M&S Insurance Surprise

[scooby's mum]

I have had M&S insurance out on Kali since I bought her.  I put in a claim for her eye operation on the 16th of October.  Before they had even opened the paperwork on that, she had an operation because she was thought to have swallowed something that was making her sick.  I finally got two cheques for both claims on the 23rd of December.  I know they are busy with people joining because they told me but I found them really abrupt on the phone.  At one point they tried to tell me that I hadn't put in a claim and I said that was strange because I had a letter 5 days later from them, thanking them for my claim form submission    I really think that if it hadn't been for my vet nurse phoning them every week that I would still be waiting.  As I told M&S, the fact that they had more people joining than they expected was their problem, not mine....

That's no good is it?

I have Scooby insured with More Than, and I have to say they have been fantastic.  I insured Scooby and then 2 weeks later he had a nasty accident (was attacked by two dogs and then run over) and More Than were fantastic.

In the end, all his treatment cost over £2,000 and, although we had to pay the vets ourselves and then submit a claim, I have to say that each time I submitted a claim form the cheque arrived within 2 weeks.

Consequently, I have insured Misty with them too 

[LurcherGirl]

All our dogs (three, soon to be four) are insured with M & S. We have claimed well over £1000 last year and have not had any problems. They always paid up within a reasonable time.

Vera

[Sheryl]

I suppose its peoples idea of reasonable time thats the problem   Kalis first op for her eyes was £362 and the second on her tummy for £412, this was all within three weeks!.  I didn't have the cash so put it on credit cards.  Consequently I ended up with two months interest to pay on them by the time I got payment through.  I wouldn't have minded that so much I guess if I hadn't had the rudeness on the phone.  They told me it was our fault because the vet didn't put referral treatment on the claim form.  The vets said that there wasn't a box to tick to state it was referral treatment   The vet in Edinburgh who did the op, did put follow up treatment on the invoice and yet because he was the specialist and not the normal vet, it didn't count    Nightmare. 

[LurcherGirl]

I suppose its peoples idea of reasonable time thats the problem  

We got paid within 4 weeks at the latest from me sending the claims form off.

[AnnieG]

I've just received my renewal notice from M&S today and I opened it with dread because we have had two really hefty - and I mean HEFTY - claims for Millie this year.  Both were paid up reasonably promptly, even though one was a referral, without quibble.  And - surprise - it's gone up but only by about three quid a month when I was expecting a lot more.  I'm relieved but also pretty puzzled about why the situation seems to vary so much between policy holders.

[PennyB]

Don't think it works like other insurance policies with pet insurance any way, ie no claims = small/no increase, many claims = lots more to pay.  And think M&S put there's up for young male dogs but across the board last year because they appear to see more dog fight claims with male dogs, or so they say

[michelle123]

Colin & Mrs Mac - you can get your money back from Insurers if you can provide one of them with evidence that you have doubly insured.  In both circumstances it would appear that KC have a slightly ambiguous (sp) form.  My advice to both of you is to send copies of last years M&S policy schedule to KC and ask for a refund - you are entitled to it.  I think that whoever you spoke to at KC is doing the age old "fobbing off" trick 

I am in the insurance industry so any questions feel free to ask, I would only ask for Colin's Stevie as payment in lieu, she is soooooooo gorgeous 

[Colin]

Thanks Michelle but I think I'll just leave it. I filled the form in 3½ years ago and still can't be sure if it was my mistake or a clerical error at their end. When I queried it with them they said I should try and recoup my money from the other insurer as that policy was taken out after theirs - the other insurer told me to go back to the KC. 

I'd already gone through loads of time consuming hassle trying to sort out a claim from Jimmy's insurer which involved loads of letters to and fro and numerous phone calls ( they quibbled over every last penny) - this time I decided to recoup the money elsewhere by taking on some work I'd normally turn down - it took up less of my time and was far less stressful. To be honest I wish I'd never read this thread, I'd managed to forget all about it. 

[Sheryl]

We got paid within 4 weeks at the latest from me sending the claims form off.

I would have been happy with that   9 weeks just seemed a bit excessive....

[CarolineL]

We got paid within 4 weeks at the latest from me sending the claims form off.

I would have been happy with that   9 weeks just seemed a bit excessive....

