Insurers must cough up after denying claims for fat animals
PET insurers are being forced to pay out for claims they wrongly rejected because the animals were overweight.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said it received multiple complaints this year from pet owners whose claims were unfairly denied because of their pets’ size.
After reviewing all of the claims, many of which included vet reports saying being overweight had nothing to do with the treatment, the FOS ordered the insurance firms to pay out to claimants.
In one instance, the insurer claimed a dog that jumped off a sofa and hurt its leg was not covered because it was overweight.
The FOS action has emerged after an October report from pet insurer Manypets showed that on average having an overweight pet could cost owners £1,500 in vets’ bills per visit.
The claims included dogs that had leg injuries, cruciate ruptures, diabetes, and needed spinal surgery.
Of the 10 cases brought to the FOS, seven were related to insurer Casualty and General Insurance, and three to Building Block Insurance.
One case saw the owners of a Golden Retriever being wrongly told the £2,000 they claimed for surgery to fix their pet’s dislocated leg would not be paid as it was caused by the dog being overweight.
The owners of a Border terrier were refused payment for treatment needed to repair a ruptured cruciate ligament, and a boxer dog had a similar claim rejected for the same injury.
After the ombudsman stepped in to order the insurance firms to pay the claims, they also made them pay out an additional £150 for the owners’ distress.
A spokesman for the FOS said: “Pets are a much-loved part of the family and it can be tremendously worrying when they become unwell.
“We often hear from consumers who feel their insurance claims have been unfairly rejected. That’s why it’s so important insurers make their policy terms transparent and adhere to those conditions when determining a claim.
“If consumers don’t feel they’ve been treated fairly by their insurer, they should contact our free, independent service and we’ll investigate.”
The cost of seeing the vet rocketed this year as independent surgeries are bought out by private equity-backed chains.
Building Block Insurance said all claims relating to it were for pet policies distributed by Perfectpet, who stopped providing cover at the end of 2021. Casualty and General were approached for comment.