Petplan - Budget Any Good?

[Puppynovice]

I'm still trying to choose which Pet Insurance policy to go with for our little Mini Foxie. I understand it's basically a choice between Petplan (Alliance) and all the Hollard groups. I really like the Petplan policy more because of the continuous cover and no restrictions on only one condition per lifetime etc. But I do not like the cost as we are a single income family. So I am considering the Petplan policy but going for the Budget plan rather than standard as it will save us a small amount of money per fortnight. Does anyone have any experience with this plan. Even though it is budget surely it still has more benefits than one of the Hollard Insurance plans?

[JackC]

The best thing about pet plan is you get exactly what they say, no hidden fee's or big exclusions that are hidden away in small terms of conditions text. you get a limit per year depending on what you pay per month, you get a fixed excess and it covers the dog for life.

In my honest opinion pet plan is hard to beat in terms of peace of mind insurance

a good example would be a single surgery for a broken leg on a dog can range from $2000-6000, pet plan you pay $125 excess and that's it, other plans you pay between %15 and 20 of the bill ($300-$1200) to cover the surgury

also ongoing conditions on most other policies are only covered for 1 year, where as petplan cover for life.

if your on a budget then the budget plan might be a great way to start out and then if you want extra peace of mind when you are earning more move up to the standard plan

Edited September 4, 2013 by JackC

[Puppynovice]

The best thing about pet plan is you get exactly what they say, no hidden fee's or big exclusions that are hidden away in small terms of conditions text. you get a limit per year depending on what you pay per month, you get a fixed excess and it covers the dog for life.

In my honest opinion pet plan is hard to beat in terms of peace of mind insurance

a good example would be a single surgery for a broken leg on a dog can range from $2000-6000, pet plan you pay $125 excess and that's it, other plans you pay between %15 and 20 of the bill ($300-$1200) to cover the surgury

also ongoing conditions on most other policies are only covered for 1 year, where as petplan cover for life.

if your on a budget then the budget plan might be a great way to start out and then if you want extra peace of mind when you are earning more move up to the standard plan

Thanks JackC. Are there any penalties for switching over to standard once you've started on budget though? I assume if my boy has treatment for a condition while we are covered on budget then if we upgrade to standard, he will never be covered for that same condition again as it will be considered pre-existing?

[aliwake]

You'd be best to just give them a call and have a chat.

I think we ended up going for the standard cover - when I weighed up the different premiums it was only a very small saving to go for budget, so I decided it was much better value to pay a little more and have the extra cover. The same with the different excess amounts - they didn't seem to make a huge difference to the premium cost, so we went for the smallest excess.

We have already received back about $1100 through our policy since we got our pup in April - it has been very worthwhile!!

For pups, you can get 4 weeks free insurance if you sign up at certain vets, so we had that first, which was great. The pup cover also covers illness much more quickly - the usual policy has a 21 day wait for illness cover. I think the pup cover it was only 72 hours or something?

[JackC]

The best thing about pet plan is you get exactly what they say, no hidden fee's or big exclusions that are hidden away in small terms of conditions text. you get a limit per year depending on what you pay per month, you get a fixed excess and it covers the dog for life.

In my honest opinion pet plan is hard to beat in terms of peace of mind insurance

a good example would be a single surgery for a broken leg on a dog can range from $2000-6000, pet plan you pay $125 excess and that's it, other plans you pay between %15 and 20 of the bill ($300-$1200) to cover the surgury

also ongoing conditions on most other policies are only covered for 1 year, where as petplan cover for life.

if your on a budget then the budget plan might be a great way to start out and then if you want extra peace of mind when you are earning more move up to the standard plan

Thanks JackC. Are there any penalties for switching over to standard once you've started on budget though? I assume if my boy has treatment for a condition while we are covered on budget then if we upgrade to standard, he will never be covered for that same condition again as it will be considered pre-existing?

No they would cover it as you are not ending your budget policy, just upgrading it, you would probably have to wait till the end of the budget policy cover though and when you "renew" you renew as a standard, as long as the condition only started 21 days after the initial budget policy was taken out you should be ok: straight from their website:

"Yes Petplan will cover the costs of hereditary and congenital disorders as long as the pet has not shown clinical signs of the condition prior to cover commencing or within the 21 day waiting period.".

"Cover for the treatment costs for Veterinary Fees attributed to accidents, injuries or illnesses which may happen to your pet, providing they occurred after taken out insurance with Petplan. There is a 21 day waiting on the treatment of any illness. I.e. any illness that occurs within the first 21 days of cover is excluded, but accidents are covered immediately cover is taken out."