Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Chris Aylott — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:02:59 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]

[quote user="bob lehner"]

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]Cats are 'free spirits' but dogs need legal insurance. By law, you can't be sued if your cat causes injury or property damage. You can with dogs, and costs can be huge, so ensure Fido's insurance includes legal cover[/quote]

I think I am right in saying that any normal domestic buildings insurance policy will include public liability cover for your pets (dogs and cats ) - but not always for horses. Mine does (plus horses).

[/quote]

Make sure they check this carefully. A number of insurance companies no longer include this cover as standard.

[/quote]

Some do, many don't.

In the house insurance market people often chose the lowest premium they can find without reading the terms and conditions. To be competitive on price the insurers start cutting out bits of the cover - sound familiar somehow??

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Anthony Todd — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:11:01 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]insureyourpet.co.uk[/quote]

Yes, the best comparison site for pet insurance I know.

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

bob lehner — Mon, 30 May 2011 09:44:12 GMT

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]

[quote user="bob lehner"]

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

The Martyn Lewis site is pretty good generally - I often find that there is so much information there I can't be bothered to do all thesearching that he advises as life is too short.

Anyway, tangent - alert: just found out this week that KwikFit and Halfords do pet insurance. Are dogs covered for being tyred, or do they have to be exhausted?

[/quote]

That is manifold nonsense.

[/quote]

Or in case they brake anything

[/quote]

You're clutching at straws.

[/quote]

I expect they will want a battery of tests done, at little charge, in order to reach a differential diagnosis....

Ok, Ok - that's quite enough motoring puns.

[/quote]

Is that the big end to the discussion then?

[/quote]

Yep - I guess those types of policy are OK if that's all you can afFord for Rover.

(Ok - that's it - no more - I promise).

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Laurence Webb — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:44:07 GMT

[quote user="bob lehner"]

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

The Martyn Lewis site is pretty good generally - I often find that there is so much information there I can't be bothered to do all thesearching that he advises as life is too short.

Anyway, tangent - alert: just found out this week that KwikFit and Halfords do pet insurance. Are dogs covered for being tyred, or do they have to be exhausted?

[/quote]

That is manifold nonsense.

[/quote]

Or in case they brake anything

[/quote]

You're clutching at straws.

[/quote]

I expect they will want a battery of tests done, at little charge, in order to reach a differential diagnosis....

Ok, Ok - that's quite enough motoring puns.

[/quote]

Is that the big end to the discussion then?

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

bob lehner — Sun, 29 May 2011 11:02:22 GMT

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

The Martyn Lewis site is pretty good generally - I often find that there is so much information there I can't be bothered to do all thesearching that he advises as life is too short.

Anyway, tangent - alert: just found out this week that KwikFit and Halfords do pet insurance. Are dogs covered for being tyred, or do they have to be exhausted?

[/quote]

That is manifold nonsense.

[/quote]

Or in case they brake anything

[/quote]

You're clutching at straws.

[/quote]

I expect they will want a battery of tests done, at little charge, in order to reach a differential diagnosis....

Ok, Ok - that's quite enough motoring puns.

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Gerry Henry — Sat, 28 May 2011 12:11:59 GMT

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

The Martyn Lewis site is pretty good generally - I often find that there is so much information there I can't be bothered to do all thesearching that he advises as life is too short.

Anyway, tangent - alert: just found out this week that KwikFit and Halfords do pet insurance. Are dogs covered for being tyred, or do they have to be exhausted?

[/quote]

That is manifold nonsense.

[/quote]

Or in case they brake anything

[/quote]

You're clutching at straws.

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Clive Ansell — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:37:41 GMT

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

The Martyn Lewis site is pretty good generally - I often find that there is so much information there I can't be bothered to do all thesearching that he advises as life is too short.

Anyway, tangent - alert: just found out this week that KwikFit and Halfords do pet insurance. Are dogs covered for being tyred, or do they have to be exhausted?

[/quote]

That is manifold nonsense.

[/quote]

Or in case they brake anything

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Bob Russell — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:29:21 GMT

Has anyone sent them the link to insureyourpet.co.uk? This is pretty independent and our recommendation for owners looking for advice.

