Topic: So whats wrong with AXA pet insurance??? (Read 11350 times)

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #39 on:** November 14, 2010, 14:42:56 PM »

I so agree with you Desley and dont think I got a quote from Sainsburys for Ducha but cant remember..............think I got onr for 8yr old Misa and it was way above AXA.

I think as Misas quotes were coming out so high everywhere I stopped looking for Ducha and started a slush fund for the birmans, but the insurance market seems to be trying to kill off the oldies policys by making them unaffordable for most.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #38 on:** November 14, 2010, 10:29:30 AM »

The bloke I spoke to said they only needed a 12 month history (I told him that was impossible as I had only adopted Buster in July, so I have to put a note on explaining why he has no history before then), he did also tell me that if I claimed and then cancelled the policy I would have to pay the full years premium (which to be fair, I think they have always had, the exclusion being if they die). He did tell me it would take 7-10 days to arrive though. IT is really annoying about them now being so crap though, with having oldies I am restricted to waht insurance companies I can use, and Sainsbury's excess was £125 and then 15% once the claim hit a certain amount when I left them 2 years ago, dont know what it is now.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #37 on:** November 14, 2010, 02:22:07 AM »

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I didnt know that.

I also think this is going to mean all claims stand a bigger risk of getting lost and will take longer to process.

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #36 on:** November 14, 2010, 00:15:35 AM »

That makes sense Gill. I could't understand why one of the questions was name of insurer!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #35 on:** November 13, 2010, 23:59:46 PM »

I reckon they are using the same base form for all the insurance companies they work for.

When I did some quotes for Pav recently, some of them were affected by microchip number and also neutering, so by having this info on the form it allows records to be kept for surveys for price rises in the future!

I was horrified to see that all my cats were showing as unneutered on their renewals and when I spoke to them they said it didnt affect the insurance!

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #34 on:** November 13, 2010, 21:37:07 PM »

Can't quite make out all the sections but what I can see is that they're completely different

The pdf link is definitely a 'new' form as a) it's got the new ~~call centre~~ shambles centre address on and b) it's completely different to the 'old' axa ones when they based in good old Brum.

The claim that I've had paid out related to his hospitalisation in September and was on the old form although I told my vets they'd need a print out of his full clinical history as it was his FIRST claim (as advised by call centre). The second claim I put in on the pdf printed form, which doesn't mention the need for print out of history for ALL claims, as per the section on the one they sent you, so expect that will be winging it's way back to me soon

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #33 on:** November 13, 2010, 21:21:43 PM »

Also I finally got to speak to a girl today (I think she was aged about 12

) and supplied Groucho's microchip number and advised that he had been neutered. She said that she would take info and note policy. It would not however affect premiums either now or in future. They just needed info as it was a requirement of the policy to provide this information. She didn't seem to understand how stupid that statement was and I got the impression that it would take some time for me to explain so didn't bother.

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #32 on:** November 13, 2010, 21:15:02 PM »

Not sure if you'll be able to make out print but this is lower 2/3rds of page 1 (top 1/3rd has our personal details pre printed)

and this is page 2

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #31 on:** November 13, 2010, 20:03:31 PM »

Quote from: Rosella moggy on November 13, 2010, 12:08:59 PM

Claim form arrived today. Completely different to the one in the link

What sort of differences are we talking here Rosella?

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #30 on:** November 13, 2010, 16:40:02 PM »

This shower in Portsmouth run claims for other pet insurances also................looks like AXA have brought in an axe!

Vets are going to start objecting if they have to send full history every time.......I used one of the old forms and gave vet new address for Ducha.

Duchas insurance is now cancelled and only have Misa and Sasa there now and they dont have any history as such.

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #29 on:** November 13, 2010, 12:08:59 PM »

Claim form arrived today. Completely different to the one in the link

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #28 on:** November 13, 2010, 08:12:55 AM »

Well thank you kindly Helen

Much appreciated.

