Halifax have offered a measly £1,000 - refused

[trishsid]

I also have problems with the Halifax pet insurance policy. I took out the gold cover as I wanted peace of mind for my dogs health. Thank heavens I did as 4 years ago she suffered lens luxation and has had to have one eye removed and the condition is in the other eye and she will have to have eye drops for the rest of her life (hopefully another 8-10 years).

 

My monthly bill at the moment is £52 for two eye drops to control this problem, i have estimated that future care just with the drops ( and this does not include her regular checkups) will be over the remainder of her lifetime to be approx £6-7000.

 

We have been offered just over £1000 which we have refused as this would last us only about 2years.

 

I have explained to the lady on the phone when I registered my complaint that my husband has lost two jobs in 2 years and now only has a part time job, and I have lost hours in the shop where I work as it is so quiet.

 

I explained that long term we cannot afford her care and we would have to give her up which broke my heart. All she said was that she would reopen and investigate my case again. Having read some of your threads I am more hopeful but any further advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edited March 15, 2012 by citizenB
formatted for easier reading

[citizenB]

Hello trishsid.

 

This is typical of this Bank - a disgraceful offer. I am sure others will be along to advise soon.

[citizenB]

You have estimated a treatment cost on the drops alone. Have you talked to your vet to consider if there are likely to be any other costs if the eye deteriorates ?

[BankFodder]

Hopefully you have read the other threads about this scandal. At least Halifax and Lloyds have sold insurance to pet owners on a - for life - basis and now they are pulling out and letting all of their customers down.

 

Both of these institutions - as banks and insurers lack integrity and people should avoid them at all costs.

 

You can either complain to the FOS - but that will take along time and the FOS has already indicated that it is overrun with complaints about this problem and they haven't decided how they are going to approach it. A complaint to the FOS could take much more than a year and it is likley to provide a very unsatsifactory result.

Or else you could bring a court claim for a rapid and effective result - as long as we can put together documentation which shows that Halifax did sell you a for life policy.

We are already building a good collection of documentation and it is likely that we can help you put together a case.

 

Could you llet us know more about your policy -

when did you take it out?

What are your premiums

how have they increased?

What is the excess?

How has it increased?

What is the likley value of any claim you might make?

[no. years remaing life multiplied by average medical bill less premiums less excess]

What documetation have you got?

 

That's for starters.

 

You should read up a bit on bringing a small claim in the county court.

It isn't difficult and we would support you very closely.

[BankFodder]

By the way, well done on refusing the offer of money. If you accept this they will want you to sign an agreement which could prevent you from claiming back any more

[trishsid]

Many thanks for the advice, took out the policy when Millie was a puppy, nearly 9 years ago now, I think I have all the old documentation. The monthly premium was £6.50 to start with and went up each year by £1 a month. Last year (Feb 2011 renewal) it shot up by £7 amonth and we then had to contribute 20% towards the cost of each claim. We nearly cancelled the policy then but worked out that we were not that much worse off and also if a complication happened to the eye condition we couldn't afford not to have the cover with the cost of vets fees. Will check out my policy in the next few days and get back to you, I really appreciate the support you are giving me.

[BankFodder]

My view is that there is a contract to keep on offering the policy each year for the life of the animal on broadly the same terms. This means that the new excess which they have introduced into the contracts is unenforceable.

Read this article here and it will give you a further take on the whole scandal - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?852-More-of-Lloyds-and-Halifax-pet-insurance-ripoff-tactics-revealed

 

I'd like very much to see the documentation that you have as it will help others as well.

 

Well done on handing onto it. I love hoarders.

 

Anychance that you could scan me the docs by email to our admin address and also let me have a phone number so that we could chat tomorrow and go through it all over the phone.

Please email me on our admin email address