My brother's English Bull Terrier pup has broken his leg. He had to pay £350 to his vet for x-rays, pain relief medication and a few other things. The x-rays reveal a break they vet cannot fix so has referred him to specialist as he will need pins costing £1500. This other vet won't operate without a couple of hundred quid upfront. He obviously needs this operation now, is being taken to the vets tomorrow. Tesco pet insurance won't pay out until afterwards, my brother has to pay the full amount and claim it back. Tesco say the claim cannot be processed this quickly. Does this sound really dodgy to anyone else?
Normal Practice From Pet Insurers?
Originally Posted by boozer3:
“My brother's English Bull Terrier pup has broken his leg. He had to pay £350 to his vet for x-rays, pain relief medication and a few other things. The x-rays reveal a break they vet cannot fix so has referred him to specialist as he will need pins costing £1500. This other vet won't operate without a couple of hundred quid upfront. He obviously needs this operation now, is being taken to the vets tomorrow. Tesco pet insurance won't pay out until afterwards, my brother has to pay the full amount and claim it back. Tesco say the claim cannot be processed this quickly. Does this sound really dodgy to anyone else?”
“My brother's English Bull Terrier pup has broken his leg. He had to pay £350 to his vet for x-rays, pain relief medication and a few other things. The x-rays reveal a break they vet cannot fix so has referred him to specialist as he will need pins costing £1500. This other vet won't operate without a couple of hundred quid upfront. He obviously needs this operation now, is being taken to the vets tomorrow. Tesco pet insurance won't pay out until afterwards, my brother has to pay the full amount and claim it back. Tesco say the claim cannot be processed this quickly. Does this sound really dodgy to anyone else?”
No, it is standard as far as I am aware. We are with Pet Plan and the same applies - we pay up front. The difference in insurers is maybe how quickly they re-imburse you. Pet Plan have been good so far. My cat had an MRI scan recently and it cost £1900 - paid for it on credit card but insurers paid out before the bill was due (phew).
Originally Posted by magsy56:
“No, it is standard as far as I am aware. We are with Pet Plan and the same applies - we pay up front. The difference in insurers is maybe how quickly they re-imburse you. Pet Plan have been good so far. My cat had an MRI scan recently and it cost £1900 - paid for it on credit card but insurers paid out before the bill was due (phew).”
“No, it is standard as far as I am aware. We are with Pet Plan and the same applies - we pay up front. The difference in insurers is maybe how quickly they re-imburse you. Pet Plan have been good so far. My cat had an MRI scan recently and it cost £1900 - paid for it on credit card but insurers paid out before the bill was due (phew).”
Logically, I don't think any insurer would pay out before the treatment is completed - any sort of payout would imply that they would pay for everything, and they wouldn't make that sort of commitment. Best plan is to pay with a credit card, they usually pay up pretty quickly.
Originally Posted by boozer3:
“Cheers guys. What a bloody palaver it's been!”
“Cheers guys. What a bloody palaver it's been!”
Tell me about it - diabetic cat cost us over £2000 before the insurance company paid up! To be fair though, they were very quick and there were no queries about the payment (it was also Tesco).
Yes it is absolutely normal practise, however....while it is probably too late to arrange this now, some vets and insurers will agree to have the client pay the excess direct to the vet and then for the insurance company to pay the vet directly for the rest once the treatment is finished.
Not all insurers will do this, nor will all vets agree as they are then having to wait for their money (which affects their cash flow) and they are at some risk is there turns out to be any dispute over the insurance i.e condition excluded, pre-existing condition, insurance lapsed etc.
The other way you can do it with some companies is to put in a claim AFTER each "section" and then do a "continuation claim" for the next section after that is paid e.g you claim for the part for the first vet, then you claim for the referral vet's bill, then you claim for the follow up treatmnet from the original vet, if that occurs. Being a continuation claim you do not pay another excess each time, unlike a new claim.
