Topic: M & S insurance - oh dear, oh dear, oh dear (Read 14587 times)

lisa77 · « **Reply #56 on:** December 18, 2007, 16:05:07 PM »

Thats bl00dy awful...

Ann Clarke (Tabby cat) · « **Reply #55 on:** December 18, 2007, 13:39:40 PM »

I agree Helen and Milly's mum, I was quite happy to accept that the prices had increased on mine with M&S until I saw that stupid condition, plus the fact that they had conveniently got Dylan's age wrong which made him 9 so I would have to pay the additional 20% excess

Quite prepared to pay for the cover I want but not prepared to risk my boys' lives while I ring a

helpline.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #54 on:** December 17, 2007, 17:43:48 PM »

Quote from: Millys Mum on December 17, 2007, 16:32:31 PM

I accept now its gonna cost me to get the cover i want, i just want a clear policy without funny rules like phoning a hotline whilst my cat slowly dies because it needs immediate treatment.

Exactly, M&S were never the cheapest but they did (past tense of course now) have the best cover available IMO. I'd rather pay a little more and have an insurance policy that covers what I need it to and doesn't expect me to hunt out my policy documents and ring a helpline to see if my cat warrants emergency treatment instead of rushing him to the vets

In reality hardly anybody would do that anyway, I know that would be the last thing on my mind - but how many claims will they wriggle out of saying that the 'hotline' wasn't rung first

Millys Mum · « **Reply #53 on:** December 17, 2007, 16:32:31 PM »

I accept now its gonna cost me to get the cover i want, i just want a clear policy without funny rules like phoning a hotline whilst my cat slowly dies because it needs immediate treatment.

Ann Clarke (Tabby cat) · « **Reply #52 on:** December 16, 2007, 22:53:01 PM »

I did Dylan first then used the reference for him to say I was insuring another cat so maybe that's why Hobbes came out slightly different because I'm insuring 2. Plus the date I gave was 31/12 so maybe the prices are going up

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #51 on:** December 16, 2007, 21:13:34 PM »

Hmmmm M&S musta heard about you

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #50 on:** December 16, 2007, 20:21:50 PM »

Quote from: Ann Clarke (Tabby cat) on December 16, 2007, 19:08:47 PM

Just been doing some quotes for my two and Axa came out the best - quoted £90.47 for Dylan who is 8 where my M & S premium had gone up to £101.88 and only £78.81 for Hobbes my one year old where my M & S one had gone up to £91.08

That's odd, I just did a dummy quote for a male cat, aged 1 yr 2 months (how old the boys will be when their renewal comes up in April) cover beginning 01/01/2008 and it was £93.33. Still a really good quote so I'm not complaining about the cost but it's strange as it doesn't ask for address details when you do the quote (when I took out M&S insurance they told me that the closer to London you lived the higher the premium) so I would have thought it would have come out the same as Hobbes' quote

M&S won't even let me do a quote as they say my postcode doesn't exist, funny that as they already insure the boys at that postcode!

Ann Clarke (Tabby cat) · « **Reply #49 on:** December 16, 2007, 19:08:47 PM »

Just been doing some quotes for my two and Axa came out the best - quoted £90.47 for Dylan who is 8 where my M & S premium had gone up to £101.88 and only £78.81 for Hobbes my one year old where my M & S one had gone up to £91.08

I will be going with Axa as they have the same cover of £7k per year, a set £50 excess no matter what age (M & S had changed it for cats over 9 to £50 plus 20% of the claim) and no stupid condition about phoning a helpline before getting emergency treatment. All it says is they will only pay for emergency treatment if the vet confirms it was necessary which is fair enough and seems to be standard in all policies. I will be ringing M & S to cancel and telling them why too.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #48 on:** December 15, 2007, 19:28:25 PM »

Keep us posted on your AXA claim

Pet insurance is the most claimed upon type so its no surprise the companies are changing things

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #47 on:** December 15, 2007, 16:40:43 PM »

Today Sasa has neeeded emergency treatment........see my Sasa thread........ and my first claim is going into AXA.

I went to a new vet and he was saying him and other vets were having bets as to when M&S would take away their NIL excess but he didnt know bout the new clause going into the renewals.

He said that people had been abusing M&S veert badly and even when cats had been bitten by fleas although they couldnt claim for flea treatment they were climing for any cream etc needed to clear up the skin, for example. So people were claiming for every minor thing!

