Insurer insists I continue to pay premiums for a deceased dog!

LoftusRoad

Have other pet owners come across this?
We had to put our beloved old boy to sleep. Went to cancel the insurance policy and was told that because we'd already made a claim in the policy year (for something unrelated to the cause of his death) we have to continue paying his monthly insurance premiums until the end of the policy. In effect, paying £300 for 9 months to insure a dead dog! Apparently it's in the small print of my policy.
Is this standard and common procedure with pet insurers (who I loathe and despise with every ounce of my being, it has to be said). We'd never heard of such a thing but perhaps we're being naive. Can anyone tell me if this has happened to them?

DullGreyGuy

LoftusRoad said:

Have other pet owners come across this?
We had to put our beloved old boy to sleep. Went to cancel the insurance policy and was told that because we'd already made a claim in the policy year (for something unrelated to the cause of his death) we have to continue paying his monthly insurance premiums until the end of the policy. In effect, paying £300 for 9 months to insure a dead dog! Apparently it's in the small print of my policy.
Is this standard and common procedure with pet insurers (who I loathe and despise with every ounce of my being, it has to be said). We'd never heard of such a thing but perhaps we're being naive. Can anyone tell me if this has happened to them?

Pet insurance is typically an annual policy, if you cannot afford to pay it up front they effectively give you a loan for the premiums which you then repay monthly. 

Just like if you got a loan to buy a paid of headphones and you left them on the bus you'd still have to continue making the loan repayments and can't tell the bank to stop the payments just because you lost what you bought with the money. 

On the plus side, they are allowing you continue paying monthly. Were it car insurance or such and your car had been a total loss they would settle the outstanding loan amount from the settlement effectively making you have to pay it off in one and leaving you light for buying your next car. 

Nearlyold

Assuming the policy was an annual one i.e. you took out a policy for 12 months but the insurer allowed you to pay monthly (with or without interest) then yes because you've made a claim in the policy year you still owe the balance of the monthly instalments yet to be paid for the annual policy you took out.
This is quite normal and happens with all sorts of insurance - you don't get a pro rata refund when you've already had a claim paid.

LoftusRoad

DullGreyGuy said:

LoftusRoad said:

Have other pet owners come across this?
We had to put our beloved old boy to sleep. Went to cancel the insurance policy and was told that because we'd already made a claim in the policy year (for something unrelated to the cause of his death) we have to continue paying his monthly insurance premiums until the end of the policy. In effect, paying £300 for 9 months to insure a dead dog! Apparently it's in the small print of my policy.
Is this standard and common procedure with pet insurers (who I loathe and despise with every ounce of my being, it has to be said). We'd never heard of such a thing but perhaps we're being naive. Can anyone tell me if this has happened to them?

Pet insurance is typically an annual policy, if you cannot afford to pay it up front they effectively give you a loan for the premiums which you then repay monthly. 

Just like if you got a loan to buy a paid of headphones and you left them on the bus you'd still have to continue making the loan repayments and can't tell the bank to stop the payments just because you lost what you bought with the money. 

On the plus side, they are allowing you continue paying monthly. Were it car insurance or such and your car had been a total loss they would settle the outstanding loan amount from the settlement effectively making you have to pay it off in one and leaving you light for buying your next car. 

Thanks for the reply. I usually pay for pet insurance upfront in a lump sum but due to some admin problem they were having at the time of renewal, they couldn't take my payment so made it a monthly premium (without the added interest). I asked the insurer if I had paid upfront, whether they would be refunding me the part of the unused policy and she said no it would make no difference. So whether you pay the whole lot upfront or every month, I still am required to pay the premiums for the whole year.
Which seems incredibly unfair to me. Pretty sure when I've cancelled car insurance before, I got refunded the bit I hadn't used.
So are you saying, this is common and standard practice for pet insurers?

