petplan or direct line

in my search I have narrowed it down to these two insurances, has anyone had any experience with either and was it good or bad

I’ve heard negatives about petplan, not heard either from direct line. We are with more than for hank and we get a lot in our premier cover for him.

In my experience stay well away from PetPlan, they refused to pay out for my Flo even though we had paid 6 years premiums in good faith.

I also read that the parent company, Allianz, are now actively looking for ways to NOT pay out such as they way they did with us on a technicality that was in no way ours or Flo's fault

ok thanks for replays, anyway after hour on the net looking at reviews on quite afew known insurance's, it seems that argos may actually be the one, was looking at pet plan but for the same 7000 year pay out its around 6/7 pound a month cheaper, plus petplan has a up to 9 years of age cut off on dogs...no age restriction on argos

If you can, check who underwrites them as an insurer just in case it's Allianz, if so look again. If not Allianz then sounds like a good move

Honestly, i have never insured an animal. Id rather put away the money i would pay to them into an account and should i need it it will be there. Ive heard more than enough "non payment" stories to convince me its not worth it. They know how to word things, and unless you are a lawyer you can't understand it all, and all the reasons they won't pay.

We self insure now as well. We have Dogs Trust membership which gives you 3rd party and otherwise do as Hayley says, putting away what we would have paid into a saving account.

ok thanks everyone, unfortunately putting money aside is not an option because if anything happened unexpected that was going to cost a lot I wouldn't have enough funds to cover it...so after looking at a lot of insurers its looking to be argos, there underwriter is royal & sun alliance and reading up on them as an insurance company they have very good reviews....for any one interested what insurance is underwritten by Allianz it the following>>>
pet id
petplan
sainsburys
Scottish pets
stoneways
thanks again for your in put it all helps

Yes, more than is with royal & sun alliance and I’m happy with what we get for hank if we ever needed any of the services.

But isn’t the big problem with insurance companies getting them to pay for things that you thought you were covered for, not for the contents of the policies themselves ?

Over here small pets’ insurance is not very widespread (compared to equine cover, for example) and the few on offer are to be avoided at all costs. I also try to put funds aside in case of, but I appreciate that not everyone is able or happy to work that way.

yes your right about getting them to pay out , but that's a chance I have to take don't have back up funds and it would take me 10 years to save up a decent amount to cover anything big, so the only thing I can do is research and put my trust in peoples experience with the insurer I choose and how they have been treated and paid and the only one at the moment I feel a little bit hopeful for is argos, yes its a chance but the only alternative is to not get another dog and I cant do that

I have to say, you've certainly done your homework, I didn't realise so many were underwritten by Allianz.

I would never advise anyone not to get insurance but to do the homework like you have