Not wanting to go into too much detail but a friend lost her dog on saturday/sunday, suffered a heart attack though the cause of what started it is unknown but possibly a bee/wasp sting in his throat. Hopefully a post mortem will reveal why :(
Anyway, guess what her insurance company has said - and I quote from an email (from her, not the company)

"I am with **** **<* and pay £ 28 something a month its supposed to be really good one
but it doesn't cover me for post mortem nor cremation . I have to pay £ 70 excess and they cover £ 600 on death  and worse than that because I pay direct debit and its just been renewed in February leaving 10 payments apparently I have to pay them the remaining outstanding £ 279 which will come of the final settlement"

Now I know my insurance won't cover cremation and probably not a pm but surely asking to pay the remaining 10 months policy is just a bit too much? How sad that they are making her pay :(
I'm going to check my policy now and if its the same, question why? (Different Insurance company)

This happened to a friend of mine a couple of years ago when she lost her dog, she ended up owing the vet £800 after the dog had died.
She had renewed the insurance a month before but because they had paid out on an ongoing condition they demanded the full year's premium, and deducted it from the very large bill she had for the final account when the dog died following a stay at the vet.
The company I am with actually refunded me most of the month's installment when I lost a dog 2 days into the first moth after renewal.

Well, I've just got off the phone to mine :( Its the same. Apparently most insurance companies will want the full 12 months paid up because thats what you are paying for, 12 months at a time.
It just doesn't seem fair does it? You loose your dog under tragic circumstances then find you owe THEM money :(

Gosh, that is a new one, I've been with the same insurance company for years and never, ever had this problem.

I'll be watching this with interest as I do recommend some companies to my clients especially if this is a clause on the year to year plans, or if a full long term insurance is it possibly if the insurance is under a year old?

If you can give fuller details I'll certainly be interested, I don't wish to recommend insurances that are going to cost clients money long term, or if a dog should be killed.

In this instance I think it is ok to name the company/companies after all it is a factual policy and not hearsay and helping us all to choose the right one.

I'm with LLoyds, she is/was with More Th<n

Think I might do what I've always said I would do and never got round to doing, and thats open up an account especially for the dogs. Having just renewed mine this month I have a year to put some aside so to start again next year.

My friend was with Morethan too.

I'm with Direct Line and their policy is for one month, reviewable annually.

So once you have taken it out it will remain at that price etc. for 12 months.  Never had a problem with claims and they pay the vet direct.

Does anybody have any good/bad reports about petplan with matters like this?

Poor people that find themselves caught out.

I haven't had a pet die on me in a long time the last one was approx 7 years ago,  with Pet healthcare, not only did I get the insurance value, the full vet fee (minus cremation of course) but they sent me a lovely card saying how sorry they were too, and I got all that in a few days no probs whatsoever, you remember these things as at the time I was devastated and it was lovely to feel as though you were dealing with people that cared or at least acted as though they did. :-)

I remember when my sisters dog died, she had a lovely card from the vets (she wasn't insured) but it does show you who cares at times like that.
My friend is absolutely gutted at losing her boy at such a young age (2) and tragically at that poor thing :(
Its like the last thing you need to know, that yr insurance company are heartless :( My heart goes out to her, it really does :(

Yes, I agree, the last thing any of us want is to think all others care about is grabbing our money when in sorrow, my vet was good too and even said you don't have to pay the bill now, I did because I couldn't face going back again, you never forget the people who care.

Insurances have so much small print, I think everyone will be digging theirs out today to check, I'm glad that you have highlighted this.

Give your friend a big hug, looks as though this insurance company only think of money.

Thank you Carrington, hugs will be passed on.

I must admit it's something I've never even thought about before, never wanted to, but now I know. 
If only our vets were our insurers too, mine are lovely people and like you didn't wave a bill at me as I ran out the door once in floods of tears (though I think the receptionist tried ;) ) I just sent a cheque through the post and they were fine with that.

