PETPLAN AND THEIR TOTALLY ABYSMAL SERVICE

[paddy555]

the thread title is in caps and in bold deliberately. As that is how I feel about them. If you are considering an insurer find somewhere else. If anyone has an idea how I should deal with them I would be grateful.

dog insured PP, vets fees 7k
dog got very seriously ill,
vet is completing the claims and I am paying them an admin fee to do so.
no problem with vet, they have done a good job with the dog and with submitting claims.

first 2 claims submitted and paid pretty quickly, no queries, no problems.
PP advised me vet should keep submitting continuous claims
vet has done this.

Up to here life was perfect.

3rd claim submitted 6th Oct. no reason for it not to be paid 3k. well within the 7k limit in total.
received by PP and shows up on dog's insurance claim history screen so no doubt they received it and noted the details correctly

heard nothing, assumed PP had queried it with vet

screen showed date of 20th Oct when it was expected to be d/w
20th came and went.
no query to either myself or the vet

web chat to PP, advised there were no queries on it and as 20th had expired they would send chaser to underwriters to close it.
nothing happened

rang PP, usual 30 mins of rubbish music but finally got a person who advised reason it had not been d/w was it had not actually been allocated to an assessor. ie they had had it since 6/10, and done precisely nothing.

he would send e mail to claims group leader and ask for action. Advised I was annoyed, he agreed, told me poor service, apologised many times. Asked about complaints procedure and he basically said it was useless and would take forever. I totally trust his judgement on that.

nothing happened.

Couldn't find any way of finding anyone in charge so put a message on PP's FB page. They obviously removed it and it didn't go on their FB page but someone contacted me. Took details, came back, told me memo's had been sent to group leader etc etc. Claim correctly made, I had had poor service, not good enough, apologies, all the usual crap. They would log it as a complaint. I would get a reply in 4 days.

I haven't.

has anyone had success in dealing with PP or any other company in this sort of position.

how do I get PP's insurer's to get it on their system and at least say something about it? the situation seems to be it is in a black hole and can't dig it's way out.
this seems to be the most extraordinary situation to be in.

 

[SEL]

I had a similar issue processing the claim after the microcob had her surgery. It took months and they kept blaming me, COVID, the vets etc. It turned out it hadn't been allocated to anyone to review it.

I'm pretty sure I raised a formal complaint and then it suddenly got paid. Even when it was paid neither the vet nor I could tie the amount back to the claim invoices, but as it was slightly over we gave up.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Sorry, I am no help at all, as we don't insure but I want to offer sympathy because when you have had an illness serious enough to warrant a £3k vet bill, the last thing you need is a hiccup in the admin. I hope you get it sorted soon, have you considered asking your vet to re-submit that portion of the claim, in the hope that PP will deal with that in their usual way?

 

[reynold]

I had a horse die in an arson. It was fully insured with PP. No previous claims and he had been a healthy 5 yr old.

PP refused to pay out the claim for loss of horse. Their reason was that I couldn't prove that the body of my horse was the body of the horse they had insured.

My vet was appalled.

I don't know what he said to PP but he was brilliant and recognised that I was too upset to deal with PP.

After the vet called them PP eventually and very slowly paid up.

I never insured with them again and told others over the years to avoid PP like the plague.

I have always used NFU since.

 

[SEL]

@reynold that's shocking - awful, awful situation

 

[Esmae]

I had a horse die in an arson. It was fully insured with PP. No previous claims and he had been a healthy 5 yr old.

PP refused to pay out the claim for loss of horse. Their reason was that I couldn't prove that the body of my horse was the body of the horse they had insured.

My vet was appalled.

I don't know what he said to PP but he was brilliant and recognised that I was too upset to deal with PP.

After the vet called them PP eventually and very slowly paid up.

I never insured with them again and told others over the years to avoid PP like the plague.

I have always used NFU since.

That is truly appalling.

 

[Shooting Star]

Ask them to raise a formal complaint. They have a max of 8 weeks to issue you with a final response then you can take it to the financial ombudsman if necessary - it costs the insurers if a case is submitted to the ombudsman even if it’s found in the insurers favour so just the mere mention of you planning to refer it is generally enough to get them off their arses and working ?

 

[PaulineW]

I had my daughters pony insured with them, and they really dragged their feet when I claimed. He was PTS with severe colic, within two hours of it starting. Saturday afternoon, helpline closed, had to go ahead on welfare grounds. Horse was lying on a busy, child friendly yard, so was removed the next morning by the fallen stock company.
I phoned when their lines opened on Monday, to be told he should have been autopsied before removal. It took three months before they agreed to settle, after the vet had to motivate his reasons for swift PTS. The pony was lying on his back in his stable, in severe pain despite medicine, unable to go to vet hospital as unlikely to make it. It was a horrible time.

 

[paddy555]

I had a similar issue processing the claim after the microcob had her surgery. It took months and they kept blaming me, COVID, the vets etc. It turned out it hadn't been allocated to anyone to review it.

