I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

mariette asselbergs — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 17:01:05 GMT

Yes, if you are a member of the Dog Trust then your dog(s) are automatically 3rd party insured. (And if you are over 60 your membership is only half price!)

Mariette

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Virginia Campbell — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 14:59:38 GMT

[quote user="ruths"] I definitely need third party for the dog-[/quote]

Think you can get this with Dogs Trust membership

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 14:09:12 GMT

Absolutely.... You do need to check!

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Bob Russell — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:03:03 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

Check your house insurance.... Most cover third party cover if your dog causes an accident or hurts someone. (I needed to check in order to take my dog along to walking groups).

[/quote]

Just be a bit careful. Check the house insurance policy carefully and if in doubt ask them. It used to be standard for every policy but as there are more and more cuts to premiums this is one that a lot of companies have removed. A lot of household policies do not cover third party for pets!

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 08:41:16 GMT

Check your house insurance.... Most cover third party cover if your dog causes an accident or hurts someone. (I needed to check in order to take my dog along to walking groups).

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

ruths — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 21:56:35 GMT

I think I'm going to insure the dog and save for the cat. I definitely need third party for the dog- I case he causes an accident!

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Sammy82 — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 13:52:37 GMT

And the savings approach also has the advantage that the money is still there and available to use for another pet should said cat die in the accident or in her sleep at 16years old without ever needing any expensive treatment.

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 02:13:59 GMT

[quote user="Thomas Johnson"]My worry with this approach is that if your cat is hit by a car and needs a fracture repair 2 months after you start saving, you could be in a very difficult position[/quote]

Well yes, but most insurance policies are based on fear not probability.

There are 4 must buys? Life, travel, car and house as the potential losses are huge, so it's a degree of shared risk. For all the others with 70% ? payouts the company wins in most cases and in the cats case, amputation is an option and it won't take long to save enough for that if you include the high excess.

Neil

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 09:16:15 GMT

You also need more willpower than most people possess

Wynne

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Thomas Johnson — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 08:26:32 GMT

[quote user="Neil Wheadon"]Put £60 a month into a savings account, don't touch it then use it if needed. For a 15 year old cat that gives you a fighting fund of £10800 and no excesses to pay

[/quote]

My worry with this approach is that if your cat is hit by a car and needs a fracture repair 2 months after you start saving, you could be in a very difficult position.

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Neil Wheadon — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 23:27:37 GMT

Put £60 a month into a savings account, don't touch it then use it if needed. For a 15 year old cat that gives you a fighting fund of £10800 and no excesses to pay

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

ruths — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 20:57:02 GMT

Thanks everyone -))

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 17:55:08 GMT

I woner if that's why they changed the name?

Wynne

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Thomas Johnson — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 17:07:43 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Micheal mentioning the Financial Standards Agency made me think of what could be a potentialcause of total confusion.

You all know that I greatly dislike people using acronyms, without first ensuring everyone understands them.

The chairman of the Food Standards Agency is Tim Bennett ( former president of the National Farmers Union) His son works for (wait for it) the Financial Services Authority _ I kid you not!

Can you imagine the chaos in that family if they started using acronyms!

Wynne

[/quote]

Except they're now the Financial Conduct Authority, so hopefully there'll be less confusion at their dinner table!

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 14:28:10 GMT

Micheal mentioning the Financial Standards Agency made me think of what could be a potentialcause of total confusion.

You all know that I greatly dislike people using acronyms, without first ensuring everyone understands them.

The chairman of the Food Standards Agency is Tim Bennett ( former president of the National Farmers Union) His son works for (wait for it) the Financial Services Authority _ I kid you not!

Can you imagine the chaos in that family if they started using acronyms!

Wynne

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Bob Russell — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 10:40:18 GMT

I dislike the 20% 'co-payment' that PetPlan require an owner to pay once a pet reaches 12 years of age. This can add up to quite a lot of money especially if advanced imaging is required.

Not as bad as the 30% required by Animal Friends once an animal reaches 8 years of age. This used to be fairly easy to see on their website if you read the small print. Now it seems to be in such small print as to be nearly invisible! The website just states 'co-payment'.

The old DBI is no more but Dog Breeders Association Insurance is one of the disguises used by E&L to mask their true identity! That said we have actually had some pretty straightforward E&L claims recently. Not ready to do direct claims with them yet!

NFU are always safe hands for most types of insurance but mine are insured with Tesco's and I have to say they have been really fair.

Not had any complaints about John Lewis either.

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

emma_j — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 09:39:28 GMT

I go with that line too Wynne. My pets are insured with Petplan. When clients ask I say, well, I can't recommend anything professionally as I'm not allowed to give you personal financial advice. But for my own animals, I use Petplan. And then go into a quick précis of different types of insurance and what to look for in a policy, or direct them to an online article (Which? or Moneysavingexpert) so they can educate themselves about the pros/cons of whats available.

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 09:26:43 GMT

My understanding is we're not allowed to recomend an insurence company to clients - but there's nothing to stop one friend remarking to another friend "My animals are with Company X"

Having said that, I'll now inform all my vetsurgeon friends that my animals are with PetPlan.

Definitely not a commercial recomendation, just a gossipy comment to a group of friends. Actually,Ithink legally "commercially" is the important word. We're restricted inwhat we can say to anyone with whom we are in a commercial relationship - but if money has never changed hands,then this law doesn't apply

Wynne

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Catherine Hemingway — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 07:17:12 GMT

I have my own cat insured with John lewis and they are very good. Just had to claim and they paid within 2 weeks. You normally don't have to wait in a queue when you call them either.

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

ruths — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 05:42:10 GMT

I did wonder if you were allowed to give me advice -))) I'll have a look at pet plan - thanks Any experience of John Lewis insurance? I'm keen to get third party as the dog is silly around roads. And he's a rescue but one of those breeds that goes wrong a lot

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 19:02:42 GMT

I've found PetPlan blow hot and cold lately over arguing claims and payment time (I'm still waiting for one direct claim to be paid a month on) and used to 'recommend' them unreservedly but now I have my doubts. From past experience the best payers have been Tesco, M&S and Sainsbury's, the worst Direct Line, Animal Friends, DBI and Kennel Club but they all seem to vary according to the phases of the moon!

I don't insure my pets but if I did it would be a choice between PetPlan and Tesco. You should know this but beware: Pet plan give you £X each year for all conditions and will renew that next year. Tesco give you £X for each condition and when it is exhausted that is it, but you can carry it over year on year until it is. Some of the others have an allowance for a year and whether you use it or not will exclude the condition that's been claimed for on renewal. Read the small print and remember you get what you pay for.

Re: I'm a vet with a dog and cat but not working in practice can you recommend an insurance company?

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 18:36:13 GMT

Is this a trick question? Are you secretly from the Financial Standards people and checking we are not exceeding our remit by recommending pet insurance?

My dogs are not insured, but if they were I'd either use NFU or PetPlan. PetPlan offer a discount for vets - I can't see being out of practice would preclude that.