You still have to wait for the turnaround time of the insurance company processing each bit of the claim, which varies greatly beween companies, but you don't need to wait for the end of the entire course of treatment before you can reclaim anything.
However some practices charge a fee for the time it takes them to do the claim form (I know one big veterinary referral practise that has two people employed full time just to do insurance claims- it can be very time consuming especially after dealing with queries etc) and if the vet you use does charge for this (which you cannot reclaim from the insurers) , the more separate forms you put in during the course of one treatmetn, the more it will cost you in unrecoverable claim form fees, so swings and roundabouts.
Not all insurers will do this, nor will all vets agree as they are then having to wait for their money (which affects their cash flow) and they are at some risk is there turns out to be any dispute over the insurance i.e condition excluded, pre-existing condition, insurance lapsed etc.
The other way you can do it with some companies is to put in a claim AFTER each "section" and then do a "continuation claim" for the next section after that is paid e.g you claim for the part for the first vet, then you claim for the referral vet's bill, then you claim for the follow up treatmnet from the original vet, if that occurs. Being a continuation claim you do not pay another excess each time, unlike a new claim.
You still have to wait for the turnaround time of the insurance company processing each bit of the claim, which varies greatly beween companies, but you don't need to wait for the end of the entire course of treatment before you can reclaim anything.
However some practices charge a fee for the time it takes them to do the claim form (I know one big veterinary referral practise that has two people employed full time just to do insurance claims- it can be very time consuming especially after dealing with queries etc) and if the vet you use does charge for this (which you cannot reclaim from the insurers) , the more separate forms you put in during the course of one treatmetn, the more it will cost you in unrecoverable claim form fees, so swings and roundabouts.
For small and medium costs, I used to pay in full and claim back. For large, the vets always let me pay the excess and they claimed from Petplan.
Now, because the excess is complicated (£105 +20% of the remainder), for all but the smallest thing, the vet claims and sends me a bill for the rest.
Mind you, I worked out the other day that with the number of dogs I have and for how long I've had them, I've been with the same vet and same Petplan for 81 years (5 X 14 year old dogs plus one that died at 11) so maybe they know they can trust me!
Now, because the excess is complicated (£105 +20% of the remainder), for all but the smallest thing, the vet claims and sends me a bill for the rest.
Mind you, I worked out the other day that with the number of dogs I have and for how long I've had them, I've been with the same vet and same Petplan for 81 years (5 X 14 year old dogs plus one that died at 11) so maybe they know they can trust me!
Rather than create a new thread I thought I would share this.
Alf had a lump on his tail a while ago, the vet sent for it to be analized at a cost of £120. On the insurance form i put the date that i first saw the lump, the date the vet put following me sending the forms to them conflicted with mine and they won't pay out. I called the vet and she said she can't remember us coming, (my husband came with me too) I argued that she had the date wrong but she said she could not change the records on her computer. Needless to say I know i am correct and she is wrong its my dog afterall, boy was i angry!!! have paid £20 per month for the past year for what!!!
Going to cancel the insurance and pop the money in a savings account instead.
Alf had a lump on his tail a while ago, the vet sent for it to be analized at a cost of £120. On the insurance form i put the date that i first saw the lump, the date the vet put following me sending the forms to them conflicted with mine and they won't pay out. I called the vet and she said she can't remember us coming, (my husband came with me too) I argued that she had the date wrong but she said she could not change the records on her computer. Needless to say I know i am correct and she is wrong its my dog afterall, boy was i angry!!! have paid £20 per month for the past year for what!!!
Going to cancel the insurance and pop the money in a savings account instead.
Originally Posted by Alfie Blue Eyes:
“Rather than create a new thread I thought I would share this.
Alf had a lump on his tail a while ago, the vet sent for it to be analized at a cost of £120. On the insurance form i put the date that i first saw the lump, the date the vet put following me sending the forms to them conflicted with mine and they won't pay out. I called the vet and she said she can't remember us coming, (my husband came with me too) I argued that she had the date wrong but she said she could not change the records on her computer. Needless to say I know i am correct and she is wrong its my dog afterall, boy was i angry!!! have paid £20 per month for the past year for what!!!