MorningcoffeeIV

LoftusRoad said:

DullGreyGuy said:

LoftusRoad said:

Have other pet owners come across this?
We had to put our beloved old boy to sleep. Went to cancel the insurance policy and was told that because we'd already made a claim in the policy year (for something unrelated to the cause of his death) we have to continue paying his monthly insurance premiums until the end of the policy. In effect, paying £300 for 9 months to insure a dead dog! Apparently it's in the small print of my policy.
Is this standard and common procedure with pet insurers (who I loathe and despise with every ounce of my being, it has to be said). We'd never heard of such a thing but perhaps we're being naive. Can anyone tell me if this has happened to them?

Pet insurance is typically an annual policy, if you cannot afford to pay it up front they effectively give you a loan for the premiums which you then repay monthly. 

Just like if you got a loan to buy a paid of headphones and you left them on the bus you'd still have to continue making the loan repayments and can't tell the bank to stop the payments just because you lost what you bought with the money. 

On the plus side, they are allowing you continue paying monthly. Were it car insurance or such and your car had been a total loss they would settle the outstanding loan amount from the settlement effectively making you have to pay it off in one and leaving you light for buying your next car. 

Thanks for the reply. I usually pay for pet insurance upfront in a lump sum but due to some admin problem they were having at the time of renewal, they couldn't take my payment so made it a monthly premium (without the added interest). I asked the insurer if I had paid upfront, whether they would be refunding me the part of the unused policy and she said no it would make no difference. So whether you pay the whole lot upfront or every month, I still am required to pay the premiums for the whole year.
Which seems incredibly unfair to me. Pretty sure when I've cancelled car insurance before, I got refunded the bit I hadn't used.
So are you saying, this is common and standard practice for pet insurers?

LoftusRoad said:

DullGreyGuy said:

LoftusRoad said:

Have other pet owners come across this?
We had to put our beloved old boy to sleep. Went to cancel the insurance policy and was told that because we'd already made a claim in the policy year (for something unrelated to the cause of his death) we have to continue paying his monthly insurance premiums until the end of the policy. In effect, paying £300 for 9 months to insure a dead dog! Apparently it's in the small print of my policy.
Is this standard and common procedure with pet insurers (who I loathe and despise with every ounce of my being, it has to be said). We'd never heard of such a thing but perhaps we're being naive. Can anyone tell me if this has happened to them?

Pet insurance is typically an annual policy, if you cannot afford to pay it up front they effectively give you a loan for the premiums which you then repay monthly. 

Just like if you got a loan to buy a paid of headphones and you left them on the bus you'd still have to continue making the loan repayments and can't tell the bank to stop the payments just because you lost what you bought with the money. 

On the plus side, they are allowing you continue paying monthly. Were it car insurance or such and your car had been a total loss they would settle the outstanding loan amount from the settlement effectively making you have to pay it off in one and leaving you light for buying your next car. 

So are you saying, this is common and standard practice for pet insurers?

Not just pet. Home, motor, caravan, travel...

400ixl

LoftusRoad said:

Thanks for the reply. I usually pay for pet insurance upfront in a lump sum but due to some admin problem they were having at the time of renewal, they couldn't take my payment so made it a monthly premium (without the added interest). I asked the insurer if I had paid upfront, whether they would be refunding me the part of the unused policy and she said no it would make no difference. So whether you pay the whole lot upfront or every month, I still am required to pay the premiums for the whole year.
Which seems incredibly unfair to me. Pretty sure when I've cancelled car insurance before, I got refunded the bit I hadn't used.
So are you saying, this is common and standard practice for pet insurers?

You would only have got a refund on the car example if you had not main a claim within that policy period. If you had, then you would have not got any refund.

This is the same for most insurance policies be then car, home or pet.

It will feel more unfair when related to the passing of a pet, and sorry for your loss.

You don't need to pay it as instalments, I would have thought you could pay it off in one go, which hopefully helps with the grieving process.

Veteransaver

LoftusRoad said:

DullGreyGuy said:

LoftusRoad said:

Have other pet owners come across this?
We had to put our beloved old boy to sleep. Went to cancel the insurance policy and was told that because we'd already made a claim in the policy year (for something unrelated to the cause of his death) we have to continue paying his monthly insurance premiums until the end of the policy. In effect, paying £300 for 9 months to insure a dead dog! Apparently it's in the small print of my policy.
Is this standard and common procedure with pet insurers (who I loathe and despise with every ounce of my being, it has to be said). We'd never heard of such a thing but perhaps we're being naive. Can anyone tell me if this has happened to them?

