Argos Pet Insurance Huge Premium Increases

Beagleboyz

I have been insuring my dogs with Argos for three years now and the premium has risen slightly each year as you may expect. I have never made a claim. I have the Platinum cover. Today I received the renewal letter and, to my horror, the premiums have nearly doubled for each dog! I rang and asked for an explanation. It seems, Argos have changed their underwriters to Royal & Sun Alliance and this may account for the huge increase. I am sure this has happened to others. When I said I would be changing insurers, they offered to reduce the premiums by reducing the level of cover. I said I didn't want reduced cover, just price! They offered to cancel my policy there and then. I get the feeling they want rid of some of their policy holders who are on the higher levels of lifelong cover? Maybe I am being cynical? Anyone else found the same?

*Scarlett

My Argos policy went up from £10 p/m to £17 p/m after the first year. We did make a claim for a badly cut paw so I was expecting an increase - but not as much as this.

I spoke to them and they were unable to reduce the premium for the Platinum cover but they did tell me that I could take out the new policy that I had obtained online for £10 p/m. It would however exclude existing conditions and the cover is not available for the first 14 days.

This is what I have done as the dog has no pre existing conditions and paw is completely healed.

It will be interesting to see what they offer next year.

How old are the dogs? Usually when they go over a certain age most insurers will increase the premium - sometimes dramatically.

Beagleboyz

The dogs are both three years old now. I am going to shop around for another policy now.

phill99

I've insured 2 border collies (8 & 4 yrs) with Tesco for three yearsstetted t just over £10 per month for each and now at just over £11 each. Maybe worth giving them a call.

vax2002

How much have you paid over 3 years ?
Add it up !

Dachsy

Exactly the same for me. Argos has doubled my premium this month (since they switched to Royal Sun Alliance) for my young dog to about 400 pounds- more than my car insurance. Have been with them since he was a puppy. The really cynical thing is that they know our pets will not be covered for any conditions or ailments they've ever had if we were to go elsewhere. A disgrace. They know we will not compromise our beloved pets and so will now do this year on year. The worst thing is that trying to speak to a supervisor or manager is impossible. You are passed between different 'advisors', no one higher up who understands the issue is ever available to talk. They promise a call back which does not materialise. Possibly a case for Watchdog?

cojoba

as you are all saying, the increase form Argos is terrible.
I was paying £31 per month for platinum cover for my 10.5 yr old dog, and this year the renewal is £81.54!!! Nearly three times as much.

I think people should consider getting together and taking it to Watchdog.

I went through the complaints process with Argos and they woulnd't budge saying it is due to my dogs age and increasing vet treatments.

jonesMUFCforever

What everybody needs to know here is that insurance is a business - plain and simple (all types) they don't give a damn about your cats and dogs only the bottom line.
So if they take in £1 in premiums and only pay out 90p in claims they are happy as they make a profit.
If it is the other way round they make a loss - they can do 2 things - increase premiums and reduce costs or get out of the business.

Just_Some_Guy

Over the past few years pet insurance has been losing money. Some underwriters had enough of selling policies at a loss so they just stopped selling policies. Those underwriters that are still underwriting pet policies are more expensive. This leads to shocks at renewal time but the uncomfortable truth is that your original premium was too cheap to be sustainable.

Price wars don't last forever, enjoy them while they last!

Be_Happy

I was surprised at these increases, so I looked back my info on our Argos cat insurance. I've been with Argos for 3 years now and having shopped around each renewal have still found it to be cheapest in our circumstances:

16 year old cat in good health on Silver Level.

There was a big increase last year, but this year's seemed reasonable for cat's age.

Monthly premiums were 2010 = £6.94, 2011 = £10.40, 2012 = £14.98.

While it's easy to look back at the money paid needlessly over the years, cats are very likely to be injured and I couldn't face a sudden bill of £2,500.

akkie

I have had the same problem, made one claim and my premiums have nearly doubled! - Gone up from £11 (2011), £13 (2012) to £25 (2013)

The advisor i spoke to said there has been a change in the law hence premiums are calculated differently now??!! (news to me is that one)
It now gets assessed by the area where you live, the breed of the dog, its age and the vet inflation rate? (what ever that is??)

I asked if they could lower the premiums to reflect a more fair and reasonable price to which they responded with a swift NO. They could either offer me less cover to lower the price or to cancel the policy. (two brilliant options-thanks!!)

They then started to explain about my one and only claim saying no other insurer would cover the illness if i cancelled and moved the policy so i was better staying with Argos as the illness would still be covered.

So in a nutshell they have you by your short & curlies if you have made a claim no matter how big or small that claim was.