Going to cancel the insurance and pop the money in a savings account instead.”
“Rather than create a new thread I thought I would share this.
Alf had a lump on his tail a while ago, the vet sent for it to be analized at a cost of £120. On the insurance form i put the date that i first saw the lump, the date the vet put following me sending the forms to them conflicted with mine and they won't pay out. I called the vet and she said she can't remember us coming, (my husband came with me too) I argued that she had the date wrong but she said she could not change the records on her computer. Needless to say I know i am correct and she is wrong its my dog afterall, boy was i angry!!! have paid £20 per month for the past year for what!!!
Going to cancel the insurance and pop the money in a savings account instead.”
That's terrible... it's easy for any of us to confuse dates, but a pity your vet won't help by agreeing what day you went in! I have heard so many stories about pet insurance and what it does or does not cover, the way some companies do their best to find some tiny discrepancy to avoid paying out... blah blah blah, that I think the best thing is to put £15 or £20 a month into a savings account for any pet emergencies.
We have had two or three dogs together for many years (as have my parents), some have been older rescues and three were young pups and we've never had insurance for any of them and it's never been very often that we've had big vet bills compared to what we would have paid out in insurance all these years!
Originally Posted by Alfie Blue Eyes:
“Rather than create a new thread I thought I would share this.
Alf had a lump on his tail a while ago, the vet sent for it to be analized at a cost of £120. On the insurance form i put the date that i first saw the lump, the date the vet put following me sending the forms to them conflicted with mine and they won't pay out. I called the vet and she said she can't remember us coming, (my husband came with me too) I argued that she had the date wrong but she said she could not change the records on her computer. Needless to say I know i am correct and she is wrong its my dog afterall, boy was i angry!!! have paid £20 per month for the past year for what!!!
Going to cancel the insurance and pop the money in a savings account instead.”
“Rather than create a new thread I thought I would share this.
Alf had a lump on his tail a while ago, the vet sent for it to be analized at a cost of £120. On the insurance form i put the date that i first saw the lump, the date the vet put following me sending the forms to them conflicted with mine and they won't pay out. I called the vet and she said she can't remember us coming, (my husband came with me too) I argued that she had the date wrong but she said she could not change the records on her computer. Needless to say I know i am correct and she is wrong its my dog afterall, boy was i angry!!! have paid £20 per month for the past year for what!!!
Going to cancel the insurance and pop the money in a savings account instead.”
Although the younger dogs and Layla cat are insured, this is what I did for Murphy Dog and Stripe Cat since they were babies (along with the two cats that have passed). They now have a tidy sum in 'their' bank account. Recently looked into how much it would be to insure them and the few that will insure a 13 year old dog and 14 year old cat want nearly £100 a month for the pair.
If the premiums for the babies goes up any more (paying about £800 a year for the three) then I'll just up the amount I save each month and cancel the policies.
Our 17-year-old cat had surgery for thyroid removal last year, cost about £600. He wasn't insured, but I reckon we probably still made a profit! It's difficult to advise what's best, as I said earlier, diabetic cat has cost us thousands and we'd definitely have lost out if he hadn't been insured.
Originally Posted by StressMonkey:
“Although the younger dogs and Layla cat are insured, this is what I did for Murphy Dog and Stripe Cat since they were babies (along with the two cats that have passed). They now have a tidy sum in 'their' bank account. Recently looked into how much it would be to insure them and the few that will insure a 13 year old dog and 14 year old cat want nearly £100 a month for the pair.
If the premiums for the babies goes up any more (paying about £800 a year for the three) then I'll just up the amount I save each month and cancel the policies.”
“Although the younger dogs and Layla cat are insured, this is what I did for Murphy Dog and Stripe Cat since they were babies (along with the two cats that have passed). They now have a tidy sum in 'their' bank account. Recently looked into how much it would be to insure them and the few that will insure a 13 year old dog and 14 year old cat want nearly £100 a month for the pair.
