I Would Need A Bank Loan To Pay The vet Fees. (Pet Plan)

Member Name: milmol

Product:	Pet Plan
Date:	25/10/02 (1412 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Peace of Mind, Affordable, Avoids being unable to aford vet bills

Disadvantages: Obviously costs something

In an ideal world pets would benefit from free health care, but we all know this will never happen, with not enough money for humans it would be unrealistic. In television lala land Animal Hospital or Pet Rescue would sort out any problems in the blink of an eye. Well excuse my cynicism but in my experience expecting the RSPCA to rescue a stray or ill cat without a television crew as back up is as unlikely to happen as me winning the lottery. In my area the PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) runs a scheme for people on benefits or low incomes, and very worthy it is too, but where does this leave the average working person. It seems if you don’t fit into the category of being financially able to afford infinite vets bills, on benefits or low incomes and so benefit form the PDSA scheme, the average working person on an average working wage has to foot the bill themselves, even if they are financially unable to. It’s the same with prescriptions (but that’s another opinion and I shouldn’t even start on that here). This coupled with the fact that illness and tragedy can strike even the most beloved pet, persuaded me to seek animal insurance for my Golden Retriever Molly.

Retrievers unfortunately are susceptible to some inherited conditions such as hip and eye problems, despite being in sound health, when Molly was 6 I finally got round to considering her middle age and health care, thus began the search for a reasonable policy. I made my initial inquiries by phone, contacting several companies and discussing prices, type of cover and clauses. Personally I like to talk to humans in these matters as opposed to other research methods and I found, despite the varying cost of policies, one factor in particular made me choose Petplan, that was most companies stop paying for treatment of a condition after a 12 month period. This is obviously unhelpful if your animal develops an ongoing problem like diabetes, eczema or arthritis. Petplan
however agrees that as long as the owner continues the policy, they will operate a ‘covered for life policy’ and will continue to pay for claims of the same illness until the animal’s old age. Obviously premiums rise with age, but I still considered this the best company to suit my particular needs. Of course it is important to instigate insurance before any medical conditions developed.

How to contact Petplan

Phone ~ Telephone 020 8580 8080

Fax ~ Fax 020 8580 8001

Internet ~ www.petplan.co.uk/default.asp

Post ~ Computer House, Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9DX

Incentives

Upon joining Petplan, I received a year’s free subscription to Petsafe worth £14.99, this is 24 hour monitoring service for lost cats and dogs. The owners contact details are registered with Petsafe and the animal wears an identifying disc on their collar with a contact number. Although Molly is micro chipped, I felt Petsafe was a good idea as it allowed any member of the public who finds her to see a contact number, after all micro chips are not read by the human eye and although she wears a disc saying she is micro chipped, I felt a backup plan was still a good idea. This incentive was carried over to the 2nd year of cover and I’m hoping it continues. I checked the web page recently and found the incentive at the moment is one month’s premium free, I personally prefer the Petsafe incentive.

Cost

Petsafe covers different animals, i.e. cats, dogs and rabbits. Prices are based on the area you live in and are identified by your postcode. Dogs are then catergorised by breed and age. Prices and excesses vary according to all this information and the plan that you choose. Payments can be made monthly be direct debit and I chose this option. Everything was done over the phone and the documents followed within a week. There was a 14-day cooling off period in which I could cance
l the policy if I changed my mind. Molly was 6 when first insured and her premiums were as follows ~

!st Year

1 payment of £13.45
11 payments of £12.45

2nd year

1 payment of £14.05
11 payments of £12.94

This was a Budget Low Xs policy and gave the following cover ~

Vets fees for illness and injury, including hospitalisation, referral and complementary medicines

~ £4000 with an excess of £50

Boarding and Kennel fees or homecare with a friend if you are hospitalised for more than 4 days

~ £250 no excess

Advertising and rewards ~ If your pet gets lost or stolen, Petplan will pay for local newspaper advertising and a reward

~ £250 no excess

3rd party liability ~ If your dog causes damage or injury and you are held legally liable

~ £1,000,000 excess £250

Death from Injury or Illness
Losing a pet is a great sadness but Petplan will refund the purchase price (see exclusions).


The excess applies to each individual claim, i.e. different conditions would require the owner to pay the excess on each condition, if the condition requires numerous treatments, only one excess is paid. I noticed my excess for vets fees rose by £5 the 2nd year to £55.



Exclusions

Any illness or injury that first occurred before the policy commenced, therefore it is important to start cover before chronic diseases are diagnosed.

Any amount for death resulting from an illness or disease in a pet age 8 or over (fees for the illness itself still covered).

Cosmetic dentistry

Any treatment in connection with pregnancy or giving birth.

The cost of killing or controlling fleas.

Prescribed foods.



My experience of a claim

Last year, during my first year of cover, Molly became ill; she was sleepy and quiet, vomited after meals for 3 days and generally not
herself. An examination by the vet proved worrying when the vet thought she felt something in Molly’s abdomen. She immediately took blood tests, and sedated her for an x-ray. The suspected diagnosis was a tumor or a foreign body. Luckily the x-ray showed some sort of foreign body that had passed into the large intestine. The vet prescribed laxatives and it was hoped Molly would pass the offending article, if she did not or became more seriously ill an operation to remove the foreign body would have been necessary. I dread to think of what the cost would have been but luckily I knew the insurance would cover it. It was a relief to be able to say to the vet 'Do whatever you have to'. The following day Molly ‘passed’ the foreign body, it was a Dishcloth.


The total vets bill was £380. I initially had to pay the vet and then claim the money back from Petplan minus the excess. I filled in the claim form and left it with the vet to fill in their part and send to Petplan for me. I thought this was the end of the matter but I was wrong. Four days later Molly vomited again twice, once more I returned to the vet who thought this was probably due to gastric irritation caused by the dishcloth and prescribed some antacid type tablets to calm her tummy. As this was related to the first incident I knew there would be no excess and my £18 bill was covered by Petplan, again I left the claim form with the vets receptionist.

One week later I received a cheque for £330, the cost of the first treatment less the £50 excess, now by my records Petplan now owed me £18 for the 2nd consultation. Imagine my surprise when a week later I received a cheque for £348, the total cost of both treatments less the £50 excess. It seemed the vets receptionist had not realised the first claim had been sent and sent the whole claim again. Petplan had failed to notice this error and paid out twice. Now despite friends saying I was stupid and should keep quiet
, I had this fear that one day they would find out and maybe even refuse to pay up on future claims, this led me to believe that honesty was the best policy and I phoned Petplan and told them. I must admit to being annoyed when they asked me to return the first cheque, I explained I had already banked it. They then suggested I return the 2nd cheque and they would send me one for £18. I informed them I would tear up the 2nd cheque, they could also put a stop on it to cover themselves and send me the £18, I was annoyed that despite my honesty no one said thank you for bringing this to our attention or offered to send a prepaid envelope to return the cheque. My only criticism therefore is perhaps a little more gratitude that I was trying to give them money back would have seemed appropriate.

Despite that hiccup, which after all being paid twice is better than not being paid at all, I’m glad I chose Petplan. The one time Molly needed veterinary care that would have been very expensive for me, I was able to say to the vet ‘Do whatever you have to’ and not worry about the bill. Without the insurance I would still have agreed to treatment but would then have struggled to pay the fees. I believe this makes the monthly premiums worthwhile and intend to continue with this plan.

Summary: