oneteaspoon Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Long story short... 14 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Had petplan pet insurance since 8 weeks of age. When I signed up I wasn't proactive and never actually got an insurance certificate or receipt of payment. Now 12 months later I get a renewal and make payment. Still no receipt but that is not the issue. New certificate says $150 excess so I assume that is what I had in the past 12 months. I go to a lot of effort getting all previous vet appointments claim's filled out. Ruby had a UTI, hurt her elbow, tummy bug and had an MRI. Combined total close to $3000 but because the first 3 separately fall under $500 all claims were denied. I tried calling to discuss this matter, Friday on hold for 30mins, Saturday on hold for 20mins, Monday on hold for 45mins, no answer and I was asked to leave my name, number and a short message and they would get back to me, still waiting for a response. So I decided to email them, got a response just basically saying too bad you have $500 excess. I asked for documentation proving the $500 excess but they are going around about not giving me the evidence. I regret renewing my insurance for the next 12 months. Is there a way I can cancel my policy and get a refund for the 12 months paid? My next question is now that i know the excess is per claim not per calendar year what happens if I was to transfer insurance companies and say she hurt her elbow again, would the new company deem it pre existing and not cover because she didn't have insurance with them? Or does it work like us humans, we change companies and the new company honors the previous insurance and waives waiting periods etc? I am very confused by the pet insurance industry and am very unhappy with petplan. Can anyone offer any advise to my situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliwake Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 The excess should be per condition, per policy year. A $500 excess seems ridiculous... I would insist on seeing some documents, and take it to the ombudsmen either way. Petplan are getting ridiculous with their incompetence lately! Has your premium changed much with the renewal? Feel free to leave a nasty message on their facebook page, though it doesn't seem to bother them most of the time. You would be able to get a refund for the premiums paid since your renewal if you cancel, but not for the previous year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I absolutely loath pet insurance....it just all seems a rip-off. I've never had it & never will, I just carry my own insurance for my dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaspoon Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 to update I searched through my emails and found an email with receipt of payment and insurance policy details "Policy Number: TOLL012-DB-00015802 Insurance Type: Budget Dog Plan Policy Commencement Date: 13/11/2013 Payment Method: Credit/Debit Card Payment Frequency: Yearly Premium Amount: $ 435.00 Taxes included: Stamp Duty/Tax: $ 37.75 GST: $ 36.11 Receipt Number: 97426670 Receipt Date: 13/11/2013" that is all the email said. Nothing about excess. Do I have a leg to stand on arguing there is no excess mentioned on the policy emailed to me? Who do I contact to take further action, is there a pet insurance ombudsmen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaspoon Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 The excess should be per condition, per policy year. A $500 excess seems ridiculous... I would insist on seeing some documents, and take it to the ombudsmen either way. Petplan are getting ridiculous with their incompetence lately! Has your premium changed much with the renewal? Feel free to leave a nasty message on their facebook page, though it doesn't seem to bother them most of the time. You would be able to get a refund for the premiums paid since your renewal if you cancel, but not for the previous year. What ombudsmen? is there a pet insurance one? I can see I may have signed up for $500 excess if it were based on calendar year... but per condition sounds really stupid to me!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliwake Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) The excess should be per condition, per policy year. A $500 excess seems ridiculous... I would insist on seeing some documents, and take it to the ombudsmen either way. Petplan are getting ridiculous with their incompetence lately! Has your premium changed much with the renewal? Feel free to leave a nasty message on their facebook page, though it doesn't seem to bother them most of the time. You would be able to get a refund for the premiums paid since your renewal if you cancel, but not for the previous year. What ombudsmen? is there a pet insurance one? I can see I may have signed up for $500 excess if it were based on calendar year... but per condition sounds really stupid to me!!! I think it's the financial ombudsman: http://www.fos.org.au/ The excess per condition is actually pretty good and makes a lot of sense - well it does when the excess is $150 which is more normal... I'm more concerned about why, if you chose a $500 excess deliberately, then would have then changed you to a $150 excess on renewal, without consulting you. If the premiums are similar then it makes you wonder why you're paying the same for a better policy. Edited October 15, 2014 by aliwake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliwake Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Often threatening to contact the ombudsman will be more useful than actually doing