E&L Insurance Reviews 180

AVOID AT ALL COST

I have been a loyal customer of this company for years, with multiple animals they have choses to continually increase my premiums even adding extra percentage of excess to the already high excess. I telephoned them In Mar/Apr this year to make a query about one of my dogs they then decided to exclude this although I had not or did not want to make a claim, after going to the FSO due to there rude unreasonable behaviour, they decided to contest FSO descission who found in my favour twice and then made a legally binding final decision in my favour, they then chose to ignore this not writing to confirm the restriction and been taken off the policy and after finally trying to contact them today have found out that with having to accept FSO decision they are warranting unreasonable cruel sanctions upon my pet both inside and outside my home. This company is not fit for purpose and I plan to continue my complaint and go public about there practices as they have had so much money from me throughout the years for the many assurances I have. This company tells you that its not worth you ensuring your animal as you are waisting your money with them and they will use any trick in the book to twist things and get out of any part of a policy they legally agree with you at the time of conception. This company are not fit for purpose and I am evidence that should you go to the FSO about them and win they will just continually penalise you and make unreasonable terms and cases to the part of the policy you complained about to make it not fit for purpose and most of all cruel and unreasonable to any living animal they are paid to ensure.

S

I wish I had done my research before… as others have said, we took out Diamond cover when we had our puppy, thinking it was lifetime cover - the best they had on offer - first mistake, although 'lifetime cover' is refered too in their text, they dont actually offer it!! - you have to a sister company. we took our dog to the vet last year because he had been limping, the vet just gave him drugs to help and after a couple of weeks the limp had gone. unbeknown to me this was looked upon by E&L as a sign he had crucite ligament problems, how on earth i should have known this i will never know!?, surfice to say, the vet maybe should have insisted on xrays at this point and maybe the we would have been ok.... the dog was only 3 years old! anyway, as he had a limp more than 365days ago E&L wont cover it - oh and by the way, we wont cover the other side either if it goes....... if theres a way they can wriggle out of helping they will - i would never ever trust thiis company again - absolutley appalling they are allowed to stay in business - oh well - never again - cancelled my policy

Please avoid using this company. I had been a customer for several years with no claims and a very healthy dog. My monthly premium for their basic level of cover was increased from £13.09 per month to £40.81 for my 9 year old dog at renewal so naturally I cancelled my policy.

There was no negotiation on price or attempt to keep me as a customer. E&L will happily take your money while your pet is young but as soon as they hit the mature bracket they'll price you out nice and early with no customer loyalty. You'd be better to just put money aside each month rather than pay for one of their premiums.

My Mother has been a loyal customer of Horse Insurance (H.I) for years with various different policies. I wouldn’t normally write a review to an insurance company but this has been the first and only time she has ever had to make a claim on her policy and they have completely screwed her over, you would be better putting a little away every month than lining the pockets of these crooks.
Recently my Mother’s pony had an accident in the field and suddenly became very lame and sore – unfortunately various vets were unsuccessful at diagnosing what was wrong with the pony and after a horrendous 2 months of agony, our vet made the decision there was nothing else he could do and to have her put to sleep. This was a horrific time for us all, she was a fabulous young pony with a bright future ahead of her but it was cruel to keep her going in so much pain. H.I dragged their heels in every aspect with the claim, they requested completely unnecessary information, it felt like they were purposely trying to delay the process and upset my Mother. Customer service was terrible, they are your friend when they are taking your money but when you try to talk to them it’s like you’ve just interrupted their pre-lunch nap. Weeks later H.I made the decision not to pay “loss of use” as my Mother didn’t ask “permission” to have her OWN pony put down. Let’s be perfectly clear, this is not a decision that came lightly. H.I are fully aware of how sore and unwell the pony became because they paid for some of the vets bills but will not pay for “loss of use” or the cost of having the pony PTS under our vet’s recommendation. THIS IS THE MOST LUDICROUS THING I HAVE EVER HEARD, HOW DARE HORSE INSURANCE SQUIRM THEIR WAY OUT OF THIS, I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED - IT IS UNACCEPTABLE THAT AN OWNER CAN’T MAKE THE DECISION TO HAVE THEIR OWN ANIMAL PTS! H.I WENT AS FAR TO INSINUATE THAT MY MOTHER HAD HER PONY PUT DOWN FOR INSURANCE MONEY, WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!!
The real icing on the cake was the unsolicited, uncompassionate phone call the next day from an H.I employee offering my Mother a discount on her next policy when she replaces her pony!!! Is this some sort of sick joke?! H.I has enough staff to make unsolicited phone calls THE DAY AFTER the decision has been made not to pay but can’t manage to decide on a claim on within their own policy?! Needless to say this has been an incredibly stressful time and it has been completely magnified by the unjust decisions made by Horse Insurance and the incompetent, rude, short-sighted staff within the company. We have since cancelled all policies with H.I, there is so many hidden stipulations, I just don’t see the point in paying for insurance when there are so many ways the company can wriggle out of it? We have insurance as responsible pet owners to protect ourselves and our animals when things go wrong – not to create more stress and worry as H.I have successfully done. It doesn’t stop your pet becoming unwell!
THIS DISGUSTING COMPANY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ANIMAL WELFARE AND ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN RIPPING YOU OFF.