What he also told me is that insurance companies were clamping down and some who supposedly offered life cover but gave an amount per year as opposed to per condition, were stating to get nasty and when the renewal came up they would not allow anymore claims against that condition!

AXA of course comes into this category but he doesnt know what AXA are doing as we dont!

Flaming insurance companies, it looks like we are gonna be hit by every company

Den · « **Reply #46 on:** December 13, 2007, 18:53:15 PM »

I've decided both my two are going with AXA.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #45 on:** December 13, 2007, 18:39:19 PM »

No I hadnt MM cos it came up when I was away , but do not like that Petplan clause at all. It seems to be a get out jail free card for them on anything you may have gone to the vets about previously.

In laymans terms it sounds like the Cornhill that took over Kockas insurance Compnay, which meant that as she had been to the vets so many times for all kinds of things, they wanted me to pay them extortionate amounts of money with a huge excess , then give me effectively no cover.

So found Sainsburys, which at the time, a few years ago , which was a much better option.

I am pleased you talked to AXA Helen cos that what I thought would be the case

, although it patently would not have been under Petplan!

Millys Mum · « **Reply #44 on:** December 13, 2007, 17:37:53 PM »

Thats good Helen

I think AXA is probably where il go as i think PetPlan are gonna exclude too many of my cats non-existant problems.
Will wait for them to phone me at a convenient time, beats getting narked off at a call centre

Gill, did you see my thread here http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php?topic=10402.0 they have a new clause that stops you claiming if your cat had the same symptoms at an earlier date

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #43 on:** December 13, 2007, 10:37:12 AM »

I just rang Axa and explained the Riley situation. Spoke to a very nice man who said that as long as it's in his case notes that he has had full diagnostic tests with no illness/condition found then it wouldn't be a pre-existing condition as there is no condition and as such I wouldn't be excluded from making any future heart related claims (which is what all the tests were for). Will ask for it in writing when I do switch but am pleased with that

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #42 on:** December 12, 2007, 18:00:32 PM »

My Kocka had been to the vets many times and had cost her previuos insurance thousands but she got insured with Sainsburys with no problem at 15yrs and then cost them thousands too! However Cornhill who took over the previous insurance, when I spoke to them and they had not seen the old one, would take her on but then cover her for almost nothing!

Much of it depends how the vets fill in the forms, some are clever and some are not!

hannah (weeny) · « **Reply #41 on:** December 12, 2007, 17:50:53 PM »

so far he's only been for jabs and ball chop

the number was 0870.... ended in 340. they'd rung me a couple of times too - was getting annoyed as kept missing it!!!

Millys Mum · « **Reply #40 on:** December 12, 2007, 13:01:53 PM »

Was it an 0800 number? Iv had a couple of missed calls with no message left. I never phone these numbers back incase its a scam

The only problem i see with the policy is that it wont cover any symptoms that they had before cover even if they are not a pre existing condition!
Ok if your cat has never been to the vets for any tiny reason!

hannah (weeny) · « **Reply #39 on:** December 11, 2007, 18:20:38 PM »

well!!! i got a quote from petplan last week after reading this. didnt seem too costly AND i just had a curtosy phone call from them seeing if i had any question or anything. i didnt but quite impressed really. will have to actually read their policy and see if its a good choice now!!

Millys Mum · « **Reply #38 on:** December 10, 2007, 18:13:03 PM »

I will certainly be writing to them

Only prob i have is 3 of mine are only half way through a year and iv claimed so dont think i'l get away with cancelling them

Its a toss up between petplan and AXA, hmmm

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #37 on:** December 10, 2007, 18:08:26 PM »

I think I might write to M&S about this new vet line thing. I'm not with M&S but I might tell them I was considering changing to them based on personal recommendations, but that I would never choose them now because of that clause. I think it's bonkers.

I might also tell them that I'm a member of an online community where people frequently ask for pet insurance recommendations.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #36 on:** December 10, 2007, 16:43:16 PM »

The new version of M&S policy is online now
http://www6.marksandspencer.com/pdf/PetTC.pdf

Makes interesting reading, they now have 2 levels of cover and it does say if you need a vet outside surgery hours you must phone their vetline

Im jumping ship, could take the price rise but not the silly new policy.

