Pet Plan Claims

[RainyDayBear]

My lovely boy came in this morning with a limp. Took him to the vets and they thought it was a puncture wound, but when they pulled back the fur it was a good 2-3" slice on his back leg, it was all exposed and red raw. Poor boy was so good even though he must have been in so much pain with all the prodding and poking, it just looked awful - I nearly cried! They've given him antibiotics and have booked him in for stitches under anaesthetic tomorrow, and he's currently sleeping off the large portion of sympathy cat treats I've given him

Anyway, I just wanted to ask if anyone has any experience of claiming through pet plan as we've had insurance for two years since he was a kitten but this will be his first claim. The vets have said we can settle it after his stitches come out, I presume so we can claim it as we one lump sum. Any advice? Does the vet claim it or to we? And are they fairly quick to pay out?

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

We claimed from them last year and had no problems. In our case it was doubtful whether the insurance would pay out and because of that we had to pay the vet, they claimed the money and it was paid to us less the excess. All the subsequent claims (and there were a few!) were paid direct to the vet and we just had to pay the excesses.

We had several claims as the treatment went on for over 3 months but yours could be claimed in one lump sum. The vet completed the paperwork and sent it off and Pet Plan were pretty quick to pay out which was handy as the visit we'd had to pay for was nearly £2K!

I hope your boy is feeling better soon.

[RainyDayBear]

That's useful to know, thank you! I will have to ask the receptionists if they can claim then. Why did you not think they would pay out if you don't mind my asking? That's good that they did. If you have separate claims relating to the same incident (say for example if my cat developed an infection and needed more antibiotics or something) would that be covered or would I have to pay a separate excess? You mentioned excesses so that made me wonder!

Thanks, I don't work Tuesdays so can give him lots of fuss (in between protecting him from toddler DD who adores 'tat'!). He's happy enough in himself, just keeps fussing at it and asking to go outside!

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

We were warned they might not pay out because he was having a dental procedure. It turned out my poor boy had a dental infection, fractured jaw and needed 12 teeth out. My vet wrote a letter to go with the claim and they paid out without any problems.

Because Harry is over 10 we had to pay 20% of all claims as well as the standard excess - sorry, I should have explained! I think once the new policy year starts you have to pay a new excess, but anything linked to the same issue in the same policy year will be covered by one excess.

[Vinorosso74]

I hope your boy recovers soon.
Some vets claim direct, others don't, ours being one of them (I think some people have left them out of pocket). Yes, the receptionist will be able to tell you how they do it.
I've found they pay out fairly quickly, there's a claim tracker on their website which is useful.

[chemenger]

I've never had any problem with Pet Plan at all. My vet does the claim directly, I just fill in my part of the form, pay the excess and leave it to them.

[RainyDayBear]

Ah thanks Pink that makes sense now, our policy year would have started in November as that's when we got him and I remember getting the renewal document not that long ago.

I'll ask at the vets tomorrow if they handle the claim or not when I pick him up after his stitches. We briefly discussed it as I was going to pay up front for tomorrow as PIL will be dropping the cat off and I didn't want anyone asking them for money, but the vet said it would be hard to predict the full amount due to possibly needing visits for dressing changes too, so to settle it when his stitches came out. I think they said that because I mentioned to the vet that we had insurance, so I'm guessing they're trying to do it all as one lump sum at the end.

I need to read up on the policy, I don't know if our excess goes up after ten years or not (we got the lifetime cover as it seemed a sensible option). Feeling blooming glad we have insurance today! Glad to hear they pay out quite promptly too.

May tell DP to pick up a rotisserie chicken for DCat on way home, I feel so sorry for him today!

[MrsMoastyToasty]

I got caught out with the new year new excess term. Have taken it through their complaints procedure but they have upheld it.

[Puffinsareblackandwhite]

We got PuffinCat in August and put a claim in in September (she had a swollen lip and needed steroids and ABs IIRC). The total vet fees were only slightly over the excess but we got our 3 pounds something back no questions asked. This was also Pet Plan.

[TroysMammy]

I paid the vet and claimed back. Because Troy's diagnosis and treatment was expensive (HCM) I paid on my credit card and put the claim in immediately. They paid out well before my cc bill was due. I thank my lucky stars he was insured as it cost me, including tablets around £3,700 before he sadly passed away.