Am I grumpy, or would you too be annoyed?

quirky

quirky

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I'll try and keep this short :rolleyes:.

Insured with NFU, have been for years. No complaints, have always paid out. Premiums could be cheaper, but, you get what you pay for :cool:.

I have a claim in. I get a letter from NFU saying they are handing my claim to another company as they are mad busy. Get letter from other company saying they need more info.

Give them a call, they don't know what info they need off hand, they have to check my file. Can they do that? "No, I have 300 files here, do you expect me to go and search through them for yours?" .... "Umm yes, actually I do. You send me a letter, the least you can do is tell you what you want from me". Had a small ding dong with the girl and told her she was ruder than rude :eek:, conversation over.

They call me back the next week. They want vet report and invoice. Ok, ring vet, ask them to fax through, they do it that day. I also put in a claim for travelling expenses to referral vet (approx £300). I went to that vet 15th of August.

I rang 10 days back to see where we were up to. I was told that my file was with somebody who works from home, so they couldn't tell me. She'll ring me back ...... she didn't!!

So, ring again today and again, no news.

Ring NFU, tell them of my fruitless calls and 'file at home' problems. Also say I am disappointed that I pay NFU premiums but have to deal with a company that really don't put NFU in a good light. I understand they are busy and they have to outsource work but I suggested they could be a little more choosy in their partnerships.

I will insure with NFU again, in fact, I have just renewed but I am really disappointed with how this claim has gone.

NFU will take my claim back in-house but this will lead to further delays, so I have reluctantly left it with the other company.

Fingers crossed my vets get paid soon as I really can afford to pay out £k's :(:(.
 
In short, I would be furious!
Yes they are busy, but thats not YOUR fault is it? You pay your premiums, and you expect a certain level of service.
I would be asking them to take the claim back in-house, and have it made a priority to deal with ( as you have already been left waiting by the other company, despite having to chase them up!).
 
I would be furious and in fact I am. I wonder whether that's how they "lost" a fax - or at least can't tell me whether it ever arrived - leading to several years of different fusses and frustrations when dealing with them and an "uninsurable" horse?
 
I also just to be with NFU when they were a smaller more caring company, now it seem that they take your money and you very not much back for it they seem to have got too big and dont employ enough staff all about profit , .
I would be god darn furious and would demand that my file is back at NFU and dealt with as a priority, and any late payment fees at the vets are also covered by them.
 
It's funny that you should say this as I am having problems with them at the moment. My horse that was pts April 2009 had previously had 4 claims with them which they paid out without fuss, however they didn't want to do the loss of animal as they thought it was ok for him to be in the paddock on 2 bute a day and still be lame/pain. They paid all bills but there was a slight delay as they were busy. My new horse ended up with 3 claims over the last 12 months, NFU were very slow to pay, have muddled payments up - mixed all three claims into one and then only half allocated them.

I have been chasing them for June invoices which although been sent about 10 times they had no record of them and now they say I'm over my limit. Finally I got an email address from them so I could send a spreadsheet as to what has been invoiced and what has been paid so hopefully they will now pull their finger out.
 
quirky said:
Fingers crossed my vets get paid soon as I really can afford to pay out £k's :(:(.
Click to expand...

My vet is fantastic but he has been messed around (alot) by insurance companies. He says Pet Plan or NFU for when I insure again.

We have an agreement that if the bill is massive he is happy to take instalments. He would rather do that and know he is going to be paid than wait for insurance companies to think about it. He has also said that he gets his money quicker by accepting instalments. I would rather make sure he had his money as quickly as possible by whatever method so I like to pay directly. After several big long discussions with him this is the main reason why I don't insure for anything more than 3rd party.
 
That happened to me a few months ago. Put a claim in and as NFU were so busy another company were dealing with it. It went on and on until I rang, I was furious saying it was my first claim in 12 years and blah blah blah. Needless to say it got sorted in 2weeks :)
 
Oh dear!

I have recently reinsured with the NFU.

If I were you I'd be trying to go for some sort of compensation.

