Urgent insurance advise

blurch

Need some advice, my wife is on life support since Thursday we have insurance on our two dogs with Allianz for years. Rang them today and because I pay the bills and the policies are in my name the f*ckers won't cover the kennels leaving us in a bad way. Is there a way to appeal this

cocker5

Good god OP I am truly sorry to hear your wife is soo ill - I hope things work out for you XX

With regard to Allianz here's what the policy states:

What We will pay


The following costs for the

duration of Your hospital stay:

1. The cost of boarding Your Pet

at a kennel or cattery; or

2. A daily rate towards the cost

of someone looking after Your

Pet but only where this person

does not live with You. The

amount of this daily rate is

displayed on Your Schedule.

The Maximum Amount Payable

under this section is displayed

on Your Schedule.

What are the saying when you call? what is their reasons?

cocker5

Sh*te is it because your wife's name is not on the policy??

If it is that's fairly crap -I would call them back and DEMAND to speak with a supervisor.

blurch

Thanks they are saying only the policy holder is covered. This leaves us in an impossible position

JoeySully

Sorry for you trouble but this is the same for house insurance too.
I recent call on Joe Duffy highlighted that some house insurance policies give a daily rate for Jury duty but only if your a policy holder. If your partner is the policy holder and you are not named then they will not be covered.

Maybe you can add you partner to the policy today and start claiming from today?

cocker5

blurch wrote: »

Thanks they are saying only the policy holder is covered. This leaves us in an impossible position

Ahh OP that's dreadful... I am so sorry.

Dunno why but we have all our polices in both names... just so we could both call up etc- so maybe we are lucky.

Do you have any neighbours / family that could help?

Pumpkinseeds

Jesus, that's awful OP. As someone else said you could try phoning them and changing the policy details to a joint one with your wife named on it and hopefully that might solve the problem. I really hope your wife pulls through.

Alun

I can't recall ever having the option to put our pet insurance policy into joint names to be honest, but I'll certainly look into it now!

Pumpkinseeds

Alun wrote: »

I can't recall ever having the option to put our pet insurance policy into joint names to be honest, but I'll certainly look into it now!

My husband and I did it when we first took out our policy with Allianz about 6 years ago. They must be able to change it to a joint policy over the phone and then send a form out to confirm it.

Prisoner6409

looking for pet insurance at the moment, thats Allianz crossed off the list as a potential. Are all insurance companies the same, glad to take your money but as soon as you have a claim they are looking for ways not to pay out. Your case is particularly nasty, you would think in the circustancies you find yourselves in they would do the right thing and not add to you troubles.

Sorry to hear your wife is so ill, I do hope she recovers, all the best.

blurch

Alun wrote: »

I can't recall ever having the option to put our pet insurance policy into joint names to be honest, but I'll certainly look into it now!

I am the same, when I get a chance I will look again.

Diane Selwyn

That's really rotten OP - a pathetic excuse of a way to do business! Please try not to worry about the kennelling costs - your friends/family/workmates will chip in if needs and maybe you can arrange a payment plan with the kennel to spread the costs or something - everyone is not as devoid of compassion and focussed on profit as the insurance companies. I hope it all works out ok!

Alun

I've emailed Allianz asking them how to change the policy to a joint one, and at the same time expressing my disgust at the way they handled this situation. I'll get back to you all if I get a reply.

DBB

Hi blurch,
I've nowt to add to this, I just wanted to express my horror at what's happening to you and your wife, and to thank you for drawing this loophole to people's attention during what can only be a deeply distressing time for you.
I can understand insurance companies needing to make sure people aren't trying to pull a fast one, but for crying out loud... there's surely scope for them to take stock of horrendous situations like yours, and to make exceptions on the grounds of decent humanity. If it's only kennelling fees you're looking to claim for, it's only a few hundred quid we're talking about :mad:
I hope Allianz read this thread, and do the decent thing.
But much more than that, I hope your wife pulls through.
All the best blurch, I think you've a lot of people rooting for you here

blurch

Thanks everyone for the good wishes, I am trying to find someone to look after them but that is easier said than done.
I have one policy for 11 years old and the other 8 years, I am sure that there was no option to have a joint owner option back then maybe it is my fault for not double checking when renewing.
However I am sure I am not the only one who believed that they would be covered in this situation.
I am now stuck in the ICU of a hospital worrying about what to do with the dogs and this is the last thing I need.