I should explain that the link I found for claim form a few weeks ago wouldn't open. I did ask when I rang whether it was possible to print off internet but they said people were having problems. The claim is for treatment for Billy's bitten back leg. The actual amount I expect to get back is only about £12 but the rush is to get claim in before I cancel his policy later this month. I really hate Axa atm as they are wasting so much of my time and slapping on such high premium increases with much lower service standard>

BTW the ~~dingbat~~ person I spoke to last Saturday said that all future claims must be accompanied by complete medical history no matter what the reason or whether claim for same condition had been made previously. The records on new system do not appear to have carried over from last system as the only claim she could find was for Fred and was pretty insistent that I had never made a claim for Billy in the past which isn't true. Problem is I don't believe anything they tell me anymore.... I do wish they had never moved admin from Brum.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #27 on:** November 13, 2010, 07:20:16 AM »

Quote from: Rosella moggy on November 13, 2010, 00:40:59 AM

Any experiences of how long it takes for new claim form to arrive? I requested one on Sat 6 Nov and still waiting. I also requested a ring back same day to update info on Groucho's policy re him being chipped and snipped but heard nothing. I chased this morning and I got a bit grouchy. Ring back promised again and nothing. Their service stinks atm

Not the point I know but you can print off yourself if you need it ASAP
http://www.axa.co.uk/assets/documents/axa.co.uk/personal/insurance/pet/pet-claims-form.pdf

I think the new claims handling company is having trouble bedding in, my claim for Riley took well over a month to be assessed yet when I first rang to query the new address to send it to (as I had put the claim in on an old form) she proudly told me that once they received it their aim was to process within 5-7 days. I threw that back in their face on the couple of occasions I had to chase it

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #26 on:** November 13, 2010, 01:29:18 AM »

Thats useless Rosella, complain complain complain!

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #25 on:** November 13, 2010, 00:40:59 AM »

Any experiences of how long it takes for new claim form to arrive? I requested one on Sat 6 Nov and still waiting. I also requested a ring back same day to update info on Groucho's policy re him being chipped and snipped but heard nothing. I chased this morning and I got a bit grouchy. Ring back promised again and nothing. Their service stinks atm

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #24 on:** November 12, 2010, 08:05:31 AM »

I actually got it clarified by the bloke at AXA when I rang to get a claim form, and then complained to him - £200 for a month is £50 a week, you can't spend that much on food for a cat, and I also said it was unfair on owners like me who's cat has a condition for life, £200 would pay for her dry food for a year and still have some left, but I am not buying it in bulk. He did say it was something to do with people putting in loads of claims to get money from them. He told me I could put it in writing to the Portsmouth address, which I think I will.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #23 on:** November 05, 2010, 08:15:56 AM »

Just wondering where it says about this month thing? My schedule definitely doesn't mention a one month limit it just says £200 in the clinical diets section and the policy booklet just says 'all reasonable costs of a clinical diet for your pet, up to £200 per condition, as long as it is recommended by your vet in order to treat a condition and is only available from your vet'.

If they do only pay for a month and it's in the T&C's then that's fine but I won't be ripped off by companies trying to enforce a get out clause that isn't even in the T&C's! Am actually looking forward to see what happens with my next claim now

Edit: Found it, despite not mentioning it in the schedule and despite being quite descriptive, as per the italics above, on p5 of the policy booklet there is an expanded version on p18 that says exactly as above but with the addition of the words 'for a maximim period of 4 weeks' in the middle of the sentence and also ends with 'in this case we will pay the difference between feeding your pet and what you pay for the diet'.

Fair enough then but I still think it's ridiculous to pay £150+ for emergency overnight hospitalisation but not pay for him to eat while he's there

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #22 on:** November 05, 2010, 07:57:26 AM »

That isn't good about the food, although not sure I have bought any for Buster (really need to do his claim as his poos are back to normal now). The schedule does only cover for one month of prescription food, which is annoying, as why would you spend £200 in one month? I got caught out with Zi last year, as I didn't notice the time limit and put in a claim for her second bag when she had her second bloods and it was excluded. If I had known, I would have bought a few bags in the first month!!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #21 on:** November 04, 2010, 23:05:09 PM »

My goodness this is getting stupid!

