Pet Insurance extortion!

perpetualcoolness

I was shocked when I returned home from work earlier to find the renewal letter from More Than Pet Insurance, increasing the monthly payment of £36 to an astounding £50.96!! I called thinking it was an error and was told it was correct, that this increase is due to an increase in vet fees and medications, and because of our claims. We have not claimed anything for over a year (before that, we did, when our cat had an accident) so their argument is rubbish! And are they charging an extra £15 a month from each customer to cover for the 'increase in vet fees and medications?'. That's well profitable for them! How can they do this? Our cat is old, now 19, but they never mentioned age as the issue - they used the age excuse last year when they put the price up from £29 to £36!! But now, up to £51?!! Isn't there some sort of legal threshold to curb these Insurance companies extortionate prices?? And, of course, because my cat is indeed old, I won't be able to get a new insurer now, will I? So, I am stuck with greedy More Than? :mad:

ILW

perpetualcoolness wrote: »

I was shocked when I returned home from work earlier to find the renewal letter from More Than Pet Insurance, increasing the monthly payment of £36 to an astounding £50.96!! I called thinking it was an error and was told it was correct, that this increase is due to an increase in vet fees and medications, and because of our claims. We have not claimed anything for over a year (before that, we did, when our cat had an accident) so their argument is rubbish! And are they charging an extra £15 a month from each customer to cover for the 'increase in vet fees and medications?'. That's well profitable for them! How can they do this? Our cat is old, now 19, but they never mentioned age as the issue - they used the age excuse last year when they put the price up from £29 to £36!! But now, up to £51?!! Isn't there some sort of legal threshold to curb these Insurance companies extortionate prices?? And, of course, because my cat is indeed old, I won't be able to get a new insurer now, will I? So, I am stuck with greedy More Than? :mad:

Think you are very lucky to get anyone to insure an 18 year old cat. I would suspect there is a high probability that they will end up having to pay out.

adamc260

You don't HAVE to insure your pet... so you can choose to save that money instead and use it to pay for any vets fees but if you have a big 'claim' you may find your loosing out!

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pvt

19 years is a good innings for a moggy.

My cat made it to 19, and I never bothered with pet insurance at any time. In his first 18 years I only shelled out a cumulative total of about £500 on vet's bills. But in the last 12 months of his life I spent over £800 on examinations, tests, medication, etc. as his kidney's started to fail. I probably would have shelled out many thousands more if I hadn't realised how cruel I had become trying to keep a cat with no quality of life alive for my own pleasure.

As ILW says, in a cat's 19th year the likelihood of a significant outlay in vet's bills is very high, the quote you have doesn't seem totally unreasonable in that respect.

jetbag

I have a cat and 2 dogs, I have always had animals: cats, dogs, horses.
I only had insurance once for one of my horses and when I had a large vet bill they refused to pay, so I do not trust insurance companies anymore. I agreed with my vet and the vetenary college where she was sent for treatment to pay them by monthly installments.
They are a business first and foremost and as such are there to make a profit.
I just put the equivalent of insurance premiums into a savings account and if I get any vet bills this more than covers it.
Maybe I am lucky but other than for the horse I have not had any major or expensive vet bills to pay.

perpetualcoolness

Thanks for your comments. My cat, who will be 20 in October, is a very lively cat, still completely 'with it' and very intelligent as a matter of fact. She understands sign language which I guess is the result of a 20 year companionship. She has been there at my most difficult times, sitting by my side, and still makes me laugh when she goes mental running around the room (burning energy if a little bored) and sliding on the laminate floor - then meowing for a cuddle. She is worth every penny and more than I have spent on her pet insurance. This, however, is not the issue. I just think it is a matter of principle, and I refuse to accept that insurance companies are able to charge extortionate prices such as this. As a matter of fact, I did manage to find two other companies who will ensure my cat for a fraction of the price that More Than tried to get out of me.

dacouch

I hope you have not gone with Entertainment and Leisure (E&L) as if so your wasting your money

adamc260

Check the excesses, a lot of companies charge a certain amount + % of the overall treatment.

More than are guilty of doing this

Superbiatch

The same happened with my dog insurance on my 13 year old staffie last year at renewal. So instead of paying the £50 a month to the insurance vultures, we put the £35 a month (the amount we were paying monthly the previous year) into a savings account which has already amounted to a few hundred. My OH will pay whatever it costs to ensure his health and we pay a lot of money for his arthritis medication each month, so that is not the issue. Set up a savings account and stop lining the insurance company pockets

bouncydog1

You are also likely to have anything that she has been treated for previously excluded and at 19 there are bound to be some things. Although you have paid less you are likely to have got worse cover.