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Pet Insurance


jaybeece
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I've been with Petplan for several years now and am going to ditch them. They've always taken weeks to even acknowledge a claim has been made and then longer to actually pay it, but now they've hiked the prices up by 50% in one go and I'm done with them. $36 a month to $52.95 is bloody unreasonable.

Can anyone please recommend a company who are organised and reasonably priced? He's 6 years old and a large breed. I went with Petplan because they were the only company who would cover conditions such as hip dysplasia which I was concerned about when he was younger, so far (touch wood) I think he's proven himself pretty structurally sound so it's not so vital.

Thanks :)

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I am with PIA and have found them extremely good, in the last 6 weeks I have had expenses that have added to over $1400. I havent had to claim before so I cant say how quick they are to pay, and the claim was only sent of yesterday so I should find out how soon it is pretty soon I would think.

I have a Golden Retriever and we pay $19.86 a fortnight for her, it only went up $2 extra a fortnight this year compared to last year.

Hope you find one that's suitable for you.

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I joined PIA- Pet Insurance Australia last year.

I haven't had to put them to the test but they were highly recommended on DOL and are very reasonably priced.

I pay exactly $17.70 per month.

Edited by dee lee
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Thanks, checking them out now!

I just realised that despite being corrected at least twice and after 5 years Pet Plan have still not managed to spell my dog's name correctly on the policy. Who spells "Caesar" as "Cesr". It's not even a name! It can join cancelling him randomly and getting my phone number wrong in the pile of administration cock ups. It's no wonder I've been waiting 6 bloody weeks for my claim if they can't even get all of the above correct. Sheesh.

Bugger, their sort of equivalent is $51.34 with $100 excess but they only cover 80% of the vet costs :( Petplan cover 100% with $100 excess *sigh*

Edited by jaybeece
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Yeah but nothing ongoing. He was attacked by a stray cat recently and had a melanoma removed that pathology said was complete. Reasons why I do really really want to continue having pet insurance. Nothing that would count as a pre-existing condition though.

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Has he ever had any condition treated by a vet ever? Because those things will be excluded from the new policy. One of the only things that stops me from changing....

Yep I have thought about changing too but my dog has allergies which would then not be covered :(

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This thread has me concerned because I just joined up with petplan for my Newfoundland puppy under the highest cover.My vet suggested Medibank private or RACQ as being the easiest that they deal with.

I didn't go with either of them because they didn't have the same cover as petplan, my only negative is they class a Newfoundland as a senior at 7 so the cover drops to 65% instead of 100%

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I just cancelled my Pet Plan policy. Just can't justify the dollars per month (cut my car insurance to basic as well), and they have lousy customer service. I rang them to cancel my policy, got someone who could barely speak English and was told to e-mail them to cancel it, and they practically just brushed me off then and hung up. Bloody rude.

That was 2 weeks ago, I e-mailed them my policy details and requesting cancelling, and have heard nothing back. Bad customer service.

Edited by Bite Me
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There's no reason for concern Mish, I've been with them for around 5 years and have made a few claims. They may take their sweet arse time to pay them but they do eventually. If it hadn't been for the massive price hike I wouldn't bother moving as they do the job. You're probably already being subjected to the new pricing scheme since it came out in around April or March this year, my renewal only just kicked in.

And I think I'm just unlucky when it comes to the admin side of things :rolleyes:

Caz yeah their customer service is pretty sucky, but that's hardly unusual these days. Forget the monkeys, aim high, then their customer service is great.

Edited by jaybeece
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Thanks Jaybeece, I will stick with them because I have seen a few other Newfoundland people use them so they must find them ok. I wouldn't be game to have a Newf without insurance. I never insured my poodles and now I am paying the price with one of them having an auto immune disease.

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Thanks, checking them out now!

Bugger, their sort of equivalent is $51.34 with $100 excess but they only cover 80% of the vet costs :( Petplan cover 100% with $100 excess *sigh*

unless they''ve changed, they covered 100% with mine minus the excess. We took out cover last October and had an accident in January. We got all back minus the excess. and very quickly. They kept me updated on the progress. It cost about $400 per year for accident and illness cover.

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Be aware that you can only change insurers at the end of each policy year. If you cancel with your insurer in say month 5 you'll have to pay the other 7 months worth of premiums as pet insurance is an annual policy

ETA - because there was a melanoma, you might want to take to the new insurer re their coverage as you may find you have cancer conditions excluded.

Edited by Danois
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Thanks Danois, it was just renewed and the last claim was made before last years policy expired. So I'm good to go.

I'll definitely ask any potential companies about the melanoma and cancer cover just in case another one pops up. Definitely want cancer coverage as he gets older!

Pixie_meg I can't see any policies on their website that cover 100% of costs so they must have changed their plans.

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I have a policy with Pet Plan and only ever claimed once and that took a couple of months to be paid. I have just last week taken out a policy for my new puppy with PIA. My pet plan insurance needs renewing this month for my older dog and I was thinking of changing him to PIA. When I rang them and enquired they said cause he had had an abscess a couple of years ago it would be considered a pre existing illness so would never be able to claim if he ever got another one. Guess I will just have to have my two dogs with different companies.

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Thanks Danois, it was just renewed and the last claim was made before last years policy expired. So I'm good to go.

I'll definitely ask any potential companies about the melanoma and cancer cover just in case another one pops up. Definitely want cancer coverage as he gets older!

Pixie_meg I can't see any policies on their website that cover 100% of costs so they must have changed their plans.

you're right, they've changed their policies. used to be 100%.

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I too have had issues with Pet Plan...

I tried to register a litter of pups last year, and had a 'delightfully rude' person at the end of the line, as I was having trouble registering. Long story short, we had email 'words', and I put in a formal complaint, which to my knowledge was never addressed, as I never got an update, despite asking for one :mad ...

Funny thing is, just last week I received an email from then, asking me to join their wonderful company :rofl: ... Yeah right :rofl:

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