Anyone else having trouble with ANIMAL FRIENDS Insurance?

thirkers

ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE,
DO NOT TOUCH THIS COMPANY WITH A DISINFECTED BARGE POLE

As the previous poster states
AVOID, AVOID, AVOID at all costs or you will be caught out as my daughter Luci was,

My daughter took out a policy for £3,000 for her little dog with the "Firm" mentioned above.
In September this year her little dog was knocked down and sustained
horrendous injuries. An operation ensued to save his life which was
successful and now after three months of care from our wonderful vets and staff
he is almost back to himself again. The vet bill is for just over £1,600. My daughter made a claim and was told the policy figure of £3,000 was for six separate instances of £500 over a twelve months period. An excess of £99 will be payable on each claim, so the £3,000 is nonsense, Luci's little dog was knocked
down on our own private property, actually on our own private drive. It was at least 400 yards from the country lane that our drive runs to.We have a farm so the land and drive to the house is private. The vehicle that knocked the dog down was the Post Office Van. The post Office have been very good understanding and
sympathetic and have admitted the fact where the dog was knocked down on our own private land nowhere near the road whatsoever. This is undisputed fact. ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE have amazingly, refused our claim.

Their letter OF IDIOTIC EXPLANATION:
We write following the review of your recent claim for Brynn.
From the information provided, we note that Brynn was unfortunately not kept secure, which resulted in a car accident.

It is with regret that in view of the accident circumstances described, we will be unable to consider the claim due to section 13 of your policy:
SECTION 13 - GENERAL CONDITIONS
13.1 General Conditions
13.1.5 You must ensure your pet cannot escape or stray from your property and any area in which a dog is kept must be secure and appropriately fenced or otherwise secured and all reasonable steps must be taken to prevent escape. When loading your pet into or out of your vehicle, you must ensure that the area is either secure or your pet is on a lead.

In light of the above we have no option but to decline your claim and apply the following exclusion to your policy:

Excludes cover on all claims with respect to Anything to do with The Road Traffic Accident that occurred in
September 2014 and Resulting Conditions with effect from 8th September 2014.

It is ridiculous to say this is a road traffic accident when the nearest road is over 400 yards away

Our Private Drive is not a road, road traffic accidents don't happen on a private drive

A Road Traffic Accident is:= AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING "VEHICLES" (Collins English Dictionary)

Our dog did not escape or stray it was near us as we were gardening. After seeing other horror stories on here, it's just par for the course it seem for this dreadful company. Mark my words, ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE, you certainly have not heard the last of me and my family.

dacouch

thirkers wrote: »

ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE,
DO NOT TOUCH THIS COMPANY WITH A DISINFECTED BARGE POLE

As the previous poster states
AVOID, AVOID, AVOID at all costs or you will be caught out as my daughter Luci was,

My daughter took out a policy for £3,000 for her little dog with the "Firm" mentioned above.
In September this year her little dog was knocked down and sustained
horrendous injuries. An operation ensued to save his life which was
successful and now after three months of care from our wonderful vets and staff
he is almost back to himself again. The vet bill is for just over £1,600. My daughter made a claim and was told the policy figure of £3,000 was for six separate instances of £500 over a twelve months period. An excess of £99 will be payable on each claim, so the £3,000 is nonsense, Luci's little dog was knocked
down on our own private property, actually on our own private drive. It was at least 400 yards from the country lane that our drive runs to.We have a farm so the land and drive to the house is private. The vehicle that knocked the dog down was the Post Office Van. The post Office have been very good understanding and
sympathetic and have admitted the fact where the dog was knocked down on our own private land nowhere near the road whatsoever. This is undisputed fact. ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE have amazingly, refused our claim.

Their letter OF IDIOTIC EXPLANATION:
We write following the review of your recent claim for Brynn.
From the information provided, we note that Brynn was unfortunately not kept secure, which resulted in a car accident.

It is with regret that in view of the accident circumstances described, we will be unable to consider the claim due to section 13 of your policy:
SECTION 13 - GENERAL CONDITIONS
13.1 General Conditions
13.1.5 You must ensure your pet cannot escape or stray from your property and any area in which a dog is kept must be secure and appropriately fenced or otherwise secured and all reasonable steps must be taken to prevent escape. When loading your pet into or out of your vehicle, you must ensure that the area is either secure or your pet is on a lead.

In light of the above we have no option but to decline your claim and apply the following exclusion to your policy:

Excludes cover on all claims with respect to Anything to do with The Road Traffic Accident that occurred in
September 2014 and Resulting Conditions with effect from 8th September 2014.

It is ridiculous to say this is a road traffic accident when the nearest road is over 400 yards away

Our Private Drive is not a road, road traffic accidents don't happen on a private drive

A Road Traffic Accident is:= AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING "VEHICLES" (Collins English Dictionary)

Our dog did not escape or stray it was near us as we were gardening. After seeing other horror stories on here, it's just par for the course it seem for this dreadful company. Mark my words, ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE, you certainly have not heard the last of me and my family.

Write a letter headed "Official complaint" keep it polite and concise, state the facts and try not to ramble or put to much emotion in it.

Animal Friends are duty bound to investigate the matter properly and report back to you within eight weeks.

If you're still not happy you can go to the Ombudsman.