Hi Hun, there are a few companys that do a lunar month policy(the one everyone hates is one of them lol) But even with M&S it said the premiums would be taken out of the settlement, when I claimed for Cassie...BUT although they told me there was an excess on the policy because she was over 7, when I looked, it stated NIL excess, so a mistake on their part! They also said the years premium had to be paid, but, again when they sent the settlement cheque they hadn't taken any off for the rest of the year. I had only paid 4 or 5 months premiums on direct debit, so I thought they would continue to take the DD but they haven't???...they also paid a cremation fee...so it just goes to show...we really need to read and re-read everything! On a sadder note, I'm really sorry she has to go through ANY of this in the first place and so sad she lost her boy, pass on love and hugs please!? Thanks, all the best, Dawn X

Thank you Dawn xxxx will do

Pet Healthcare got bought out by MoreThan
So they aren't the same now :(

[Pet Healthcare got bought out by MoreThan/i]

Noooooooooo!!!  Really, I really am behind the times, glad I'm with the KC for my dog then. What a shame, I always pay by d/d thank goodness my cat had P H and not MoreThan, they gave me such a fabulous service.

Yes and they didn't drive on post code, breed, dogs age etc etc etc.
More Than have hiked their premiums year on year, PH only had small rises in comparison.

I think some of the same staff still work for them, they are still based in Henley etc.
They used to be at Pheasants Hill in Hambleden etc then moved into Henley when/where they
got bought out by MoreThan..

Sad day when they got taken over :(

Car insurance policies are the same. It's because the full amoutn of the policy is really due the day you take the policy out. Just because you choose to pay in instalments doesn't alter that fact, so therefore when your car gets stolen you have to pay the remainder of the instalments off the settlement.

Oh? I never knew that neither. I suppose it makes sense then BUT you'd think they would be more compassionate over a death? If you cancelled a policy half way through they wouldn't get the full 12 months payment would they?

Oh what sad news, hope she is finding comfort some how.
Yes it happened with our car insurance when we decided to scrap it instead of fixing it, it was a very close thing so they gave us the option.  We didn't get any refund either, policy as you said was due the first day of the car insurance so if you pay it through the year it still is the same policy year. 
Yvonne

OMG not what you need to have told to you at a time like this is it!!!

I'm really shocked although I must admit I don't have insurance - just have money in case of emergency.

My heart goes out to your friend at the loss of one so young.

Very sad at how insensitive the situation is - isn't it?   :(

Many years ago I got a refund off an insurance company upon the tragic death of a horse of mine.  I had paid upfront and the horse had died 5 months into the policy.  The refund was totally unsolicited too - so although it didn't compensate, it did actually put a smile on my face that day, which was the first for a long time.  Maybe things have changed.

I 'think' I've found out what they do if you have paid in full up front for the year. This happened to someone else. Say for instance they pay you the 'purchase fee' on the death of your dog, which most say they do, and its quoted at £600. Well they give you the £600 because you have paid up (but remember the months you have paid for that you won't be putting a claim in) BUT if you pay monthly by DD for example, they deduct the amount outstanding for the year off the price ! so if you owe say £300, then £300 (off the £600) is what they will pay you.
I believe that is what was meant in the email, that she won't be getting the full purchase price (which is still short btw) because they will be taking what she owes for the year out of it, so she gets what? £321? :(  Not that she would be claiming anything else on it now, I just think that is totally mean :( 

The same problem arises with car insurance. My young son wrote off his car recently and having paid the full premium, we did get a refund of the remaing unuses time... but we then insured him again with a different company and they state clearly that in the event of a write off, the remaining insurance premium has to be paid. So it really does pay to read the terms and conditions on your policies when shopping around on insurance

Most of them are the same though, according to the 'lloyds' man I spoke to earlier

yes this happened with a cat i rehomed. i tried to close the policy but had to pay the remaning 6 months because i had made a very small claim so had to pay even though i no longer owned her. OMG im with more than just swapped from lloyds as more than was half the price, have i made a mistake??

