petguard insurance problem ** RESOLVED SUCCESSFULLY **

[TINK660]

Hi Jacdore,

 

Sorry to hear you are having the same problem, was your policy with Petguard too? My sons policy underwriters were NIG who have apparently ceased providing any sort of pet insurance at all. It clearly states on the NIG website that since August 2010 they are going to concentrate solely on commercial insurance which means that they will no longer transact in personal lines such as motor, home, travel and pet insurance. However petguard only chose to let him know this when his policy became due for renewal.

 

He has yet to hear any more from the Financial Ombudsman, but as soon as he does I will keep you posted. I hope Watchdog decide to take this up as I feel they must have left a lot of people in the lurch so to speak.

[hightail]

My son insured his new puppy with them in December. They must have had another underwriter from August 2010 up to early this year in order to issue new policies - mustn't they?

[jacdore]

we have received another letter today from Petguard saying another one of our dogs is no longer covered. Will be writing to the ins company yet again lodging a complaint although fortunately this one isnt so much a financial burden as this dog hasnt had any medical complaint so far to prevent us getting full cover from another insurance company. We are upset over the fact that they have taken the increased premium for "Lifetime cover" which of course they have not provided for and had no intention of providing. Surely this is a breech of contract which with any luck the ombudsman will agree.

[Lord Rahl]

Hi Tink

If you let me have your email addy I can email you a claim form as I have one saved on my PC.

Paul

(Mr Jacdore)

[TINK660]

Thanks Lord Rahl, but my son already has one, he had to ring them to get it, but thanks anyway.

 

Hightail, your underwriter will be on your insurance documents or if you cant find it you need to clarify who it is with Petguard. Would be very interested to know who it is!

[hightail]

Hightail, your underwriter will be on your insurance documents or if you cant find it you need to clarify who it is with Petguard. Would be very interested to know who it is!

 

Must chase up my son - I did ask him but never got an answer.

[hightail]

Had a sudden flash of inspiration and gone back through an email exchange I had back in March with a manager and found this in one. Will now push my son to check his documents and see if this is true.

 

we are not out of pet insurance. Our insurer was RBS and they have pulled out of the market at the start of March. We are currently in detailed discussions and hope we will be back live at the end of the month.

[melbury]

Just want to thank you all for keeping on posting up to date information.

 

I am so worried about this; our dog has an ongoing condition which has cost over £2,000 in the past 14 months for operations, so no other insurance company would ever cover him for that, I just don't know what we'll do.

 

Our policy is due for renewal at the beginning of July, so presumably we will get the bad news sometime in June.

 

I don't think it is worth us contacting the Ombudsman until we actually get something in writing from Petguard.

 

I don't understand why Thistle Insurance don't cover Petguard as they seem to own them, it's very confusing.

 

Thanks again.

[melbury]

Just a thought.....

 

As the Petguard website has been "under construction" for a few months now, how are they getting any new customers?

 

Have they sneakily changed the trading name and we just don't know about it?

[marles]

We have had a letter yesterday to say our policy is being cancelled. I tried to look at my terms and conditions on my emails but it has been wiped and just says Under construction. So I cant even go in to see what policy we have with them. Our other policy with the other dogs on is still ongoing. Trouble is two of my dogs had gastric torsion last year so anything to do with stomachs and the like will not be insured now.

[TINK660]

marles, their website has been "under construction" now for at least 8 weeks. The FOS are currently looking at my sons complain5 and we hope to receive some news from them soon. Unfortunately it doesnt help with the fact that his dog is now uninsured when he thought he had peace of mind by buying "lifetime cover". He paid extra for life time cover, and it has turned out to be only for one year. Now he has no chance of getting his dog covered for the pre-existing condition and to add insult to injury they have taken more money than if he had taken out a lesser policy. I will be disgusted if they can get away with this. I hope that Watchdog will be taking this up too (as mentioned in post No. 25 by jacdore)

[notisis]

Hi

Similar problem in Petguard. Two cats insured with them. Renewal is at different times and one renewed automatically. The other renewal was for October last year but only last month received our bank statements which showed only one payment going out each month (we only get them 4 times a year max). Rang and was told no problem, Petguard's fault for not autorenewing but they weren't sure how to renew as it had to go to underwriter. Chased them when I didn't hear anything and eventually had a phone call a couple of days ago saying they wouldn't renew as their underwriter said it was out of time. We couldn't take a new policy either as they didn't have any underwriters and weren't taking new business. Odd this auto renewal didn't work for only the one cat that we've claimed for in the past and not the other don't you think? I said I wasn't happy and would complain to the Ombudsman and was told by the customer services person to complain to them first before going to the ombudsman. Interesting that others have received letters saying their insurance won't be renewed and all where it seems claims have been made in the past.