Another bit says they wont pay for your pet to be admitted to the vets if the treatment can be given at home. I can inject and monitor doesnt mean i should have to do it.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #35 on:** December 09, 2007, 18:30:37 PM »

i am with Sainsburys, and you pay £50 until you reach a claim of £350, then it is adjusted to 15% of the total - which isn't teh best, but it still means you are only paying 15%, Tigers specialist bill was over £500, and I had already spent over £150 before we got to that point, so to me it is still worth it.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #34 on:** December 09, 2007, 17:25:05 PM »

My goodness Mary, is that in the cat insurance.........that will not go down well with many.

Thanks very much for posting that

Mary (marel) · « **Reply #33 on:** December 09, 2007, 17:22:14 PM »

Just been doing a bit more research about insurance and came across this clause in Tesco's policy doc:-

General Conditions

The following conditions apply to the whole of the policy:

6. Your pet must wear a collar that shows details that will allow you to be reunited with your pet whether in the United Kingdom or on a journey.

Being of the collarless persuasion, that's Tesco out for me then......

So far Sainsbury's/AXA seems a good bet for the older puss. A lot of insurances say I'd have to pay £50 plus a %age of the remaining bill but Sainsbury's (according to their online policy doc) say £50 or 15% whichever is the greater, per condition. AXA seem to just have an excess & no mention of a %age.
Soooo complicated

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #32 on:** December 08, 2007, 18:02:51 PM »

No I dont think thats all it did Susanne as I have said below and I must admit Marel that what you just said about it getting outdated very quickly is so true and I hadnt thought od that........I dont know if it gave a date of any of the info.

I did look but skimmed and as far as I could see it was taking some things from companies info in policies but not all, so what you are relying on is a kind of shortform paraphrasing using terminology that here on Purrs we use differently.

I maybe wrong but thats how I saw the info.

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #31 on:** December 08, 2007, 17:13:03 PM »

I had a quick look at that link and from what I could tell it seemed quite informative. It said that it wouldn't recommend a particular company, and wouldn't compare quotes etc. but was just to give general advice about what to look for. As far as I could tell, it seemed to do that, no? Maybe I just didn't look at much.

Mary (marel) · « **Reply #30 on:** December 08, 2007, 17:00:29 PM »

A bit embarrassed but not at all offended!
I suppose the other thing is that the information could get out of date very quickly if not kept up - something I hadn't thought about... Off to delete it from my bookmarks

blackcat · « **Reply #29 on:** December 08, 2007, 16:57:25 PM »

My Marel, I found it very interesting and have bookmarked it to favourites

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #28 on:** December 08, 2007, 16:30:58 PM »

No thats fine Marel , please dont be embarrassed or offended , I have only skimmed through it but it seems to be pushing people in one direction and then when you get to somewhere where the percentages are it shows the number of votes and there are only about 3 on the so called top insurer.

I did get lost and impatient probably, cos what we call life cover, ie in AXA case £7000 a year , they do not call life cover and when you look at the top company outside of Petplan that gives what they call life cover , it has a cut off at 10yrs old and also the amount of cover is around £5000!

With out seeing every companies small print in detail. one is forced to accept what they have said and I am not convinced it is right and from there you cannot see the small print.

I would urge any one getting insurance or changing from one company to another, not to accept what anybody else says but to read all the small print in the insurances terms and condutions before taking out insurance.

Mary (marel) · « **Reply #27 on:** December 08, 2007, 16:23:15 PM »

Sorry Gill if you mean the one I posted about, I hadn't realised - I just had a skim through and as it seemed to explain the different kinds of insurance available, I thought I'd put it up. I've never had pet insurance so I'm obviously no judge

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #26 on:** December 07, 2007, 23:02:54 PM »

I have just looked at that site and it is very misleading I think, beware is all I can say!

Mary (marel) · « **Reply #25 on:** December 07, 2007, 21:18:34 PM »

Don't think much of their software if it doesn't block a basic mistype like that.
I came across this site the other day which might be some help - http://www.insureyourpet.co.uk/index.html

tab · « **Reply #24 on:** December 07, 2007, 16:48:14 PM »

After reading all this I thought Id try getting a quote from axa. I was amazed at how expensive it was

then realised Id put date of birth instead of age and was insuring a 98yr old cat!!!

love
Tab

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #23 on:** December 07, 2007, 08:24:50 AM »

I hope you'll make it clear to them why you're changing, Ann (even if that's not the only reason).

