Choose Pet Insurance Carefully

Anyone who knows me knows how crazy I am about my animals. I make sure that they are cared for and as part of that, I make sure that they are insured.

Up until December 2011 I was with Direct Line Insurance for both of my dogs, had been with them for years. With pay cuts and costs rising I thought it would be a good idea to shop around and see if I was getting a competative quote.

I ended up changing my insurers to Animal Friends Insurance. Their colourful and friendly adverts pulled me in together with the fact that they donated to charity with each new policy. I felt safe.

In January my dog Wilbur took ill, I honestly thought he was going to die and his illness went on for weeks. I paid hundreds of pounds in vet bills until at last he needed an MRI scan and I knew that I would have to use my insurance company, who on earth can afford £2000 these days? I am going through cancer treatment for goodness sake and am not able to work!!!!

Wilbur was treated and thankfully made a good recovery! Sigh of relief?????? Yes and No!

The insurance company refused my claim on a technicality.

I have insured my animals for years and will continue to do so until they die. I have paid thousands and thousands of pounds in premiums but that was ok because I knew my animals would be safely covered should anything out of the blue happen.

How wrong I have been.

I have since read online reviews on them and wished I had done so earlier, I have learnt my lesson the hard way.

I have appealed against their decision but I dont think I stand a chance.

So I am left with a bill I can't afford to pay if I hadn't had insurance for Wilbur I wouldn't have gone ahead with the operation.

The Pet Insurance Stitched Us Up

Just after Christmas, my 4 year old Miniature Schnauzer, Wilbur was taken ill. When I took him to the vets, they did a thorough examination of him and concluded that he was sore on his right side and suggested he might have slipped a disc. Rest and painkillers were ordered.

This ordeal went on for weeks with no improvement being made. I was in tears seeing the pain that my poor boy was in and not being able to help him.

At about the same time I found out that I had a second breast cancer so you can imagine the turmoil my life was in at that point.

Xrays were taken of Wilburs spine and to the specialists and my own vets mind, we were looking at one possibly two slipped discs.

So Wilbur went in for the operation only to find that he had a massive infection around his spine. The specialist was amazed because he hadn't seen anything like it before. Drains were fitted and he was put on a 2 month course of strong antibiotics.

The bill so far was £2500 but we have insurance for the dogs so I honestly didn't think that this was a problem.

Well, I put my claim in only to have it returned to me saying that my claim had been declined. This was because in September 2011 Wilbur had the achey shakes which was treated with antibiotics. Even though my vet and the specialist thinks that because of the time frame its highly unlikely that the two illnesses are connected. So they are saying that this was a pre-existing condition before I took out the insurance with them.

I have owned dogs for years and the amount I have paid into insurance policies runs into thousands, but I didnt mind because for me its a safety net when the unexpected happens as it did to Wilbur.

I am now wondering would I have been wiser to have opened a savings account and put the money away each month.

I won't name and shame the insurance company just yet but believe me, I will do if they still refuse my claim, after all, I don't want anyone else ending up in this situation. This is a worry I could do without post operative and facing radiotherapy plus a series of other tests.

Shame on the pet insurance industry!