Royal Sun Alliance steering customers to preffered specialists

[patrot44]

Hi, I'm new to all this type of stuff so I hope this is of interest to some of you. I have recently heard from a friend of mine that his local vet has been told that all royal sun alliance backed policy holders will now have to have pre approval for specialist treatment and they can only go to a chosen RSA supplier or there will be financial consequences in addition to the excess.

 

IS it just me or does this sound like they are going down the same route as the motor insurance trade where you have to go to a "preferred supplier" and not the one you want to use.

 

What I don't know is how good the "chosen" supplier is and whether or not they have come to some form of deal with these suppliers on price etc.

 

A bit worrying when you consider we are talking about pets here and not cars.

 

Does anyone else know anything more about this?

 

Companies include More Than, John Lewis, Argos, Tesco and M&S.

 

Regards

[unclebulgaria67]

I suppose that they have to consider this type of action because otherwise pet insurance would not be economic to provide. Vets bills can be extortionate and they do vary. Sometimes people want to use the vet where their pet may be registered, but this may not be a vet where Insurers are happy with the fees being charged.

 

My advice from talking to many people on this subject is to get insurance from your vets practice. They have a relationship with the insurers they use, so the fees being charged are unlikely to be challenged and also the vet would complete the claims paperwork. It may cost more in premiums, but I think you get much better peace of mind.