Any experience with PetPlan Equine insurance - do they pay out?

[bellsinheaven]

Just looking at insuring my mare with PetPlan Equine. i have had dogs insured with them and they were great ....are they ok with equine, too?

 

[Sandstone1]

Yes. I've had claims with them and had no problem

 

[HufflyPuffly]

In our case nope they do not, dreadful to deal with!

 

[bellsinheaven]

In our case nope they do not, dreadful to deal with!

Could you elaborate, please?

 

[HufflyPuffly]

We've been with them 10+ years, never claimed for anything and then when we did for 1. Ulcers, 2. Field injury 3. Back injury (two different horses) the only one they paid out for was the ulcers after a fight, the other two claims they refused despite having no previous exclusions (back) and the other being a field injury.

To be fair we also had a completely inept vet at the time so that didn't help, but we found them useless overall. If there is any remote chance of them not paying they won't, we found they start by refusing the claim and then if you fight seeing if they really do have to pay it...

 

[Bojingles]

Yes, they were brilliant with my claim but not cheap. Even more expensive than NFU.

 

[JJS]

They have a habit of cancelling your claim and stating that the veterinary history they’ve requested has gone missing (this has happened to me and someone else that I know). Once you call them, they reinstate the claim and say it will be settled in seven days, before doing the same thing again. It took well over six months for them to actually settle my claim, despite them having less than £100 to pay out after I’d covered the excess.

 

[Merlod]

Terrible service, very "computer says no" despite horse never having a claim and the head of practice writing in my support. Ended up escalating to the Ombudsman and won my case against Petplan, however that took 4 months to finalize so I had no other choice than to turn the horse away in the mean time.

 

[Darbs]

They have been fine for us so far. In fact they paid the past two invoices directly to the vets and I didnt even know that had agreed the claim!

 

[ester]

We never had an issue over 2 different horses other than excluding teeth and genitals when it should have just been the latter, apparently the codes were very similar

 

[Greylegs]

Absolutely not. Had a dreadful experience with them a few years ago. Appallingly difficult to deal with. Look elsewhere would be my advice.

 

[OldNag]

I have had fairly large payouts twice for different ponies. One was last year.
But I also know people who have had major problems.

Same as I hear about all insurers I guess. Some will have a good experience, others not so.

 

[emfen1305]

I currently have a claim open for poor performance with an eventual navicular diagnosis - they have paid out everything so far (around £3700) but very poor communication, no emails or updates, I had no idea whether the claim was going through or not until the vets called me to say they had a cheque. Also it's a bit annoying that the vets have to sign off every continuation form so I have to keep sending my farrier receipts to the vets to get them to sign and then send them off (luckily my vets are good and do it for me) but it's a pain having to go through them each time. I was with NFU before so was spoilt really as they were really great with my last horse.

Oh and they don't pay transport, again something I took for granted being with NFU so been landed with £400 bill - my fault, I should have read the small print but just make sure you read every word of the policy and don't assume! I am probably going to look to change once this claim is over, I pay quite a bit of money and find the service poor, I wish NFU would have reinsured me but apparently they are not competitive in my area so wouldn't offer it!

 

[Hormonal Filly]

In my experience, nope. They wiggled their way out of everything. Would not recommend.

We claimed once on their dog insurance as a one off for £300.. the next renewal they put her insurance up by 4 x to over £120 a month and obviously exuded what we had claimed for (understand that). I understand they increase prices at renewal, especially if you claim, but by the amount they did was stupid. Our current insurance has gone up £5 a month and I claimed £4000 last year.

Highly recommend NFU though. Not a single complaint with them. Easy to deal with, english and pay within a couple of weeks.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Settled my claim for a tooth extraction. Took them quite a while to process it though. Have yet to see what the damage is to my exclusions/premiums.

 

[Velcrobum]

I am currently in dispute with them as they chose not to pay out a valid claim as others have said they seem to use any excuse to wiggle out. They also put all sorts of exclusions on horse which had never had treatment for...................