it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaspoon Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 The excess should be per condition, per policy year. A $500 excess seems ridiculous... I would insist on seeing some documents, and take it to the ombudsmen either way. Petplan are getting ridiculous with their incompetence lately! Has your premium changed much with the renewal? Feel free to leave a nasty message on their facebook page, though it doesn't seem to bother them most of the time. You would be able to get a refund for the premiums paid since your renewal if you cancel, but not for the previous year. What ombudsmen? is there a pet insurance one? I can see I may have signed up for $500 excess if it were based on calendar year... but per condition sounds really stupid to me!!! I think it's the financial ombudsman: http://www.fos.org.au/ The excess per condition is actually pretty good and makes a lot of sense - well it does when the excess is $150 which is more normal... I'm more concerned about why, if you chose a $500 excess deliberately, then would have then changed you to a $150 excess on renewal, without consulting you. If the premiums are similar then it makes you wonder why you're paying the same for a better policy. Thanks. I have sumitted a claim with them. PetPlan have had enough time to contact me to discuss this matter I no long want to deal with them. I could understand if the renewal came at $500 because I had it previously but I went online to get a quote and they don't even offer $500 excess which makes me think they are trying to get out of paying up!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Did you read the PDS. This is where the excess is normally detailed. When you sign up you agree that you've read the PDS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaspoon Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 I have read it now and it does not state that the first 12 months is automatically $500. When I went online to make a fake quote there isn't even a $590 excess option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I have read it now and it does not state that the first 12 months is automatically $500. When I went online to make a fake quote there isn't even a $590 excess option I'm with PetPlan and my first 12 months wasn't automatically a $500 excess, but I'm not on the Budget plan. They should have automatically sent you out confirmation paperwork either by mail or email when you joined? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Jac Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I can't help but I feel your pain! We have had our three pets insured with Petplan until yesterday. I got the renewal info a couple of weeks ago. Two of the policies went up less than $15/mth but Tintin's went up by $30.83/mth! I haven't made a single claim on any of the policies. I wanted to speak to discuss the increases with them and ask them to explain why one has increased significantly more than the others. l I tried contacting them by both phone and email several times. You are more patient than me...the longest I waited on hold was 23 minutes. So I sent them an email saying that I had tried to contact them several times blah blah blah and, as I can't find anyone to talk to and I don't understand their pricing, I wish to cancel all three policies. I received an email within a couple of hours saying that my request to cancel had been forwarded to the relevant department and would be processed and backdated to my date of request. They obviously couldn't give two hoots because they still didn't bother discussing it with me. That's a loss of $1986.03 each year to them and a saving to me. Very lazy business practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaspoon Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 I can't help but I feel your pain! We have had our three pets insured with Petplan until yesterday. I got the renewal info a couple of weeks ago. Two of the policies went up less than $15/mth but Tintin's went up by $30.83/mth! I haven't made a single claim on any of the policies. I wanted to speak to discuss the increases with them and ask them to explain why one has increased significantly more than the others. l I tried contacting them by both phone and email several times. You are more patient than me...the longest I waited on hold was 23 minutes. So I sent them an email saying that I had tried to contact them several times blah blah blah and, as I can't find anyone to talk to and I don't understand their pricing, I wish to cancel all three policies. I received an email within a couple of hours saying that my request to cancel had been forwarded to the relevant department and would be processed and backdated to my date of request. They obviously couldn't give two hoots because they still didn't bother discussing it with me. That's a loss of $1986.03 each year to them and a saving to me. Very lazy business practice. Thank you Tintin Jac for your response. I would leave petplan in a heartbeat but what concerns me is that I have made a large claim with petplan for an MRI scan that showed my Ruby has mild signs of Syringomyelia, no medication yet but in the future she will need this. If I am to change insurance companies they may say that because the condition is pre existing to the new company and therefore will not cover her. I have just paid the renewal and it was $245 increase annually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Don't change companies - it would definitely be an exclusion (which is fair enough). Either drop them or stick with them. Your excess might be $500 because of the plan you chose? I've been with them for over 6 years, never had a problem