Pet insurance.....refusal to pay out

Rooster01

OK need some advice. We had to put our beloved pet in kennels for 5 days, he just turned 2 and owned him since he was 3mths old. Previous owner when buying him had informed us they had him in kennels and was vaccinated for Kennel Cough so we did not question it. We were also informed from Kennel where we had him in that it wasn't required . To cut a long story short after picking him up he lost a significant amount of weight so we took him to vet. Vet diagnosed him with kennel cough as they had no record of him having the vaccination, was told he would make a full recovery in 14 days time.........we ended up taking dog back to vets as he had deteriorated. Vet informed us this was not kennel cough and in fact he was diagnosed with a tumor and nothing they could do.

Insurance forms went in and nowe insurer has told us they are not paying out as we have no proof of vaccination for kennel cough and it states in terms and conditions this is required.

My dog did not die of kennel cough and in fact died of a tumor. They are finding every possible way not to pay out.......the two are not related. ...HELP

Rooster01

Sorry forgot to add terms and conditions state when dog is in kennels it should be vaccinated for
Kennel Cough.

Trina90

Tell your vets about this and they should help.

Ours got refused for similar. Our cat was suffering from Cystitis before we got him insured so when he died of FIP, they were claiming this was linked. They were completely unrelated illnesses. I explained to Petplan this and they asked me to get my vet to confirm, and there was no problem.

Hope you get it sorted!

Feral_Moon

Which insurance company?

mazy_m

Hi

Sorry not a very helpful response but I just wanted to say I'm so sorry you lost your lovely pet. It's awful to lose one they're part of the family but now also that the insurance company are making it a financial loss I just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear it. We went through something similar misdiagnosis but vets just eager to make some money( minus the kennel cough) and I gave up even trying to reason with our insurance company.

Rooster01

I just don't understand what's not paying out for tumor have to do with no record of kennel cough vaccination. Cost is nearly £1000

stator

As above, get your vet involved. Write a formal letter of complaint. Once they have given you a final response you can appeal to the financial ombudsmen (I think). And they should look at your case from a common sense perspective. If the VET records show it was not kennel cough then you have a good chance of winning.

pinkteapot

What EXACTLY (quoting) does your policy wording say about vaccinations?

Ours says clearly that treatment for vaccinable conditions isn't covered if you haven't had vaccinations. However, treatment for unrelated things would be covered.

Is yours definitely the same? That's the first thing to check. If you've got an iffy company that have a blanket "If you haven't had all your vaccinations, we won't cover anything." then it might be bad news.

If the wording definitely says that only treatment for vaccinable conditions is excluded, you need to get your vet involved and make a complain to their insurance company. Ask them for their complaints procedure. Keep calm and rational, stating the facts, in any correspondence, and set out that the condition was XYZ (detailed diagnosis) and not kennel cough, or in any way related.

p.s. I'm really sorry for the loss of your dog.

sheramber

Rooster01 wrote: »

Sorry forgot to add terms and conditions state when dog is in kennels it should be vaccinated for
Kennel Cough.

Kennel Cough vaccination has to be done yearly, normally with the booster but can be done anytime.

I f your insurance policy states the dog must be vaccinated against KC then you have not complied with the terms and conditions and that will void the policy.

Some insurance companies do insist on vaccination for any cover to be valid.

Some say they will not cover anything related to a condition that you could have vaccinated against.

Is your company saying that the policy is void due to not vaccinating
or

are they saying his condition was linked to the original diagnosis for KC which the vet will have recorded on the medical history.

If you tell us which policy you had someone can look through the wording for you.