When I have a problem I always go about it the same way regardless of who it is... (banks, internet, phone etc)... I call them and after no resolve I ask for their manager, if still no resolve I ask to speak to THEIR manager..... and so on up the chain. If a hear 'my manager is busy' I then tell them thats fine, I'll sit on the end of the phone until they have the time to talk to one of their customers. I get my issues resolved VERY quickly this way. Give it a go.
 
I'm afraid to say I had a similar experience when my lorry burned out last year. They dragged their feet really badly, each time the claim seemed to be moving forward they seemed to 'find' another hitch. It took nearly six months to get the money :( This was all dealth with by the local office too.
 
Ohhh no you are not being grumpy! I would be furious! When you insure with somebody you expect THEM to deal with claims etc not a 3rd party :eek: unless obviously you go through a broker! TBH they shouldn't be taking on customers if they don't have the staff to cover this :confused:

I have been with NFU for 5 yrs now and never had a problem, I have just recently insured my lorry with them and they forgot to take the payment! :eek: me being the good person I am I rung up and informed them and paid :( they said I would have got away with not paying too as it was on file payment had been received :( At any signs of problems I'm going tho throw that at them :p
 
When dealing with insurers etc I send everything by 'Royal Mail Signed For' or 'Royal Mail Special Delivery' so that there is no dispute that they have received the documentation/correspondance and when they received it. I also confirm all telephone conversations in writing. That way one has a record of what happened and when so that there can be no unfortunate misunderstandings or any doubt as to how long they have taken to resolve an issue.
 
What appalling service. My vet, like a lot of practices charge a surcharge if full payment isn't made within 30 days. I left NFU years ago, too pricey and too inflexible, so went to Petplan. They've been excellent this year and when your horse needs treatment, chasing up insurance companies and paperchasing is the last thing you need.
 
I have 3 claims with them at the moment. 1 has been on going since May, they asked for the history which i sent 3 weeks ago, not heard a thing. 1 has been out sourced the other 2 they are dealing with. The problem i have is i've paid the vet and i'm owed the money. I think he may need an operation, i won't be able to pay for that if i don't get back what i've already paid. They are not large claims but I would expect to have heard something by now. I'm furious too so your not on your own. I think a call to them tomorrow is on the cards.
 
i'd be going MENTAL! to me its the NFU who have outsourced the work, not you, so its up to them to chase the paper and sort it out, not you- you are paying NFU to sort it for you... i have an insurance broker who sorts out my horsey insurance for me- so if i have a problem i speak to them and they do all the paperwork and chasing of people, its what i pay for!
 
I feel your pain, I really do.
I've been working in the office with Granny doing the office side of the farm and absolutely EVERYTHING runs through NFU. We are going through a claim at the moment and I have spoken to got knows how many legal firms "acting on behalf" of NFU. It is like going round in circles and I do end up getting very angry with people's receptionists and secs that just do NOT have a clue.
As much as we can't really fault NFU, I hate the fact that "information needs to supplied by X" and when you phone to ask what information needs to be supplied you get a "Mr X will phone you back" and he does so three days later...
 
2 words - Insurance Ombudsman
If you are getting grief from insurance company speak to the above and then tell the insurance company you have done its amazing how quickly they respond :D
 
My friend is having similar problems & NFU have still not paid her vet! I've always been insured with Pet Plan & I have to say they have always been fabulous & always payed out quickly. My only complaint is the "exclusions" they place on equine insurance. If you smashed a wing on your car, it wouldnt get excluded would it?!
 
Just move your insurance: most companies will be better that this one, swerve one of those which advertises in most magazines (ask your vet)
I once asked the NFU for biz insurance and the policy cost was FOUR times the one i selected, AND it had a £1000 exclusion, plus it was totally the wrong policy, i googled and soon found a broker offering good value with four companies, all with slightly different bells and whistles. You need to be clear what you are getting and what they need in terms of vet background.
 
OMG this would be first equine!

My claim after 8 months is now being handed over to these muppets! I have heard god awful things about these people! It sounds like they have a 'posh' address and everyone works at home!

