Pet Insurance

[firedrop]

Hi everyone, hope that you can help me :D

I am looking into pet insurance and with all the policies out there I am a bit bamboozled in relation to which one would be best.

I have 3 German Shepherd Dogs and I am after a policy that basically covers for everything and anything that you have and a company that you do not have dramas with when submitting a claim.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I would like to get this sorted shortly.

Thank you in advance

FD :)

[aliwake]

That insurer is Petplan. They have the best cover of all the insurers. However, their prices just went up quite a lot, and will probably be very expensive for you with 3 dogs!

[Tumbleweed]

I responded to this yesterday but my response was obviously been lost in the electronic ether :-(

My experiences to date:

Pet Insurance Australia

Pro - have had one claim, and it was processed within 2 weeks. Really happy with the payment and speed of processing.

Con - despite asking very clearly, several times, they would not give me a straight answer on insuring older dogs. I was repeatedly told that I would receive an annual renewal notice. No mention or guarantees of policy increases, reduced payments or anything like that which made it really hard to compare and swap policies if required. And now I am at the point that if they refuse insurance due to age, my dog is too old to insure with any other company.

PetPlan

Pro - public liability insurance. When I took out our policy, it was the only company that offered this.

Pro - up front information available on payments for older dogs. It is there in black and white that you receive less for older dogs, but they will still be insured.

NOTE - To date, I've not made any claims with PetPlan so can't comment on their payment times.

Choice Magazine recently compared pet insurance policies on their online magazine. If you are a member it is free to view. If not, you can buy the report. It is fairly thorough and up to date.

All I can suggest is read all the policies very carefully. It is incredibly dull work, but they are all slightly different so it is your best option in finding a policy that suits you and not getting a nasty surprise down the line.

Hope that helps!

[FHRP]

Until recently I had three dogs insured with Petplan. Their policies are good, they cover as much as any including chronic conditions for the life of the dog which many other companies don't. I never had major dramas with making claims, they always paid but were slow and very slack with communication. With just about every claim, I had to make a phone call weeks after submitting it to find out what was going on. However their premiums have recently skyrocketed and IMO are no longer worth it. I can only imagine that insuring three GSDs will cost a small fortune. I've been looking at a few other companies, specifically Bow Wow Meow and Medibank that have been recommended by friends. Unfortunately they won't list exclusions for what they consider 'pre existing conditions' for my 7 year old dog, they will only tell me when I make a claim and submit vet history if it's covered. Knowing what stupid exclusions these companies make under the banner of 'pre existing conditions' I'm hesitant to take out further cover.

Good luck with your search!