Pet insurance is typically an annual policy, if you cannot afford to pay it up front they effectively give you a loan for the premiums which you then repay monthly. 

Just like if you got a loan to buy a paid of headphones and you left them on the bus you'd still have to continue making the loan repayments and can't tell the bank to stop the payments just because you lost what you bought with the money. 

On the plus side, they are allowing you continue paying monthly. Were it car insurance or such and your car had been a total loss they would settle the outstanding loan amount from the settlement effectively making you have to pay it off in one and leaving you light for buying your next car. 

Thanks for the reply. I usually pay for pet insurance upfront in a lump sum but due to some admin problem they were having at the time of renewal, they couldn't take my payment so made it a monthly premium (without the added interest). I asked the insurer if I had paid upfront, whether they would be refunding me the part of the unused policy and she said no it would make no difference. So whether you pay the whole lot upfront or every month, I still am required to pay the premiums for the whole year.
Which seems incredibly unfair to me. Pretty sure when I've cancelled car insurance before, I got refunded the bit I hadn't used.
So are you saying, this is common and standard practice for pet insurers?

Yes, but you've made a claim

 If you hadn't made a claim on it in that year, then you could maybe expect some sort of refund

theoretica

LoftusRoad said:

Which seems incredibly unfair to me. Pretty sure when I've cancelled car insurance before, I got refunded the bit I hadn't used.
So are you saying, this is common and standard practice for pet insurers?

Generally, you get a partial refund on an insurance if you haven't claimed on it at all.  But claim on any insurance and the whole period is due.  Standard practice for all insurances, not special for pets.

LoftusRoad

Thanks for the replies. Had no idea that was the norm with insurance policies. Guess they always claw their money back one way or another.

Hoenir

LoftusRoad said:

Thanks for the replies. Had no idea that was the norm with insurance policies. Guess they always claw their money back one way or another.

They aren't clawing money back though. Spreading the payment over 12 months is the policyholders choice. Many people would struggle with upfront one off premium pyments . Hence why insurers provide a buy now pay later option. 

DullGreyGuy

LoftusRoad said:

DullGreyGuy said:

LoftusRoad said:

Have other pet owners come across this?
We had to put our beloved old boy to sleep. Went to cancel the insurance policy and was told that because we'd already made a claim in the policy year (for something unrelated to the cause of his death) we have to continue paying his monthly insurance premiums until the end of the policy. In effect, paying £300 for 9 months to insure a dead dog! Apparently it's in the small print of my policy.
Is this standard and common procedure with pet insurers (who I loathe and despise with every ounce of my being, it has to be said). We'd never heard of such a thing but perhaps we're being naive. Can anyone tell me if this has happened to them?

Pet insurance is typically an annual policy, if you cannot afford to pay it up front they effectively give you a loan for the premiums which you then repay monthly. 

Just like if you got a loan to buy a paid of headphones and you left them on the bus you'd still have to continue making the loan repayments and can't tell the bank to stop the payments just because you lost what you bought with the money. 

On the plus side, they are allowing you continue paying monthly. Were it car insurance or such and your car had been a total loss they would settle the outstanding loan amount from the settlement effectively making you have to pay it off in one and leaving you light for buying your next car. 

Thanks for the reply. I usually pay for pet insurance upfront in a lump sum but due to some admin problem they were having at the time of renewal, they couldn't take my payment so made it a monthly premium (without the added interest). I asked the insurer if I had paid upfront, whether they would be refunding me the part of the unused policy and she said no it would make no difference. So whether you pay the whole lot upfront or every month, I still am required to pay the premiums for the whole year.
Which seems incredibly unfair to me. Pretty sure when I've cancelled car insurance before, I got refunded the bit I hadn't used.
So are you saying, this is common and standard practice for pet insurers?

It's common in all insurance, once a claim has been made the policy must be seen to term. 

There is a minority of pet insurance that is actually a monthly policy with annual price reviews, in those cases the term is to the end of the month.