If the premiums for the babies goes up any more (paying about £800 a year for the three) then I'll just up the amount I save each month and cancel the policies.”
£800 for three!!! I nearly fainted!!! Seems to me that pet owners are taken the p*ss out of half the time in comparison to other everyday insurances such as house, life etc. And when I took Alf to the Vet i kinda felt emotionally blackmailed into having the tests carried out, and then the vet phoned me the next day saying its as i thought its benign he is such a young dog and very unlikely and i've seen lots of these kind of lumps this year that were just cysts and it will go away within 2-3 weeks - which it did.
Its like me going to the Dr with a boil and her saying i am going to send it off to test for cancer immediately - it just wouldnt happen.
I feel I've been had over by both the insurance co and the vets both to who I gave a mouthful which is not normally me
Sorry for ranting and going off the subject but im so flippin angry!
I no longer insure my pets, once it got up to about £1000per year for two dogs and two cats after cost of premiums and a single excess each, but as with others, they have their own "account" for major vet bills.
Not only saves money generally over several pets over several years, but it means no forms or waiting on anyone's sayso to decide if I can have something done.
Not only saves money generally over several pets over several years, but it means no forms or waiting on anyone's sayso to decide if I can have something done.
Some very serious payments being quoted in this thread, makes me feel better about our £75 bill for a pup tooth extraction that was outstaying its welcome.
Originally Posted by Nocturne:
“Some very serious payments being quoted in this thread, makes me feel better about our £75 bill for a pup tooth extraction that was outstaying its welcome.”
“Some very serious payments being quoted in this thread, makes me feel better about our £75 bill for a pup tooth extraction that was outstaying its welcome.”
Well since my post yesterday above one of my dogs has needed emergency and specialisted treatment for an as yet undiagnosied but critical condition and the bill so far is estimated to be the region of £3000 and he isn't either home, or recovered, or even safely out of the woods yet so yes you can certainly be talking about very large amounts very suddenly but that's the chance you take, as with insuring anything.
Mind you even that is equivalent to about 3 years insurance for all of them and I haven't insured them for about 10 years now.
Sorry to hear one of your dogs is poorly Tass ~ I hope he makes a speedy recovery & is back home with you soon.
Our vet just doesn't charge us (except for the excess) and we then instruct the insurance to pay him direct. He seems a decent sort though, before we got insurance he would do the work and let us pay it off in instalments.
Originally Posted by wilhemina:
“Sorry to hear one of your dogs is poorly Tass ~ I hope he makes a speedy recovery & is back home with you soon.”
“Sorry to hear one of your dogs is poorly Tass ~ I hope he makes a speedy recovery & is back home with you soon.”
Ditto x
I had my last dog insured with Pet Plan from him being a puppy. He never needed any treatment other than his booster jabs, so for 16 years we paid for nothing. We lost him 2 years ago to a stroke, We now have a beautiful border collie but i refuse to give money to an insurance company again. I put £5 in his "pocket money box" every week, so the money is there if needed without the hassle of paying up front then having to claim it back + having to pay the first £50 of the claim.
We're with Tesco and we just normally pay the excess to the vet and then the vet claims direct from Tesco I'm glad we've got insurance though as one of our dogs has had to have three major knee/leg operations along with other minor bits although our other dogs hasn't had anything wrong with him
Originally Posted by Alfie Blue Eyes:
“Ditto x”
“Ditto x”
Thank you Alfie Blue Eyes, it's a very worrying time, but he's hanging on so far .
Have our cat insured with Churchill. £6 per month. Had some trouble with her a while back must have spent £500- £600 in stages. Just sent copies of invoices with vets paper work. The cheques came back dead fast, so paid the credit cards before we even got a statement. Good service, I highly recommend them.
Ohhh Yesss!
Ohhh Yesss!