I'm pretty sure I raised a formal complaint and then it suddenly got paid. Even when it was paid neither the vet nor I could tie the amount back to the claim invoices, but as it was slightly over we gave up.

your first para is exactly there we are at. Thank you

 

[paddy555]

Sorry, I am no help at all, as we don't insure but I want to offer sympathy because when you have had an illness serious enough to warrant a £3k vet bill, the last thing you need is a hiccup in the admin. I hope you get it sorted soon, have you considered asking your vet to re-submit that portion of the claim, in the hope that PP will deal with that in their usual way?

I don't insure the horses and I am seriously wondering why I ever insured the dog at this rate
thanks for the sympathy. The claim is now around 5k and we still don't know what is the matter with him. We really have no idea what the future is. We did in fact take him to the vet's at 3am one morning to have him PTS.He is still with us and the vet's are basically treating him on a best guess assessment of what the problem is.

I have thought about asking them to re submit and that, ATM, is the only practical thing I can think of doing to try and break this impasse.
The vet's are not being a problem but `I have a serious problem with a vet who had to crawl out of bed in the middle of the night and a vet nurse who spent 2 nights sitting with him not getting paid promptly.

 

[paddy555]

I had a horse die in an arson. It was fully insured with PP. No previous claims and he had been a healthy 5 yr old.

PP refused to pay out the claim for loss of horse. Their reason was that I couldn't prove that the body of my horse was the body of the horse they had insured.

My vet was appalled.

I don't know what he said to PP but he was brilliant and recognised that I was too upset to deal with PP.

After the vet called them PP eventually and very slowly paid up.

I never insured with them again and told others over the years to avoid PP like the plague.

I have always used NFU since.

I'm sorry both about your horse and the way they treated you.

 

[Fluffypiglet]

I have the cat insured with Petplan and currently have a complaint logged with them. They are effing useless and I'm lucky in that it's only the medication for the cats long standing thyroid issue that I'm trying to claim for. Even if you do complain I wouldn't expect anything too exciting. I did put a review up on Google (not sure how I managed it) but that got a quick response as it was very public. The response asked me to contact them so they can put it right. I've been waiting since mid September for a further response. I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole for any future insurance. Grrr. Sorry to hear those that have much more significant things going on with PP.

 

[reynold]

It seems from PaulineW and my experience that getting the vet to try with PP might be another option if they are ignoring your approaches.

Vets sometimes get a bad press but with the experiences listed above they might get better results.

Good luck with your dog. Our animals seem to always want to worry us.

 

[Ambers Echo]

reynold that is truly appalling. And I am so sorry about your horse. I can't imagine a more horrific way to lose a horse than that.

Petplan are appalling. My dog was insured with them for years. Was always in perfect health. Till 1 day she got an ear infection that did not resolve and ended up needing surgery. The claim was rejected because years previously, as a puppy, I had signed up with a healthcare plan at my vet which offered vaccinations, worm/flea and basic first aid/healthcare for a monthly fee. As part of that offer I was taught how to clean her ears during a free health-check. They decided to view 'ear cleaning advice from vet' as a reason to then exclude ears.

I don't insure as the 'peace of mind' theory is a myth. I prefer knowing all vets fees are my problem than assuming I don't need to worry about them and it turning out that I do.

 

[dorsetladette]

I've not used pet plan for a long time now. I had my old lad insured with them on Veteran insurance before/when he was PTS. He'd been insured with them for donkeys years with no claims. he claim process seemed easy, but it wasn't online I had to email documents etc over to them and it seemed to take forever to authorise. And then payment took (if memory serves me correctly) just short of 3 months.

I think your best bet would be making it a formal complaint and hopefully it ends up in someones inbox. Good luck and I hope you get to the bottom of your dogs issues.

 

[paddy555]

I have the cat insured with Petplan and currently have a complaint logged with them. They are effing useless and I'm lucky in that it's only the medication for the cats long standing thyroid issue that I'm trying to claim for. Even if you do complain I wouldn't expect anything too exciting. I did put a review up on Google (not sure how I managed it) but that got a quick response as it was very public. The response asked me to contact them so they can put it right. I've been waiting since mid September for a further response. I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole for any future insurance. Grrr. Sorry to hear those that have much more significant things going on with PP.

you have a complaint logged. How do you know, what proof do you have, do you have a reference or number?

reason I ask if they told me this in their response to my attempts on FB

I have raised this as a complaint for you and will keep an eye on your claim for you and

can I trust them to have done so (highly unlikely I know)
I shall be going to the ombudsman at the first opportunity and I need to make sure the complaints procedure has been adhered to. ie I have made a complaint
thanks

 

[paddy555]

I think your best bet would be making it a formal complaint and hopefully it ends up in someones inbox. .

thanks. It has no doubt reached the inbox, it seems to be having a little more problem reaching the "outbox'`

 

[SEL]

you have a complaint logged. How do you know, what proof do you have, do you have a reference or number?

reason I ask if they told me this in their response to my attempts on FB

I have raised this as a complaint for you and will keep an eye on your claim for you and

can I trust them to have done so (highly unlikely I know)
I shall be going to the ombudsman at the first opportunity and I need to make sure the complaints procedure has been adhered to. ie I have made a complaint
thanks

I'm trying to remember but they'd already paid out on the first 1/2 of the pony's claim and I have a feeling the underwriter's details were on something so I might well have involved them in the complaint. It was one of those situations where it stuck for months and then suddenly the vets rang me to say they'd had cash in their bank and they couldn't tie it up to the forms they'd completed.

