We currently have our 3 yr old rottie insured with E & L & recently had to submit a claim for surgery on a ruptured cruciate. This morning a letter arrived informing us that they are now adding an exclusion to the policy for tendons & ligaments in both legs. Is this normal practise with an insurance company? I don't see the point in renewing the insurance this year if they won't cover his hind legs anymore...the injury was an accident & it's unlikely his other leg will go but we can't guarantee that.  

It s not normal practice for all insurance companies but it is certainly completely normal for E&L. I work at a vets and fill in all the insurance forms for our clients and E&L do tend to add exclusions once they have received and paid for a claim.

Thanks for the reply....much appreciated.  Would other insurance companies accept him now with me already making a claim? Obviously i understand they won't cover that particular leg now. 

Yes they probably would accept him but you may find that they do exclude both legs for cruciate problems. Some insurance companies will just exclude injured leg others may exclude both. It is just a matter of ringing round and seeing who says what

You've done well to get them to pay for this treatment!  Everyone that I know who has used them has only received a tiny percentage of their bill! :(

I think most companies would class it as the same condition probably under 'cruciate disease', so the other leg will probably be excluded too.  i would ring round and ask though as you never know!  :)

Westcoast...i haven't got the money yet!  Will let you know what they actually pay out.....maybe other people have had problems because of the amount they have claimed for? We had the option of our own vet doing the surgery for £550 or the Liverpool vet college for approx £2,000 !! Due to the fact that our own vet has done this surgery many times with great success we chose to use him & i have to say the recovery has been amazing so far...it's been 5 weeks & already he is swimming once a week & using the leg totally as normal....no off lead work as yet but i can't stop him trotting round the garden.     

Thanks for all the help on this subject...will see what happens & will certainly phone round a few other companies when it comes to renewal time in August. 

Agree with other posts we insured our pups with E&L had a real problem getting money out of them for OCD op. We paid £3,000 out and got £1800 back about 8 weeks later and the renewall excluded any other treatment so I swapped both boys to Pet Plan its worth the extra and pays up in days.

How can E&L justify not giving you the full amount back if it does not exceed the policy limit (if there is one)?

No idea but they said something in the small print gave them the right to give a "reasonable offer" so we changed to pet plan they pay in full. It was something like if they had a price from a vet that would do it cheaper they could make a reasonable offer!

I was with them once and the first claim I had they managed to twist the small print to avoid paying anything at all. I made a complaint but got nowhere at all. My dog had mental problems due to cruelty and beatings round the head and needed special medication to calm the brain and prevent the hysterical running in circles 24/7 (sorry I don't know the technical terms) these so called insurers insisted this was just behaviour problems and therefore she was not covered. Even though the vet wrote a letter explaining this was nothing to do with normal bad behaviour and needed medication, they did not want to know. Needless to say I went to Petplan.

i have been with them with my pug george,luckily they always paid out(but this was a good few years ago)they do always send you a letter saying that you can no longer claim for that problem,i cant change the ins now as he has so many problems,but i made sure i did not put my newfie pup with them
i am a firm believer that you get what you pay for,shame i did not think of that before
jo

I know an owner who's 2 year old dog had died - haemorragic enteritis.  They wiggled out of most of the treatments fees and then when it came to the 'value' element, they reduced it because he was 2 years old (not worth what they'd paid for him as a puppy) reduced again because he had been castrated (he couldn't be used for breeding - he was a pet!) and the total that they received was a pittance of what they needed to pay for his treatment and to buy a new puppy.
Another friend had a 10 year old lurcher with a nasal tumour who was briefly treated at the Veterinary College before he was pts.  Far from wealthy owners who wanted to do the best for their dog and thought they were covered by insurance.  Out of a £1700 bill, they received £350!!
Quite honestly, I'd be tempted to change companies and exclude previous problems for the amount that the other lot are likely to pay! :(

Sounds like it is typical for E&L Insurance.  I am with NFU and can't recommend them highly enough.

One of my dogs had his cruciate operated on, vets claimed straight from NFU and it was paid in full within 10 days.  9 mths later he did his other cruciate, same specialist and again NFU paid up within a couple weeks.  They have also to this day continued to pay for his hydrotherapy treatment as they agree that it is beneficial to his full recovery and if I need any supplements or homeopathic remedies this is also covered - although to be honest i've bought them myself as it isn't expensive.  They have said he is covered for life for this and each year I am allowed to claim up to £4000 per leg for treatment.