Lloyds and Halifax pull out of pet insurance

[Halb]

Saw this on Watchdog.
The policies were peddled as being 'for life'. Now they won't be renewing them leaving many pet owners in a horrible position.

Hope no-on here is affected.
Where do people here insure? I don't have a pet yet, but hope to soon. And I would like a decent company, not a bunch of sts.

[Simpo Two]

Insurers are in it to make money, not care for pets. For them it's a simple financial operation.

[DocJock]

Not affected thankfully, but I wouldn't like to see the premiums on a new policy for my 10yr old Westie.

[DWS]

We are with Petplan. Not cheap but the trainer we go to says they are good.

[Munter]

DWS said:

We are with Petplan. Not cheap but the trainer we go to says they are good.

Us too. I thought I'd check who "PetPlan" actually are. Turns out they are Allianz Insurance. Phew.
Hopefully if some are pulling out the PetPlan will pick up some of the business.

[Dan_1981]

Petplan also.

Not the cheapeast but its proper cover. Vet bills can be horribly high.

[Mobile Chicane]

I compared cover and premiums from a number of different providers before deciding on PetPlan.

For my 10 year-old cat, Bob, I think it offers the best value for money.

[davethebunny]

i believe that Halifax have set aside an amount for compo for people affected suing them

[phil-sti]

But are vet bills do high because lots of people have insurance? If there was no pet insurance surely the costs would be lower?

[K77 CTR]

I'm with Halifax and after an insurance claim of £7500 recently with them I am dreading renewal time as I know I won't be covered if anything should occur as a result of this last claim.

Something that really annoys me is that they haven't written to me to inform me about this (although am well aware of it) because the renewal isn't due until August, surely they should be informing their customers.

They are only offering compensation to people who took the insurance out before 2006 (I think) as it was written in the contract about it being for life cover. Apparently since then, although it's sold as for life cover, the contract actually says for as long as the contract is valid (so once your year is up, they don't have to honour the for life aspect).

I would never have taken the policy out if it wasn't sold as a for life contract.

[Munter]

K77 CTR said:

I would never have taken the policy out if it wasn't sold as a for life contract.

Might be worth touching base with the FOS if you are likely to be out of pocket because of that clause. It's against their rules to mislead customers with marketing material that's different to the underlying small print.

[Halb]

Munter said:

K77 CTR said:

I would never have taken the policy out if it wasn't sold as a for life contract.

Might be worth touching base with the FOS if you are likely to be out of pocket because of that clause. It's against their rules to mislead customers with marketing material that's different to the underlying small print.

Indeed, did you watch Watchdog? Send them your details?

[Who me ?]

Consumer action group highlighted this a month or so back .They also made some suggestions as to how to proceed if you're claiming for an existing illness ,that a new insurer would not cover.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content...

[balders118]

My other half told me about this. She's a vert nurse and she was telling me that one of her customers has a cat with diabetes and some other life-long condition that they won't be able to get cover for after they lose their insurance. Gutted, eh?

[nick_j007]

Here's the latest: http://coldwetnose.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/historic...

Nick

[Jasandjules]

balders118 said:

My other half told me about this. She's a vert nurse and she was telling me that one of her customers has a cat with diabetes and some other life-long condition that they won't be able to get cover for after they lose their insurance. Gutted, eh?

It's possible to sue them for it.............

[K77 CTR]

Halb said:

Indeed, did you watch Watchdog? Send them your details?

I have made contact with the action group that are trying to bring a case against them, so they have all my details.

[Halb]

K77 CTR said:

I have made contact with the action group that are trying to bring a case against them, so they have all my details.

Good stuff. Never let these types of frackers vet away with shoddy treatment like this.

[Who me ?]

More on this
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthr...

From Consumer Action Group
"Lloyds told to 'sort out' lifetime pet insurance fiasco



Last month we reported how LloydsTSB and Halifax had withdrawn from the
pet insurance market leaving owners and more importantly, their pets, in
the lurch.



Now the FSA is ‘losing patience’ with the bank and demanding that it
‘gets a grip’ and provides ‘fair, reasonable solutions’.



It is not clear whether this development could lead to blanket offers, but
this directive will certainly add ammunition to policyholders who make a
claim for compensation.



We are aware of some customers being paid compensation by Halifax after
they complained. However, others have been fobbed off and told to go to
the Financial Ombudsman Service.



But why is the FSA merely losing patience?



They should be going for the throats for the people responsible for
persuading innocent people to part with their money and then pulling out
when they weren't making as much money as they wanted.

Read more [http://em.jumbomail.org/link.php?M=594212&N=395&L=552&F=T]"

[bint]

K77 CTR said:

Something that really annoys me is that they haven't written to me to inform me about this (although am well aware of it) because the renewal isn't due until August, surely they should be informing their customers.

Interesting, we received a letter for both of ours in November (I believe renewal was January/February), so I got searching, again, and ended up with a cheaper, and more comprehensive plan.