DibDob

Hi All
Just booked my cat a flight out in may have heared petplan are now in australia? has anyone been able to transfer existing policy from uk to australia with them? Or will i need to reapply when we get there?
Thanks
in advance
Darren Lisa & Lola

Cheetah7

You have to reapply.

I was with Petplan and had a huge row with them, they would go months without taking premiums and then take them all at once. We also had to wait months for a simple claim.

However, many people get on well with them so it was probably just a glitch. We changed to medibank pet insurance who have been brilliant, we pay a bit extra and get heartworm and flea control paid for, plus they pay something towards vaccinations - I think its $30 or something like that and it makes a big difference to us.

In fact I have just put a claim in for a 250ml bottle of frontline spray, which cost $50, I will get $45 paid for so will be $5 out of pocket, and I have also ordered a $44 box of heartworm meds for my kelpie, they will pay all of that as they pay $70 a year for heartworm stuff.

The last claim I did for my cats heartworm came through 6 days later.

Smartinis

Can you let me know what premium you pay? Our insurance has an excess of $50 and only pays 80% after that upto limits and doesn't cover vaccinations, heartworm etc.

JAJ

I can understand taking out insurance for high cost, low probability medical situations for your pet.

However I am not so clear why you would pay into a plan which simply pays back what you have paid in, minus admin costs, profit, etc. Why not simply set aside an amount of money each month for the day to day costs, and only pay insurance for the bills you couldn't afford to pay yourself?

Cheetah7

Well I worked out the extra I was paying for the level of cover I have for my cat and dog, I wanted to see if I should go for a lower level or not.

Not only does it work out that I save money on the heartworm/flea products/vaccination bonus/council registration, but I also have a higher level of cover for accident and illness which I think is essential when you think of how some conditions or accidents can very quickly run into thousands of dollars and suddenly, $4,000 cover does not seem very much at all.

I did all the sums and for us it is better to have the preventative benefits. I wouldnt have taken out the higher cover if it didnt work out to our advantage.

Rosscarbery

We went with them for our puppy after a lot of research. However, for us the amount they pay out annually for "routine care" (vaccinations, flea and tick treatment etc.) was exactly the same amount as the extra premium charged so I couldn't see the point. Might be different for a cat though.

Our vet thinks they are pretty good (I had already bought the policy so he wasn't trying to sell me anything). He says they are one of the best insurers around in terms of not quibbling over treatment and costs. We had a horrible experience last year where our (uninsured) dog died following an operation to remove a stone he had swallowed leaving us with a vet bill of $2,500. If we had been insured we would have had a vet bill of $100 and petplan would have paid us the amount we paid for the dog as there is a "life insurance" element. I would never have an uninsured pet here again.

JAJ

I'd just point out that if you're saving so much money, how is the company making money out of this? They've got to make a profit otherwise they can't stay in business.

Cheetah7

Right, I have worked it out and I am saving money - not only that, I dont have to worry about putting money aside for these things as it is already there, if it were in savings then I would probably find other uses for it.

Here are a list of the benefits:

Bronze Paw Cover Silver Paw cover Cover Gold Paw Cover
$8,000 $12,000 $15,000

Routine Care benefits (only available in Gold Paw Cover)

$70 each year for one of the following:

De-sexing
Micro-chipping
Heartworm preventative medication
Teeth cleaning
Council registration fees
Alternative therapies
Prescription diets
Dewclaw removal
Cremation or burial
Behavioral therapy
Dental illness treatment
Obedience training

Plus annual benefits for all of these:

$30 – Vaccinations or health check
$10 – Heartworm test or blood screen
$10 – FeLv/Fiv test or urinalysis
$45 – Flea/tick/worm control

For my cat, his heartworm for 6 months is $70, so Medibank pay for 6 months supply for him, thus saving me $70.

His vaccination costs me $68, I get $30 refund, so it only costs me $38.

For my dog, I only end up out of pocket $15 for his heartworm meds for the entire year, I also only end up $5 out of pocket for a large bottle of frontline flea spray which also lasts about 6 months and when that runs out, I can order another one using my cats allowance on flea control.

I also get the $30 off for the dogs booster.

Now I am not going into what premiums I pay but I have done the maths, I also would rather have the higher level of cover for my pets, my dog has hip displaysia which could end up costing in the future.

I have spent several years working as a veterinary nurse and know for a fact that for a few extra dollars, the higher premiums mean better cover.

I dont know or care how the company make their extra cash, for us it works out and I have already got a great deal out of it.

DibDob

Thanks, and back to the original question, so i take it petplan uk cant be changed to petplan australia?! So do companies insure cats over 8, as they dont here?!?