Claiming with Petplan for very small amounts

jelliedeel13746

I recently took out a policy with Petplan for my dog with an excess of £100. My dog recently had a trip to the vets due to a poorly paw and the bill was £109.57. I know it's not even a tenner, but is it worth claiming it back? Petplan say they don't increase premiums based on claims but do increase the cost as my dog ages, so even if it's less than a tenner it's money I could put towards that year-on-year age increase in price (or more vet visits, fingers crossed that doesn't happen again soon though).

Any advice from fellow Petplan policy holders would be greatly appreciated!

la531983

How much do you value your time to bother for £9.57?

jelliedeel13746

la531983 said:

How much do you value your time to bother for £9.57?

Is is a lengthy process? I know it's a small amount but I was thinking I could put it in pot towards further treatments/increases. And to answer your question, I don't really value my time much haha

DullGreyGuy

jelliedeel13746 said:

la531983 said:

How much do you value your time to bother for £9.57?

Is is a lengthy process? I know it's a small amount but I was thinking I could put it in pot towards further treatments/increases. And to answer your question, I don't really value my time much haha

It will depend on the nature of the issue, how long you've had the policy, any pre-existing conditions and if you've made any previous claims or not. 

If you've had the policy 10 years and the claim was for them stepping onto a nail etc then the claim process shouldn't be too onerous. If you bought the policy yesterday or it is a stress fracture with the pet having a pre-existing arthritis diagnosis etc then it will take much more investigation. 

jelliedeel13746

DullGreyGuy said:

jelliedeel13746 said:

la531983 said:

How much do you value your time to bother for £9.57?

Is is a lengthy process? I know it's a small amount but I was thinking I could put it in pot towards further treatments/increases. And to answer your question, I don't really value my time much haha

It will depend on the nature of the issue, how long you've had the policy, any pre-existing conditions and if you've made any previous claims or not. 

If you've had the policy 10 years and the claim was for them stepping onto a nail etc then the claim process shouldn't be too onerous. If you bought the policy yesterday or it is a stress fracture with the pet having a pre-existing arthritis diagnosis etc then it will take much more investigation. 

Thank you for your reply. I took over the policy after my mum died very recently and my dog's vet trip wasn't long after I spoke with Petplan to transfer the policy to my name. It wasn't anything major - she was limping a little bit and I thought her pads might have gotten infected. The vet looked her over and didn't find anything wrong but gave me some anti-inflammatory medicine. She's pretty much fine now and not limping anymore so I doubt she will need a follow-up appointment. 

elsien

jelliedeel13746 said:

la531983 said:

How much do you value your time to bother for £9.57?

Is is a lengthy process? I know it's a small amount but I was thinking I could put it in pot towards further treatments/increases. And to answer your question, I don't really value my time much haha

I’d probably leave it and put a claim in if the same problem recurs within the policy year and you want to make a bigger claim. 

I’m with Petplan and the process is very easy. I normally get the vet to make the claim because it’s quicker that way. At the moment mine is having injections that cost £90 every month so I’m going wait till he’s had three or four then claim it all in one go. 

jelliedeel13746

elsien said:

jelliedeel13746 said:

la531983 said:

How much do you value your time to bother for £9.57?

Is is a lengthy process? I know it's a small amount but I was thinking I could put it in pot towards further treatments/increases. And to answer your question, I don't really value my time much haha

I’d probably leave it and put a claim in if the same problem recurs within the policy year and you want to make a bigger claim. 

I’m with Petplan and the process is very easy. I normally get the vet to make the claim because it’s quicker that way. At the moment mine is having injections that cost £90 every month so I’m going wait till he’s had three or four then claim it all in one go. 

Thank you so much for your reply. It's all a bit new to me, so advice is much appreciated. I know with my mum, the vet usually make the claim and I'm guessing she would have said something about initiating that if it was worth. I think I'll take your advice as it's only a small amount and could recur again. Thanks again for your help xxx

elsien

What you also need to take into account that I forgot to mention in my earlier reply is that the vet may charge an admin fee for providing the medical report to Petplan and completing the paperwork. 

My vet charges £12 for that and it’s not covered by the insurance so for your claim it would actually leave you out of pocket. 

Debbie9009

I have a petplan policy and recently made a claim for my dog, from start to finish it took 8 weeks, and that was only because I chased and they escalated it.  Also despite them saying they don’t increase premiums if you make a claim, my renewal is £77 per month, for last year it was £25 a month and I have never had such a big increase before now.  The cost of the claim was just under £500 and is the only claim I have made.

So I would be cautious about claiming such a small amount.  I have managed to find the same cover elsewhere at £39 a month, much more reasonable.

jelliedeel13746

elsien said:

What you also need to take into account that I forgot to mention in my earlier reply is that the vet may charge an admin fee for providing the medical report to Petplan and completing the paperwork. 

My vet charges £12 for that and it’s not covered by the insurance so for your claim it would actually leave you out of pocket. 

Thank you for letting me know. 

jelliedeel13746

Thank you for the advice Debbie!