Quote from: Ann Clarke (Tabby cat) on December 06, 2007, 23:08:37 PM

They have also added a bit in where you can only claim for the cost of your pet if it dies through illness if it is 8 or under so anyone with pedigree cats would suffer on that one. They have also changed the excess for over 9s to £50 plus 20% of the cost.

Why would that affect pedigree cats any more than moggies? Do you mean because pedigrees cost more? That's a common clause - same with petplan. But it doesn't bother me at all - if either of my cats dies I don't care about getting back what I paid for them. The high excess for over 9's is also the same with petplan and tbh I think more and more will be doing that. It's becoming harder for companies to make money in pet insurance with the high level of claims and the excess is one way in which they limit how much they pay out. With more people having insurance, more will be treating their pets for chronic conditions (kidney failure, diabetes, thyroid problems etc - more common in older cats) and it must be costing the insurance companies.

Ann Clarke (Tabby cat) · « **Reply #22 on:** December 06, 2007, 23:08:37 PM »

I just got my renewals for my two boys today and spotted that clause and was disgusted. I was thinking of changing anyway because of all the info on here but this has just so annoyed me! They have also added a bit in where you can only claim for the cost of your pet if it dies through illness if it is 8 or under so anyone with pedigree cats would suffer on that one. They have also changed the excess for over 9s to £50 plus 20% of the cost. And to make matters worse they have got the boys birthdays completely wrong. They've used the policy renewal dates as the birth dates so in Hobbes case they have hime born on 5th Jan 06 when he wasn't born till 20th Oct 06 and whilst I know Dylan is an estimated date they have conveniently changed his to 2nd Jan 1999 which woul make him - yes you guessed it 9! The magic age when they all become decrepit according to M & S. I've been with then for 4 years now but no more and I will be writing to complain as suggested.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #21 on:** December 06, 2007, 22:42:39 PM »

i have always had to wait ages to get anythign back from sainsbury's (gave in tiger's form tonight, so shall see how quick that gets sorted), but I am happy with everything else, as Molly is 15, so if she gets to £7k with one condition, i think I will be considering her quality of life, going off how much Helen said she had paid for Tiggy with CRF and Hyper-t.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #20 on:** December 06, 2007, 22:34:27 PM »

Yes you are right before the bloods definately if you are gonna do it.

However I have to say that I wish I had never left Sainsburys cos I always got good service and know that their cover is not as good but it was always sufficient for me.

I think that this is a localized problem with M&S but the prob I do see is they are trying to be very innovative to get something that others do not have.

It could be and am only guessing now that their new underwriter has insisted on this new type clause to stop them being caught out like AXA were but i reckon so many of M&S customers have moved to AXA they arebeing swamped.

MY new insurance started with them on 23 Oct and they have only just set up the direct debit with my bank and yesterday got a letter to say that 3 months premiiums will be taken on DEc 23, which is a real pain from my point of view but shows how far behind they now are with the paperwork.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #19 on:** December 06, 2007, 22:27:19 PM »

While I am not with M & S, I do watch all these threads, in the hope that Sainsbury's dont do something similar, with having senior cats, I Am really restricted as to who I can go with. Molly costs me £11ish a month, I might see if Axa are similar - fortunately, I have never claimed anything for Molly, so can change (and might be best to do it before her annual bloods!!)

Millys Mum · « **Reply #18 on:** December 06, 2007, 20:51:51 PM »

Im still waiting on the letter everyone is sposed to be getting, not leaving much time for customers to do anything about it if they swap over 1st Jan

I will have to sort through all my vets invoices and see whats what, i think my lot have been for non condition forming things such as one off diarrhoea.

Milly got gingivitis and had a scale and polish and extraction, she will get this again as she swallows dental bix whole and refuses wings

would this be pre existing?

I think AXA and petplan are the best alternatives, not sure of any others giving 7k a year + life cover?

bluecat · « **Reply #17 on:** December 06, 2007, 17:32:39 PM »

Switching to local vets own vet plan next year well thier 30 min away but the one near is a pain and full of barking dogs so glad i can Just as a thought might be worth some looking around to see if they have any vets near that do such a thing

Author Topic: M & S insurance - oh dear, oh dear, oh dear (Read 14587 times)