Author Topic: Animal Friends  (Read 5090 times)

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Offline Guelder Rose

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Animal Friends
« on: April 14, 2018, 04:17:50 PM »
Grace has been insured with Animal Friends for 8 years, I received her renewal documents in February of this year - her excess is £99 and for renewal there was to be a co-pay of 20% due to her being over 8 years old.

Sadly, whilst I knew her premium would increase, I did not expect the increase to be 400%!  I was paying £55 per month and at renewal they wanted £221 per month! 

During the past year Grace was diagnosed with MVD which is an ongoing condition, she has also suffered from skin issues that involved her lip folds but this is now resolved (she had a pseudomonas infection of the lip folds and it took some time before we finally found a treatment that killed the bacteria that were involved).

I contacted Animal Friends and reminded them that when I took out the policy 8 years ago part of their marketing was that they would not punish those unfortunate enough to need veterinary treatment - sadly this was just part of their advertising to get you to buy into their insurance in the first place - and as we all know, with a lifetime policy you are stuck with who you start with, as to move insurance gives the opportunity for claims to be refused due to whatever is considered to be pre-existing! 

I also suggested that they should stop donating to charity and telling everyone how wonderful they are for doing that - if their paying customers are then priced out of the insurance just when they really need it! 

At the end of the day, Animal Friends stood by their premium increase as I had claimed on the policy - which is what I thought the policy was supposed to be for!!!  They also said that if I did renew at £221 per month and made a claim during the year that they would increase the premium again!   

I now have no insurance for Grace and that is a very scary place to be! 

I have heard many people say that their insurance is great because when they have claimed it hasn't been a problem - and until now I did not have any issue with Animal Friends, but I had no idea that they would impose such an astronomical premium increase which left me with no choice but to cancel and lose my lifetime cover! 

As it is, I paid extra over the years for a lifetime policy - I had one bad year and they then priced me out, so I would have been better off paying for a 12 month policy which would have cost a lot less!

When it comes to lifetime cover I think it is not about how the monthly premiums compare, or whether claims were paid without an issue, it is more about what happens at each renewal of the policy.  I have read that some companies will only increase premiums by inflation and not because you have claimed or have a dog with an ongoing condition.  I think that is the most important aspect to look at, as a lifetime policy is worthless if they can increase your premiums to a level where you have no choice but to cancel. 










Offline its.sme

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Re: Animal Friends
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2018, 05:35:15 PM »
Hi Guelder Rose,

I know exactly how you feel, More Than did this to Bea , she had had over £6,000 worth of treatment so I was expecting the trouble to start with renewal, they wanted over £1,000 for a year !

I was in tears as I didn't know wether to go somewhere else or just not insure.

I went for bought by many, I cannot claim for any ongoing health issues but if she has not been seen by a vet for a existing condition in 2 years then she will be covered as if it where a new condition.

It was just too scary for me not to have any insurance and I took a couple of days to make the decision.

Worth looking around before you make a decision.

https://boughtbymany.com/offers/pet-insurance/?utm_source=boughtbymany&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=welcome-all&utm_content=pet-insurance

Offline Guelder Rose

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Re: Animal Friends
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2018, 09:45:39 PM »
Hello

Yes, I'm aware of Bought by Many ... but obviously this won't be the same cover as I had, but I may get a quote in due course. 

I was prepared for an increase and would have paid if the premium had increased to say £125 per month, but £221 per month with a 20% co-pay was just ridiculous - especially with the threat that if I dared to put in any claims they would increase that amount. 

Lifetime cover is not lifetime cover when they are able to price you out of renewing - it's a disgusting practice.

I fully expect to see their never ending and very expensive advertising boasting of how much they donate to charity each year to drum up new business!  During the last policy year with them Grace had claimed of £2,000 for her skin issues and MVD and renewal was going to cost over £2,600 with a 20% co-pay ... by comparison, I think what you encountered with More Than was actually quite reasonable. 

Grace will get all that she needs no matter whether I have insurance or not ... I will always have a credit card on standby ... the insurance provided peace of mind until the cost per month was simply too much to afford.





Offline Gypsysmum

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Re: Animal Friends
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2018, 05:15:02 PM »
I have heard that Pet Plan and other, good insurers, do not behave in the way that Animal Friends have behaved. They are more expensive to start with which is why we insure elsewhere but it is false economy in the long run.
I am about to insure a new puppy so am very interested in everyone else's comments on their experience.
I had a lurcher that was insured with Asda. She had lots of claims and they were very good. I did not insure her with them until she was nine years old! She had a pre existing injury but I was happy for that to be excluded. She went on to cost them about six thousand pounds.

Offline Guelder Rose

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Re: Animal Friends
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2018, 05:56:45 PM »
Yes, I also heard that Pet Plan do not punish you on renewal if you have claimed - so whilst they cost a bit a more to start with this is more than made up for if you aren't subsequently priced out of renewal.  My vet also said that Pet Plan did not put premiums up by extortionate amounts - as Animal Friends did to me.

Offline phoenix

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Re: Animal Friends
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2018, 12:13:48 AM »
I too have had a renewal quote from Animal Friends. They claimed to  put the quote up 25% because of no longer  providing multi pet discount.  Never made a claim,and it's for a small terrier type mongrel without the breed history of problems.   My other one has had several trips to the vet for little injuries due to being a lunatic,  but never above the £99 excess, and I wouldn't consider claiming if it had just gone over the limit because I know they'd put the premium up, and of course it would be  on databases they share with other companies,  so stuffed for ever!
I now think that if I should move some savings into a dog account,  I'll either have the cash available to pay without the hassle,and if all stayed healthy,then it's  win -win.

Quoting you such a huge increase is crazy.  They say it's the new expensive treatments  they are having to cover that affect us all,  but tbh,they aren't really ,  because they are restricting the amount per condition anyway.
RIP Marti  the EPI springer age 12,  and beloved black cocker Bobby, 8 yrs old, too soon, from PLN.
Now owned by TInker, tiny hairy grey poodle/terrier rescue from Greece and Jack, local rescue,   scruffy ginger terrier mutt.

Offline Guelder Rose

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Re: Animal Friends
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2018, 04:07:17 PM »
Phoenix, that's exactly right when it comes to Animal Friends - they wanted me to pay them over £2,600 for the year (with the added threat that if I dared to put in a claim that premium would be increased again on renewal) when the maximum I could claim for a condition after deduction of excess and co-pay was £3,120!   

And there is no consistency, I have heard of people who claim with AF and only have a small increase on renewal - and yet Grace's premium was hiked by 400%. 

I do think the Bought by Many policy for under 2's with a fixed fee for life is a great idea - sadly it wasn't available when I took out the AF policy.