**Super_Dogs** Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I have just added another pet to my Medibank Pet Insurance policy and have some information to share with exisiting policy holders. There was a change to their policy earlier this year (I think the 15th April as this is when the current product disclosure statement is dated). New policies are only 80% cover on vet bills. I have checked out all the other insurers and they are all also 80%. The good news is the existing policies do not change - you are still covered for 100% of vet bills (minus excess). :D So if where thinking about changing insurances maybe think twice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelsquest Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Handy to know, thanks for sharing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareyJ Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Pet Insurance Australia (PIA) is the same - only looked as a result of this thread as we are getting a puppy. PetPlan still appears to be 100% though unless someone can point me in the direction of where it says 80%. Their premiums are quite a bit higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) PetPlan still appears to be 100% though unless someone can point me in the direction of where it says 80%. Their premiums are quite a bit higher. I think you are right. To compare: PetPlan budget plan, which is up to 10K a year with a $250 excess is the same price as the Silver plan from Medibank with a $200 excess up to 12K a year, but medibank is only 80% cover. One of the benefits of Medibank for me is I get a multipet and member discount so it does make it $5 cheaper than petplan. However I think the 100% cover from PetPlan is worth the extra $$ so I am thinking I might keep my existing plan with medibank where I have 100% cover and change my new dog to Petplan so I can also get 100% cover. Edited July 11, 2011 by buddy1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandybrush Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 how did you find this out buddy? my 3 yr old boy has been covered for about 2 years with medibank, so he is 100% covered? but my second dog wont be? petplan was too expensive for me from memory...maybe ill just have to put up with the 80% coverage maybe i should call them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivebaby Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I am new to medibank insurance so this deal does not apply to me. Base on the fact that I will have to pay the extra 20% would I be better off swapping to petplan, which was the other company I was considering? I currently pay $16 a fortnight but would happily bump it up for better coverage. Any suggestions? With petplan do they pay the vet bill up front or would you still need to pay and claim back later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I have two dogs with Medibank but if it's true they have cut their coverage to 80% I will look elsewhere for the next dog. I use the petplan free insurance for my pups and have been thinking of using them for my dogs as they also include alternative treatment, which Medibank doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarLapyz Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 PetPlan will give you 10% off if you have three or more dogs with them. You just have to ring up and ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 I noticed the 80% cover on the website when I looked recently. Yesterday I called to add my puppy to my policy. The guy told be the policy has now changed and will only cover 80%. I asked if my current policies for 100% have changed and he said no - the 80% is only for new policies. I am not sure when this changed - - I think it was in April - as when I looked earlier this year in March it was still 100%. dandybrush - you are still covered for 100%. But if you add another pet, they will be only covered for 80%. I remember when I checked earlier this year Petpan was more expensive. However yesterday I did the online quote and they were the same - see my earlier post - you just have to change the excess option on Petplan. The only difference if if you have pets in different plans you don't get the multipet discount, so it does make PetPlan a few dollars more expensive. Olivebaby - Medibank does not pay the bill up front. You pay and then get then Medibank pay you. My understanding is this is how they all work. So you still need fund available on a credit card! Difference being when you get 100% refund you only have to pay the excess. I have a $200 excess with Medibank and will choose the $250 excess with petplan, as I can afford to pay the first few hundred. You will have to check you policy to see if you are 80% or 100%. I am keeping my current 3 dogs with Medibank, for the 100% cover, but I am going to put my new puppy on PetPlan. I looked at Pet Insurance Aus (PIA)and Bow Wow Meow and they like Medibank have also changed to 80% (my guess is they are all the same underwritten by the same company). