Petplan - appalling!

whiteroom

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In a nutshell - tried to insure 19yo for whom we paid 500 pounds, Petplan would not cover unless we increased value to £1500, this is just to hike the premium imho, If one has a horse and feels it is worth more underwriters need proof, In this case they trebled the value of a companion/light hack because he was healthy,,, what on earth?
 

Dizzydancer

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That's odd- Iv insure a 9yo sport horse with them for 1k and no questions asked- have you got loss of use or payout on death/theft/strayin?
I didn't add that on so maybe why if you have
 

Illusion100

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I loathe Petplan from personal experience. It's been over 5 years now and I'm still not over it. Wouldn't touch them with a 10 ft bargepole.

Scamming &*%$£^!

I'm glad I could offer such constructive advice for your situation
 

Jo1987

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I'm with pet plan as they always seemed to have a good reputation - starting to think I should change though as I've heard of a few bad experiences!
 

Cowpony

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I insured my first horse with them. On vetting the vet noticed the horse was slightly stiff C 1-3. Petplan excluded neck, back. spine and all associated soft tissue. Vet noticed old tendon injury on near fore. Petplan excluded all tendons and ligaments on all four legs. Wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. Try Amtrust Equine, they are fab!
 

Amicus

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I was told, don't know how reliable, that petplan are losing money on horse insurance so don't really want more horse clients so prices are rising and standards/customer services are dropping. Great company for small animals though.
 

maisie06

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I have Petplan and have to say they have been very good, never seem to wait long for a claim to be paid out, and the excesses are fixed to either £135 or £500 depending on the policy you take out. Amtrust work on a percentage and I have heard of a few people being left with a huge excess to pay. KBIS wanted a full 5 stage to insure a foal once.....Not sure who I would go with if not petplan, probably NFU.
 

SpottyMare

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I have Petplan and have to say they have been very good, never seem to wait long for a claim to be paid out, and the excesses are fixed to either £135 or £500 depending on the policy you take out. Amtrust work on a percentage and I have heard of a few people being left with a huge excess to pay. KBIS wanted a full 5 stage to insure a foal once.....Not sure who I would go with if not petplan, probably NFU.

Funnily enough, when I bought a foal 3 years ago Petplan wanted a full 5 stage vetting to insure her. We got over that hurdle and they accepted a general health check from my vet, but then started sending me threatening letters about non payment of premiums when they'd had my bank detail sent several times. I gave up at that point. Having said that, and just to balance things, I've always found the small animal side to be more than excellent - I have a cat with 2 lifelong conditions and they've been paying out for about 7 years now without a quibble.

I think we have to remember that insurance companies are staffed by humans, and you can catch anyone on an off day or get the newbie who doesn't quite know what they're doing, or the star staff member who's mega efficient. That's why you'll get good and bad experiences of all companies - it's always worth speaking to someone else at the company to check the information you've been given if you think it might not be correct.
 

Cowpony

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I have Petplan and have to say they have been very good, never seem to wait long for a claim to be paid out, and the excesses are fixed to either £135 or £500 depending on the policy you take out. Amtrust work on a percentage and I have heard of a few people being left with a huge excess to pay. KBIS wanted a full 5 stage to insure a foal once.....Not sure who I would go with if not petplan, probably NFU.

That's strange, must be a different type of policy! I've made two big claims and only had to pay £135 excess each time.
 

Bertolie

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I insured my last gelding at the age of 18 with Petplan as I wanted full illness and injury cover. He was insured with them for 3 years with annual premiums around £400 before he had to be pts back in February. In those 3 years they paid out over £5000 in various claims, no fuss, no quibbles, and paid promptly direct to my vet. They are one of only a few that my vets are happy to deal with direct. I have my new mare insured with them by cannot fault them in the slightest
 

Reacher

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I would check at what age they reduce the cover provided, it might not be worth insuring and better to put the money aside.

My horses were insured for 30 years, never made a claim and got fed up with all the exclusions so I've stopped insuring other than public liability
 

popsdosh

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I insured my last gelding at the age of 18 with Petplan as I wanted full illness and injury cover. He was insured with them for 3 years with annual premiums around £400 before he had to be pts back in February. In those 3 years they paid out over £5000 in various claims, no fuss, no quibbles, and paid promptly direct to my vet. They are one of only a few that my vets are happy to deal with direct. I have my new mare insured with them by cannot fault them in the slightest

And you all wonder why your premiums go up and they are choosy ,they are businesses not charities!!!!
NFU also are pulling in on equine insurance so two of the companies with the best claim handling record are cutting back it must tell you something soon you will be left with just those that wont pay out but hey for some reason they make a profit!

Seriously though OP you ask to insure a 19yo what do you really expect them to say? For those who say I personally cannot afford the risk of my horse having large vets bills why should you expect an insurance company to take on that risk without charging what they think is reasonable. Its a real good job that they dont treat it like car insurance as they certainly would not fork out £5000 to fix a car worth £500

To be totally blunt the veterinary profession are responsible for some of these issues!
 
