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 Direct Line insurance.
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 Direct Line insurance has a flat, one-off excess charge of £35.
The bottom line is: when you're comparing pet insurance policies, always remember to compare the excess costs. Beware of cheap annual policies - they may not be as good as they look!
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The figures you quoted were misleading. The policy I have in front of me states, very clearly, that the excesses are:
Vet Fees: £50 if the cost is under £1000 and £75 if it exceeds £1000
3rd Party Liability: £250 for property damage
Holiday Cancellation: £50
And that's it, nothing hidden in the small print.
However (and this is also very clearly stated), if your pet is aged 9 years or older, then you pay the first £50 or 15%, whichever is the greater. Many companies do not even insure older pets with this quality of cover.
Now, the maximum claim possible per condition is £6500, so the maximum excess per condition, for a pet aged 9 or over would be £975. Spread that over the lifspan of a typical dog, and it's something in the region of £75 per year. That's assuming that you're unlucky enough to ever be presented with a condition that requires treatment costing £6500.
A condition requiring treatment with tablets that cost £3 per day would give an excess of £164.25 and Sainsbury would pay £930.75 and that is a realistic/typical situation. In a pet aged under 9, you would pay £75 and Sainsbury would pay £1020.
Over 6 years, you would pay £75 and Sainsbury would pay £6120
I switched from Petplan a number of years ago after looking very closely at various other policies. I narrowed my choice down to M&S or Sainsbury.
This policy covers your pet for life, and pays out up to £6500 per condition, even if the condition lasts a number of years. The majority of policies don't do either of these things.
HotBabes 08.05.2005 18:18
More info would be helpful. Our puppy is insured with Sainsburys which have other benefits over other insurance policies which you haven't mentioned! :-)
cybersplat 08.05.2005 15:11
Some more information would make this review a lot better. But a good start anyway :D
May 8th, 2005
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