Veterinary Pet Insurance

I was browsing the website in September/October when I was pointed through a freebie site to Pets Pyjamas who had a deal with free pet insurance. Reading through the small print, it looked okay, so I immediately signed up my two cats. I waited for the insurance certificate to come through, but it wasn't issued, so I chased it up by trying to re-register the cats. The website said I had already registered them so I felt pretty confident. My mother ...
...time and hadn't received her certificate either so I didn't worry unduly.

About a month later,one of the cats, Bob, came home with half his leg ripped apart by a dog. Hence, instant panic, and three days in the vets for him, waiting for the swelling to do down. Lots of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and finally some serious stitching up. He was pretty lucky he didn't lose his leg and he was a pretty miserable puss for a while.
more

I was browsing the website in September/October when I was pointed through a freebie site to Pets Pyjamas who had a deal with free pet insurance. Reading through the small print, it looked okay, so I immediately signed up my two cats. I waited for the insurance certificate to come through, but it wasn't issued, so I chased it up by trying to re-register the cats. The website said I had already registered them so I felt pretty confident. My mother had insured her dog with the deal at a similar time and hadn't received her certificate either so I didn't worry unduly.

About a month later,one of the cats, Bob, came home with half his leg ripped apart by a dog. Hence, instant panic, and three days in the vets for him, waiting for the swelling to do down. Lots of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and finally some serious stitching up. He was pretty lucky he didn't lose his leg and he was a pretty miserable puss for a while.

The bill came to almost £200. I got in touch with the insurance company, INTERGROUP, by email and asked them for a claim form. For a single mum, reeling from a four figure divorce bill, I was desperate for the vets bill to be paid for Christmas, otherwise the children were going to be short of Christmas presents. I went back to the Pets Pyjamas website to find the offer had been taken off the site for whatever reason and the only way I could trace it was via the freebie site, who still had the relevant link for me to trace the company concerned.

Two weeks later, no application form. I emailed them again, waited two weeks, still no form. I emailed them again, and finally received a form. I stated in each email that I had not yet received my insurance certificate so had no insurance number to quote them.

I collected together the vets bills, sent them to the vets together with the bill so the vet could authenticate them, and sent them in, together with a covering letter and note on the form stating again that I had no insurance number to quote since I had not been issued with one.

A month later, I got a reply from the company. They sent back all my vets bills, and my application form, telling me they could not process my claim without a copy of the original insurance certificate. I rang them, and, after holding on for over 30 mins, and passed between several departments, was told by some smartarse that if I didn't have an insurance certificate, then I had better pack up everything, send it back in, and explain to the claims department that I didn't have an insurance number. I painstakingly explained I had already done this by letter and email on FOUR previous occasions and I was told, "Well, it looks very unlikely you will have a valid claim then...."

I did exactly what they said, sent it all back and gave them ten days to reply. I stated that when I had tried to reinput the details of my cats it had told me the system had already had my details on file, so why couldn't they find them. That letter went to them on 12th December.

To date, I have heard absolutely nothing. My children received next to nothing on Christmas morning, but at least understood that their Christmas present money had been spent saving one of their cat's lives. However, they could never understand the fact that I had applied to a company and been accepted in a legally binding way for pet insurance, which the company INTERGROUP had then most disgustingly welched on and that had been the main reason they had next to nothing from Father Christmas.

This company obviously received my details as I have been receiving endless SPAM messages from various organisations, up to 30 PER DAY, stating I had given my permission to INTERGROUP to receive this messages, which I most definitely had not. If they have received my details to sell them on for SPAM purposes, how come they have not received them for pet insurance purposes?

They have had over two months to sort this out and have done nothing. I have my paid house insurance with this company and am cancelling it because of the dispicable way I have been treated.

They do not reply to requests for claim forms, nor letters, their telephone advisors are less than useless and to my mind, they are nothing more than con-artists parading as an insurance company.

I am contacting trading standards and consumer advice with regard to this company and getting recompense. This company advertise free pet insurance, then do not deliver.

I contacted Pet's Pyjamas explaining the situation and asking them to give me details of INTERGROUP, who I could contact etc, and they have never replied back, almost two months later. That I find very, very disappointing. If they allowed the company to advertise on their site and advertised it as one of the benefits of shopping online with Pet's Pyjamas, then they should at least be prepared to accept some of the blame when things go wrong, not just ignore the questions they are asked.

In the meantime, I mentioned earlier about my mother who also applied for free pet insurance with this company in September/October 2001. She is still waiting for her certificate, and I do not believe us to be isolated cases.

If the insurance had been good, than at the end of the free term, I would have considered paying for the insurance. As it is, I would not recommend it to my worst enemy. At best, it is a fraud or totally incompetent. At worst, it lulls you into a false sense of security and any mishap with your pet leaves your children with nothing on Christmas Morning.

Merry Christmas, INTERGROUP and a bloody miserable New Year the same as we are having through financially difficulties YOU have caused.

I will update this item as necessary.

UPDATE 13 JANUARY 2002

I have had to contact this company again today, since they have not even bothered to respond to my previous correspondence, or even have the decency to acknowledge it. My last letter to them was dated 12 December 2001 and I gave them 10 days to respond. Obviously, it was a waste of a stamp.

AGAIN: The details of this company are as follows:

Website who hosted the free insurance - PETS PYJAMAS (no response ever received from them when asking them for assistance in contacting the insurance company)

Details of the company offering the so-called free pet insurance:
PETWISE HEALTH INSURANCE
INTERGROUP CLAIMS LIMITED
FARNHAM
SURREY

Be warned!

LATEST UPDATE: 20 FEBRUARY 2002

I have today written to the Chief Executive of this company with a copy sent to the Chief Executive of Pets Pyjamas. I have had no reply from either company in spite of endless phone calls and letters over the past three months. I have received no payment and due to the fact I had paid the vets bills on my credit card awaiting reimbursement from this company, I have now had to stand almost £40 interest on the amount I originally paid, hence this company are costing me £10 a month in interest alone of the amount they have refused to pay! Disgusting or what?

LATEST UPDATE: 20 MARCH 2002

I have received four emails from Petwise since my last update. They state it is the problem of Pet's Pyjamas. Their reasoning is that the free pet insurance offer ended December 2000. And Pet's Pyjamas only removed the offer from their site in December 2001 - 12 months after it had ended. I have had no response from Pet's Pyjamas. I am no nearer getting my money back than I was 5 months ago. 

...less