E&L / pet-insurance.co.uk complaint

fatbadger2

Hi

Any advice on how to deal with the dreaded E&L con-surance company would be very much appreciated.

Details:

Oct 2011: vet said cat has small lump, prob fatty lipoma, nothing to worry about, go away and forget it.
Jan 2012: renewed with pet-insurance.co.uk as usual
Jun 2012: decided lump was getting bigger, vet did a biopsy, decided to be on safe side and remove - ended up it was benign so could have stayed...:)
Jul 2012: E&L say they will not refund because the ins form says my pet must be in "perfect health" and any deviation from this means it is void.:eek:

Now, in 2011 I was told that my cat had a fatty lump but it was no big deal, most 5+ year old cats and dogs have them, they are harmless in most cases, so is E&L's case (in legal terms) watertight? I am guessing it is because maybe I should have told them even tho it was a minor issue?? I cannot afford a solicitor etc so I need some legal eagle to give some advice. Please help! :A

Have spoken with me vet, he says E&L are an awful company and term "perfect health" is a nonsense. Is worms or ear infection something you should phone up the ins company and tell them about??!!

starrystarry

I don't think the "perfect health" thing is the relevant part of the T&Cs here. This is more relevant...

GENERAL EXCLUSIONS
1. Any medical condition that existed or is connected to a condition that existed before the insurance policy began.

The lump existed before the policy began, so the exclusion applies. Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear. I sympathise, but I think you'll just have to accept that your claim won't be paid.

fatbadger2

The thing is, this condition was not a 'condition' before... it was a lump of no importance. Also, E&L are not out of pocket, because I could have claimed then to have had the lump removed at the time - although knowing them they would say 'no, this procedure was unnecessary, not paying'.

This is a slimy insurance company.