Shocking customer service. Cancelled my policy in June and still awaiting refund! Countless emails sent with minimal response. Tried calling however always get put on hold for far too long so end up hanging up. This simple process should not have been so difficult for what I thought was an efficient and trustworthy company. If they cannot deal with a simple refund, I wouldn’t like to think how they would treat you if you had to make a claim!

I wish I had done my research before taking out pet insurance with this company and my advice if you are considering using them.... AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

They will try every conceivable tactic to pay out the very minimum that they can when you make a claim. For example we put in a claim for our King Charles Spaniel who had two benign lumps removed and they split it into two separate claims even though the procedure was carried out on the same occasion. So a £95 excess with each claim along with the first 35% of each claim (i.e. that we pay) and they paid out less then morally I think they should have. The emails they send when making a claim you can't directly respond to the person who sent it and if you try phoning they tell you that the person you are asking to speak to is busy. The lowest of customer service.....you have been warned!

Take forever to pay out, ask for so much info and find any possible way to get out of paying - i personally wouldn't use this company again, they underwrite a lot of different named insurances at the moment so be careful..

Wish I could leave a minus star! By far the worst company I have ever dealt with. I have been insured with these bandits for a number of years and had no claims. I recently phoned up to make my first claim as my horse has a melanoma that needed surgery to remove. I was told that I don't have vets fees for illness as 'they' changed my horse onto a senior horse policy two years ago! I have received absolutely no notification of this change and I informed them of this. The vague answer was "we'll have sent you an email " I absolutely did not receive anything from them and if I had I would have cancelled my policy when they changed it as this policy they have me on now is useless to me and my poor horse! I am taking this further as they have had two years of premiums from me for a policy that is not what I initially took out with them. I would advise people to avoid this bunch of charlatans at all costs as they are only interested in taking your money and do not keep you informed of their changes to your policy. I was paying nearly £40 a month for a policy that isn't worth the paper it's written on. Except there isn't any paper it's written on because they never sent me the amended policy.

Customer service was shocking whilst dealing with our phone call whilst our dog was at deaths door. Please go elsewhere if you want a pet insurance company that actually cares about animals. Wish I'd done more research into them before committing to a policy with them...which they will put up without telling you whilst the amount they pay out goes down. There are much better companies out there with much better reputations.

Our dog ingested sand on the beach and ended up with 2 nights at the vets. We claimed on an accident only policy. The claim was accepted and we had the money in our account (minus the excess and percentage they keep back which I had details of when I took out the policy) within 2 weeks. Excellent service and very happy with the way we were dealt with by E&L

This company is the absolute worst and i would not recommend them to anyone. They are completely heartless. I insured my cat with them and paid the premiums as instructed. My cat had never been poorly ever in his life (he was 13) He became very poorly over a weekend and we had to take him to the emergency vet, where unfortunately he had to be put to sleep. We claimed on the insurance and they refused to pay for the following reason "we have consulted with our veterinary expert and they have confirmed you paid too much for the treatment of your animal" when i called to query this they confirmed that they believed that because we had taken him to the emergency vet the cost was too high for them to cover. I asked them if they believed i should have left my cat in clear pain to avoid having to pay an emergency vet and waited until the monday when we could see our normal vet, to which they responded "it certainly would have cost less"
This company is really disgusting, they have absolutely no compassion, clearly we would have much preferred that our beloved family member still be with us, but for them to be so heartless as to say something like that just shows that they cannot be trusted. Think really strongly about signing up for their insurance policy, it covers next to nothing, and in most cases wouldn't even pay out on a norma vets bill. If you take one thing away from this review please let it be that this company DO NOT care and WILL NOT pay out on emergency vet bills as they believe it to be too expensive.

