Alfie02 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Hi all So I have been researching Pet Insurance and have narrowed it down to two choices, Pet Insurance Australia and Prosure So both of these places are run by the same company (Hollard) and offer from what I can tell, the same services for the similar levels of cover. However, Pet Insurance Australia is $9 more expensive per month - for the same thing as far as I can tell. The only thing is Prosure says it covers 'up to' 80% of the vet bill...i'm not sure what this means as they have no excess....so should'nt it pay 80% of all services covered? I will be ringing them tomorrow but would like some opinions or personal experience from fellow DOLers Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogie Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Alfie02, I don't understand why they only pay "up to" 80% of the bill? I would be very wary of this,do they provide more information on what percentages they pay for each type of service? It just seems really ambiguous to me,we have a $100.00 excess with our insurers but the company pays everything else and it is per claim not per vet visit. We have recently had some very big vet bills and they have been paid promptly and the staff have been really helpful. The renewal has just come through for our most expensive patient and the increase in premium was tiny,just a few dollars. I suppose I just feel better knowing that we only have to pay a fixed fee so we know what we are up for,also it was important to me that our insurer paid for diagnostic work as well as treatment. We are with Petplan and pay by the month on Direct Debit. The policies work out to about $10.00 a week per dog. Only other company I have had any experience of is Medibank Private and due to a bad experience personally I would avoid them. I hope you get what you need. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 They probably say up to 80% as in some instances your claim may be subject to a sublimit, a late submission penalty or they may reduce the amount of the vet bill if they think it is excessive for the service rendered. Read the PDS thoroughly and these are all set out in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandybrush Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 coogie can i ask about your medibank bad experience? im currently with them, but havent had to use them yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keira&Phoenix Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 coogie can i ask about your medibank bad experience? im currently with them, but havent had to use them yet... A few people have recently mentioned not getting payments or having issues with Medibank delaying payments saying they haven't received the paperwork etc. I claimed for Phi just recently (when she hurt her neck and had to take her to the vet on the weekend) and it took no more than 10 working days to get back the full amount of the vet visit minus my $100 excess, no questions and that was almost $900 back. The only issue was that one of the vets had the wrong DOB down for Phi but I sorted that out over the phone no problems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leelaa17 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Hi all So I have been researching Pet Insurance and have narrowed it down to two choices, Pet Insurance Australia and Prosure So both of these places are run by the same company (Hollard) and offer from what I can tell, the same services for the similar levels of cover. However, Pet Insurance Australia is $9 more expensive per month - for the same thing as far as I can tell. The only thing is Prosure says it covers 'up to' 80% of the vet bill...i'm not sure what this means as they have no excess....so should'nt it pay 80% of all services covered? I will be ringing them tomorrow but would like some opinions or personal experience from fellow DOLers Thanks! haven't read the other responses but I will give you a little bit of insight. I used to work for Insurance Australia Group, which covers NRMA, CGU, buzz insurance, used to be in conjuction with mbf etc etc etc and i will GUARENTEE you... NO insurance group policies are EVER the same... people constantly used to call up and say 'why is yours $100 more expensive when the policies are like for like?' - I used to say 'they aren't like for like' and then the customer would argue with me saying they WERE exactly the same... because they always assumed they knew more about the policies than I did :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I know it is gruelling, but read the PDS - its what they are there for - trust me, I know they are boring as all bat shit... but they are very important and explain EVERYTHING you are covered for - there IS a reason aus pet insurance is 9$ more expensive - it just might not be obvious. hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Shepherd mom Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I signed up with Pet Insurance Australia a couple of months before the dogs turned 8. My excess is $250 as I will only use it for big bills. About 4 months after taking out the policy, Casper had his spleen removed and they paid that pretty quickly. 6 months later he had pancreatitis and they paid that quite fast too even though my claims, which totalled over $3000, were more than I'd paid them! Based on my experiences with them so far, I would definitely recommend them. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meea Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 there are only two companies (both of which you would need to look up but one is the MDBA consistant winner) who are NOT underwritten by Holland and it seems actually processed in the same place. (this from my vet who says all the direct emails have the same ending!!) I have been with RSPCA for a few years as initially I could not tell the difference but am looking to change over this year to the MDBA winner. must get my b. into g. and look up their name! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_meg Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I signed up with Pet Insurance Australia a couple of months before the dogs turned 8. My excess is $250 as I will only use it for big bills. About 4 months after taking out the policy, Casper had his spleen removed and they paid that pretty quickly. 6 months later he had pancreatitis and they paid that quite fast too even though my claims, which totalled over $3000, were more than I'd paid them! Based on my experiences with them so far, I would definitely recommend them. Good luck! We're with them too and they were very quick to pay up. we had only been with them less than 6 months when Oberon had to have surgery. They paid up close to 100% after the excess was paid which was $250. It was claim over $1100. So definitely got our moneys worth with that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatsofatsoman Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 there are only two companies (both of which you would need to look up but one is the MDBA consistant winner) who are NOT underwritten by Holland and it seems actually processed in the same place. (this from my vet who says all the direct emails have the same ending!!) I have been with RSPCA for a few years as initially I could not tell the difference but am looking to change over this year to the MDBA winner. must get my b. into g. and look up their name! I thought Pet Plan Australia was also separate?