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatsofatsoman Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I am new to medibank insurance so this deal does not apply to me. Base on the fact that I will have to pay the extra 20% would I be better off swapping to petplan, which was the other company I was considering? I currently pay $16 a fortnight but would happily bump it up for better coverage. Any suggestions? With petplan do they pay the vet bill up front or would you still need to pay and claim back later? Hey Olivebaby, If I remember correctly you have a lab - as do I and we are on the 'middle' cover and pay $49 a month - which equates to $22.61 a fortnight - so my thought process would be that I'd be willing to pay the extra $6 a fortnigh (let's be honest - that's 1 beer in a pub - or a coffee) and not have to pay say $2,000 on a $10,000 vet bill. I wouldn't miss the $6 a fortnight - but I know I'd miss the $2,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 I have two dogs with Medibank but if it's true they have cut their coverage to 80% I will look elsewhere for the next dog. I use the petplan free insurance for my pups and have been thinking of using them for my dogs as they also include alternative treatment, which Medibank doesn't. I looked at changing all of mine, but it is still cheaper to keep my 3 with Medibank getting the 100% and have my new puppy on Petplan. Also, Petplan wont cover my 8 year old Rotty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 I am new to medibank insurance so this deal does not apply to me. Base on the fact that I will have to pay the extra 20% would I be better off swapping to petplan, which was the other company I was considering? I currently pay $16 a fortnight but would happily bump it up for better coverage. Any suggestions? With petplan do they pay the vet bill up front or would you still need to pay and claim back later? Hey Olivebaby, If I remember correctly you have a lab - as do I and we are on the 'middle' cover and pay $49 a month - which equates to $22.61 a fortnight - so my thought process would be that I'd be willing to pay the extra $6 a fortnigh (let's be honest - that's 1 beer in a pub - or a coffee) and not have to pay say $2,000 on a $10,000 vet bill. I wouldn't miss the $6 a fortnight - but I know I'd miss the $2,000. I am just looking at the budget plan - I think this is sufficient. I just did an online quote for a lab, as my puppy is also a lab, and for the budget plan with a $250 excess it is $36 something. That is in Qld, not sure how much $$ the state makes. Medibank have 10% dicount if you are a member, which is great, but not worth loosing 20% when you have a claim!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I have the Budget plan (with PetPlan) with $100 excess and for my WHippets is $415 per year or close to anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) I have the Budget plan (with PetPlan) with $100 excess and for my WHippets is $415 per year or close to anyway. That seems cheap! It is only about $35 a month. How many dogs? It seems the policies have gone up alot recently - like everything I suppose. Edited July 12, 2011 by buddy1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minxy Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I only pay about $250 a year with Medibank for the Silver cover (not quite the top as I don't see the need to get yearly vacs covered). $500 excess but that's nothing. Figured I was better off paying such a cheap yearly fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) I have the Budget plan (with PetPlan) with $100 excess and for my WHippets is $415 per year or close to anyway. That seems cheap! It is only about $35 a month. How many dogs? It seems the policies have gone up alot recently - like everything I suppose. I have two dogs insured, both Whippets and that was the amount when I paid them in January and last October. It may have gone up in the mean time so my next renewal may be more. It did go from $385 to $415 at one stage. Just checked it was $415.69 exactly Edited July 12, 2011 by OSoSwift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Okay just did a quote with Petplan for a Whippet and I noticed their cover for the budget plan has gone from $9000 to $10000 and it came back at $491 if paid yearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivebaby Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hi fatsofatsoman. I am only paying $31 per month for accident and illness with medibank and have no excess so it would be cheaper if I did. I would rather be covered 100% but petplan is quite a bit more expensive. Will have to call tomorrow and get the exact numbers. I definitey would struggle paying a huge difference if my girl was to get hurt so might just be better to suck it up and pay the little bit more per month I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hi fatsofatsoman. I am only paying $31 per month for accident and illness with medibank and have no excess so it would be cheaper if I did. I would rather be covered 100% but petplan is quite a bit more expensive. Will have to call tomorrow and get the exact numbers. I definitey would struggle paying a huge difference if my girl was to get hurt so might just be better to suck it up and pay the little bit more per month I think. I did the online quote yesterday with Petplan. For a lab it is $36 a month on the budget plan with a $250 excess. This is the same amount for medibank on the silver with a $200 excess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivebaby Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hi buddy, Does the budget plan include illness as well as accidents? What did you decide to go with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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