Very poor insurance for your pet. They pay for virtually nothing. Left me with a huge debt due to my dogs illness. Please read all their small print before you buy the insurance, you will find your covered for very little. They have an overall 1 star rating on this site for a reason!

While not being disappointed with the claims procedure I am writing regarding the policy itself. Last year my policy doubled despite making no claims to £18.60. Since this time I have been charged £25.33 a month. On questioning this I was told this was for legal helpline and premium waiver payment which I am not aware I even asked for. Nowhere on the policy does it mention this extra premium payment, in fact it sounds as if it is included. Keep a careful eye on Bank Payments to see whether they are taking these unnecessary payments. Was I at fault for not noticing this before....Yes! Bear in mind that over the years this can run into hundreds of pounds just like PPI. I have of course cancelled the policy and will find a policy that has no hidden premiums.

I have been with E &L insurance for a year for my dogs insurance. We have not made a claim. Received my renewal yesterday and the premium has risen from £10.02 a month to £38.91! Unbelievable! Needless to say it is now cancelled!!

If I could give them 0 I would. Quite simply the worst insurance company I have ever used.
We used them for Pet Insurance, 2 claims - 1. I was paid half (be careful of their small print!) and 2. I have waited for over 12 months to be paid out and multiple lies about lost cheques.

DO NOT USE!

Very poor bad attitude on the phone didn’t tell me they had changed my policy now I have to pat £100 excess and 35% of claim have never made a claim in my life now I do it’s a joke petplan are better avoid these con merchants

Not even the most basic insurance. Unclear policy wording very difficult to work out what is and isn't covered. Had this policy since I got my puppy
thinking it was lifelong - soon realised the error! Squirmed their way out of paying up as I'd bought wipes and shampoo from the vets over a policy year ago saying it was a pre-existing condition! Avoid these like the plague.

Outrageous. My dog was insured from a puppy. Premiums always around £20-£30. But now she's 9 years old and uninsurable elsewhere they up the premium to £55 a month. £55 A MONTH! Totally outrageous. You can insure yourself for a 3 week holiday around America with liability insurance and healthcare costs for that amount. But I have to pay £55 a month for a dog! Totally outrageous. Con Artists. Nowhere did it say that in the original documentation. "Oh and when your dog becomes uninsurable elsewhere we're going to put another £20 a month on your bill. Just wrong!

We paid this insurance company without fail for 11 years for our horse, who was covered only for public liability and death. We never tried to claim a single penny off them until a month ago when our beloved mare had to be put to sleep very suddenly. They badgered our vet and demanded he do a full appraisal of the horse on the day he came to put her down, despite the fact she could barely walk, and wanted him to call them in the middle of our appointment with no care or concern for how inappropriate and insensitive that was at such a painful hour. Thankfully our vet waited until he was leaving rather than leave us propping up our dying horse while he rushed to accomodate the poor insurance company. He told both us and them there was no medical doubt that euthanasia was necessary. Afterwards they pestered us for every piece of paperwork they could possibly request, clearly hoping to catch us out on a technicality or missing document, which they did in the end and refused to pay out anything towards the costs of the death (our main concern) or value of the horse (not so important to us, but cover we paid for nonetheless). This is a company that works in an emotional business and will manipulate that position, waiting to catch you out and take advantage of your distress and distraction. They have no empathy for your situation when dealing with them, and no honour when it comes to paying out even for their most loyal customers. They will of course continue to take your money as long as possible, of course. Save yourself the stress and money and avoid this company, you would be better off putting your payments into savings than funding a company that doesn't care about your pets.

I have been dealing with E&L for several months now and have found them to be nothing short of fabulous. Claims amounting to several thousands of pounds have been dealt with very efficiently and without any fuss. I was concerned after my vet said I could have issues with them and that I may have to deal directly with them saving them the hassle, but it couldn't be further from the truth. I am sure they get kickbacks recommending certain companies but even they have changed their opinion after seeing how quickly my claims have been resolved. I have a dog and two cats insured with E&L and am very confident I am with the right company.