petguard insurance problem ** RESOLVED SUCCESSFULLY **

[TINK660]

Hi,

Our problem is this:-

Almost a year ago my son took out insurance for his dog with petguard and specifically took out a "cover for life" policy which covers your pet for any condition for life, unlike other insurances which will cover a specific condition for one year or a certain cost limit and then that condition is no longer insured.

 

During this year he found out that his dog has an ongoing skin condition which is currently being treated.

 

He has just received a letter from petguard stating that the underwriters (NIG) have decided to cease to provide this type of cover and they have been unable to find an alternative insurer therefore his dog will no longer be covered and he should seek alternative insurance himself.

 

We feel this is unfair as he will no longer be able to insure his dog for the condition he is being treated for as no insurer will insure him for an existing condition. NIG have in our opinion not upheld their obligations in that they have not provided the cover for life that he required. He would have been better off insuring the dog for less because he has only been covered for 12 months not life.

 

We feel that even if NIG have decided to cease this type of cover they should be honouring existing policies that already have this cover.

 

Can anyone advise whether this is an unacceptable practice and whether they are allowed to do this.

 

Many thanks

[BankFodder]

On my phone at the moment so just a quick response.

Yes. Completely unfair and probably not valid unless they have some very clever t & c' s to rely upon.

More later but check their conditions and see if there is some get-out clause.

I doubt it

[totiesquoties]

insurance comes under the durisdiction of the financial ombudsman, they will only get involved once a final response letter has been received by you from the company concerned.

they deal with pet insurance, website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

hope this helps, do read your terms and conditions with a fine toothcomb first, and do not be fobbed off.

totiesquoties

Edited March 30, 2011 by totiesquoties
spelling correction

[hightail]

I'm having problems myself. I am assured that they are actively seeking another underwriter and payouts will continue for existing policies. This isn't much help for those whose policies expire during this period and it's critical for those who paid the extra premium for continuing cover. I can only echo the advice that these people go to the ombudsman. I'd reckon a letter saying they will no longer insure the animal is about as final a response as is needed to take it further.

[raydetinu]

Agree this is totaly unfair and Petguard just cant cancel the policy without offering some alternative; such as swithching to a more conventional policy that will continue the cover on existing complaints and refunding those additional premium payments.

Suggest you write to them suggsting this and that you will refer it to the FO.

[hightail]

Problem is they are not cancelling policies. All policies are taken out for one year and all a continuing cover policy offers is the chance to renew with existing conditions covered. Petguard are writing to customers as their policies come due for renewal because their underwriters are no longer covering pet insurance so Petguard cannot take on new policies. Anyone who is insured with them will continue to be so for the duration of the term. At least that's what they told me. I've also been told (twice) that they are working very hard to find new underwriters.

[TINK660]

Thanks for replies everyone, decided to take th is one to the Financial Ombudsman, who we phoned and explained the situation to. They said that they feel it is something they should look into and have sent the complaint form already filled in from the information we provided over the phone and they are going to take it up with NIG the underwriters.

 

So anyone else affected by this - my advise is go down the same route. Cover for life should mean just that not take your increased premiums for a year and then dump you. OUr insurance runs out in April and our pet has an existing condition so at the moment we are basically stuffed.

[totiesquoties]

pleased to hear the fin. ombudsman are getting involved, good luck, totiesquoties.

[melbury]

OMG! I thought there was something funny going on with Petguard; for weeks now their website has just had a message saying "under construction."

 

My dog also has an ongoing condition, so if we had to change to a new insurance company they would not cover him for this. I also took out the "cover for life" policy for peace of mind. I am just about to submit another claim to them for his last treatment. My policy runs out in early July and I just don't know what we'll do after that.

 

Do you think the Ombudsman would have any clout in this situation? It seems so unfair when you have taken out a policy in good faith and then when you need it you get told you cannot be covered.

[TINK660]

Melbury, take the issue up with them, they are going to deal with it for me. We paid extra for life cover for peace of mind and that is now not what we are getting. In fact peace of mind is the last thing we have when you have a pet that has an ongoing condition.