Jesus Christ, I just looked back over your posts to see where you lived and you've been through an awful lot in a short time

I'm in Dublin/north Wicklow. I work full time, my mam looks after my mutt while I'm at work, and she just got a new dog yesterday herself, but if I can help in any way, taking your dogs over night or anything like that. I don't even know, but anything at all, please just ask. I know I'm a total un qualified stranger but I can't bear the thoughts of someone struggling like you are

forgodssake

Jesus u would think allianz would exercise a bit of leeway in a situation like this. hope all works out for you OP.

blurch

Thanks whoopsadaisydoodles for the kind offer, Yeah we are getting smacked about a bit all right.
I would just love to have a peace of mind that the dogs were somewhere for the next week maybe a little more and I foolishly believed I had that with allianz.

on_my_oe

Whereabouts are you blurch?

muddypaws

When you have paid the policy, has it come out of a joint bank account in both you and your wife's name? That could be a loophole. Also, whose name are the dog licences in? Whose name are they registered with at the vet? I'm just assuming that if you can prove joint ownership, they can't not pay up.

ABajaninCork

So very sorry to read of your troubles, blurch and I hope your wife soon recovers to full health.

I just looked at our policy documents for the dog, and it is in both names, so thank you for highlighting this issue.

But - in view of what's happened, it might be worth getting in touch with the Financial Ombudsman. Give them full details of what's happened, including names, dates and times if you can. If you want help in drafting the e-mail/letter of complaint, please PM me.

Hope you soon get sorted.

blurch

A little update on this, Allianz have agreed to pay up. A special thanks to one boardsie.
A lesson learnt now how many relatives can own a dog.

cocker5

blurch wrote: »

A little update on this, Allianz have agreed to pay up. A special thanks to one boardsie.
A lesson learnt now how many relatives can own a dog.

Glad to hear it OP one less thing to worry about.

I hope your wife is doing well XX

take care of yourself

Alun

I did get a reply from Allianz regarding the policy wording and asking me if I wanted to add another policy holder, so it is possible to do it on an already existing policy.

They made no comment regarding what I said about how disappointing I felt their behaviour was in this case, but who knows, maybe it prompted them to seek out this thread and see the error of their ways.

Cocolola

OP, hope you're doing ok?

I'm just off the phone to Allianz there, pretty irritated actually. Ollie's renewal letter came this week, it's gone up to €194 now despite never having claimed once in 4 years. They said it's due to his age (he's 5...) and would only knock it down to €184. I asked to put my partner on the policy but because we don't have a joint bank account the answer was no :mad:

Frigga_92

blurch wrote: »

A little update on this, Allianz have agreed to pay up. A special thanks to one boardsie.
A lesson learnt now how many relatives can own a dog.

Oh that's great news.
I have insurance for my dogs with Allianz and was watching this thread with interest to see how it panned out.

I hope your wife is doing okay.

tk123

Cocolola wrote: »

OP, hope you're doing ok?

I'm just off the phone to Allianz there, pretty irritated actually. Ollie's renewal letter came this week, it's gone up to €194 now despite never having claimed once in 4 years. They said it's due to his age (he's 5...) and would only knock it down to €184.

€194 - is that for a dog or cat? Lucy's is €230 with no claims, Bailey's €420 with loads of claims. Bailey was in for xrays last week and it was €140 so €194 isn't that bad imo? Every insurance policy I've had has gone up each year without a claim.

Cocolola

tk123 wrote: »

€194 - is that for a dog or cat? Lucy's is €230 with no claims, Bailey's €420 with loads of claims. Bailey was in for xrays last week and it was €140 so €194 isn't that bad imo? Every insurance policy I've had has gone up each year without a claim.

He's a crossbreed dog tk. Lucy's seems a little high for such a young dog, although my perception of these things is clearly not great I won't complain now, I thought Ollie's was high but I see now it's not too bad. I'll always pay it anyway, I think it's essential to have.

cocker5

My cocker is nearly 10 and his policy is €340 per year now..

After seeing some vet bills I don't find it unreasonable at all!!

IF something were to happen to him (god forbid) his treatment could be thousands... so for me its worth the price.

Tranceypoo

Cocolola wrote: »

OP, hope you're doing ok?

I'm just off the phone to Allianz there, pretty irritated actually. Ollie's renewal letter came this week, it's gone up to €194 now despite never having claimed once in 4 years. They said it's due to his age (he's 5...) and would only knock it down to €184. I asked to put my partner on the policy but because we don't have a joint bank account the answer was no :mad:

Mine are 156 each per year, think I'm with <snip> (I'm definitely not with Allianz anyways), it's pretty much stayed the same the last few years since I've had it, no claims.

tk123

cocker5 wrote: »

IF something were to happen to him (god forbid) his treatment could be thousands... so for me its worth the price.

Bailey's op 6 months ago was something like €440 from our vets and then €2500 at Ucd! :eek: :eek: