Hi I bought a st Bernard puppy a few weeks ago & at the time the breeder stated that he would come with 4 weeks free Pet insurance, long story short my puppy had an accident yesterday & is currently at the vets receiving treatment but when we spoke to the breeder they admitted that they hadn't set up the pet insurance & she set it up there & then but obviously we are now not covered on the insurance as the breeder didn't set it up until after we had already taken our puppy to the vet so we have been left with a vet bill which is currently £1000 -£2000 & maybe more if surgery is required etc. what I really wanted to know is if the breeder liable to pay for the vet bills as they didn't set up the pet insurance even though they told us that we were covered with 4 weeks free insurance from when we picked him up.

Thank you

My feeling (and I speak as a puppy buyer rather than a breeder) is that insurance is your responsibility.  Whilst I appreciate your breeder made a mistake in forgetting to activate the insurance you should have been on top of this from the word go, and the error would have been spotted.  It's up to you to research cover before your pup arrives, up to you to check and read about the cover the pup comes with (which would include checking the paperwork from the breeder at the time of getting your puppy) and up to you to decide which long term cover would suit you and your dog best. 

With a breed like this I'd always recommend that you activate your own preferred insurance for the day your puppy comes home, although I appreciate that this advice comes too late for you.

Hope your pup is ok :)

Oh dear I do your your pup will be OK.
If your pup was advertised as having 4 weeks free insurance then I do think the breeder should take some responsibility. After all it would be resonable to assume that until the 4 week point your pup would be covered by insurance and give you time to sort out continuing cover from then.
I agree we are all responsible for our own dogs insurance but, (and),  rightly so you had been told you were purchasing an insured pup and would have no real reason to think he was not insured. I would know what to ask the breeder but a first time puppy byer may just assume it had been done. Not everyone is up to speed on the purchasing process.
If your breeder is a member of the Kennel clubs ABS then I think you may have to inform them that your breeder did not meet the requirements of the scheme.
Yes I know we can all make a mistake but to omit to activate insurance is quite a major mistake as it involves the health of a (Hopefully) carefully bred pup.
Aileen

I hope your pup will be OK. Has the breeder offered to contribute towards the vet costs as they forgot to set up the insurance?

I always make it clear to puppy buyers that if they are not continuing with the same insurance company to overlap the 2 by 14 days as usually nothing is covered in the first 14 days of a new policy, this was advice given to me when I got my first pup covered by the free insurance initially.

The insurance is activated whilst the new owners are here picking up the pup.

That's very strange.  I forgot to do it with my litter last year as my mum was in hospital and my dad was seriously ill at the time.  I phoned up the KC a few days after the dog was sold as you only have a few day's that you can do it, think it's 4 and even though they were told why I had forgotten about it they were not willing to insure the pups.  I did try and contact them the day before but couldn't and phoned them first thing in the morning but nothing would make them do the insurance!

Hi & thank you both for replying I understand what you are saying but we have spoken to the breeder several times to chase up the paperwork which we still haven't received & we were told that the insurance was set up si we had no teason to think they werent telling the truth to us about this & we have been waiting for the insurance paperwork to be sent out with his pedigree paperwork. We have also been looking into insurance for him over the last few days as we believed it was set up when we bought him so we knew it was due to end in a week.

This is the first time we have bought a pedigree dog & we found what we thought was a reputable breeder as they were recommended as they have been doing it for many years & have quite a lot of adult st Bernard's so they nearly always have litters, to be honest I didn't the I would need to demand the information over the phone incase they didn't do what they said they would when we bought him & also when we chased up papers etc.

To make things worse we called for advice & was told to starve him for 24hrs & then go to the vets (which I realise now is probably because they realised that they hadnt done it yet & panicked that they would need to set it up today so we would be covered tommorow onwards when they wanted us I go to the vets).

Within 10minutes of coming off the phone with them be was worse so we werent happy so we took him straight to the vets & we called the breeder from there for the insurance details I give to our vet to which she was very uncomfortable & admitted that she hadn't actually set it up & she apparently did it there & then & stated that we would definately covered but I don't know any insurance company that would pay out on a claim when the policy was set up after the pet was taken in to the vets for treatment.

I just don't know where to find any details of where we stand but I feel this is the breeders fault as they have lied on several occasions that we had cover & so we have spent time looking for a good insurance company specifically for big dog breeds etc & thought that we had a few weeks to get the right cover. If they had told the truth I would have set up cover immediately as he is our baby & is very much part of our family so we are devasted, I would pay anything to make him better but we also don't earn that much & we are really going to struggle to pay this & will probably have to take out a loan to pay it. To make it worse if we had waited the 24hrs the breeder told us to wait before going to a vet our poor puppy wouldn't have survived which is unthinkable.

Surely the breeder is liable to pay these vet bills as she sold the puppy with the 4 weeks free insurance as part of the price we paid for him etc so the fact the she didn't keep to her side of the bargain makes her responsible for these vet fee's.

Hi they haven't offered anything so We have been trying to find details of where we stand to give us a better chance when talking to the breeder but once we get him home safe were going to call them & see what they have to say about it as they were panicky when we called for the details & said we were already in the vets so she must know she's messed up big time but this was yesterday & we haven't heard anything from them since then so I don't know whether they will help with the costs.

