Watchdog tonight 8.00pm

[waggytails]

One of the topics advertised is supermarket pet insurers who often refuse to settle claims.  Should be interesting.

[starboy]

Oh, will try to watch that.

[carolinemaltas]

Will be very interesting. We have insured our 2 with Tescos and 2 years ago when our first little spaniel was ill they were fantastic. Monty ( chocolate brown working cocker) got bacterial septocemia and was ill and on a drip for a week he had a blood transfusion but sadly he died the day he was 14 weeks old. Tescos paid the vet bill direct ( over £1000) and then sent us a little card to say how sorry they were he had died and then rang us to say we were insured up to £500 for a replacement. It really helped alot knowing we could get another puppy so soon and Henry our adorable blue roan show cocker now 2 years old- was the result of the search.

[smartietopdog]

Thats a brilliant service from Tesco! I've just taken up with Sainsbury, so I'll be watching tonight!

[JaspersMum]

All our insurances with Sainsbury - they've paid when required, going to be nervous watching now BUT there are always going to be horror stories - wouldn't be good viewing otherwise would it!

[smartietopdog]

Well so far, it's not been supermarkets.....................but many of the names they are mentioning, are what I would have considered "good" companies......

[waggytails]

I did not get a chance to watch it last night but i have recorded the programme so i will try and watch it over the weekend.

[minimoo]

I did not get a chance to watch it last night but i have recorded the programme so i will try and watch it over the weekend.

Me too, ive just gone from HP to Sainsburys and havent claimed yet, thankfully 

[waggytails]

Well i have just watched it.  The bit towards the end were they mention having to pay the monthly premiums even when your dog has died happened to us in March when Millies died.  Millie was only 1 month into her insurance and had a lot of vet fees in the last couple of days of her life, when i put the claim in after she had died, i was told i still owed them for 11 months of insurance and as my vet fees were cheaper than the insurance cost it would be better if i payed the vets and cancel the insurance.  So in the end i had to pay the vet cost.  If i understood them right if i had not made a claim i would not need to pay.

[michelle123]

To be fair, this isnt just restricted to pet insurance   

Say if you paid direct debit for your car insurance, you made your deposit payment and then day 2 of your annual policy your car was stolen - essentially you have "used" the policy but you have only paid 1 month of your 12 month contract - generally in the case of car insurance they will deduct the cost of your annual policy from your settlement. 

I think as its a pet its more "emotional" - I have to applaud Tesco from Caroline's post, well done them. 

I dealt with pet policies a while ago and would always write a personal note when sending out cheques 

[JeffandAnnie]

Agree with Michelle - when you take out insurance you actually "buy" an annual policy, and if you pay monthly are essentially paying an interest free loan for that policy (many companies, especially motor and household, charge more to pay monthly; this is because they are charging interest on the loan for the lump sum). Hence why other companies ask for your renewal date to sell you new insurance as when you take out a policy you are supposedly committed to a year.