But can you trust them to register your complaint? Unlikely!!

 

[paddy555]

it seems that this is likely to take at least a few weeks until we can get it to the ombudsman or they do something. What is the normal situation about the vet. Do they just sit and wait? Do they bill the client" Does anyone know?

I shall ring the vet (a hospital so I guess they have a lot of experience) tomorrow or Monday to update them and ask their advice as to the best way forward.

 

[Nasicus]

Petplan are appalling. My dog was insured with them for years. Was always in perfect health. Till 1 day she got an ear infection that did not resolve and ended up needing surgery. The claim was rejected because years previously, as a puppy, I had signed up with a healthcare plan at my vet which offered vaccinations, worm/flea and basic first aid/healthcare for a monthly fee. As part of that offer I was taught how to clean her ears during a free health-check. They decided to view 'ear cleaning advice from vet' as a reason to then exclude ears.

I would have fought them like a rabid wolverine over that!

 

[forumuser123]

Had a horse break its leg in the field.
Pet Plan representative contested my claim as I hadn't received their permission before having the horse pts.

 

[Sandstone1]

I have to say that I have been with petplan for years both with dogs and horses and have always had pretty good service from them. Maybe I have been lucky or maybe things going down hill with them. Whichever it is I hope you get sorted soon and your dog improves.

 

[teddypops]

I have never had a problem with Petplan and have made loads of claims, including having a pony pts when he injured his neck. I didn’t ever contact them and they paid out death and disposal for that pony as well as vets fees.

 

[jnb]

Don't bother with Facebook - as you have found, they can delete your comments. Twitter is the way forward as anything tagging them, only you can delete as the author. Keep Tweeting about your appalling service, how you get no response, do not recommend, avoid etc etc and I bet you'll get a name to contact like sh*t off a shovel. A friend has issues with a VW garage, got nowhere via phone, email and Facebook, I tweeted on her behalf as she doesn't have Twitter and had a name in Customer Services contact her within the day.

 

[dixie]

I have never had a problem with Petplan and have made loads of claims, including having a pony pts when he injured his neck. I didn’t ever contact them and they paid out death and disposal for that pony as well as vets fees.

same here. They’ve been brilliant with me, always paid without quibble.
sounds like they’ve gone down hill since though and also using the COVID excuse for poor service.

 

[twiggy2]

If your paying the vets to deal with it then the idea is that they chase the money, it used to be part of my job and it was my responsibility to chase and keep the owner informed of how the claim was going

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Some heart breaking stories here. Paddy555 - I hope your dog gets better soon. Clicking 'Like' seems heartless, we need a 'Care' or 'Feel for you' button.

 

[onemoretime]

Ask them to raise a formal complaint. They have a max of 8 weeks to issue you with a final response then you can take it to the financial ombudsman if necessary - it costs the insurers if a case is submitted to the ombudsman even if it’s found in the insurers favour so just the mere mention of you planning to refer it is generally enough to get them off their arses and working ?

I had a very difficult situation with Amlin Insurance (through Shearwater who were very good) with our lorry. A tree fell on it in February 2020 and wrote it of, it went right through the cab. It was insured for 25k. They argued and argued about the amount they wanted to pay, offering 16k and showing us similar lorries which were on 2nd hand chassis and much higher mileage, several had been clocked a considerable amount. It went to the Ombudsman, a different assessor was sent in still only valued it at 20k, it only had 12,400 miles on it as we had it from brand new even though it was 12 years old and in immaculate condition. It ended up with them selling the wrecked lorry without our permission or knowledge, we only found out when we were going to send our own assessor in. When challenged about the sale of the wreck they paid up the full 25k. This took a year to get through, good job Im married to a Lawyer and we are both retired.

 

[Merlod]

I took petplan to the insurance ombudsman, after their refusal to pay out my horses first claim (3k) for pathetic reasons, my vet (practice owner) even wrote directly to them to no avail.. I ended up winning my case and they were made to pay out. I ended up cancelling shortly after because of the frankly ABSURD exclusions they tacked on at my renewal, which pretty much covered them for never paying out for anything ever again. I wouldn't bother wasting your time trying to reason with them, it ends up very "computer says no" just go after them through the ombudsman.

 

[paddy555]

If your paying the vets to deal with it then the idea is that they chase the money, it used to be part of my job and it was my responsibility to chase and keep the owner informed of how the claim was going

thank you for your comments. I hoped someone with experience from the vet side would comment. Did you find this happened often? What if they didn't pay for say 3 months? would the vets just carry on chasing? at some stage would they expect the owner to lodge a formal complaint?

If I was your client would you expect me to sit back and do nothing. Never been in this position before so a bit lost.

this is a fairly large vet's of 2 hospitals and a 3rd practice (not a small one man vet practice)