E and L Insurance? Having problems!

euphemia · 1 November 2008 at 6:48PM

I have had insurance with this company for over 7 years, since I got my dog, and have never had to make a claim - until now!!

He went for his annual check up and was found to have broken teeth so was refered to a Doggie Dentist. There was more damage and the first bill was £1500 and the second was £2000 which included extraction & root canals as well as medicine, xrays etc. The vet wouldnt make a direct claim as he had a few problems with them so had to pay up front!!

The policy says it pays up to £500 per treatment up to £2500 per year & excess £69. I sent off my first claim 9 weeks ago and was told last week it was with payments ready to go out. They lost the second so sent another one registered.

Today I met a vet friend and when I was telling her she told me that people have sometimes waited a year for payments. I need this money now for the kids xmas!!!

Apart from phoning every day and being firm, can anyone give me advise on how to get the money ASAP - Im phoning again on Monday.

moomin5 · 1 November 2008 at 7:39PM

Yeah i'm afriad E & L do have this reputation, i've heard many complaints about their horse insurance in the past. I've no experience with claim issues, so hope someone else can give you some advice. I know at work we end up paying the supliers that give us the most hassle quicker than others.

I'm feeling quite relived that my dogs recent dental & teeth extraction only came to £165, his must of been fairly straightforward.

lowis · 2 November 2008 at 1:47AM

just hassle them, call every day, they are notoriously bad at paying in a timely fashion. you could always write a letter of complaint to the national press, stating just how bad this firm is i.e. Guardian Money and The Times Money section...they love championing the underdog in financial matters.

mirrorimage0 · 2 November 2008 at 9:14AM

sorry e and l are bad took us about 8 months to get our money after threatening legal action

simontheiceman · 2 November 2008 at 2:42PM

Two words:

1: Insurance
2: Ombudsman

Write to E&L and phone them and make sure that you threaten them with this - It usually makes the cheque move quite quickly in my epxerience. 6 months is a normal time for a claim to be paid but I have been paid within a few weeks if the claim is VERY straightforward. I usually refuse to take E&L direct claims and make the client pay up-front. Unfortunately this is the only place where I can air my views on E&L without breaking the laws on insurance. Vets used to be able to tell people about their experiences with various companies but this changed on 15th January 2006 and it is no longer possible. E&L are very good at selling policies to clients because they are cheap. You MUST, MUST, MUST, ALWAYS pay attention to their small print in the policy, because they know it inside out and they wont hesitate to use it against you.

Good luck (youll need it)

Tommo992 · 8 October 2009 at 10:32AM

As usual if only I had read more on moneysavingexpert.com before taking out my pet insurance with E&L, yes I thought that I was being savvy going for the cheapest option and boy am I paying for it now. Our puppy died unexpectedly aged only 17 months, the vet did not know why and put the cause of death as unknown. E&L are not accepting this as a valid reason of cause of death.
As other complainants have said this company knows its small print and are prepared to use it to get out of paying anything.

I do not expect to E&L to settle but I am going to take up our complaint with the Financial Ombudsman, it looks an easy process to follow and I urge anyone in the same position as us to do the same.

welshmoneylover · 8 October 2009 at 11:20AM

I've read other stories about E&L while doing research for insurance for my new pup. They're a shocking company and I'm glad I found out about them now rather than when trying to make a claim.

Sorry to hear about your dog, it must have been upsetting and traumatic to not know why he died.

olias · 8 October 2009 at 11:29AM

euphemia wrote: »

I have had insurance with this company for over 7 years, since I got my dog, and have never had to make a claim - until now!!

He went for his annual check up and was found to have broken teeth so was refered to a Doggie Dentist. There was more damage and the first bill was £1500 and the second was £2000 which included extraction & root canals as well as medicine, xrays etc. The vet wouldnt make a direct claim as he had a few problems with them so had to pay up front!!

The policy says it pays up to £500 per treatment up to £2500 per year & excess £69. I sent off my first claim 9 weeks ago and was told last week it was with payments ready to go out. They lost the second so sent another one registered.

Today I met a vet friend and when I was telling her she told me that people have sometimes waited a year for payments. I need this money now for the kids xmas!!!

Apart from phoning every day and being firm, can anyone give me advise on how to get the money ASAP - Im phoning again on Monday.

If you spend out £3500 on vets bills and the insurance (when they pay out) are only going to pay out £862 (2 x £500 - 2 X £69 excess), then I strongly suggest it's time to get a new insurer!

Olias

lostinrates · 8 October 2009 at 11:40AM

E&L never did pay out on the only claim I made to them back in th 90s. Its sad that a company with such a shocking reputation remain in business. We took our policies (worth a lot of money back then, we had a LOT of animals) elsewhere.

snowman2_2 · 8 October 2009 at 4:48PM

There is a Monty Python sketch about a "no-pay" insurance policy that Michael Palin takes out. Not sure why that has come to mind

trudij · 8 October 2009 at 10:59PM

I never got an answer from E&L as to why my dogs condition was considered "non life threatening" (their reason for not covering his hospitalisation fees)....

He died whilst hospitalised for the condition that they were happy (well - as happy as they ever are!!) to pay out for....

E and L Insurance? Having problems!

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