I had insured with them for 20+ years but had never claimed for any horse injury until this one. Had 2 saddles stolen from a secured tack room about 18 years ago which they did settle but it is difficult to wriggle out of that.

 

[ester]

Did you question those exclusions VB? We did hence finding out the code issue, so the teeth one got removed straight away.

In further detail
one horse front suspensory branch injury, paid for everything direct to vets inc. PRP
other horse suspected squamous cell carcinoma on penis, required 2 inpatient stays due to recommended timeline of treatment from liverpool (it didn't work the first treatment, vet being a bit too careful) all paid direct to vets no issues.
+front hoof lameness, work up and injections and happy to pay for barefoot rehab trimming.

On the basis of age and exclusions I self-insured after that.

The reason I had moved to them was because at the time you could maintain full cover for longer so long as they had insured them from a certain age.

 

[dreamcometrue]

They have been excellent for me. Claims settled quickly and no problems.

 

[fabbydo]

They have always paid my claims. I've been with them for about 20 years I think. They were very supportive over a claim which involved a complaint against a vet.

 

[teddypops]

Excellent for me. I have 5 ponies insured with them and I have made many claims and without fail they have paid out quickly and without issue.

 

[NLPM]

Had no issues payouts for with colic surgery and lameness workups, albeit 10+ years ago. However, they do add every.single.possibility. to the exclusions list - I cancelled in the end as there was nothing left to insure. For hind leg DJD, they excluded all four limbs, back and neck, because it was mentioned on the form that all of these were examined when he was moving stiffly (and x-rays narrowed the problem down to hocks, and ruled out issues elsewhere...). Yes, I could have fought to have them removed (and I have with another horse, also PetPlan) but he was already 25 by then and we were into a situation where little would have been covered anyway.

 

[lannerch]

deleted post as misread title sorry was insured with Seib (who did pay out when necessary )

 

[Bearsmum]

Although it was a lot of years ago now, they were very good at paying the vets bill including MRI scan when Bear went lame -I've stuck with them& had no further problems, so they've probably made their money back by now

 

[Velcrobum]

Ester my experience has been the same as NLPM's if an area was mentioned as having been examined it was excluded. When horse was first basically vetted (as a un-handled 3 yr old) vet mentioned a scar from a head collar rub = instant exclusion for sarcoids!! Vet complained it was removed. I now put money away in case of vets bills, tack is under house policy.

 

[Dru]

They have been fantastic with me. Last year I maxed out three claims with no quibbling and they even accepted one of the injuries as a separate claim when no rational person would have believed that it wasn't related to the first claim. They added lots of dodgy exclusions to my poilcy but accepted a letter from my vet and removed them all.

 

[Shavings]

I have never used them, but was advised not to us them!

i am with NFU which i know other members on here have had issues with but they are great for isle of man as they understand we cant just roll down the road to a horse hospital

 

[dorsetladette]

I used them to insure my old boy. Never had to claim until he had a field accident and had to be PTS. They paid out disposal and loss of use on a 24 year old stallion with a broken shoulder.

I have I had insured with them for 10 years and my policy (he died in 2014) was £136 a year veteran insurance.

I don't insure anymore, but have money put by (and a credit card) for unexpected vet bills.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

They are one of a handful that my vet is twitchy about. Clients who insure with PP are advised up front that they need to pay on vet invoice, as vets wont wait for claims to be settled as too many were outside a reasonable timescale.

 

[Magnetic Sparrow]

I picked up a good horse that had to be sold to pay the vet's bill because Petplan agreed to pay for treatment verbally, then changed their minds when the bill arrived. So I like Petplan, but I would never insure with them.

 

[dorsetladette]

They are one of a handful that my vet is twitchy about. Clients who insure with PP are advised up front that they need to pay on vet invoice, as vets wont wait for claims to be settled as too many were outside a reasonable timescale.

I'd agree with that. Luckily my bill wasn't huge and it was emergency call out of a Sunday and euthanasia. But I paid half and vets agreed to wait of insurance money for other half. This probably helped me as both me and the vets were chasing for payment from them - even so it took about 12 weeks to pay out. They had all the documents asked for in the first 5 days.