Hi I thought it was strange that they could set up 3 weeks after they sold him but we were too concerned with our pup so didn't question it too much, I think she will probably know that the claim won't go through as we won't be covered with the vets visit being 15-20mins before the policy was activated but I think she was just trying to pacify us to buy her time. I am disappointed as a simple call asking how he is wouldn't have hurt her considering she claimed to have a loving bond with each puppy sold.

Does anyone know if u can report her to any kind of regulating body or anything like that, as she may do this to other buyers.

If breeder activated insurance is offered you will be given a covernote there and then.

People ....smarten up...if you dont get the paperwork there and then, theres a fair chance youre not going to get it without a fight.
So many stories of buyers not insisting on the very thing the breeder told them they were buying into....KC registration, health certificates and insurances.
Buyer beware!

If you have asked the breeder before this incident about the insurance that should have triggered them to set it up if they had forgotten.

Did they give a reason as to why all the paperwork wasn't there when you went to collect the puppy. I would ring the KC and ask their advice, they may have come across this before, maybe this breeder has done something similar in the past.

Are they KC Assured Breeders? Then this definitely needs bringing to the attention of the KC, even if they are not you can check if the litter has actually been registered,you will need the registered names of the parents and possibly the kennel name/affix of the breeder.

You could contact Trevor Cooper at Dog Law, I have seen him recommended on here before. Google and you will find it.
It might also be worth contacting Trading Standards to see if they can help you.
You need to keep copies of everything. Have you got a copy of the original advert stating that they will be insured ?

Was the breeder an Assured breeder on the K.C. web-site ? Assured or not it might be worth giving them a ring to see what they make of it and they will be able to say if the pups have been registered.
Good luck and let us know how you go on.

they have been doing it for many years & have quite a lot of adult st Bernard's so they nearly always have litters,

Sorry - but alarm bells should have started to ring - how many responsible breeders 'nearly always have litters'?

I'm very sorry to hear about your puppy and hope it makes a full and speedy recovery.

If its petplan then you should have been given paperwork there and then with a reference number on it (which the breeder only gets when activating the insurance). Therefore, unfortunately you are liable for the costs and not the breeder.

The breeder should give you a cover note to confirm insurance is activated, I usually do it over the phone or computer while they are with me, or if done the night before (as with a buyer who was staying locally , not if they are travelling that day as they might not turn up for some reason).

If pup was advertised as coming with 4 weeks insurance then the breeder should have done it and I would think them liable,  I would never let one of my pups leave here without Insurance in place.

Def. Ring trevor cooper they are very good and will offer excellent advice initially for the price of the phone call just be aware its a premium number but in my case 30 pound well spent. Don't forget when u establish if the breeder is loable you have the small claims court.

>The insurance is activated whilst the new owners are here picking up the pup.

Same here Rhona.  And when I bought a pup from my mentor, he made the phone call in front of me.

I tend to activate the day before, so the buyer will have had the confirmation e-mail (if PetPlan) before they even get here.

I once had someone not able to make it on the day intended, and re-schedule, so I don't risk doing it in advance.

I activate it the night before they collect and forward them the e mail confirmation.Once a pupy wasnt collected the day scheduled due to the owners illness and I just rang the insurance and rescheduled.Once activated online you cannot rescehdule online only with a phone call.I have even cancelled already activated insurance, again with a phone call when the puppy that  was to be donated to a charity but  fell through.

Diane

I would definately contact Trading standards.  This is a breach of contract.  If you can, get a copy of the advert where it said you would get 4 weeks insurance as this is your proof.  If you have the proof, take it all the way, I would!  Although you should've checked, why would you take the breeder as anything but honest?

Yes I am pretty sure that they can only activate insurance while the pup in still with the breeder. Once it has left they cannot activate it. I am reading right, that you didn't get any KC registration either? A phone call to the KC to check the litter registraion and ask about the insurance is your next stop I think.

Once it has left they cannot activate it.

With PetPlan you can do it something like up to 2 days after the pup has left, with KC I think it is 4 days after, so there is leeway both before and after.

Quite clearly the breeder has lied to you then.

In which case I would expect that you have the law on your side, if your told a pup is insured at the point you leave, then the service should legally be there.

The KC went through a funny stage with one of my litters in that they would not allow the breeder to set it up only the person who now owned the pup as they wished to take the bank details (prob hoping after the 4 - 6 weeks they would forget to cancel it) but that has changed.

If you were not personally given the voucher to do it yourself, then you couldn't could you? If you were told the breeder was doing it and the pup was covered that was a lie. If you had not been told the lie you would have taken out your own cover as protection. So that makes them liable for these vet bills IMO. Do you have e-mails etc to prove that the breeder lied in that the pup was covered when not.

Contact a solicitor, have you still not got your KC paperwork either?

All my breeders have activated the free insurance when I went to pick up the puppies. They do it there and then to cover the journey home.. I'd be checking out your contract and also if there was any advert where it states that insurance would be included then get a copy of that.

How is your puppy btw? Has your pup been released back into your care from the vets?

Same here Jean, my latest puppy the breeder made the call for the insurance while I was picking her up.

Footnote.

Forgot to add..........

Firstly before you look into anything call the KC insurance dept and ask whether the condition of your pup is covered by them, insurances have all sorts of 'get out' quotes today, so make sure it is covered, how much it would have been covered for by them, less %'s which some have today less the excess and of course the cut off point of 4 weeks means anything over that would have been your responsibility anyway.

How is the pup doing today?