Axa renewal gone up from £27 to £190 per month for 1 dog!!! UPDATE: No mistake!

[Emilyoliver]

Slightly different but my brother was screwed over by Axa medical insurance. He got very ill on a trip and his recovery cost him thousands. He was fully covered and they have never paid up. He has tried fighting them but their solicitors somehow keep it out of court.

Axa are not a very nice company.

I have lifetime cover with PetPlan Andes  this year it went up to £67 per month. I am very tempted to lower the cover from Supreme next year and put the extra in savings account.

Good luck if you try that. I tried to downgrade my dog's sainsbury's pet insurance and they said if I did that it would be treated as a new policy so all Pre-existing conditions wouldn't be covered  . And similarly now with Petplan upgrade - they treated upgrade as entirely new policy (hence the exclusions). Over a barrel. Disgusting.

[shezza]

I would urge you all to log onto www.moneysavingexpert.com  and make your feelings known in the pets column and insurance column.
The more people that know about Axa's policy the better (or worse for them) Also make it known on face book if you have accounts.
We need the likes of Axa and other companies that try to rip us off that we will do what we can to spread the word that they are rip off merchants. I know its pet insurance that concerns us but people need to know what they are doing.

[Maria]

Blimey! I thought our 40% increase back in Feb was a shock!
We have a case ongoing with the Ombudsman now, partly due to price, but also because they insisted Charlie had an ongoing condition when he doesn't. I would urge anyone who gets a big increase (or any other issue) to take it up with the Ombudsman. You can call them and tell them your problem, and they send the paperwork to you, or you can download the forms.

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

I looked at the Ombudsman website and it only really seemed to mention cases where you're disputing your claim, rather than my case where you have a (big) problem with the premiums. Will definitely investigate more. I've just started work, so don't have as much time on my hands (great timing, not!), but I'll try to formulate my plan of attack.
40% would have been a reasonable increase, I think, but this could not possibly be described as reasonable.

[ali2010]

I mentioned this to our vet earlier as Albert is insured with Axa and we have a big claim going through. She said definately take it up with the ombudsman as the insurance company cannot price you out of using them, they have a duty to continue to insure

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

I mentioned this to our vet earlier as Albert is insured with Axa and we have a big claim going through. She said definately take it up with the ombudsman as the insurance company cannot price you out of using them, they have a duty to continue to insure

I spoke to my vet practice today as well and they said a similar thing - that they can only put up prices if you move into a higher risk area, your dog moves into a higher risk age-group (ie. over and to reflect reasonable inflation of vet fees. You shouldn't be penalised for having a sick dog, otherwise what's the point of lifetime cover policies?!
I have drafted a letter to Axa and will follow up with the ombudsman.

[Mudmagnets]

On the flip side of this - do the insurance co. give you no claims bonus each year if you don't claim for anything, bet they don't, or if so hike premium price up so it cancels out.

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

The price of everyone's claims is built into the price - I already pay a higher amount for living in a higher-risk area which takes into account the fact that there are more claims and vet fees are higher. Similarly, older dog's premiums will be priced higher because their likelihood of needing treatment is higher. My buildings insurance hasn't been put up because we claimed. That's paid for by everyone's premiums - that's how insurance works - if you don't claim they get your premiums anyway (and you get nothing back )and if you do, they pay out with the money they've got from everyone else's premiums. They have actuaries to work out all the risks and calculate premiums accordingly. Putting an individual's premiums up because they've claimed is unfair practice, and especially if it is at such a monstrous level.

[Cassie01]

So sorry to read this, Sophie! I was almost certain in my mind that it had to be an error.

I can imagine that you could well do without all of the associated aggravation that will come with trying to remedy this right now but I wish you the best of luck in trying to redress the balance and achieving some degree of fairness.

What ba%*$^rds they are!

[Mel]

If Petplan give me a no claims discount then their premiums are going up even more every year than realised!

I seriously am tempted to look into something cheaper.

[JennyBee]

I see Dogs Today magazine have mentioned your problem on their Facebook page, I really hope it comes to something xx

[Mudmagnets]

If Petplan give me a no claims discount then their premiums are going up even more every year than realised!

I seriously am tempted to look into something cheaper.

It was only a thought, Mel. I just wondered that was all as I don't usually go for insurance after the 1st year - rather putting my money in a pot - in case

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

I see Dogs Today magazine have mentioned your problem on their Facebook page, I really hope it comes to something xx

Yup! Spoke to a woman from Radio 4's You & Yours programme (I'm not a R4 listener, so not familiar with it) and am probably going to the studio tomorrow after work to chat about it. So watch this space.... Axa - we not gonna let you get away with this!! Social networking is definitely helping!

[ali2010]

Good on you for doing something about it. I really do hope that AXA do something about it. Please keep me informed as I think that we will have the same problem when our renewal comes through

[JennyBee]

Brilliant, I'm so pleased that they are taking an interest in this. Yes, definitely one good thing about social media - things like this can no longer be swept under the carpet! Hope all goes well tomorrow x