[melbury]

Melbury, take the issue up with them, they are going to deal with it for me. We paid extra for life cover for peace of mind and that is now not what we are getting. In fact peace of mind is the last thing we have when you have a pet that has an ongoing condition.

 

Thanks for your reply TINK660. If you could please keep me up to date with how your complaint is progressing, I would be very grateful. I hope you get a good result. I just cannot believe that an insurance company can do this.

 

I doubt if we will hear anything until the policy is due for renewal at the end of June, which I think is totally disgusting. I am so worried about my poor dog, it was bad enough finding out that he has a lifelong condition, without the extra worry of how we are going to pay for him to have several operations a year.

 

Many thanks.

[TINK660]

Melbury, you are probably right about not hearing anything until your policy is due for renewal, I took a look at the NIG website (the underwriters on the policy) and they ceased providing pet insurance in August 2010, so why has it taken this long for Petguard to inform us? They are obviously only contacting customers when their renewal date is near which makes it even more disgusting! Will keep you informed, I would start complaining now if I was you so that you are not left in the lurch closer to your renewal.

[hightail]

I took a look at the NIG website (the underwriters on the policy) and they ceased providing pet insurance in August 2010

 

That IS interesting. My son took out a policy with them for his new puppy last November and I renewed one at the end of that month. How were they managing that without underwriters?

[TINK660]

Hightail,

Was it a "lifetime cover" policy and check if the underwriters were in fact NIG - they may have placed your business elsewhere.

[hightail]

If they have new underwriters surely there would be no need to send out the letters to those with policies nearing an end. They were certainly issuing brand new lifetime cover policies in November of last year as my son got a new puppy then.

[TINK660]

That's very interesting, I suppose the problem is new underwriters do not want to take on customers with pets with ongoing conditions.

[TINK660]

Hightail, is the underwriter on your renewed policy NIG?

[hightail]

Can't check for the moment. It was emailed and I was using my daughter's laptop at the time not mine and she's subsequently left home. I was so careful about downloading it so it wasn't lost in the ether - wish I'd left it as an email now as I could get to it easier. Will certainly get her to dig it out when she gets in from work.

[hightail]

I suppose the problem is new underwriters do not want to take on customers with pets with ongoing conditions

If they had new underwriters then surely they would still be taking on new business, not closing down the website completely.

[TINK660]

This is all getting to be very interesting and rather suspicious isnt it.

[TINK660]

Does anyone have a copy of the perguard claim form and terms and conditions that they can email me.

Need to put in a claim before renewal date and cant get one from the website as it is "under construction"

Many thanks

Tink

[hightail]

Have you tried phoning (0845 683 7140). That's how I got what little information I have.

[melbury]

Just wondered if anyone has any more news on this?

 

It is just so worrying!

[TINK660]

I note that Petguards website is STILL "under construction".

Havent heard anything from the Financial Ombudsman yet and my sons dog is now currently uninsured - so much for the piece of mind that "Lifetime cover" buys you!

[jacdore]

Hi there. We also are experiencing the exact same problem. After contacting the ombudsmun we were told we had to write directly to the insurance provider which is Thistle Insurance Services outlining our complaint. They have 8 weeks to reply after which time the ombudsmun takes over. They have infact already informed the insurance company that they have been contacted. We now have to wait the 8 weeks to find out what he can do BUT he did say it'll then take months for them to come to a conclusion which is meant we have had to buy insurance elsewhere which of course does NOT cover one of our dogs pre-existing skin complaint that normally cost £300-00 a month for drugs to controll it.

 

We will watch with anticipation and interest to see how your complaint progresses and will of course keep you up-dated on our progress. It is interesting to discover on this forum that they have still been providing insurance cover when supposidly no underwriter. This I'm sure will be of great interest to the ombudsmun.

 

We have contacted Watchdog about this and await to see if they will be taking up our cause so I'm sure as the phrase goes "The more the merrier" if you would like to contact them also.

 

Ju & Paul & Zoo x