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogie Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Dandybrush I sent you a pm about our experience with Medibank. Cheers Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfie02 Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 Thanks so much for all they replies I rang them both today and had a chat to them about what I wanted. The only thing I'm not sure about is that the dog im wanting to insure had dry skin as a puppy. We went to the vets and they tested him for mites etc and the results came back clear and the vet just recommended some fish oil and sorbeline on the itchy spots. I mentioned this to both companies just to check that he would still be covered for skin problems and both insurance companies said they couldnt know that for sure untill I made a claim for a skin condition if he got one. I find this soooo annoying! They are excluding his skin form the insurance because he had dry skin! Ahhhh! I will get on the net and read through both PDS files and see if I can find why the price is different. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meea Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 there are only two companies (both of which you would need to look up but one is the MDBA consistant winner) who are NOT underwritten by Holland and it seems actually processed in the same place. (this from my vet who says all the direct emails have the same ending!!) I have been with RSPCA for a few years as initially I could not tell the difference but am looking to change over this year to the MDBA winner. must get my b. into g. and look up their name! I thought Pet Plan Australia was also separate?? Oh good that would make 3! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) there are only two companies (both of which you would need to look up but one is the MDBA consistant winner) who are NOT underwritten by Holland and it seems actually processed in the same place. (this from my vet who says all the direct emails have the same ending!!) I have been with RSPCA for a few years as initially I could not tell the difference but am looking to change over this year to the MDBA winner. must get my b. into g. and look up their name! If the MDBA winner is PetPlan, I can give you a few stories of my own about them. But you are going to hear good stories and bad stories about all Insurance comapnies (not limited to pet ones). All comes down to individual experience and some get lucky, while others don't! I've got one dog with PetPlan and another with MediBank. Can't comment on MediBank as I haven't had to claim with them yet, and I won't have to! I do find I have paid quite a few vet bills that come under the excess amount so not worth claiming, and in the end I end up spending as much as I paid for my pet insurance on top of my premium in vet visits. I am wondering if RSPCA are actually worth switching to... sure their premiums are higher, but from what I remember, they are who to go with when you want to claim more of the little things. I originally got pet insurance to cover any of the big things that may happen, but starting to think the small things matter too because they all add up!!! Edit: I take it back about RSPCA - just a bit of a ripoff at a quick glance Edited May 23, 2011 by RubyStar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kazads Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) I am with Prosure for all of my dogs. Two are great danes and one a boxer. ONe great dane and the boxer I have had insurance with them since they were puppies, the other great dane was a rescue so we got her at about 18 months and had insurance on her since we got her. Prosure have been fantastic, and god knows I have made claims, particularly with my boxer!!! We pay about $120 per month for all three (this includes accident, injury ,illness and welness) and I wouldn't be without it. They have paid 80% of all bills I have submitted so far and have always paid within about 5 days of them receiving the claim (they text you when they have received it). I could not recommend them more highly and in terms of my Boxer, in 12 months I have easily claimed back more them 3 times the yearly premium! Edited May 23, 2011 by kazads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leelaa17 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 there are only two companies (both of which you would need to look up but one is the MDBA consistant winner) who are NOT underwritten by Holland and it seems actually processed in the same place. (this from my vet who says all the direct emails have the same ending!!) I have been with RSPCA for a few years as initially I could not tell the difference but am looking to change over this year to the MDBA winner. must get my b. into g. and look up their name! I thought Pet Plan Australia was also separate?? Oh good that would make 3! Pet plan is under allianz i have been researching and from a glance they sounded like the ones to go with. - plus, if they are the mdba winner then thats a pro. I also liked the fact that if your dog gets lost they will actually pay for advertising fees and a reward! pretty nifty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallyandtex Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I know this is bit off your query, but have you thought of putting aside $10-20 a week into a high interest account? (not term deposit, but like a Rapid saver that pays same % as term but you can access your money) We do this for ourselves($50) and our pet($10) and our money is growing alot. Only MUST NO TOUCH it for anything else but health and vet. Any insurance is worked out according to the risk. Just a thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I won't get insurance with Allianz ever. Bad experience there. I do have PIA but they bumped my premium last time by more than 50% even though I'd had no claims at all and they blamed Hollards for the price hike and yet I saw that the other insurers reviewed by Choice at the same time did not have this problem. So I am looking to switch but not to Allianz. I'd rather have a flat excess than having to pay 20% of every bill, so probably not prosure either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faytiges Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 [ I am with Petsecure....this is my 2nd dog with them over many years. My dog is on constant meds, so each claim (regardless how small) is put in and at the end of the year, they all add up, and I am certainly in front. Have never had a claim refused, have had an MRI,many XRays, expensive procedures etc., and as I said constant meds, which are all covered. My excess is $50 per individual claim, ie a new claim NOT relating in any way to previous, is subject to this. I have no problems with that. Usually receive payment around 15-20 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I am with PetPlan. We had a bit of a bumpy start with my first lot of claims, but admittedly my boy's health has been a bit checkered and some things were confused and a bit misunderstood, I think. Anyway, after a bit of too-ing and fro-ing the claims were honored and I have since found them to be very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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