Halifax Pet Insurance

[Clamped2011]

Hi,

 

I’ve just received a letter from Halifax saying that they won’t be renewing my cat’s insurance policy when it’s due for renewal in about 3 weeks.

 

Like other people who’ve posted about this, I think this is incredibly unfair and am planning to fight for compensation.

 

I took out the policy in February 2009 just after I got my cat. She is a rescue cat and was about 7 years old when I got her. Within the first month she was diagnosed with heart disease and has been on medication for it ever since. The cost of the medication is about £20 a month and I have to pay 20% of that due to her age. However, she also needs a check-up every 3 months to make sure her blood pressure is ok and needs blood tests at the same time to check her kidney function as kidney failure often occurs in cats with heart disease. This costs over £100 a time.

 

During the last 3 years she has also had a number of other recurrent conditions, such as respiratory infections, conjunctivitis, and diarrhoea. In all, she’s had about £5000 of treatment in the time I’ve had her.

 

Last week she developed a new problem in that she cannot keep any food down and keeps regurgitating it. (She now has to be fed liquid food with a syringe so that gravity forces the food down her throat. Luckily she doesn’t seem to mind this) She has had numerous tests to try to reach a diagnosis but it’s still a mystery. So far the treatment has cost over £1,500 and I’ve had to pay a £75 excess plus 20% of the balance.

 

The policy provides £6000 per condition per year and I took the policy out on the basis that it was a for-life policy. If I had wanted a policy with an annual limit (which would cost a lot less), I would have bought one.

 

I have the original policy document and there’s nothing in it to say that the policy may not be renewed. However, there are two clauses that say Halifax can cancel the policy whenever they like. The first is in the General Conditions section, clause 7. It says “We reserve the right to cancel the policy by providing 21 days prior written notice by registered post to your last known address”. The second clause is number 9 of the same section and says “We or Halifax Pet Insurance may also cancel this policy by giving you 5 days notice to you at your last known address”.

 

Apart from being contradictory, I don’t believe these clauses are at all fair and if Halifax try to rely on them to get out of paying me compensation, I will challenge them on the basis of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

 

I’ll be speaking to the vets at the two practices that have been treating my cat on Monday so will ask them to provide a report on her prognosis and likely future costs of treatment. I will also write to Halifax, Agria and BDML to complain and will update this thread with my progress in case my experience can help anyone else who’s in the same situation.

[BankFodder]

Hi, We think that you have been treated very unfairly and we also think that the Halifax are in breach of contract.

Please read the other threads on this forum dealing with the same issue. We are very happy to give you any help you need to force Halifax to honour their obligations.

 

Can you tell us when the 20% excess was introduced into the contract

[BankFodder]

It seems that the Halifax may have set aside a compensation pot for those who complain enough

 

http://e-edition.metro.co.uk/2012/02/06/ - Page 48

 

 

 

MORE than 36,000 people could be entitled

to compensation after Halifax

withdrew from its 'life-long' pet insurance

policy.

The insurer has put aside a compensation

pot to placate angry pet owners but

will offer the cash only to persistent

customers who complain.

The fund has not been publicised but

sources told Metro the payouts of between

£100 and £1,000 would 'barely

scratch the surface• of medical fees.

Administrator BDML has replied to a

number of policyholders but it is

claimed complaints will be dealt with

seriously only when a second letter has

been received.

So far, dozens of complaints have

been followed up out of more than

18,000 policyholders contacted, meaning

many customers are unaware of

their rights or have been put off after

receiving a rejection letter.

[Clamped2011]

Can you tell us when the 20% excess was introduced into the contract

 

The 20% was introduced with my February 2011 renewal and the reason given was that it was a standard charge for all cats over 9 years old.

 

The 20% wasn't mentioned by Halifax, either on their website or in the policy documents, when I took out the policy. If it had been, I would have taken out insurance elsewhere as my cat was 7 and would only have had 2 years before I'd have to pay the extra 20%.

 

New policies taken out in February 2011 were also subject to a co-pay for older pets, but this was only 15%. The co-pay only went up to 20% for new policies in March 2011.

 

I have checked what excesses were applicable at what times by viewing archived versions of Halifax's website at the internet archive (I can't post links but searching for 'web archive' will bring up the right website.)

[Clamped2011]

Here is the text of the letter I'm just about to send to Halifax:

 

 

Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd

Trinity Road

Halifax

West Yorkshire

HX1 2RG

 

Re: Pet insurance policy number XXXXXXXX

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

Thank you for your letter dated XXX in which you inform me that you are discontinuing your lifetime eXtra pet insurance policy.