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popsdosh

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The foundation of insurance is risk.

Regarding the post from Cowpony, the exclusions applied seem ridiculous based on the evidence provided by Vet.

Yes very true but its up to the insurance company if it wishes to take that risk! Nothing compels them too!!! They set out the conditions under which they will take the risk and if you dont like it you are equally entitled not to take advantage of what they are offering. Some people seem to think its a public service!
 
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JillA

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Someone I know has referred them to the ombudsman - they excluded the relevant part of her horse without any evidence and then tried to backdate it to before her claim date, by a couple of years.
 

Nudibranch

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When I had to claim with Petplan for a horse and a dog - multiple times - they were very good. However I stopped insuring altogether about 4 years ago when they continued to hike premiums for a healthy youngster, no claims, not yet in work.
I now put a chunk of money in a savings account. If I don't have to claim, I get to keep it. I know this doesn't vwork for everyone but it does for me.
 

Cowpony

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Yes very true but its up to the insurance company if it wishes to take that risk! Nothing compels them too!!! They set out the conditions under which they will take the risk and if you dont like it you are equally entitled not to take advantage of what they are offering. Some people seem to think its a public service!

I have no complaint about an insurance company reducing its risk by making sensible exclusions or charging an appropriate premium. My OH is a lawyer working for an insurance company and I'm an accountant so I do know a bit about how it works. All I'm saying is that, from my experience, Petplan seems to use a bit of a blunt instrument and excludes more than is necessary.
 

popsdosh

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I have no complaint about an insurance company reducing its risk by making sensible exclusions or charging an appropriate premium. My OH is a lawyer working for an insurance company and I'm an accountant so I do know a bit about how it works. All I'm saying is that, from my experience, Petplan seems to use a bit of a blunt instrument and excludes more than is necessary.

Thats their choice ! simple!!!
 

maxapple

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When I had to claim with Petplan for a horse and a dog - multiple times - they were very good. However I stopped insuring altogether about 4 years ago when they continued to hike premiums for a healthy youngster, no claims, not yet in work.
I now put a chunk of money in a savings account. If I don't have to claim, I get to keep it. I know this doesn't vwork for everyone but it does for me.

Me too. 5 years ago my horse fractured his leg. Pet plan paid up to my limit (5k) straight to my vets in the instalments I claimed in. It was totally hassle free and they were really helpful on the phone about exclusions etc.

My horse survived and is now 22 and happily rerired. He's not insured anymore - I have savings instead - as I wouldn't put him through box rest again for an injury etc.
 

catembi

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No complaints from me. PetPlan have paid some large claims from me over the past 10 years for 3 different horses, straight to the vets, with no trouble at all. Contrast with E&L...cat is insured with them, got run over (presumably as he turned up injured several weeks after it happened), cost north of £3k to pin & plate him back together... If we'd have been insured with PP, the vets would have waited for payment from them. As we were insured with E&L, they made us pay upfront (or PTS), so I have now spent all the money that I had saved for the fees for my doctorate and now will possibly get a hold put on my academic record.

Didn't realise it was E&L cos it's called 'Animal Friends' or something...it's in the v small print that they underwrite it. How I wish we'd gone with PP...no money for uni & no money for xmas, unless the insurance pays out shortly. I am going to switch all the pets to PP as their renewals fall due.

T x
 

Kezzabell2

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My old girl was insured with them for £500, as that is the max they'd pay out once they were over 16. I've cancelled her insurance now, as it never really covered anything.

my gelding is insured with them for £700 as that's what I paid when I bought him as a baby! but I've tried to raise the value but they wouldn't let me unless I got info from a professional to prove he is now worth more!
 

Sussexbythesea

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I've been insured with them for 10years and had two big maximum claims for the same horse. Apart from vet reports going astray (not sure which end was to blame) they've paid promptly and I have no complaints.
 

conniegirl

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My old girl was insured with them for £500, as that is the max they'd pay out once they were over 16. I've cancelled her insurance now, as it never really covered anything.

my gelding is insured with them for £700 as that's what I paid when I bought him as a baby! but I've tried to raise the value but they wouldn't let me unless I got info from a professional to prove he is now worth more!
Having to get a professional to value your horse in order to raise the value is perfectly normal for most companies.

Petplan will pay out more than £500 for an older horse! Who ever told you that was talking crap.
They paid £2500 no questions asked when my 20 year old pony died.
 

popsdosh

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Having to get a professional to value your horse in order to raise the value is perfectly normal for most companies.

Petplan will pay out more than £500 for an older horse! Who ever told you that was talking crap.
They paid £2500 no questions asked when my 20 year old pony died.

The maximum payout on a veteran is £1500 as stated in the policy document .
 
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