Animal Friends / E&L pet insurance - watch the small print

Bob63

Check your policy documents for nasty hidden surprises.

I'm just sorting out the last couple of bits of paperwork following the death of our puppy in June. He was insured with Animal Friends, which is underwritten by Equine & Livestock.

The Gold Super policy which we had provides death cover up to £1000. The policy document states that it will pay £1000, or the purchase price, or the market value of the dog whichever is lowest. Fair enough. But buried away in the small print on a separate page from that statement is an explanation of what is meant by market value. Market value of your animal decreases as it gets older. Furthermore they automatically reduce the value by 25% if it is neutered. I didn't spot that when we took out the policy or during the 14 day cooling off period, so was quite shocked when the claim for £600 turned into £400 i.e. the purchase price, less the £49 excess, less £150 market value reduction for a neutered pet.

Guess who our new puppy isn't insured with?

Mike

Eels100

Sorry you learned the hard way - but E&L are notoriously hard to get money out of.

Bob63

Eels100 wrote:

Sorry you learned the hard way - but E&L are notoriously hard to get money out of.

Not sure about hard but they are certainly slow! They are paying up everything owed including one bill for over £2700 that our puppy ran up. However, lesson learned - I won't be using them again!

Mike

gyzmo

Sorry about your puppy dying.

Many people do not read the full policy terms, thinking that they are all the same. Your story shows how expensive this can be.

Hope you and your new puppy don't need to use the policy!