I will be visiting my local NFU office in the morning and DEMANDING that NFU YORK sort my claims not some numpty 3rd party who do not care a toss.

I pay extra premiums for the SERVICE from NFU if they are going to FAIL on that then certainly I will take ALL my insurances-business and home away from them
 
Insurers have to have a disputes procedure. Write in and make it clear you are making an official complaint. Copy it to the CEO too. A senior manager / head of claims will get involved and not only will the other comp get kick up the backside, your claim will get sorted too. They prob won't accept things have been handled badly, but it will get your claim moving. Working for an insurer (not equine) I know it's hard to deal with backlogs but there should still be a min level of customer service. There are many insurers I wouldn't touch with a bargepole because of their claims handling. Oh and Nfu were one of my clients in my last job and they were very arrogant as a company.
 
Quirky I feel your pain!!!
My claim is going through at the moment, NFU have advised me that a 3rd party are handling it as they are bogged down with claims.
OMG I have never dealt with a such a bunch! Im chasing all the time they have had some invoices now for nearly 3 months and still not paid, they have been worse than useless ive had wrong information given to me etc, people who have not got a clue, people promising to call me back and never do!
I stupidly have paid all bills to the vet and now ive spent over £1600 and have had £350 back so far, its so frustrating. They have said my claim is ok and I will rec a cheque but when they couldnt tell me!!!
The straw that broke the camels back was the 3rd party charged me £10 admin charge!! I pay my premiums to NFU they dont charge an admin fee so why should I pay??
I have rung NFU and complained twice so far. Infact I will be calling both companies this afternoon as I have more invoices to send and First Equine say they need to be sent to them Arghhhh its never ending!!
 
We currently have numerous claims with NFU and they are awful!

I have lost 3 horses in the past year and not recieved a single penny for any of them, one i didn't expect to as even though vet said it had to be done the insurer would see it as behaviour issues (we think he had a brain bleed as he all of a sudden became a danger to himself and others).

B started colicing and continued to do so over a period of 10 days. She had endless scans, investigations, belly taps, gastro guard etc etc but as soon as she started to eat she would start colicing again. Vets then didn't know what it was. They suggested sending her up to Edinburgh for investigative surgery. At this point we said enough is enough (she had on going lameness issues aswell) and decided to put to sleep as i couldn't see her through anymore suffering. NFU paid out for the 4k of vets fees (she spent 10 days in te vets) but would not pay for loss of animal as there was further options available.

I lost S a month ago. 2 weeks after i bought him he went lame (he was fully vetted and came from a reputable dealer), psd was diagnosed with possible early spavin. 10 weeks box rest, shockwave and tildren and we started walking again. 2 1/2 weeks later went lame again vet bak out etc etc. Conclusion there was nothing more to do for him. He was on 3 danilon a day to keep him relatively comfortable and he was dropping weight and generally a very unhappy boy. Under vets agreement he was pts. NFU will not give us anything back, they are claiming the injury starting within the stupid 2 weeks exclusion period. However they started the insurance policy from the wrong day. Many complaints later and full investigation has been launched......turns out there has been numerous FSA breachs within all of this.

We are sick to the back teeth and starting to wonder whether it is worth insureing for anything other than 3rd party. We have paid all the vets fees anyways.

All i can suggest is keep chasing!! That is the only way anything happens. Oh and if you have a local branch office go in and rufuse to leave until you get answers!
 
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In the last 18 months the NFU have (will have) paid me out about £12,000 (yes the 0 is in the right place. I have had incredible bad luck!)

I currently have my final claim in at the moment. They told me the claims were taking 6 weeks to process at the moment. I haven't bothered to chase yet. Been with them 3 weeks. No point as I was given time scale. But did speak to claims person to check they had all paperwork they needed before I went on holiday and she said yes. So fingers crossed.

As much as they take time to pay out, the have been totally brilliant (incl loss of horse). Compassionate and polite (with a sense of humour about my bad luck!) at all times.

Wouldn't ever go with Petplan after they told my friend whose horse needed a bone scan they'd only pay out if the results came up with something wrong!!! I don't think so!!
 
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