No wonder there is a back log if they are being this nitpicky..............probably c osts more than 52p to sort it!

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #20 on:** November 04, 2010, 19:07:47 PM »

I was just looking at schedule which has a table of cover, maybe it says something about one month in the policy booklet? Doubt it though as £200 for one month would be crazy!

I'm not sure what my vets put on the claim form either, I just knew the total that had been submitted was £209 as just filled in my bit which was very limited. That was on the old style form but I just filled in a form for this months vet bills, nearly £300 and that's not including Lu as I'm not bothering to claim for him as not much over the excess and if he stays claim free I can assess whether premiums go up as a result of claims as their age/postcode etc is obviously identical

Anyway, the new forms defo have the section on there asking how much you spend on cat food normally if you're claiming for vet food so we'll see what comes

Den · « **Reply #19 on:** November 04, 2010, 18:59:04 PM »

Hmmm, that is a definite change then (which I hadn't spotted).

It was 1st month prescription paid for. They paid for 30 days of s/d. I wonder why they changed it as it's a
lot less than £200. I don't know what was on the claim form back then as I have nothing to do with it. I sign and my vets fill everything in.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #18 on:** November 04, 2010, 18:48:29 PM »

It was but my policy actually covers 'clinical diets' up to £200 (nothing mentioned about the first month). I think they deduct what you would have paid on regular food so maybe the actual food cost was £1.02, Axa decide that I have 'saved' 50p by not feeding him that night so deducted that from the £1.02?! I noticed on the new claim forms there is a section that says if you are claiming for prescription foods how much do you normally spend on food so they can deduct that from what they'll pay

I'm surprised they didn't take off 50p for cat litter and tap water while he was there too

Den · « **Reply #17 on:** November 04, 2010, 18:42:20 PM »

Was it prescription food, Helen? 1st month of prescription food is covered in the policy. They paid for the food Memphis ate whilst admitted.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #16 on:** November 04, 2010, 18:34:37 PM »

Sounds about right and similar to what I'm paying, like you I'll see what comes next year at renewal

Axa finally paid out Riley's first claim, they have a massive backlog due to switching claims handling companies so took almost a month. the first bill was for £209 so I was expecting £159 but got a cheque for £158.48, obviously 52p is neither here nor there but I wondered why it had been deducted. Apparently they are happy to pay for emergency overnight hospitalisation but don't pay for the cat to be fed while they're there so deducted 52p which was the cost of the food he'd eaten!

Feline Costumier · « **Reply #15 on:** November 04, 2010, 14:19:13 PM »

Just bringing this back as I've just set up Dave and Chilli's insurance with Axa, it totals about £12 per month which I think is really reasonable. I also got a quote from Petplan, for higher excess and lower pay out limits it was twice the price

We'll see what happens when I renew next year

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #14 on:** October 31, 2010, 11:22:20 AM »

I agree Den. They are running a business and must make a profit or they will have to withdraw from the pet insurance market. I've just got "too many" cats

Den · « **Reply #13 on:** October 31, 2010, 10:45:05 AM »

Part of the Watchdog thing was that many new companies to pet insurance started off too cheap. With vet costs rising they had no choice but to up prices which in some cases led to giant leaps.

Maybe it is the same for AXA .... They started too cheaply for the oldies and can't afford the low prices. The problem internet message boards is that they allow people do compare things like insurance and recommend ones. Then everyone switches, putting more strain on the companies. A few years ago everyone was with M&S then when the policy changed everyone (including me) jumped ship to AXA based on detailed discussions between other pet owners.

It seems a lot of people are insured with AXA and recommending them for oldies and a lot are claiming. With the price of vet fees they have got to be paying out a serious amount of money.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #12 on:** October 31, 2010, 10:30:37 AM »

I got stung with Zi's renewal, she went from just over £15 a month to £22.20 - but as she has existing conditions that I have claimed for 3 times this year, I cant' really cancel, and one blood test is twice her monthly premium. Buster was very expensive to insure, he was more expensive than the girls even though he was a few years younger, so maybe they are getting worse for oldies.