Pays to read the small print.  More Than got me as well.  Out of close on £150 claim I got about £2.80 because the treatment went on over three months (most of this time was waiting for results and so conveniently took us over the first 12 month term and into the second).  They conveniently took more than the £50 excess they stated as they told me they were perfectly entitled to take a percentage charge per year instead, whichever is the greater.

I cannot believe that insurance companies can be so mean!!! To make money out of the death of a loved member of the family!!! To have to pay the policy up for the rest of the year????....it not like she would be making another claim!!!!
I bred this young boy, he was such a lovely dog!!! and he was the world to the lovely lady who owned him. My heart goes out to her and her two children, whose social life revolved around him. She is finding it very hard to cope with at the moment, as she not only has to deal with her own grief, but also that of her childrens. She waited 18 months for a puppy from me, it used to make my heart beat to see them all out at functions enjoying a family day out. The last thing she needs at the moment is this. This is so, so tragic!!  Rest in peace Dear Toa!!

this is really really sad, poor family,
i had excactley the same problerms with m&s

i am with petplan & unfortunately i lost one of my cats to a RTA several years ago, i had just renewed the policy when he got hit by a car, he got a fractured pelvis & unfrotunately developed complications & i had to make the decsision to PTS.
my bill was nearly £1000 (emergency out of ours & treatment at my own vets) which was claimed direct.
petplan sent me a lovely letter & cancelled his policy once the money had been paid to the vets.
so they are not all like that.
i can understand them not paying for cremation tho as that is a personal choice, & i suppose if they did pay out, then some people would go for the most expensive option simply cuz they would get it paid for by the insurance.
routine cremation is usually included in the price of euthanasia, which is paid ffor by the insurance company.

Sorry but the fact that the person pays by monthly direct debit does not absolve the owner from paying the full fee which is clearly spelled out when you take out insurance cover. 

The COST of the insurance is £X whether or not you choose to pay in installments or in one go.

After all, would it not be a little unfair for those owners who pay up front to be charged the full amount and those who pay by installments to pay less in these circumstances?  Or do you believe there should be different rules for different people?

This has happened to me and whilst of course emotionally it appears on the surface a little unfair, it is of course technically and legally correct and proper.

http://www.vip4u.co.uk/

Any insurance cover for whatever reason should be thoroughly read and understood and questions asked.  VIP are a specialist insurance broker who can give you policies which will fit your individual circumstances.

Insurance companies are a business, there are there to make money and a profit just like any other commercial organisation.

Maybe but its a harsh world of insurance companies. Would it really have hurt them to 'waive' the next 10 months? After all, if the dog had died 11 months 3 weeks into the policy and never a claim was made they would have paid the full purchase price of the dog? (minus one week I suppose) :rolleyes: . If a claim had been made for every month of the 12 month policy, the full purchase price of the dog would have been paid.? So why on the death of a beloved pet that has been insured for the two short years of his life, with never a claim been made (don't forget she paid the first £70 vet fee) do they have to make it even harder for her by deducting the next 10 months of which she will never make a claim against, out of the final purchase payment? Sorry, I just (still) think its sad :(

If you brought a tin of beans from tescos although you only needed half a tin and would throw away the other half would you expect to pay only half the price?  No because it's a product your buying and Tesco is out to make money (and don't we know it!)

An Insurance company is the same with it's product (pet insurance) and they again are only trying to make money.

I can understand how upsetting it is to have your dog die and still have to pay out insurance for the remainder of the year but if the companies cancelled it as and when then surely they wouold not be making money.

If people don't like the way insurance works, don't get it!

Maybe, one day things will change and be more "customer friendly"

Then I'd only buy a small tin, or put the other half in a dish, in the fridge, eat them later.
When I brought two extra rolls of wallpaper from B & Q and I didn't use them I took them back, got a refund.

yes Missie im with you......and i wouldnt compare a loving loyal pet to a tin of beans!!!

Sorry I'm not trying to compare a pet to a tin of beans but trying (really trying) to show that companies want your money so they can survive.

(and the wall paper will have been resold! ;) )