As a loving cat owner myself, I understand your emotions when your pets are ill, but when it comes to reacting to insurers, my advice would be to avoid the emotion if you can, becaue they don't care. My Petplan policy started some years back and my cat was injured shortly afterwards. I have stayed with Petplan because, at that time, I have to say they paid out over £3000 direct to the vet without a quibble. I haven't made a claim since. Now the cats have got older, my policy is coming up for renewal in November and I was not surprised they have raised the price of my premium by about 20% YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT. Previous premium 2017-18 for 2 cats was about £35, they now want over £40 per month. I have also noted the awful cover letter they send with reminders to the customer (as if we need it) how heartbreaking it is that our pets are getting older (bla bla).
So I decided to start shopping around and reading the reviews here as well as reviews of M&S for example, the real problem is that they are ALL TERRIBLE. If I switch to another, I can get a very cheap premium for the coming year, but I'm almost certain it wilL SHOOT UP after that. None of these insurers exist to be sympathetic or humane, they exist as businesses to take our money and avoid payouts. So don't get mad, get even and do what they do - do the maths! If the ombudsman can't help (as stated in a later review here), do the sums yourself and take the consequences if necessary. For example, if I pay them over £400 per year and my cat has an accident costing say £4000, I will end up paying the excess plus the price of the policy. The following year, they have already told me I will ALSO PAY 20% of the cost of bills, so I will calculate that on risk when the time comes.
Good luck everybody. At the end of the day we are just paying for some sort of peace of mind. It should be a shame that they rip us off, but they have no shame.

As a loving cat owner myself, I understand your emotions when your pets are ill, but when it comes to reacting to insurers, my advice would be to avoid the emotion if you can, becaue they don't care. My Petplan policy started some years back and my cat was injured shortly afterwards. I have stayed with Petplan because, at that time, I have to say they paid out over £3000 direct to the vet without a quibble. I haven't made a claim since. Now the cats have got older, my policy is coming up for renewal in November and I was not surprised they have raised the price of my premium by about 20% YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT. Previous premium 2017-18 for 2 cats was about £35, they now want over £40 per month. I have also noted the awful cover letter they send with reminders to the customer (as if we need it) how heartbreaking it is that our pets are getting older (bla bla).
So I decided to start shopping around and reading the reviews here as well as reviews of M&S for example, the real problem is that they are ALL TERRIBLE. If I switch to another, I can get a very cheap premium for the coming year, but I'm almost certain it wilL SHOOT UP after that. None of these insurers exist to be sympathetic or humane, they exist as businesses to take our money and avoid payouts. So don't get mad, get even and do what they do - do the maths! If the ombudsman can't help (as stated in a later review here), do the sums yourself and take the consequences if necessary. For example, if I pay them over £400 per year and my cat has an accident costing say £4000, I will end up paying the excess plus the price of the policy. The following year, they have already told me I will ALSO PAY 20% of the cost of bills, so I will calculate that on risk when the time comes.
Good luck everybody. At the end of the day we are just paying for some sort of peace of mind. It should be a shame that they rip us off, but they have no shame.