To think direct debits shouldn't be able to autorenew if the amount has changed?

Yes, that's an important point to be aware of, if a pet has a pre-existing condition it means there is limited scope to shop around. However, the insurer that I use says that it does offer cover for existing conditions, with certain caveats

Pet Insurance cover for pre-existing conditions | ManyPets

I've been with this company since the beginning and found that they've always paid out without quibble, they offer a range of policy levels and are cheaper than Petplan, who we were with previously.

But as mentioned by a PP, the price ramps significantly with age, such that it's probably worth thinking about whether insurance is worth it with older pets. We no longer insure our oldest cat, who is 18, because her policy was over £500 per year, with a £170 excess and only covered 80% of any treatment costs. She is also vet phobic, which means that being taken to the vet is extremely stressful for her, so we won't be putting her through extended treatment if she suffers serious illness or injury. Of course, not paying £500 per year for insurance means that if she needs minor treatment, we can just pay for it ourselves.

I get it, it’s frustrating that pet insurance doubles for no apparent reason.

Mine Doubled despite no claims. I went from £23 to £45pm so I did a search as a new customer on their sites using exactly the same information, and it came up as £22pm. Cheeky fuckers.

so I phoned them up to ask why, and they couldn’t give me an answer, just said “oh that’s because you might have had minor treatment you didn’t claim on like an ear infection or something”. When I pointed out they wouldn’t know that with new customers either, she just muttered and told me I could start as a new customer, but I would lose the continuous cover, and if he was ill in the first two weeks of the policy, he wouldn’t be covered. So I took the chance

it’s all such a shit show.

Give them a call. Ask if they can get you a better deal or they risk losing your business to another insurer.

Is it with Petplan by any chance? My premiums went up massively when my cats reached 10 years old. They also only pay out 80% of a claim at this age. Annoyingly we're stuck with them as my surviving cat has a pre existing condition.

I noticed that on a post she put on later. 😃

You may have 14 days after auto renewal to cancel, have you checked

@PrettyLittleRose
Yes, the op says they told her everything - including the new amount. But she didn't read the email before the policy auto-renewed.

I think you have to take this as a cautionary tale. It is very very easy to just let the emails come in and not bother reading them (I do it myself). But I've also been caught with a nasty price hike (car insurance - no change in car, no claims, just an increase) so now I make a note of the date that the insurance is due to renew and also make another note around the date I'm expecting the renewal email. It's just my own 'head's up' to myself to pay attention.

With things going up as fast as they are it's essential to read stuff that's sent to you, but when life gets frantic it's too easy to make assumptions. When I have the dates written down so I know stuff is coming, I can at least make sure that I take the time to double check (and stuff STILL gets past me!)

Well you're sort of right. Of course they should be allowed to auto renew as it makes it easier for everyone, but they MUST write to you/email you first, and give you the new amount/the new cost...

Did they not tell you @KlippityKloppity how much the new cost would be? If they're not doing that then I am sure you should have the right to cancel it. Don't know for sure though...

Edit. I see on your subsequent posts that they DID tell you the price increase! Well then, you have no case. 'Life gets in the way' is no excuse sorry. You should read your emails/messages properly. My friend just had her housing application taken down/deactivated, because she didn't read an email properly that was asking for more information about something, (some 2 months ago,.) They said if they don't receive the information within 28 days her application will be cancelled And it was. And now she has to reapply and go to the bottom of the list again...

ALWAYS read through emails/letters/messages thoroughly

.

But that is the time for the discussion. The time between when you got the details and the renewal date.

At any time though, you can tell them you don't want it to automatically renew next year. So perhaps contact them to tell them that now and then that's all sorted next year for you

I turn off auto renew as got caught by car insurance one year in same way

Direct debits are for variable amounts. Standing orders are for a set amount.
They sent you an email giving you details of your new contract with them and the price increase. You didn’t phone them to cancel the new contract. You may be able to phone them now and cancel it I guess there is still the 14 day cooling off period.

This is why I never tick auto renew and I always tick to send news via mail. A paper copy reminds me.
When the paper copy arrives it reminds me to shop around. For pet insurance it is best to use a cashback site. I usually get £70 or £90 back. I tend to switch between Sainsburys and Tesco for that, as you can't be an existing customer.
I usually opt to pay annually, often it is cheaper.
You have 2 weeks to cancel.

I pay my credit card bill in full by direct debit. It would be a lot less convenient if I had to set up a new DD every month – or make sure I always spent the same amount to the penny!

I’d rather that than my insurance lapsing.

In that email they would have told you the new price, the same way any insurance policy does. It’s on you to read it and check the figures and if you don’t want to renew you have to do something

As a cautionary tale. Before auto renewal was allowed, I was a claims manager and we had a phone call to the emergency help line one Saturday when hhd office was closed. A guy was building an extension to his house and cut through the electric power supply between the house and garage. The main fuse box was in the garage. He burnt the house down.

We kindly paid for the Saturday and Sunday nights stay in the hotel our emergency line sent him to....

They would have sent a renewal quote in the email and if you dont cancel they assume you agree to the new price. You can still shop around and switch to a new company

You should always check the price (and T&Cs) of any insurance on renewal. Prices change, that's well known.

Plus if it didn't autorenew and your pet was ill before you put new cover in place, you could be facing a bill for thousands, which is a much worse option than paying a higher premium.

I can sympathise.. it's happened to me where the renewal email comes in good time, I plan to shop around to compare quotes, life gets in the way and the renewal date passes.

You can always cancel the policy but how much you are refunded, if any, will depend if you are within the cooling off period or not so check first about any admin or cancellation fees.

I got the email last month saying it was auto renewing. Fair enough. I was in an insanely stressful time at work so saw the email and thought "sure, fine" expecting it to renew as it always does.….
Except now on closer inspection I realise it has fucking DOUBLED (and ive made zero claims since I took it out 3 years ago). Okay, fine: they sent me an email giving me a headsup.

I genuinely don’t know what else you were expecting them to do. Come round your street with a loudhailer? Put a flying banner behind a plane.

They sent you an email. You didn’t read it. That’s all on you.

”I went to claim on my pet insurance and found they’d cancelled the policy, even though I signed a renewing contract and set up a direct debit authorization”.

Yes this

You usually have a 14 day cooling off period to change your mind/cancel.

It's a DD, not a SO so of course it can change..... that is the whole point.
They notified you so they have done nothing wrong. Sorry.