whilst the owner is away. The supreme plan provides a refund of the purchase price on death in addition to all the benefits provided at the other levels.

It is possible to pay an even lower premium than the basic budget policy by accepting that you will pay a higher excess when you make a claim. My excess is currently £70, but this varies with postcode. For each illness or injury you will pay the first £70 and Petplan will meet or refund the balance. On “Petshare” the excess is £70 plus 25% of the cost of treatment. This would give some cover against major surgery or illness but the excess would be more than many minor problems. The excess also increases as the dog ages.

Premiums vary according to breed and age of the dog, postcode, whether you wish to pay annually or monthly and plan taken. You’ll frequently find offers which give you a free period of insurance - currently you can apply online and get a month’s free insurance. In terms of likely costs it’s more appropriate to look at the premiums being paid in later years by an existing owner. Next week I’ll be making a payment of £351 to insure both dogs for the coming year on the basic budget plan.

They’re not the cheapest, so why do I stay with them? I stay because my dogs are “covered for life”. If you buy pet health insurance from Tesco, Churchill, Direct Line, or Paws they will stop paying out in respect of an illness or injury after the first twelve months. Others such as Sainsbury, More Than and Pet Healthcare Services will only pay a set figure per condition regardless of the actual cost of treatment. If I tell you a little about our dogs you’ll realise why this is so important.

By the time that Kia was a year old she was spotty. I don’t mean Dalmatian spotty, I mean horrible red spots filled with puss and itching for England. It took weeks of antibiotics to clear them. You know the “take-one-a-day” antihistamine tablets people take when they have hay fever? Kia takes four of those every day unless the itching gets bad, in which case I increase the dose. Sometimes an infection takes root in a spot and spreads to the surrounding hair follicles. On one occasion it was necessary for her to be on antibiotics for a total of nine months in a period of ten. She’s now been receiving treatment and having tests for two and a half years. With some policies I’d have had no cover for eighteen months, with others I’d be eating away at a lifetime total. Petplan continue paying, year after year and each year the only limitation is the maximum veterinary costs of £4000. The only cost to me is the one £70 excess for the condition each year.

As if she doesn’t have enough problems Kia has hip dysplasia and arthritis in both hips. She was two years old when we found out. Petplan paid for x-rays, an initial course of pain-killers and on-going treatment with a dietary supplement which helps to strengthen the joints. She may eventually need to have a hip replacement on one or both hips, but Petplan have footed the bills so far and will pay if she needs an operation. Once again, the cost to me is £70 a year.

Rosie has problems with her digestive system. Last year she had two major operations and both times she had to spend three days with the vet and on a drip. After a series of tests we found out that she has eosinophilic enteritis caused, the vet thinks, by a food hypersensitivity. Her diet is so restricted that when she goes out of the house she wears a mask to make certain that she can’t eat anything she shouldn’t. Last April she nearly died. In the course of a week I paid the vet over £1100. He saw the dog on Bank Holidays and late at night. Petplan paid everything bar the first £70. Rosie’s condition is something which we hope she’ll die with rather than of, but we have been warned that it could recur. If it does, Petplan will help with the costs.

Claiming is simple. When you first take out a policy Petplan will send you a claim form. Each time you make a claim you’ll receive another claim form back with your cheque. You can download the form from Petplan’s website and if all else fails your vet will almost certainly have a supply. I’ve dealt with other insurance companies where you have to ring up and suffer the third degree just to get a claim form. The only details you’ll need to supply are your name and address, policy number, the vet’s details, what the problem was and when you first spotted it. Give the form to your vet and he will complete the rest. There’s even a freepost address for the claim. I’ve always been paid within a fortnight. On occasions I’ve paid my vet by credit card and had the cheque in my Bank account before I’ve had to pay the credit card company.

So, I think they’re perfect then? No, I don’t. There are some niggles.

The cover is expensive. For me it’s not so much of a problem as I’m virtually certain to claim at least as much as the cost of the premium this year, but if you’re buying a healthy puppy with no expectation of health problems it’s a lot to pay out. If you wanted to insure a crossbreed puppy it would cost you £118 for the annual insurance or £11.90 for payments in monthly instalments.

My other niggle is more major. I accept that annual booster jabs for the dogs are not covered – they’re preventative rather than curative, you see. Kia’s hip and arthritis problems will get worse if they go untreated and she could well need an operation to allow her to walk. Petplan would cover the cost of the operation, but I’m anxious to prevent her deteriorating to that extent so I take her for hydrotherapy treatment. It’s made a real improvement, but Petplan do not cover the expense. On occasions Rosie has had to have expensive prescription food to prevent her digestive problems from getting worse. Petplan don’t cover this. The policy is designed to cover the expense when the animal requires treatment rather than preventing that from happening in the first place. Marks & Spencer offer a policy which covers complementary treatments.

The excess which the owner has to bear increases as the dog gets older. My excess is currently £70. When the dog is eight it will rise to £80, and £90 at nine. At the age of ten the excess will be £90 plus 20% of the cost of the treatment. I can understand this with large dogs where the life expectancy is probably about ten years, but it does seem unreasonable with smaller dogs. Here the life expectancy could well be fifteen years or more and at ten the dog is still in its prime. I’ve known of several owners who simply ceased to insure their dog at this stage and then had to face large bills with no insurance cover.

Overall I cautiously recommend Petplan. If you want a dog I think you should have some form of insurance unless you’re certain that you will be able to afford any unexpected health expenses. Starting with a new puppy I would be looking at the Marks & Spencer policy provided through AXA. The costs are comparable, if not better and the policy would seem to provide better benefits without any of the failings associated with the other cheap policies.

Quick facts:

Website: www.Petplan.co.uk

Telephone: 0800 107 0204

Address: Petplan
Allianz Cornhill Insurance plc
Computer House
Great West Road
Brentford
Middlesex
TW8 9DX

Marks and Spencer Pet Insurance: http://www6.marksandspencer.com/pages/default.asp?PageId=home&Product=PI
 

...less