Plan for the worst, Hope for the best (Pet Plan)

Member Name: blackrose_

Product:	Pet Plan
Date:	02/11/01 (381 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reasonably priced, Friends who have claimed have found it hassle free and payment prompt, procrastinate for a month's free insurance!

Disadvantages: Direct debits not going out on the date they were supposed to, Don't insure exotic pets as far as I know (well, they wouldn't insure my leopard geckos!)

I signed my lovely little mongrel dog Charlie up for petplan when he was just 3 months old. I decided to get pet insurance as I am on a fairly low income, so whilst I can afford the £8.85 a month premiums for Charlie's cover, and could probably just about find the £50 excess if I had to, anything beyond that would be difficult, if not impossible. I didn't ever want to be in the situation where, if Charlie had an accident or needed expensive treatment, I would have to have him put down for lack of money.

After looking round a few insurers, I opted for petplan. This was partly due to recommendation; my partner's parents have a pedigree labrador who is insured with petplan, and despite their having to make quite a few claims (Bramble seems to be allergic to just about anything and everything!)for tests and treatment, petplan always paid up and never put their premiums up. This was an incentive, but being the kind of person who always has to read the small print, I sent off for the bumpf about the plan anyway!

A pack arrived quickly as I remember, within about a week of my requesting it, and was stuffed full of loads of information. Pet plan insure a variety of pets, including cats, dogs, and rabbits. The amount you will have to pay in premiums depends on the type of pet you have, whether it is a pedigree or not (mongrels are cheaper!!), where you live and whether you are willing to pay a higher excess or not. As with most other types of insurance, cities are more expensive, as is the option to have a lower excess. The premium for Charlie seemed reasonable, so I read on.

One of the main things that made me choose pet plan over the others was their guarantee that if your pet should develop a 'continuing condition' e.g. asthma or allergies, they will keep paying for treatment for you pet as long as you renew your insurance, and will not put up your premiums. They also will not refuse to renew your policy. This seeme
d like a great bonus to me, and was not offered by the other companies I looked at at the time.

Pet plan were also offering a years subscription to petsafe for free. This service supplies you with a tag for your pet with their phone number (a freefone number) and an identification number for your pet. You supply them with your contact details, and if your pet goes missing whoever finds him/her can ring the number and petsafe will contact you. Good bonus, I thought!

The only requirements for sign up are that your pet has been seen by a vet, I think it is in the last 3 months, and your pet must have a dental check once a year to maintain your policy. With a dog, this is quite easy, as Charlie has a dental check as part of his routine check up when he goes for his booster injections.

I duly decided to sign up, but being a bit of a disorganised type, hadn't quite got around to it when I had a letter from pet plan offering me a month free on my insurance if I signed up, which, as I was going to anyway, I did! Moral of this story; procrastinate a bit and you might get a month free too!

I haven't yet had to make a claim, although I know from my partner's parents that when they did it was paid out promptly without any hassle. The only problem I have had with petplan is their not taking the direct debit out of my bank account on the date they were supposed to; it has been as much as 10 days either way, and as my account usually only has money left in it when I am expecting debits to go out, this cost me money from my bank. A few angry emails rectified the problem, although I didn't get offered my bank charges from petplan which did leave me a bit miffed!

On the whole I have found petplan to be a good insurer, with comprehensive policies and easy to understand small print. They don't seem to argue about claims, and I have no real gripe with them other than the direct debit. Overall, a good choice of ins
urer for your pet.

*I haven't put a price in as it depends on type of pet etc. so varies.

Summary: