Case study: Patch, Lilo & Angel

Michael from Northampton is the proud owner of three cats. After experiencing price hikes from another insurer, he switched his pet insurance to Petgevity, and hasn’t looked back since. Here’s his story… Meet Patch, Lilo and Angel!

Then there were three

“Patch, Lilo and Angel were all born on 7 August 2014. We got Patch and Lilo first when our boy – Stitch – was unfortunately hit by a car just near our house.

“We had insured Stitch with another large pet insurer on the recommendation of both Vets for Pets and Bruno’s – the pet shop we got him from. The insurer had been amazing when he passed and immediately paid for his cremation and box.

“When we went to Bruno’s Pet Store we were quite emotional. Patch and Lilo were happily playing with each other in their pen. When the cage door was opened, they both ran straight over to us and wouldn’t leave us… So, we went home with two new kittens.

“Two weeks later we went back to the store, and Angel was on her own in the pen. We felt bad that all her sisters and brothers had been taken, so … we then had three kittens. Which, oddly enough, was far easier than having the one boy because they entertain themselves rather than relying solely on us for entertainment 😊”

Insurer price hikes

“Again we carried on with our insurer, who advertise that they do not put up premiums based on individual claims. Which is a slightly misleading statement in my eyes, because what they do is put your premiums up based on everyone’s claims. I was on the top plan, and this had £12,000 vet fees.

“And in fairness, our insurer dealt directly with Vets for Pets. There were a few things over the years that we had to get them in for, and not once did we see a bill from the vets. It was dealt with directly with the insurers.

“However, the price just started to get out of control. And then they put a mandatory 20% bill share on and I believe they raised the excess. It was on the policy schedule, but it was buried deep in text and I hadn’t noticed. When I got my renewal last year, they wanted £1,139.36 for Patch and Lilo, and well over £600 for Angel.

• “Angel had slight pain in her legs seven years ago. This required one dose of treatment, and nothing since.
• “Patch had an acute asthma attack six years ago, one dose of treatment, nothing since and nothing ongoing.
• “Lilo had two teeth removed nearly four years ago, nothing since.

“So they’re all healthy, and I just felt that this was getting too much.”

The benefits of shopping around

“So I started shopping around and looked into Petgevity. I lowered the vet fees to £8,000 per year – so I know it isn’t like-for-like,. But at their age, I wouldn’t put them through major operations now anyway. And what I love about the Lifetime Plus policy is there’s no mandatory bill share.

“I also added Farewell and Dental cover. Also called in and checked with the Petgevity team that the conditions above didn’t need screening on the Lifetime Plus, as they now fall out of the two-year disclosure requirement.

“Petgevity came in at £1,291.56 with Lifetime Plus for all three cats, so I’m very happy with this price.

“Plus the online portal is also really attractive – I really like the brand colours and marketing. It’s easy to use, I really like the FirstVet benefit too, and am really looking forward to the supplements as well.”