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Insurance rant!!!

moi

Mama Doe
Just wanted to get this off my chest. I put in a claim for bunnys recent illness... and the insurance said they wont pay out. They said I didnt declare he had stasis before the insurance policy last year. Im sure he was insured when he had it but I didnt claim as the access at the time was more than the meds. I queried the date with the previous (might I add crapppy) vets but obviously they have got on there system the date he went it. So could it be that the insurance have there dates wrong?? Anyhow Im presuming they were confused by his illness as the vets put his recent illness down to anorixia and depression... no mention of gut stasis. So I asked the insurance company what was happening with the claim regardless of the stasis last year and they wont pay out because 'its all conected'! FFS theres so many things that can stop a bunny eating so does that mean not one of them is covered?? And hes exempt from any future stasis for 2 years when they will 'review' it. :(
 
Oh you poor thing :( That is why I have never had insurance, I just don't trust them enough to do what they should at times when they need to. It just adds more worry to pet owners and when they're ill, I'd probably sign my life away if it guaranteed they would be better
 
Oh you poor thing :( That is why I have never had insurance, I just don't trust them enough to do what they should at times when they need to. It just adds more worry to pet owners and when they're ill, I'd probably sign my life away if it guaranteed they would be better


I must admit for the first time Im questioning it. Bunny is not covered for stasis or any other reason that stops him eating, and they wont cover the teeth for the first 2 years of policy either. I spend about £40 a month on my buns insurance... is it worth it??
 
I have two female bunnies who are both around six years old (not neutered and not vaccinated) and I've probably spent no more than £300 on them in vet fees since I had them from when they were around nine months?. I know you're supposed to neuter them but by the time I realised, I thought they were too old to have that procedure. They have always been healthy other than the odd illness which will generally cost no more than £40 if they need treatment so I put money aside for them and I end up saving more than I spend. I'd imagine it would be costly though if you had a dental bun for example so you need to weigh up your options
 
You need to check the dates. If it was within the policy, then you are probably covered and it was just a mistake made by the vet surgery or the insurance company, but if it was before then it will be classed as a pre-existing condition.
 
You need to check the dates. If it was within the policy, then you are probably covered and it was just a mistake made by the vet surgery or the insurance company, but if it was before then it will be classed as a pre-existing condition.

This is the thing.... I was sure Id insured Bunny, then shortly after he got the gut stasis. And I remember thinking there is no point in claiming as the excess was more than the meds, but looking at the dates the vets have and the insurance policy then it was before. I have no way of proving otherwise.
 
I have two female bunnies who are both around six years old (not neutered and not vaccinated) and I've probably spent no more than £300 on them in vet fees since I had them from when they were around nine months?. I know you're supposed to neuter them but by the time I realised, I thought they were too old to have that procedure. They have always been healthy other than the odd illness which will generally cost no more than £40 if they need treatment so I put money aside for them and I end up saving more than I spend. I'd imagine it would be costly though if you had a dental bun for example so you need to weigh up your options

My insurance wont cover dentals for the first 2 years, so for 4 of my buns thats another years wait, and for the other 2, 18 and 21 months. Ill keep the insurance but Im so hacked off x
 
Have you perhaps got credit card or bank statement you could look back at to confirm the date? Hope you manage to sort it.
 
I hope you manage to sort it. What insurance company is it?

I do think it's worth it though if you don't want to have to fork out a large amount. Rebel's vet bill was almost £450, but the vet quoted up to £700. That was on top of the £100 we'd already spent. We could afford it luckily, but I'd rather not pay out such a large amount again, so I'm going to insure the others.
 
I hope you manage to sort it. What insurance company is it?

I do think it's worth it though if you don't want to have to fork out a large amount. Rebel's vet bill was almost £450, but the vet quoted up to £700. That was on top of the £100 we'd already spent. We could afford it luckily, but I'd rather not pay out such a large amount again, so I'm going to insure the others.

What did Rebel have done??

Its with helpucover x
 
The vets and insurance company should be able to sort this out between themselves instead of you having to look at statements. Presumably you have your policy details with the insurance company which tells you the first date of cover, your insurance will know that as well. The vets will have the dates that he went in for stasis last year, if this was after you took out insurance then they should still pay out.

