Puffin Insurance - payment by credit card...and definition of pre-existing conditions

aroominyork

I am trying to take our pet insurance through Puffin Insurance (good price, excellent reviews) but they insist they cannot take payment by credit card, only by direct debit (even for a one-off annual payment). I've never come across this before. Should I be concerned?

XRS200

Their IPID document says you can pay by monthly instalments or annually by credit or debit card.  They changed insurer in July though.  They are maybe not authorised to hold client money.

DullGreyGuy

XRS200 said:

Their IPID document says you can pay by monthly instalments or annually by credit or debit card.  They changed insurer in July though.  They are maybe not authorised to hold client money.

The IPID says only DD if you look at it via the quote part of their site. 

The policy book seems to suggest that Covea is doing all administration, not just the claims as the website footer states. The change of administrator can explain the change of accepted payment methods. 

Would say its unusual not to accept cards but not a red flag

aroominyork

Is the change of insurer/administrator a red flag that their approach to managing claims might have changed? Does it effectively re-set their Trustpilot record of 4.7/5 from 21000 reviews to zero?

XRS200

FCA register looks like not authorised to hold client money.

Not a concern to me.

DullGreyGuy

aroominyork said:

Is the change of insurer/administrator a red flag that their approach to managing claims might have changed? Does it effectively re-set their Trustpilot record of 4.7/5 from 21000 reviews to zero?

It would make me take their Trustpilot record with an even larger pinch of salt than I would have already have. Personally dont trust TrustPilot or others for insurance because they tend to be either:

• 5* review - because it was very cheap
• 1* review - tried to claim for my £10,000 Rolex but the insurer only paid me £500 because that was the policy limit for a single item  

The first is irrelevant as I can judge price myself and the second is more a review of how much care they took when buying a Travel policy than the insurer doing anything wrong.

When you decide you want to have an insurance brand but dont want to go as far as setting up an insurance company or brokerage you could be someone with a lot of customers you think you could use to get sales with low marketing costs and so you just take an off the shelf product and stick your brand over the top of it or you may have a really good idea and so work with a company to develop a bespoke product have segregated teams to handle it etc etc. The former is going to be driven purely by who the wholesaler is, the later is much more about who the white label are. 

It's likely if they had good service before they'd probably want that continued but its not guaranteed thats what will happen in theory or practice. 

aroominyork

The thing behind this is how they would define pre-existing conditions if I had to claim. To explain… a few years ago an x-ray showed our dog had some hip dysplasia. This was found incidentally on an x-ray – he had not and never has showed any symptoms. So is that a pre-existing condition? Go Compare says “Each pet insurer will have a different way of defining pre-existing conditions, so check the provider’s terms and conditions thoroughly. As a rule, for any condition to be considered pre-existing, your animal - usually a dog or cat - would be exhibiting symptoms before you take out cover for them.” By that definition we would have a valid claim – no symptoms. Puffin’s terms talk about “clinical signs”… is an asymptomatic x-ray a clinical sign? If feels like whoever we go with we would have to argue the case at the time but I am, probably pointlessly, looking for a ‘reasonable’ company.

DullGreyGuy

Why was the x-ray done?
Are you currently still with the same insurer as you were when the x-ray was done?

With these things it is heavily influenced by whatever the vet put in their report at the point of claim... always the downside of policies that dont do medical underwriting at point of sale (pet, ASU, travel etc)

aroominyork

The x-ray was done by a specialist referral centre when he had an unresolving back issue. The x-ray showed some hip dysplasia but didn't seem implicated in the back problem. He then deteriorated, was given an MRI which showed abscesses along his spine and was rushed into surgery just in time to save him. We think it was probably a grass seed that migrated (we lost our last dog to a migrating grass seed - those things are lethal).

No, we are not with the same insurer. Last year I used Animal Friends - they covered pre-existing conditions but on the renewal notice received this month they said they no longer do. We checked with our vet yesterday and hip dysplasia is mentioned on his notes from the referrral centre (presumably those written before they found the true cause of his problem). We know GSDs are prone to hip problems so, along with now knowing about the dysplasia, we are very careful not to stress his hips. So I would like to avoid paying several hundred £ extra for a policy that definitely covers i) an illness that is unlikely to manifest, ii) shown on a x-ray >2 years ago, iii) when it might anyway be covered as a non-pre-existing condition.

sheramber

If a pre existing condition is excluded then that means there is no cover for that condition or anything that can be related to it. 

Your safest bet is to ask the company you are considering.

From my years of pet insurance as an owner, I would guess it will be an excluded condition. 

aroominyork

I understand that approach, sheramber, but the likely outcome would be the dysplasia is recorded as excluded. I think the better approach is to argue the point if we had to claim; insurance is not always black and white - it is often a negotiation. 'Clinical signs' can be interpreted as examination in a clinic, and there are absolutely no clinical signs of dysplasia.