AVOID PET PLAN

[Jenna]

Ill try an cut a long stor short. Tilly (pony) has been insured since may. I noticed on my policy that my excess was £500 so I called them up an asked could I change to a different policy were my excess would only be £135. I was advised my premium would go up monthly which I was fine with, an they were quicK enough to take the new HIGHER premium out at the end of last month. Don't hear nothing from them. we notice sarcoids on pony. The day the vet came out I come home to a letter off pet plan saying there waiting for tillys vetting documents or they will cancel my policy. I called them to asked what they were on about and they said she needed a vetting because I was midway through my policy before I changed it over. I told them I wasn't informed about it on the phone, they listened to my call and confirmed that I wasn't told but say my excess will still be £500. I'm so annoyed I feel like crying

[welshshowcobs]

thats horrible,so sorry but im no good with complaints letters,advise youll be speak to trading standards and ofgem?sorry not much help

[sageandonion]

How long was it before you changed your policy to when you wanted to make a claim? Did they send you a new policy in writing and, if so, does it say anywhere on that policy that they are awaiting a vetting cert?

[Deleted]

Tilly I don't understand this - you didn't change your policy, merely the excess and so if the policy number remains the same then surely it is the SAME policy.

Have you spoken to the complaints department at Pet Plan? How about Citizens Advice maybe?

I'm ok ish at talking the talk in correspondence so if I can be of any help please let me know x

[FF]

But they took your money? Insurance stinks. They just do what they like.

I have my mare insured with scottish equestrian who have the same underwriters. they were fab with my mares claim but she now has a foal so I phoned up to insure her. No problem they said but she needs a 3 star vetting. WHY i asked??? Because she's home bred?? i don't get it. What difference does it make. I was only insuring her for £500 (so I was covered for vets fees) I said the vet had been out 3 times so far with birth, check up and then for microchipping and if there was a problem i'm sure the vet would have said. But no I have to have the vet again so I told them to shove it.

[sageandonion]

I would say that by taking your premium they accepted the risk. You need to write down everything step by step with exact dates (your phone records will give you details) what was said as best your remember, etc. You need to be able to present facts.

Write to Pet Plan detailing it all and give them 14 days to respond, copying to the ombusman.

[delfachhighwayman]

I have used Pet plan for all of my animals and have always found them very very good, I would re read verything and make sure you ahvent missed anything and then put in a complaint

[jump4joy]

Insurance Ombudsman...or contact Martin Lewis Credit Expert..good luck

[SMG]

I use to use petplan but i would never again ! my policy went up by £150 !! i called them and they said it was because of all the claimes ! i had never claimed ! ever ! they said its not you its everyone else, i told them they where an insurance company and thats what there ment to do ! i also told them to stick it up there a55 !

See if there calls are recorded and get them to dig it your call out ?? you have proof then.

Good luck

[Jenna]

they listened to my call and agreed with me that i was never told that i needed the vetting, but they said although you were never told you needed one neither was you told that you didn't need one. I think I'm supposed to be a mind reader!
I made a complaint a few weeks ago and they said they were contacting my vets for veterinary history of the pony.Vets told me they sent it 3 times and pet plan were still saying they were not happy with the veterinary (or lack of) history.
I also received a letter off pet plan today basically saying they are siding with me (for now) they need the ponies full veterinary history and i need to get it off the vets and send it to them.
She said 'well usually vets keep a history of ponies FULL history,i explained to them that the pony had only been seen to twice and she still wasn't happy with this.
Turns out they wanted a full veterinary history from birth !!! How ridiculous, i have only owned the pony for just over a year! I told them the pony has only been known to the vets since may when she had a really bad accident. Iv never dealt with someone so stupid!!!
Anyway she said she would speak to the underwriter and get back to me with a final decision.
In the mean time Iv already paid for the cream and initial visit, i don't know why i bothered wasting my energy trying to get them to pay out!
I hope you can all understand my ranting, I'm getting really fed up now, seems they are being as awkward (and dragging it out as long as poss) as they can to get out of paying!

[FF]

Keep at them, I think they string it out in hope you will give up 1st. Everyone calls E&L but i've claimed twice of them. Ok so I had to chase them up but they paid out both times. I changed because of all the bad press they had but I now have my old boy insured with them on a veteran plan for liability and accidents for £7 per month. Whilst my mare costs me £26 per month with scottish equine. They paid our nearly £3000 for Fern's leg and so far my premiums have gone up £1 per month.

[rasaljadi]

Insurance ....no thanks i cancelled all mine when they would not pay for a op, had four horses insured with south essex never claimed and had paid a lot of money to them over the years, they wriggled there way out of paying.
I now have an account which i put money in every month, much better, you might as well put your money in the bin than give it to insurance.

[showingfanatic]

Sounds like a nightmare Jenna, have had friends who warned me Petplan could be tricky to deal with when it came to paying out, despite all their good press. Hope you get it sorted.
Now, I know everyones been moaning about NFU's premiums going up but I can honestly say, insuring with them is the best thing I've ever done. My premium is around the £40-£50 mark per pony per month, and my excess is something like £120. They dealt with a lengthy laminitis claim, no problem-payed out, and also a large claim following a bad accident on another pony, again no problem. Also done a couple of minor claims for a cough, and allergic reaction, again, no problem. They have never required any form of vetting and have always been most helpful and sympathetic.

[FF]

I could never afford to pay £40-50 per month per pony. that would be £150 per month and i'd have to work half a week in work just to pay for insurance. Crazy.

[showingfanatic]

It is expensive FF, but I never could have afforded the large unexpected vet bills tbh, so it's been more than worth it in the long term.

[zac]

I agree that NFU are fantastic for paying out on a claim in my experience and i also pay nearly £50 a month per horse. Had one claim with them and the underwriter even phoned me up to say he thought my horse was underinsured, (i lost him after colic surgery) and they paid me out in full, no problems at all. You do pay for peace of mind. x

[FF]

Mine IS insured and I have peace of mind, they already paid out nearly £3000 for two MRI scans but had I been insured with NFU (which would have cost more) she wouldn't have had the MRI's as they only pay half and I didn't have a spare £1000 hanging around.

I insure for the least amount on my horses value to keep the cost down but they are still fully covered for vets fees which is the most important bit. If they die then no money will bring them back.

[PGW]

I work at a contact centre so know what needs to be done with this.

If you was not told something that you was supposed to be told in the closing script of going through your insurance they will have to pay out.

All insurances are governed by the FSA and they have to read off the script to make it even legal.

If anything to do with your policy was not mentioned then this should work in your favour.

They can not assume that you know you have to send a vet report to them if this was never mentioned.

Hope you sort this Jenna