When the going gets tough, do the insurers get going? Not being offered renewal after claims...

Tunstallstoven · 15 November 2019 at 5:19PM

Hi again

I've got another hypothetical question which I'm hoping to hear some opinions and/or anecdotes on. I've only had basic insurance for my 5 year old dog up until now, but I want to upgrade to something better.

So I've been looking at various lifetime covers...

It seems they usually give themselves a get out of jail card in the policy booklets, with statements like: "We can choose not to offer renewal of a policy." I'm sure I'm not the first person to fear the obvious... You pay higher premiums until something bad happens and your insurance is needed, at which point the insurer only pays out up until renewal, then tells you where to go.

Is this a common scenario? To all those reading this who have had to make substantial claims, has your insurance stuck by you through renewals or waved goodbye?

For the record, I'm looking at Tesco and John Lewis, so anything specific to those would be doubly helpful, although generally all stories and thoughts are welcomed.

Many thanks

Misty_Blue · 15 November 2019 at 9:46PM

Can't comment on either of those, but a previous dog was with M&S and I'd claimed thousands upon thousands for him. He generated a bill of £7.5k in just one vet's visit, as an example. His premium was £125 a month by the end, but they always renewed his policy.

pinkteapot · 20 November 2019 at 12:04PM

We had a string of claims in our cat's first year. Insurance cost around £120 and we had over £600 in claims. They offered renewal the next year and have continued to do so ever since. (More Than)

sheramber · 20 November 2019 at 6:52PM

The only time I have seen a refusal to renew was third party cover when a claim had been made. The insurance company paid out but then refused to provide third party cover after that.The did continue the rest of the cover on the policy.

jenny-wren · 21 November 2019 at 4:55PM

We have lifetime cover with Pet Plan for our cat. She was diagnosed with diabetes in January and has run up a bill of several thousand pounds since then. The excess for each condition per year has risen from £100 to £115 and the monthly premium has risen slightly but our policy auto-renewed in August without any question.

elsien · 21 November 2019 at 8:33PM

I think different companies have different definitions of "lifetime" cover. Some have a £1000 limit (for example) which resets each renewal, others stop paying once you've reached the limit and it doesn't reset.

The better ones will continue to insure after big payouts - my experience is with petplan and with my last dog I definitely got out more than I put in.

When the going gets tough, do the insurers get going? Not being offered renewal after claims...

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