£12 Blood test - Insurance company say this is reasonable!

andybonny

Hi,

We've recently had to have our beautiful Boxer Dog put to sleep after she had been diagnosed with cancer. A huge shock to us and our kids.

We're now receiving our insurance claim from our Pet insurers: Animal Friends.

Unfortunately they have made a number of deductions which weren't listed in our policy schedule or policy document. I called them and they pointed out that the Policy booklet states that they have put a number of caps on things. They told me that they can't let their customers have a list of these caps. I always thought that the policy scheduled listed all the caps and fees up front so the customer could weigh up the effectiveness of the cover.

They have reduced the consultation fee by £44.50 (they say they have a cap of £200). They also reduced the Diagnostic Nurse fee by £58.67 (they say a cap of £50)

My biggest worry tho is they have a limit of £12 for a blood test!

What I would like to know is it possible to get a dog blood test for £12? Animal Friends tell me that that’s a reasonable amount to be charged but I believe that there is nowhere in the UK that would charge so little.

As this amount in my option is so low I do wonder if there other deductions are reasonable or not.

I have been promised a call back from Animal Friends management on Monday to discuss. It would be great if any other forum members cold let me know what they've paid for dog blood tests in the past so I could let Animal Friends know if they are being fair, reasonable or are out of touch from the veterinary world which they are supposed to be working alongside.

Thanks,

Andy

krlyr

Could be worth contacting the Insurance Ombudsman to check on whether they're allowed to do this. I'd have assumed they'd have to let you know the caps, otherwise you've not been fully informed of the cover.

Whoop

I'm a vet nurse and £12 for a blood test is very low. Off the top of my head (I don't have anything to do with costs in my job) I reckon you would spend at least £30-40 for a standard test.

Sorry but animal friends don't have a good reputation and will do anything to not pay out.

Sorry to hear about your dog

Johnny_Dangerously

Hard to say as blood test is a little generic. Does seem low though. For example, last year we paid

£92.30 inc VAT for the following:
Blood sample collection
General health profile (12 slides under scope) & hemophilia check
Reporting fee
Catalyst Clip fee (the machine that test the blood)
A call to confirm results

That wasn't detailed individually, but that didn't include the consultation. There was nothing specific about that test, and we were trying to resolve gastroenteritis in our cat, so it was a general blood screen. London prices also.

Generally, I'd say £12 isn't doable, but the devil is in the detail of the definition of 'blood test'.

Not sure if that's helpful or not?

Dr._Shoe

Yes, I'm sorry to hear about your dog too.

I know first hand that horse insurance usually covers everything including extra livery charges for box resting a horse that would normally be on grass livery and diet supplements and so on. I think you might pay an excess but I could find out.

The way I see insurance is that you take it out because you don't have a cap on payouts? Imagine what the world would be like if car insurers imposed caps: "Oh no sir, we have a cap on write off payouts so we can only give you £300 for your Ferrari." It just wouldn't happen would it?

rising_from_the_ashes

I'm so sorry that you've lost your friend ..... there really are very few worse things in life than losing a much loved pet.


I'm just wondering how old he was?

Most insurers apply a % of costs when pets hit a certain age and I'm wondering if that's what this 'cap' is (but not explained very well)

Also, were the consultation fees at a specialist?

Again some insurers will ask for prior authorisation before you visit a specialist and I'm wondering if that's why they've reduced those

TBH, and I'm not one to defend insurers (don't get me started on pet insurance!) I don't feel that a cap of £200 on a consultation is unreasonable if that's a per visit charge.

A blood test for £12 though .... that does seem unreasonable

gettingready

Very sorry about your dog - big hugs xxx

Animal Friends had horrible reviews as an insurers a while back, I was hoping they changed but looks like now.

12 limit for blood tests is not reasonable at all.

Limit for a consultation? Well, Argos paid £300.00 for Zara's consultation alone plus £95.00 for a cream that dermatologist gave her. Normal consultations here are around £45 (London) but Zara had one with specialist which was £300.00 and Argos paid no problem.

rising_from_the_ashes

Which policy was it?

I've just been looking at the T&Cs and some do state 'All reasonable costs for treatment of your pet by a vet due to accident, illness or disease up to the maximum limit as specified in your schedule'

What is 'reasonable'?

How long is a bit of string really ..... one person's idea of reasonable will be very different from another person's

Please, please ensure any policy you take out has clear and defined monetary payouts / t&cs / conditions / limits / exclusions etc in it - having terminology such as 'reasonable' does, I'm afraid, leave a huge level of uncertainty and would be very difficult to quantify.

Re the blood tests, I guess you could phone round a dozen vet practices and ask how much they would charge and then go from there to try to get to a 'reasonable' figure

andybonny

gettingready wrote: »

Very sorry about your dog - big hugs xxx

Animal Friends had horrible reviews as an insurers a while back, I was hoping they changed but looks like now.

12 limit for blood tests is not reasonable at all.

Limit for a consultation? Well, Argos paid £300.00 for Zara's consultation alone plus £95.00 for a cream that dermatologist gave her. Normal consultations here are around £45 (London) but Zara had one with specialist which was £300.00 and Argos paid no problem.

Thanks everyone for your time taken to respond to my post.

Yes Bonny did have to go to see a specialist which was why the consultation was quite high. It looks as though ARGOS provide a much fairer service than Animal Friends.

It really has rubbed salt into the wound to have to argue what must is a pitiful amount to the insurance company after losing our Bonny.

The worst bit is that Animal Friends won't let me see their cap information and I feel have been very cunning to hide these figures from me. I would have expected transparency when I took out the policy rather than springing this on me when I expected the support that I thought I had paid for.

I think Animal Friends are wrong to decide for themselves what a reasonable figure is when I know what I've been charged by the Veterinary practice who I believe acted professionally and expertly.

Andy

gettingready

really sorry Andy that you have to deal with that on top of loosing your dog

animal friends had horrid reviews, i was hoping they got looks like they got even worse

i have 6 cats insured with pet plan and one dog insured with argos platinum - both excellent covers and service

rising_from_the_ashes

andybonny wrote: »

The worst bit is that Animal Friends won't let me see their cap information and I feel have been very cunning to hide these figures from me. I would have expected transparency when I took out the policy rather than springing this on me when I expected the support that I thought I had paid for.

I think Animal Friends are wrong to decide for themselves what a reasonable figure is

BUT .... and I'm sorry - that's the whole issue with taking a policy where terms like 'reasonable' are included in the policy wording

Unless you can then get something from them (in writing so that you can then prove it when needed), stating what limits are / what will / won't be covered, then I'm afraid it's pretty much always going to end up with the poor owner finding out that what they think is reasonable is wildly different from what the insurer thinks is reasonable