 

I am writing this letter as my formal complaint and to inform you that I reject your discontinuation of this product.

 

Your conduct in abandoning the lifelong cover, which I have had with you for X years, is a breach of your FSA obligation to treat customers fairly. It is also a breach of contract.

 

The terms in your contract that entitle you to terminate the policy are being operated contrary to the requirements of good faith and in a way that is detrimental to me, and are therefore invalid under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

 

Breach of Financial Services Authority Regulations

The FSA Handbook, which regulates your activities, contains as one of its binding principles, a rule that requires you, as a regulated firm, to treat your customers fairly and to have regard to them when making decisions. Not only is this a statutory duty, it is also implied in the insurance contract and forms one of the terms and conditions that exist between us.

 

Breach of Contract

At the outset of my lifetime care insurance policy with you, there was an implied term that you would provide cover for any conditions that came into existence after the initial commencement of the policy. As you fully realise, I will be unable to seek new cover with any other insurer for pre-existing conditions if you do not renew my policy.

 

You or your underwriters, for your own economic reasons, have made a unilateral decision to terminate your program of lifelong cover and this leaves me in a position where I am unable to insure my cat and may even be faced with the prospect of having to have her put down. This is despite the reasonable expectation that you created in me when you initially marketed the product and persuaded me to enter into a contract with you.

 

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

The UTCCR say that when there is a non-negotiated standard-form contract, and a term in that contract is operated contrary to the requirements of good faith to the detriment of the consumer, then that term is unenforceable.

 

For the reasons above I reject your termination of the insurance cover and I am writing to inform you that I am fully prepared to continue the insurance cover on the same terms as before.

 

I should point out to you that I am not the slightest bit interested in the fact that your underwriters may have changed their minds about providing the insurance policy as that is your issue. My concern is merely with your contractual obligations towards me.

 

I require an immediate response to this letter and although I am fully aware that there are many thousands of your customers who are facing exactly the same kind of injustice at your hands, I am not prepared to wait months for a reply. You should understand that if you have not provided a satisfactory response within the next 7 days I will commence legal action in my local County Court, either to enforce your contractual obligations or to seek compensation to provide for lifetime care for my cat.

 

Don’t bother to suggest that I go to the Financial Services Ombudsman. The County Court is the only route I will be taking and I advise you to forward this letter to your solicitors if you are not prepared to meet my demands.

 

Finally, please understand that I consider there to be a general public interest in this issue and this means that I’m giving you notice that I will not be involved in any duty of confidentiality towards you. Neither will I become involved in any without prejudice discussions on this matter.

 

You should also be aware that I am sending copies of this letter as part of a complaint to Trading Standards, the OFT and the FSA.

 

 

Yours faithfully

[BankFodder]

Definitely worth complaining to the Trading Standards, the OFT and to the FSA as well. They will all ignore it because they are part of our supine regulatory system but you may as well get it all down on file anyway.

[Clamped2011]

I can't get to the post office until tomorrow but have just emailed a copy of the letter to Halifax at customerservices@halifaxpetinsurance.co.uk. I had that address in my contacts list from when I had a query a couple of years ago. I didn't get a reply then and probably won't now but thought it was worth a try.

[BankFodder]

Well done. if that is a published address then that is good enough. It is up to them if they can't be bothered to do anything about it.

 

Post it as well to their registered office. Maybe you can post the address here.

[Clamped2011]

 

Post it as well to their registered office. Maybe you can post the address here.

 

Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd

Trinity Road

Halifax

West Yorkshire

HX1 2RG

[Clamped2011]

It seems the email address I used doesn't exist anymore as I just got an undeliverable message.

[BankFodder]

Yes, I have checked to see if there is a contact email for general insurance but there isn't. Seems as if Halifax would rather not hear from you.

 

So much for good customer service. Looks like this is a bank which prefers to bury their head in the sand

[littleyellowduck]

Marc,

 

It was good speaking to you today, I will amend the above letter to send to Lloyds TSB Insurance, but will probably not get around to do it until the weekend. I update with any responses I get. Cheers

[BankFodder]

Thanks very much. It will be very useful to follow your progress.

[Clamped2011]

Here is some information I found on the Halifax website (via the internet archive) to help prove that we all have lifetime policies:

 

What does Continuous Cover/Reinstatement mean?

Continuous/Re-instatement cover means that we will provide £1,000 cover for the Halifax Pet Insurance Product or if you have the Halifax Pet Insurance eXtra product we will provide £6,000 cover - every year for the life of your policy.

