Pet Insurance. Charged excess twice for one operation

darlosquid

Hi,

Back in March my dog had some lumps we wanted to check out as one of them was her nip and had discharge. She had a single operation to remove 2 lumps. One in her armpit and one in her mammary gland on her lower belly.

It has taken till now for More Than pet insurance to come back with a decision. When we received the bill it looks like they have classes it as 2 claims. Meaning paying the excess twice. Is this normal? As far as we were concerned it was one operation, so one treatment.

Any advice?

Thanks
Jenny

agrinnall

I have no pets so I don't know the answer, but was it really one operation (i.e. a single incision to remove both lumps) or two operations done in the same session?

Certainly worth questioning it with More Than, perhaps it was just an error either by them or by the vet.

Hope your dog is fine now.

darlosquid

2 incisions... But one operation. One set of anesthetic, drugs, follow ups etc. One bill from the vet, but MoreThan simply halved the total and whacked 2 lots of excess in there.

The dog is fine now. One lump was cancerous but the got it all out!

stator

Were the lumps caused by the same condition? If so then one excess should be payable.
If they were caused by two different conditions then two excesses would normally be payable

darlosquid

stator wrote: »

Were the lumps caused by the same condition? If so then one excess should be payable.
If they were caused by two different conditions then two excesses would normally be payable

Both lumps were sent off for testing. Only one came back as cancerous. I don't understand why it would be 2claims though. Even if both lumps had come back as cancerous the procedure would still have costs the same. Why does it matter? Or is it just an excuse to charge more?

Quentin

If you feel that this claim should only attract one excess then challenge this by way of a Complaint.

Then if you are not happy with the reply then you can escalate to the FOS for their adjudication at no cost to you

stator

darlosquid wrote: »

Both lumps were sent off for testing. Only one came back as cancerous. I don't understand why it would be 2claims though. Even if both lumps had come back as cancerous the procedure would still have costs the same. Why does it matter? Or is it just an excuse to charge more?

It just sounds like they are trying to implement the rules of their policy.
Most pet insurance policies charge a new excess for each condition, so if it's a coincidence and the lumps are unrelated then they are entitled to treat it as two conditions. You could ask you vet. If your vet says they are related, then send of an appeal to the insurers.

Blibble

Agree with stator on this one - you advise that one lump is cancerous and one isn't, therefore if there are two different diagnoses for both lumps it would be two different claims.

I would speak to MoreThan to confirm why they believe it to be 2 claims; if they advise as above then double check with your vet that they agree.

sheramber

If your vet described the two lumps with two different names then it would two unrelated conditions. I f your policy is n amount of cover per condition then it would be two excesses,

Check what your vet put on the form.

If you query it with Moerthan and are not happy with their reply then refer to your policy document for their complains procedure.

rs65

The excess is applied to each condition.

Condition is defined as
An identified illness, injury or change in your pet’s normal healthy state or behaviour.


I would argue that the lumps were a change in your pets normal healthy state.

Applying it to each type of lump is extremely harsh in my view.

elsien

I agree - mine had some lumps removed. Two were mast cell tumours, two were not. I only paid one excess.
Maybe check with the vet to see what they put on the form.