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Rob Reid — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:40:24 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]Yesterday dog came in with policy with Pet-insurance.co.uk ' We love your pet!' on closer examination E&L.[/quote]

E&L - gotta love them. Gives me a chance to tell my story again about one of our clients who works for E&L - owns a Staffie and has it insured with Petplan! Says it all really.....

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

svn — Thu, 26 May 2011 23:15:31 GMT

Martin Lewis (or more accurately, one of his staff) is actually asking for help to compile his new pet insurance guide!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3228590

I read a few posts, but got disheartened quickly...

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Bob Russell — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:56:30 GMT

Yesterday dog came in with policy with Pet-insurance.co.uk ' We love your pet!' on closer examination E&L.

Unfortunately the Muppet involved was an insurance broker!!

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Rob Loxley — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:46:54 GMT

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]Whilst it's not incorrect it certainly gives the wrong impression about what to look for in pet insurance. Typically it concentrates on price rather than level of cover. It is explained a bit better in the article that it links to[/quote]

Agreed, the biggest issues that our clients have is with not understanding the level of cover they have (or don't have) and not realising the animal has pre-existing conditions; %-excesses (including good old Petplan) probably come 3rd.
And yes re comparison sites, E&L (or one of the other brands they advertise under, as they seem to be savvy to the universal bad name they have got) seem to come at the top, but have extremely limited cover...

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

bob lehner — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:41:30 GMT

[quote user="Kirsten Simpson"]

We had a dog in the other day that was insured through the Caravan Club :S

[/quote]

Was it one of those well known Japanese Tosa-caravan dogs ?

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Bob Russell — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:10:29 GMT

[quote user="bob lehner"]

[/quote]

Make sure they check this carefully. A number of insurance companies no longer include this cover as standard.

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Rob Reid — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:43:01 GMT

I had an insurance form to fill in for 'Homebase' insurance last week.

I wonder if they do additional cover for your dog chewing the sofa?

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Gerry Henry — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:41:10 GMT

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

The Martyn Lewis site is pretty good generally - I often find that there is so much information there I can't be bothered to do all thesearching that he advises as life is too short.

Anyway, tangent - alert: just found out this week that KwikFit and Halfords do pet insurance. Are dogs covered for being tyred, or do they have to be exhausted?

[/quote]

That is manifold nonsense.

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Kirsten Simpson — Wed, 25 May 2011 22:49:44 GMT

We had a dog in the other day that was insured through the Caravan Club :S

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Julian Earl — Wed, 25 May 2011 22:43:24 GMT

The Martyn Lewis site is pretty good generally - I often find that there is so much information there I can't be bothered to do all thesearching that he advises as life is too short.

Anyway, tangent - alert: just found out this week that KwikFit and Halfords do pet insurance. Are dogs covered for being tyred, or do they have to be exhausted?

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

bob lehner — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:47:18 GMT

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Laurence Webb — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:27:49 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]He is actually suggesting switching once you have reached the maximum pay out for that condition but this is not at all clear in his phrasing![/quote]Exactly. In the article it links to he says"Most insurers won't insure your pet for anything that they've already been treated for - cancer, say, or arthritis." I've seen quite a few owners tripped up by changing a policy when a condition has been noticed but not treated. A good example would be a CKCS with an asymptomatic heart murmur but 2 years later has CHF or a note in the clinical records that a dog is 'a bit stiff in the morning' then later in life requires treatment for arthritis.

Re: Questionable pet insurance advice from Martin Lewis

Bob Russell — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:44:29 GMT

He is actually suggesting switching once you have reached the maximum pay out for that condition but this is not at all clear in his phrasing!

He is right that the comparison market is underdeveloped but this is for a reason. Pet insurance is a relatively low margin insurance and introducing 'brokers' reduce the profit or increase the cost.

Sad if a source of generally good information is failing to deliver in this case. More of a shame we are not able to say - 'use X, Y or Z because....'

I have warned owners to be careful using brokers and comparison sites because E&L seem to negotiate 'special' rates with the websites so do come out top!