petguard insurance problem ** RESOLVED SUCCESSFULLY **

[hightail]

Although not connected to the insurance, Animal Friends has at least one very misleading statement on its site. Whereas I applaud its attempts to be a mine of information on buying pedigree animals, I'd prefer the authors researched the subject properly.

[Animal Friends]

Hi Hightail,

 

We are in the process of implementing a new structure to our blogging making it more insurance focused as well as looking for professional pet bloggers to write guest posts on a more regular basis.

 

Thank you for your feedback.

[TINK660]

Animal Friends,

With all due respect could you please leave this thread open to the subject it was created for, that being the non-renewal of lifetime policies by Petguard and not hikack it to sell your own insurance.

Thanks

[Animal Friends]

Hi TINK660,

 

We have no intention to Hi-jack the thread, we were simply responding to a direct question about our pet insurance and our company. We hope that your situation with Petguard is resolved favourably and swiftly, if you need any advice please feel free to contact us directly.

 

Kind regards,

 

Animal Friends

[melbury]

I received the dreaded letter today (or I should say two identical letters sent in two separate envelopes - what a waste!) informing me that my dog will no longer be insured from the expiry date of my current policy.

 

Lots of use of the word "regret" but that is very little consolation.

 

The letter says that their efforts to find another insurer have been unsuccessful, so does this mean that Petguard are pulling out of pet insurance altogether?

 

I still do not understand why their parent company Thistle Insurance Services Limited cannot step into the breach.

 

I will probably write to them, but know it won't do any good. Is it advisable to contact the Ombudsman before or after writing to Petguard?

 

I

[ihateyes]

Thistle Insurance do not sell insurance directly to the public.....

The have products for SME (small,Medium businesses).

Ie no advertising but they get their business from brokers.....

 

Hope that answers your question.

[melbury]

Have just trawled through the Petguard booket and under General Conditions, point 8 it says, quote:

 

"We may cancel this insurance at any time by sending you 7 days notice"

 

So I suppose they have got themselves well covered then by that little sentence:-x

 

I have spent the whole afternoon getting quotes from other insurers, but of course none will cover the existing condition.

[melbury]

Thank you, perhaps it is time for them to consider entering the pet insurance market then!

[TINK660]

melbury, I contacted the Financial Ombudsman by ringing them after I received the first letter from Petguard just to ask their advice, they informed me that they though it was something they could look into, took some details and sent out the completed complaint form for my son to sign so that they had it on record, you then need a final decision letter from petguard for the FO to continue. But they will already have written to Petguard themselves and the ball is already rolling. We have to all pull together on this one as we have all been wronged by this action. Good luck, mine is already with the FO and I will keep you updated as and when I know more.

[melbury]

Just to say that today I have posted off a letter of complaint to the Managing Director of JLT Online and copied it to both Thistle Insurance and NIG. I have also spoken to the Ombudsman and set a complaint in motion through them, so they will also be writing on my behalf.

 

I doubt very much if it will get me anywhere, but just had to get it off my chest!

[TINK660]

good for you - good luck, mine has been with the ombudsman for about 6 weeks now. Will let you know as and when I hear anything.

[marles]

Hi, I got my reply from Petguard today advising me to contact Thistle and then the ombudsman. I don't wan't to contact Thistle if I can go straight to the ombudsman can I do this?

Also, having five saint bernards insured with Petguard of which three of thems runs out on the 18th, can I legally cancel my policy with the other two as I don't want to keep them with the company in case something happens to them? Does anyone know if this is legal?

Thanks about the "7 days to cancel" bit, I have been trawling through online policy booklet and couldnt find anything.

Like you say, the more that complain the better. Have put it on Facebook and had a few people who havent yet had "The Letter", so the more we put it on forums etc the more people will gather hopefully.

[melbury]

Has anyone else noticed that they have now changed the message on their website - it now says "We're making changes" - too damn right they are, not insuring their current customers, that's a very big change!

[marles]

I have cancelled everything now, reinsured with a mix of animal friends and axa, thought spread it around a bit. Reading the smallprint on insurance companies generally, they do have the right to cancel. However, I still have a problem with paying more for so called "Lifetime Insurance" It can't be right!!!

[marles]

Hi All,

Got my letter from the Ombudsman advising me that there is quite a wait for a reply due to a backlog of complaints generally.

My complaint is that it states "Lifetime" as do all other insurers... Lifetime should mean that, shouldn't it? Why else would we pay extra? This is about ALL insurers, and from what I have read can happen in any company.

