Pet Insurance Scam

[SchnauzerMax]

I pay annually. There is no direct debit arrangement. The insurance company can't take money out without me manually authorizing it.

Also, the annual amount is large enough that they must send me a tax invoice for payment.

[Steve]

My dog has no medical history of any of the exclusions (Otis, ear and skin) and when asked about this via email I was told

"As of March this year the Petplan product underwent a massive restructure and change. After many months of research and deliberation, we have decided to move to a rating based system. This means that we have assessed the risks and claims associated with different breeds, ages, locations and histories to calculate which rating a pet is in"

contradicts what the website says about Breed specific exclusions.

I had not recieved any notifications of these changes or a renewal notice. Pet plan just continued to deduct the increased amount for a policy i did not agree to. I agreed to 12 months at $59.99 with the PDS in 2013, how can i agree to something that they did not notify me of and that is not even written on their website 9 months after this restructure

If the policy conditions have changed surely they have to notify you of this before it gets to claiming - the whole thing sounds a bit shonky to me. Surely before your renewal is due they should send you what is changing and give you the opportunity to agree to continue on or not .

[Steve]

I pay annually. There is no direct debit arrangement. The insurance company can't take money out without me manually authorizing it.

Also, the annual amount is large enough that they must send me a tax invoice for payment.

Before you pay annually do you see any changes to the policy ?

[melzawelza]

There OP didn't? Someone else mentioned it and now people are assuming it is breed specific. There dog had previously been attacked before they were insured, which is considered pre- existing in insurance terms.

See below:

I did a tonne of research before choosing pet plan

I read the PDS thoroughly, I also read the PDS from other companies to work out what suited me best.

When I agreed over the phone there was no mention of any additional exclusions nor did it say on the original PDS.

My insurance company has advised me that petplan underwent a massive restructure in March 14 that now determains the exclusions based upon the breed of my dog.

So because halo is an English bull terrier, she has exclusions placed upon her such as skin and allergies, ear and Otis, as well as the dog bite/fighting exclusion.

What I'm confused about is why I never received any notification of these changes, I never received a renewal notice. Pet plan increased my premium by 50% without notification in the 2nd year.

I received an email about my 2nd dog Hendrix notifying me that his cover was about to expire and his premium would now be $800 instead of $455.

Almost double the original premium, Hendrix is 2 and a half years old.

How have I received emails regarding Hendrix but none regarding halo, yet they have been taking payments out at the increased rate?

Doesn't seem right

^^ That post is why I linked the section from the PetPlan website stating there are no breed specific exclusions, as it seems clear the OP believes the exclusions are because of the dog's breed - not preexisting conditions.

Edited January 6, 2015 by melzawelza

[SchnauzerMax]

I pay annually. There is no direct debit arrangement. The insurance company can't take money out without me manually authorizing it.

Also, the annual amount is large enough that they must send me a tax invoice for payment.

Before you pay annually do you see any changes to the policy ?

Yes. I got last time, updated terms and conditions along with the tax invoice and cover letter. That was from both Medibank and Petplan (I had one dog with each).

The only problem was the Petplan one included a tax invoice for someone else and their dog! The cover letter was to me but the rest of the package was for a 5 or 6 year old labrador living near Melbourne Airport. I live in inner city Sydney... This was in the middle of their big meltdown.

[megan_]

I pay annually. There is no direct debit arrangement. The insurance company can't take money out without me manually authorizing it.

Also, the annual amount is large enough that they must send me a tax invoice for payment.

Before you pay annually do you see any changes to the policy ?

I pay monthly and have always recieved an updated policy

[OSoSwift]

I pay annually. There is no direct debit arrangement. The insurance company can't take money out without me manually authorizing it.

Also, the annual amount is large enough that they must send me a tax invoice for payment.

Before you pay annually do you see any changes to the policy ?

I have always recieved a hard copy of my poilcy and any exclusions, I pay yearly though not monthly

[ricecooker]

I have Pet Plan insurance for one of my staffies and I just received two cheques in the mail from two claims for injuries from dog fights/bites, I just had to fill out an extra form explaining what happened. They were two separate incidents but they treated the second one as an 'ongoing' injury.

I'm still waiting on a response about the claim for an injury sustained in an unknown way, which was sent at the same time!

When my policy was renewed in September they sent out a hard copy of the policy.