Incidentally it's always worth filling in a claim form for an illness and sending it to them even if you know they won't pay because of the excess, because if he had the same problem again in the same policy year (and it was a continuous condition) then the excess is only taken off the amount you pay once. I have just done this with Ashley's sore hocks, the amount I paid for it was £63 but her excess is at least £75 (can't remember exactly) so they sent me a note saying they wouldn't pay because of this, which I knew, but if I have to take her back again for the same problem the excess won't come off again because it's a continuous condition.
 
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The vets and insurance company should be able to sort this out between themselves instead of you having to look at statements. Presumably you have your policy details with the insurance company which tells you the first date of cover, your insurance will know that as well. The vets will have the dates that he went in for stasis last year, if this was after you took out insurance then they should still pay out.

Incidentally it's always worth filling in a claim form for an illness and sending it to them even if you know they won't pay because of the excess, because if he had the same problem again in the same policy year (and it was a continuous condition) then the excess is only taken off the amount you pay once. I have just done this with Ashley's sore hocks, the amount I paid for it was £63 but her excess is at least £75 (can't remember exactly) so they sent me a note saying they wouldn't pay because of this, which I knew, but if I have to take her back again for the same problem the excess won't come off again because it's a continuous condition.
I didn't think of that.. That's good to know for future reference.
 
Incidentally it's always worth filling in a claim form for an illness and sending it to them even if you know they won't pay because of the excess, because if he had the same problem again in the same policy year (and it was a continuous condition) then the excess is only taken off the amount you pay once. I have just done this with Ashley's sore hocks, the amount I paid for it was £63 but her excess is at least £75 (can't remember exactly) so they sent me a note saying they wouldn't pay because of this, which I knew, but if I have to take her back again for the same problem the excess won't come off again because it's a continuous condition.

I personally wouldn't send a claim form when it doesn't meet the excess. If you do have a claim worth making in the same policy year then put in a claim and it will still cover the earlier incident but without everybody having to do the paperwork twice, and if you don't have a second claim then the first paperwork was in vein. Our vets charge £8 for doing the paperwork and I think it's probably for this reason.
 
If it sticks in your mind that it wasn't worth putting in a claim for the first stasis episode then I would pretty convinced that you're right about the dates to have had that thought go through your mind it sounds like there was insurance in place. I'd definitely follow it up as not being insured for stasis could be a nightmare.
 
That's really annoying!

I haven't had problems with helpucover when I've claimed before. Except the teeth clause which was the whole reason I wanted insurance........ Harvey had X-rays and other investigations for a lump in his jaw, which turned out to be a tooth root abscess. He had antibiotics which were cheap but all the x-rays and investigations were expensive. I claimed and they came back with "we don't cover dental treatments" I was livid because a) most of the claim was for appointments and investigations not treatments and b) he had antibiotics which to me is a bacterial/infective treatment NOT a dental treatment. Unfortunately my vet agreed with the insurance company and said there was not much she could write to them to persuade them to pay out :( but now, because Harvey had "dental problems" in the first 2 years of the cover (in fact in the last 6 months of those 2 years!) he can never be covered for dental problems again :evil:

I've just had to claim again, but I claimed after the annual renewal for one last year! I don't claim for everything, if it's less than £100 I'd get £65 back... but if that claim makes my insurance go up even £3/month that's an extra £33 in one year and I've lost my money in 2 years... so I save my insurance to claim on for BIG claims! Although my last one was a £140 claim, but my renewal came through and the premiums were only up a £1 from me having one successful claim of £150 last year and the unsuccessful abscess claim.
 
I personally wouldn't send a claim form when it doesn't meet the excess. If you do have a claim worth making in the same policy year then put in a claim and it will still cover the earlier incident but without everybody having to do the paperwork twice, and if you don't have a second claim then the first paperwork was in vein. Our vets charge £8 for doing the paperwork and I think it's probably for this reason.

True, although you have to put in the dates of when you first noticed your pet had the condition etc and you may not remember this if it's a few months on. I actually put the claim through for the sore hocks as a second condition cos I also had to claim for a stasis/dental episode which was quite a lot more.

I'm amazed your vets charge, all mine do is fill in one side of A4 paper and send a copy of the invoices. I pay them enough as it is and they don't accept direct payment from the insurers so I'd kick up a fuss if they started telling me I'd have to pay extra :lol:
 
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