Definately A Must Have (Direct Line Pet Insurance)

Member Name: daylelisahall

Product:	Direct Line Pet Insurance
Date:	23/01/07 (709 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Covers you for any unexpected bills up to the cost of £4,000

Disadvantages: Only covers you for 12 month period or up to £4,000

I decided to take out pet insurance for my 2 border collies. I browsed a few websites and finally decided on Direct Line, partly because I already have car insurance with them and party because their deal seemed quite good.

I ordered my pet insurance online and this was very easy to do. I found their website very easy to navigate, and it has a nice simple layout. The policy could not be used until 14 days after I had applied for it (I assume this is to save Direct Line having customers signing up at the last minute when they know they are going to have an expensive vet bill. The online process was very quick and simple, they asked for various details about my dogs such as age, breed, cost of pet etc and literally a few minutes later they were both covered for all manner of illness / accidents.

Each month I pay only £15.95 for both my Border Collie dogs to be covered. The policy I chose (Essential Policy Cover) covers my dogs for claims of up to £4,000 for each condition or up to a 12-month period. For example, if one of my dogs was attacked by another dog, they would be covered up to £4,000 in medical costs e.g., medicines, operations, injections etc, then if something else were to happen to the same dog totally unrelated to the 1st claim then I would be allowed to claim up to another £4,000. The excess on my policy is £65 and any amount over that I can start claiming for.

Any claim under £65 is obviously not worth claiming for as you always pay the excess which for me is £65.

There are a few things that this policy does not cover, for example food, vaccinations and dental work. It is vital that you read all the small print on your policy and are 100% sure of what you are covered for and what you are not covered for. You will find that nearly all insurers will not cover you for food and vaccinations.

Direct Line will also pay up to £500 in boarding fees for your pet so if you are taken ill and unable to look after your pet then the insurance would cover the cost of you putting your pet in boarding kennels which I can imagine would be very useful to some people.

As well as being covered for the above, you are also covered for various other things. These include accidental death for which you are asked to provide proof of purchase. This would be good for people with pedigree animals and they are often very expensive to purchase.

If you pet is lost, Direct Line will cover you for the cost of your pet (if not found) and also any advertising costs that you incur for putting up posters etc. If your animal is stolen, you must report it to the police and provide Direct Line with a crime reference number. Again, you need to show proof of purchase of your pet and keep any receipts for any advertisements for lost or stolen pets.

Finally, Direct Line will also insure you on a third party basis, so if your dog was to cause destruction to someone’s house for example, then you would be covered for up to one million pounds.

Please note that the policy you take out will not cover any pre-existing conditions so check these details out with them first. If your animal is already ill or has suffered an accident in the that may affect them in the future - for instance an animal that has been in a car accident, and therefore has a hip problem which could affect them later in life, it is more than likely that you will not get cover for this condition (although they will still cover you for all other conditions) It is always best to check exactly what they are willing to cover before you take out your policy. Do not ever assume that they will cover you without asking.

Direct Line Pet Insurance have a number of other services like an emergency vets helpline to aid you in finding a vet close to you in the middle of the night if you need it (I assume this is if you are away from home and not near to your registered vets practise), and to also ask any questions you may have about an ill animal.

Direct Line also offers a pet bereavement counselling service for people who are finding it hard to cope with the loss of their pet.

My Experience
Overall I have had an extremely positive experience with Direct Line Pet Insurance. One of my Collies started having fits at the beginning of last year; he had to have countless tests and brain scans before he was finally diagnosed with primary epilepsy. His vet bill so far has reached £3780 and I have had no problems at all claiming this money back from Direct Line. My only annoyance was that I have to pay the bill first and then claim it back through Direct Line, I felt it would have been much easier for Direct Line to pay the vets directly as one of my bills alone (for the brain scan) was £1, 500 and this was a lot for me to pay out of my pocket and wait to claim back. My dog has now been given pills for the rest of his life to control his seizures and I have been able to pay for all his tests and so far 9 months of medication with my insurance. Over the next few months my bill will exceed £4, 000 and I will no longer be able to claim for this condition but he will be covered if anything unrelated to his epilepsy happens.
I have had to do a continuation claim with my dog’s epilepsy, paying sections of it and claiming it back bit by bit. I have found Direct Lines services very good. When I first started claiming back in March 2006, it took Direct Line about a month to pay my claim out. However, as the year has progressed, they are taking much longer to send the claim money back; the latest claim took just over three months to arrive.

All in all, I have had a very good experience with Direct Line Pet Insurance. Eve after having a large claim last year, my premiums went up a grand total of 68p and that was between both my dogs. I fully expected my premiums to go up quite dramatically and was pleased to see that that hadn’t.

Summary: Definately A Must Have If You Have Animals