Den · « **Reply #11 on:** October 31, 2010, 10:26:34 AM »

Yup he is 3

his first policy was high, then the next two both decreased. I won't know until April what his next renewel will be.

He definitely isn't in the most category, more like the stupid category

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #10 on:** October 31, 2010, 09:48:07 AM »

How old is Memphis now Den? I would guess about 3?

My experience has been reductions from age 2 or 3 which would reflect the fact that cats get a little less irresponsible by then; well most anyways

Den · « **Reply #9 on:** October 31, 2010, 09:08:38 AM »

Axa wasn't mentioned on Watchdog, which is good

My insurance has gone down for the cat and up for the dog. It is somewhere between £60-£70 per year for Memphs after starting off at £96. If you read up a lot you'll see that nearly all pet insurance goes up yearly across all companies and over the entire country. Some go up massive amounts, others little. I really can't complain about AXA as not many go down. I'm expecting Memphs' to go up next year.

mervyn7451 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 30, 2010, 20:28:14 PM »

BBC's Watchdog did a piece last week that was quite interesting.Here's the link to the report.

Merv

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2010/10/pet_insurance.html

Fire Fox · « **Reply #7 on:** October 30, 2010, 19:39:41 PM »

Quote from: CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls on October 30, 2010, 12:42:53 PM

Thats not expensive! I got my dog insured and it's only £130 odd a year

But something I cant work out...it says upto £7000 per period of insurance, does that mean if I renew with them and she's already had something done they are only willing to pay upto £7000 for her life time or £7000 a year

The period of insurance is one year, each time you renew the pot of money refills.

If your years run back-to-back with AXA you can continue to claim for the same illness year after year, they just won't pay out for any condition which was pre-existing when you took out their insurance for the very first time. I went with AXA as I was told here that £7K as a one off is insufficient for long term conditions.

Cooper & Peanut · « **Reply #6 on:** October 30, 2010, 14:15:23 PM »

I insured Cooper & Peanut on Thursday with AXA - I'm paying £11.88 per month in total for them. They are both 3yrs and "moggies".

Cooper is £6.47 per month, and cuz I was insuring a second cat, I got discount and got Peanut for £5.41 per month!

I think its fantastic!

I live in Sutton in Ashfield btw..

snarf · « **Reply #5 on:** October 30, 2010, 12:55:02 PM »

my 2 are 4 years and have gone up by about a pound between them per month. yearly now £74.88 (kali, female and 2nd cat)and £88.38 (lucifer male)
but a new quote put in for the same details as the higher one is £66.17 so they are deff lower for 'new customers'

CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls · « **Reply #4 on:** October 30, 2010, 12:42:53 PM »

Thats not expensive! I got my dog insured and it's only £130 odd a year

But something I cant work out...it says upto £7000 per period of insurance, does that mean if I renew with them and she's already had something done they are only willing to pay upto £7000 for her life time or £7000 a year

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #3 on:** October 30, 2010, 12:42:30 PM »

I seem to be one of the lucky ones with a 'low claim' postcode too, coincidentally my cats are 3 too so maybe that's the prime age for low insurance claims? I pay around £7 a month for 3 yr old neutered males in the South-east.

Mark · « **Reply #2 on:** October 30, 2010, 12:36:21 PM »

They use a really complex way of working things out. It all depends on where you live, average insurance claims in that area and other things. We could all put in the same details and get totally different quotes. Alice's costs about £165 - she is insured as a 13 year old with no claims.

Tiggerman · « **Reply #1 on:** October 30, 2010, 12:26:55 PM »

Been reading some horror stories about pet insurance on here so decided it was
time to another one of mine insured.

Went online to the AXA website and got a quote for £56.60 for 12 months.

Yes really, £56.60 for 12 months for a three years and eight months old moggie.

Not sure what you lot are doing wrong, but this doesnt seem expensive to me.

Regards,

Tiggerman.

Author Topic: So whats wrong with AXA pet insurance??? (Read 11350 times)