I would suggest you use their exclusion against them eg state that the incident happened on your property and as such your pet was not in an area from which they had "escaped or strayed" from your property.

There's not a lot you can do about the low claims limits for the policy as it is a cheap and not cheerful policy. However the Insurers should make the inner policy limits clear to you at point of purchase. This would normally be contained in the "Summary of Cover" "Key Facts". If they have not you can raise this in your complaint and the Ombudsman would probably rule in your favour

Betty365

Hi,

I have animal friends insurance, I have been insured with others before and never made a claim.
On 22nd I took my dog to the vet as he was limping with his back leg ( I suspected patellar luxation), the vet looked at him and though it was his cruciate ligament. We then went to their main surgery on Christmas eve for the orthopedic vet to take a look. She was 90% sure it was his cruciate ligament. She booked him in to have the op ASAP (new years eve was the soonest they could do). I downloaded the forms online and started to fill them out. When looking at the finer detail I saw that I had to get my vet to complete a pre authorisation form for anything over £1,000 and send it back to Animal Friends. As it was over Christmas they we shut. I managed to get through to them today, they want this form completing by my vet, sent back to them and then authorised at their end. I just want to get my dog fit and well ASAP. He now needs total rest, before this he was very active so he is getting very fed up already. I am now worried that if I go ahead and have the operation done they will throw the claim straight out.... but I also cannot wait for however long it will take (over Christmas and new year) for them to decided if or no they will pre authorise the operation.

Is this normal practice for pet insurance companies?

monet208

We have been customers for years and lost William our cat in january.Wellington his brother died last week shortly after having a tooth out.Today Animal Friends tell us Wellingtons vet bill of £430 is not covered
Being so upset and heartbroken already we did not know the small print said this as we have never been sent a Policy document
AVOID THIS TOTALLY HEARTLESS COMPANY - THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT YOUR PREMIUM

sheramber

Did you buy online?

If so you would have had to answer this question

Please tick this box to confirm you have read the Terms and Conditions, Policy Terms as well as the Presumptions we have made about your policy.

jane.insurance_customer

My advice would be DO NOT USE ANIMAL FRIENDS INSURANCE! I have had a policy with them for five years now and they have attempted on multiple occasions to not pay out for my dog’s long-term condition based on technicalities that take days to resolve. Due to this my dog’s treatment has been delayed and postponed while they take days to investigate minor issues that they claim may completely invalidate my cover. If you love your animal and want the best treatment, cover and care I recommend that you choose another insurance provider that values customer service. This company has managed to turn and emotionally distressing time for me into an unbearable situation that I would not wish on anyone else. Please choose wisely.

Matkalg

Well, I never normally have a moan but pet owners need to be made aware!!! If you are thinking of buying pet insurance from ANIMAL FRIENDS pet insurance then I would advise you NOT TO!!!!! On 3rd January Duke had a massive lump under his stomach appear randomly so he was diagnosed with cancer! we had to pay in advance for the whole procedure which cost us about £1700 in total, thinking that our ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE would cover it but oh no!!!! Apparently because Duke had a very small lump in 2010 when he was 6 months old, we took him to the vets and the vet said it was nothing, 'maybe' a hernia but to do nothing as it was not a concern and this was placed on Duke's records. Apparently because I didn't disclose the 'not a concern, do nothing' then my insurance is null and void!!!!!!!!! It doesn't even cover him being put to sleep!!!!!!!! . So I have been paying each month for absolutely nothing because I wasn't told that at the beginning that I had to declare something that wasn't a concern!!!!!!!!!! I am so angry and will fight it all the way! Please do not get caught like I did, rip off insurance!!! Complaint and ombudsman will be definitely getting a letter from me!!!
ANIMAL FRIENDS PET INSURANCE ARE ROBBING HEARTLESS !!!!!

dazzammm

hi,

also wouldnt recommend AF.

Claimed for multiple scans and consultations - no issue found and vet concluded that the issue was stress related.

AF wont pay claiming stress is a behavioural problem.

rkm123

In 2012 my Mum took her dog to the vets with an anal gland issue. She submitted a claim which was refused by her insurer 'Animal Friends' because it was a pre-existing condition.

Ten days ago my Mums dog was diagnosed with a massive liver tumour. After submitting a claim to the same insurer for investigative treatment, the claim has again been refused. I took it upon myself to contact the insurer on behalf of my parents to find out why the claim was refused.

After three calls and being given lots of ridiculous nonsense, I was finally informed that when the vet submitted the claim in 2012, the insurer slapped on an exclusion stating that no lump, mass or tumour ANYWHERE in the body was covered. There was no communication of this to my parents by email, letter or call. When I asked what the dog was actually covered for, the response was illnesses and accidents. When I said liver cancer (which is what the dog has) she said no because cancer is invariably a tumour. So any illness that presents itself as a lump of any size isn't covered.

My dad took this policy through Money Saving Expert comparison site which most of us trust but if you look on the site there are now numerous complaints dating from 2014 of claims being refused.

My parents have had to pay out over £1500 for vet bills that, to my mind, should have been covered. I intend to take this issue to the Ombudsman because i think it's very unfair.

Pet owners who insure with this company need to check for any exclusions by calling them because you will not have had it in writing.

dacouch

If Animal Friends have genuinely not made the exclusion clear to your parents (It would generally be put in writing at the renewal time) then you have a case against them