and they've paid out over $7000 to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaspoon Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Don't change companies - it would definitely be an exclusion (which is fair enough). Either drop them or stick with them. Your excess might be $500 because of the plan you chose? I've been with them for over 6 years, never had a problem and they've paid out over $7000 to me. Just rang pet insurance australia and just had confirmed that pet insurance doesn't work like humans and roll over. If I am to take out a new policy with a new company all previous conditions will not be covered. Look I am happy with Petplan but don't remember signing up to $500 excess. I never got an insurance certificate, just got an email saying that payment has been received and outlining my policy as I have stated in my above comments and nowhere on there does it mention $500 excess or excess in general. I can't see why I would have taken out $500 excess when it is per claim not per calendar year. $500 doesn't make sense. Then when I get the renewal notice it is automatically set to $150 no option or asking if I wish to increase to decrease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Jac Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Don't change companies - it would definitely be an exclusion (which is fair enough). Either drop them or stick with them. Your excess might be $500 because of the plan you chose? I've been with them for over 6 years, never had a problem and they've paid out over $7000 to me. Just rang pet insurance australia and just had confirmed that pet insurance doesn't work like humans and roll over. If I am to take out a new policy with a new company all previous conditions will not be covered. I think you will find that Petplan are still the only pet insurance provider in Australia that will continue to cover a condition after renewal. All the others consider any condition treated in the previous year a pre existing condition at renewal. So, if you suspect you pet may need ongoing care for something, they are the best to be with. They just have appalling customer service and ridiculous increases in policy pricing which was unsustainable for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teekay Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Don't change companies - it would definitely be an exclusion (which is fair enough). Either drop them or stick with them. Your excess might be $500 because of the plan you chose? I've been with them for over 6 years, never had a problem and they've paid out over $7000 to me. Just rang pet insurance australia and just had confirmed that pet insurance doesn't work like humans and roll over. If I am to take out a new policy with a new company all previous conditions will not be covered. Look I am happy with Petplan but don't remember signing up to $500 excess. I never got an insurance certificate, just got an email saying that payment has been received and outlining my policy as I have stated in my above comments and nowhere on there does it mention $500 excess or excess in general. I can't see why I would have taken out $500 excess when it is per claim not per calendar year. $500 doesn't make sense. Then when I get the renewal notice it is automatically set to $150 no option or asking if I wish to increase to decrease. If you have a renewal notice that says the excess is $150, can you not use that as proof? Are you saying you have never had any insurance certificates or Product disclosure statement from them? That is strange. I have been with Petplan for approx 8 years now and had a number of claims processed without incident (although a little slow) but recently they do seem to have lost the plot a bit. I really hope I don't need to claim any time soon. With regard to your premium hike for your one dog. The entire system is now based on breed and history of claims for that breed (not your specific dog but all dogs of that breed). I wasn't happy about the increase for my Aussie Sheptard. His policy is now much more expensive than my other two, but I have made claims previously for two of my dogs and don't want exclusions so I have to saty with them. It sucks but that's how insurance works and I definitely wouldn't be without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teekay Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) Don't change companies - it would definitely be an exclusion (which is fair enough). Either drop them or stick with them. Your excess might be $500 because of the plan you chose? I've been with them for over 6 years, never had a problem and they've paid out over $7000 to me. Just rang pet insurance australia and just had confirmed that pet insurance doesn't work like humans and roll over. If I am to take out a new policy with a new company all previous conditions will not be covered. I think you will find that Petplan are still the only pet insurance provider in Australia that will continue to cover a condition after renewal. All the others consider any condition treated in the previous year a pre existing condition at renewal. So, if you suspect you pet may need ongoing care for something, they are the best to be with. They just have appalling customer service and ridiculous increases in policy pricing which was unsustainable for us. Unti recently I think this was the case, but others will now provide continuous cover. They are the only ones who pay put 100% (minus the excess) though. The others only cover 80%. ETA screen shot from Bow wow Meow website Edited October 16, 2014 by teekay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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