Hurley's op was on 27th November, the condition has been approved and we are STILL waiting for a payment of over £600. Despite phoning almost every day for the last week M&S STILL havent paid out. 2 claim forms sent at the same time, one for £184 paid but they're really dragging their heels with this £644 one. Despite re-iterating to them time and time again that we have a mortgage to pay they havent paid up - it is very frustrating particularly as I havent heard that many bad reports about them.

[Sheryl]

Yikes, and I thought I was hard done by   It is frustrating.  I really wanted to change insurances but a strange thing happened when Kali had her op for eating 'banned' stuff.  One vet thought he heard a heart murmur, told me over the phone to prepare myself for the worst because her heart x ray was very poor.  I phoned hubby who dashed home and we both stood crying.....only to be disturbed by a call from the vet again, saying he may have jumped the gun   Apparently she was on her back at the time of x ray and they think that her heart was flopped a bit anyway, it was also relaxed as it was beating on the 'out' plus she may have been breathing in.  All which made it look like her heart was enlarged.  My own vet happened on the new vet and wondered why he had been taking pics of her heart!!  The x rays went to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Medicine to put everyones minds at rest (except my usual vet who knew nothing was wrong) and all was fine.  I just wondered if even though the diagnosis was wrong, would a new insurer pay out in the future if there ever was a heart problem?  The vet said he would write a letter but I am not sure it will be enough

[*Jay*]

I think a vets letter should be sufficient in this case Sheryl so wouldn't worry too much.

I have made quite a few biggish claims while we have been with M&S and they have always paid up within 3-4 weeks......except for the time when Vegas had his exploratory op - took them over 3 MONTHS to pay up for that one. Lost count of the amount of times I had to send his full clinical history to them. It was an utter shambles 

[Shelley]

I think it depends on who you speak to at M&S insurance as to how nice they are. We have had some real stand offish people, and we have had some who couldn't help us enough.

As for the time it takes them to pay out a claim.... Well I haven't found them to be in much of a rush! Although 18 months or so ago they paid us within a couple of weeks!

We got paid within 4 weeks at the latest from me sending the claims form off.

I would have been happy with that   9 weeks just seemed a bit excessive....

Hurley's op was on 27th November, the condition has been approved and we are STILL waiting for a payment of over £600. Despite phoning almost every day for the last week M&S STILL havent paid out. 2 claim forms sent at the same time, one for £184 paid but they're really dragging their heels with this £644 one. Despite re-iterating to them time and time again that we have a mortgage to pay they havent paid up - it is very frustrating particularly as I havent heard that many bad reports about them.

Gosh, having to wait for that amount of money must be a killer . When Kitten had his big op we didn't pay for it, the vet claimed direct from M&S... I am very pleased to say as we were already waiting for the £180 for the x-rays back, and almost £100 for two bottles of Metacam!

Oh and a word from the wise. Check your bank accounts!!! I couldn't understand why we didn't have the money in our bank account that we should have had this month. I had a look at my account on line and found that £700 that I had thought had gone in over a couple of months hadn't . I never check my statements... they scare me, but that scared me more!

[CraftySam]

I'm with Direct Line, and while they've been very nice and helpful they do take a while to cough up. When I rang for a claim form after Sapphi's accident I was told it was taking them quite a while to deal with claims as they had a back log due to staff shortages. The cheques came last week so it was probably a six week wait. They've paid up in full (minus the excess of course) which I'm pleased about. I did wonder if I'd have  a problem as really it was down to my OH negligence. 

PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS

A few years ago I had money stolen out of my bank account, to the tune of £3,000. It was easy for the culprits to do, and it could happen to you. It was a nightmare, my bank account was frozen I was left with no money and no where to get any from (my parents were abroad). Now I imagine you'd notice if that amount went missing from your bank account, even if you don't check your statements, but you'd be amazed at the smaller amounts that get stolen from bank accounts that go without being questioned because people like you lot don't check your statements!
Come on people.....check your statements.......mine are scary too and not pleasant reading but at least I know that its me spending the money and not some thief.

AND don't just throw them in the bin.....Lynpate!  Shred them peoples identities are being stolen all the time which starts from getting hold of statements. 

Lecture over! 

[DennyK]

Gill

You said you got Disney's renewal recently and it wasn't too big a hike.  How old is Disney?  Entire or not?  Hope you don't mind me asking - but how much was old and how much is the new premium?

Denise