[jase17uk]

Hi, I have only discovered the problem with Pet Guard today when asking for claim form. I too took out a 'lifetime' policy for my 8 month old wiemaraner last January. She had taken ill and had emergency operation as Vet thought she may had a blocked passage due she may have eaten something. But it wasn't that, just seriously inflamed guts and pancreas. So put her on some broad antibiotics which she recovered fully from. As I am paying them monthly at 'lifetime' policy price, thinking I should cancel the DD and jump the ship and insure her with AXA as they do offer better lifetime insurance and bit cheaper too. The only problem as her illness is just one off not a long term condition... will AXA use it to avoid paying out any condition to do with her stomach area may arise in the future?

[TINK660]

The thing I am wondering about is:

 

If Petguards underwriters ceased to provide lifetime cover a while ago now, how are they continuing to cover peoples pets up until their renewal date? As far as I can gather from their website NIG ceased to provide this cover in August last year.

[marles]

I would be very careful and check with axa, they might relate any tummy problems back to this problem.

Good point about still paying out for existing customers??

[notisis]

Further to my complaint to Petguard, have received a "sorry for your complaint and we don't know what went wrong with autorenewal" reply with the advice if I'm still unhappy to write to Thistle. I did this last week so await a reply before going to Ombudsman. I distinctly get the feeling that although I didn't get the letter stating Petguard wouldn't reinsure, that this was the reason behind the policy not autorenewing as it had in the past. My other policy autorenewed but that policy covers a cat for which we have never claimed.

 

After reading the responses on here from Animal Friends, they were a company I was looking at to switch both my cats to but I don't think I will now. Their responses really sit uneasily with me so if they were touting for business (and I'm not saying they were) it has backfired!

 

Good luck to us all in at least collectively obtaining a reprimand from the FO for the way Petguard have run their business.

[marles]

I still dont understand how ANY of the insurance companies can claim to cover for "Life" when they can cancel at the drop of a hat. We have some dogs who we know aren't covered and others who it doesn't matter as they has no pre-existing condition. This has messed us up cover wise and speaking to lots of other people who have young dogs on expensive treatment that will cease on the end of the policy date. It is the point that they refer to this cover as LIFETIME that gets me grrrrr,

The more people that bombard the Financial Ombudsman the better, and somone on here suggested Watchdog and Martin Lewis, bet they will take it up!

[Throxenby]

I too have a dog that has been impacted by this. His insurance was cancelled in March - I had the same letter as all of you - and my insurance was the so-called "lifetime" insurance too. I feel particularly aggrieved as I had researched the co and when I saw that the underwriters were NIG, a company I had used for years, was very happy that they were a reliable reputable insurance co.....

 

Currently my dog is no longer insured which causes me all sorts of worry but I don;t think it is worth insuring as he had a broken back leg (broken by kennels) and as a result of being left untreated for a week now has Inflammatory Bowel Disease - so I am guessing apart from an accident insurers would be able to link most things to one or the other

 

Do you think I am out of time for putting in a complaint to Petguard and the Financial Ombudsman? I would love to have the policy reinstated but really don;t think that this will happen - as lifetime policies are a series of one year policies.....

 

Eve

[Paulmark]

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

 

 

 

[Paulmark]

I also have this problem I received a letter today telling me the exact same thing that they can't renew my policy which I've found extremely suspitious as I only put a claim in for my dog ten days ago as he became really poorly and we found out he had diabetes and as you know this is s life long condition which he should of been covered for , my insurance is up for renewal next month who is gonna insure him now he only got this condition last month , it seems way to convenient that soon as they find out your pet has a life long condition they get rid of you as soon as your renewal is up how disgraceful is this insurance company any help on this would be great ..

[melbury]

I got a reply from JLT Online in response to my letter of complaint - basically just saying sorry but not our fault, the underwriters decided that pet insurance was not a viable proposition.

 

I had also copied the letter to NIG and Thistle, but am not holding my breath about getting a reply!

 

I have now taken out a new policy with More Than, but of course that will not cover his existing condition, which being only 4 years old is probably the only thing that is going to cause problems.

 

Happy days!

[melbury]

Hi Paulmark,

 

You would be able to get insurance with another company, but they just won't cover any pre-existing conditions.

 

It is a real worry isn't it, you think you have done the right thing getting lifetime cover and then something like this happens and you are just cut adrift having to face paying the bills yourself.