Some policies will stop paying out after the first 12 months of treatment or only pay up to a maximum benefit per condition - so continuous cover is invaluable if your pet develops a long term condition such as arthritis or eczema.

 

Renewal

If you pay your premium by instalments your policy will automatically renew on an annual basis for your convenience. This will be confirmed by us by sending to you your renewal documents detailing the premium payable and the terms and conditions applicable for the renewed policy. If you do not wish your policy to renew, you should write to us and cancel your direct debit or continuous credit card mandate.

[Clamped2011]

http://web.archive.org/web/20090530174335/http://www.halifaxpetinsurance.co.uk/pet/schemes/pb/Halifax/pages/faqs.htm - continuous cover

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20090505140748/http://www.halifaxpetinsurance.co.uk/pet/schemes/pb/Halifax/pages/tob.htm - renewal

[Clamped2011]

I just had a rather pointless phone call with Consumer Direct in an attempt to get my complaint referred to Trading Standards.

 

The advisor said he doesn't think there's anything wrong with the way Halifax have behaved and that I need to get a decision from the FOS before I can go to court. I explained that I don't have 2 years to wait while the FOS investigate and he said that was fine but it would damage my case if I went to court without having involved the FOS first. I hope he's wrong as that is exactly what I intend to do!

[JUKN]

My dog Tasha has been insured with Halifax Xtra since April 2006 (or maybe earlier?) She has an ongoing claim for a leg problem which up to now we have controlled with Metacam but may need to operate on the leg in the future. When Halifax refuse her renewal in April this year i will have big problems getting her insured as all new policies will exclude the problematic leg.

Up to now i have not been informed by Halifax that they will not renew but obviously this is the case.

I will write to them now but am not optimistic as a single voice that i will be heard, surely we need to do something as a group to make certain that something is done to protect our precious pets?

[BankFodder]

I just had a rather pointless phone call with Consumer Direct in an attempt to get my complaint referred to Trading Standards.

 

The advisor said he doesn't think there's anything wrong with the way Halifax have behaved and that I need to get a decision from the FOS before I can go to court. I explained that I don't have 2 years to wait while the FOS investigate and he said that was fine but it would damage my case if I went to court without having involved the FOS first. I hope he's wrong as that is exactly what I intend to do!

This is rubbish advice. Thank goodness Consumer Direct are being disbanded soon

[BankFodder]

My dog Tasha has been insured with Halifax Xtra since April 2006 (or maybe earlier?) She has an ongoing claim for a leg problem which up to now we have controlled with Metacam but may need to operate on the leg in the future. When Halifax refuse her renewal in April this year i will have big problems getting her insured as all new policies will exclude the problematic leg.

Up to now i have not been informed by Halifax that they will not renew but obviously this is the case.

I will write to them now but am not optimistic as a single voice that i will be heard, surely we need to do something as a group to make certain that something is done to protect our precious pets?

Thank you for this. please will you start a separate thread as it will be easier to follow your progress there and to give you help and support

[JUKN]

Thank you for this. please will you start a separate thread as it will be easier to follow your progress there and to give you help and support

 

I would do but can't find out how to start a new thread!

[BankFodder]

Follow the link - a new thread and you'll see.

Ta

[kathbews]

Hi clamped 2011

I am in the samr position as yourself with regard to Halifax and their pet insurance. After reading the posts on this site and talking to Bankfodder I have decided to start complaining and intend to go to the Small claims court if there is no satisfactory response from the Halifax. Would you mind if I used the letter posted on this thread to send to the Halifax as it covers everything that needs to be and does it very clearly. It would also save me an awful lot of time. Thanks in anticipation,

[BankFodder]

The letter was prepared with the help of the CAG and anyone is free to use it as they wish as the basis of a complaint.

[lewielewster]

Hi

unsure how to post a new comment so adding it to this section but what if a petition was started on epetitions.direct.gov.uk if 100,000 signitures are on it, it is discussed in parliment. Not that I'm expecting miracles but you never know! I thought may be if someone organised a sensible petition and posted the link on here, a web search for halifax pet insurance etc will highlight the petition and encourage people to sign it?

[BankFodder]

Hi, please follow the guidance in the start a new thread link

 

However, I'm afraid that we have no faith in the e-petitions system. There are too many of them and I think that it would be very difficult - if not impossible to get anything like that amount of signatures.

I think that the insurers would sit back and enjoy watching everyone use up their energy instead of taking direct effective action.