[marles]

Really worried all day, good to know others are going through the same thing. Don't know whether to insure the ones that are okay with other companies or hold out. So angry that they can do this to us. I have recommended them to so many people and have felt obliged to contact them and tell them to change their insurance asap.

[notisis]

I know, marles. I think I'll change insurance for the cat that Petguard are still covering once that hits renewal but in the meantime for the other cat that I've claimed for in the past I'm pretty much stuffed like you are. Keeping fingers crossed that the other cat doesn't cost us!

[marles]

It makes me so angry that they can do this to us!!! You pay premiums and play the game and they can get out as and when grrrrr. There must be a way we can all get together and complain. I have Saint Bernards and have several friends in the breed who this has happened to. Surely, they can;t do this to us??

[notisis]

I think we all need to complain to petguard and escalate to the ombudsman. If enough people complain hopefully something will be done or at the very least alert potential customers.

[ihateyes]

i believe Petguard is run by Thistle Insurance services Ltd........

[marles]

Has anyone heard of an insurance company named animal friends? They are about the only ones with the same cover for a reasonable price, but on a review site they come across as really bad. Just spoke to them and they said they had had some trouble with staff shortage in the past but are back on track now.

[melbury]

This is what I just cannot understand - how are they getting any new customers when their website has been down for months now?

 

I am dreading next month when we will receive our letter:x

[melbury]

Hello Marles,

 

I have also recommended Petguard to many other people, as I had always found them very good and now this!!!!

 

At least having the insurance gave us peace of mind, but now we will have to fund all of our dog's claw operations ourselves, which cost over £2000 last year.

 

As I am sure everyone else will agree, we would much rather just pay the premiums and never have to claim a penny.

[marles]

Finally, got a quote which kind of suits us... Axa, pay a lot more for the 5 year olds but a lots less for the young ones, so balances out nicely. Still so angry as two of my older ones have had gastic torsion, which anything to do with their stomachs will be void, and trying to think what else I have taken them to the vets for?

I need to do this letter of complaint to Petguard so I can get it registered to leave it in the hands of the ombudsman. Not holding out much hope, but we shouldn't sit back and take it. The more fuss we make, the more damage we do and stop this happening!!

[marles]

Thank you for your message. I hope you can understand how nervous we all are (not just on this forum but Facebook and general friends) of insuring with another company which has problems. I appreciate that some review sites only have "bad" ones.

I would definitely consider using you if you could really reassure that you are bomb proof so to speak!

[Animal Friends]

Hi Marles,

 

Absolutely. But we have over 110,000 policy holders that have all had great customer service and claims paid out. The review sites only consist of less than 1% where perhaps a customer has felt differently and/or a competitor has created false accusations.

 

Why not join us on Facebook? We're very open and transparent about our insurance and what we're about...join us at facebook.com/feelgoodpark

 

You can always get in touch with us via phone, email, Facebook and Twitter and we pride ourselves in that we pay all valid claims and as quick as possible. Sometimes this process is slow because we are awaiting details from vets or further information but in most instances claims are paid within a month and usually a lot quicker.

 

Here's two customer feedbacks we received recently:

 

"Just wanted to send a quick note to thank Animal Friends for their help with a claim for our dog's vet treatment. We've had great service and (especially combined with your ethics) we will certainly be recommending you to friends and family! Thanks again!"

 

"We have just received our claim back for teddy, who sadly passed away during his operation. Teddy meant so much to us, he was more then just a dog. He was such a friendly knowing dog and loyal to the very end.

 

loosing teddy was one of the hardest things that has happened in our life's.

So i would just like to thankyou for the correspondents we have had from you and thankyou for dealing with our claim.

 

We still have a fantastic st bernard insured with you in which we will continue to do so. we have nothing but praise for your company. We are very quick to write when we have a problem but i just wanted to say thankyou."

 

I hope that helps in your decision making process. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information. All the best.

 

Kind regards, Animal Friends.

[marles]

Have just done quotes for three out of the 5 of my dogs. Is there no age difference in quote as the premium policy is the same?

[Animal Friends]

Hi, yes the premium will generally be the same for all ages unless they are 8 years or over, of which we will still insure your dog over 8 years. Many other insurers won't insure over 8 years old. If you are insuring more than one pet we also offer a multi pet discount as long as the policy is prime plus or above. This is automatically accounted for by the quote system.

 

Thankyou.