Pets in a Pickle Reviews 30

My claim was delayed because they 'couldn't locate' my cat's full medical history. I contacted my vet immediately and had my hands on the medical history in less than 30 minutes. I sent it to them and even though I put the claim through in July, they have still not gotten back to me and I haven't seen any replies or money yet. They are slow with customer service and until I see that money I'll be rating them only 2 stars.

Paying £105 per month for my small dog. Paid by direct debit. Made a claim. Paid within one month. Still waiting for payment for March April And May. Something is always questioned on my claim form. 5 months for me is along time. Each claim is for about £120
I could do with this money to help pay my premiums

Read everything on the claim form. When the claim is finalised, £160 and around £11 was taken from the final payout. Customer service not up to scratch. Cancelled our direct now, looking for an insurance company.

Very disappointed with this people. I didn't read the "small print". They deducted 100£ for out of normal hours fee... always read your policy...
Quote from their email:
Under the terms of your insurance a deduction of £110.00 has been made, this represents the policy excess.

As Lucky is aged 6 years old or more a deduction has been made of £13.49, this contribution represents your variable excess of 10%.

The following deductions have been made because they are not covered under the terms and conditions of the policy.

£30.00 for the amount that exceeds the policy limit of £100 for out of hours fee
£16.65 for the insurance claim administration charge
For further details relating to the terms and conditions please refer to the policy wording.
Not good....

Ive been with PIAP for the past three years. Unfortunately my little dog succumbed to pancreatitis at the beginning of April, despite spending over a thousand pounds for hospitalisation and veterinary care. The claim was submitted in mid April and to-date - 2nd June - I have not received a penny back. It is bad enough that I lost my dear dog, but to have to repeatedly call them and email to chase for my refund is unforgiveable. I did not have this experience with either Pet Plan or Tesco Pet Insurance - and now think I would have done better to stay with them. Be warned.

I used another insurance company for 27 years without any problems but when we got a new dog decided to change as it had become very expensive. I chose PIAP as I heard about them on the radio and the quote I received was very competitive. I recently had to make a claim and that's when the problems started. I received two emails asking for information one of which was asking for the name of the vet that submitted the information to PIAP which seemed pedantic. When the claim was finally settled there were two items not paid out and a third not paid in full as they claim the vets had more than a 100% markup on the medication. When I took out the policy there was a list of exceptions but this was not listed as one of them which is misleading. As far as the other two items are concerned, I rang PIAP to as why these hadn't been paid for but as yet I'm still waiting for the explanation. In addition, £185 was deducted as the excess where I was expecting just £85. When I questioned this I was told I'd volunteered to pay this when I applied but I couldn't remember doing this but it's my word against theirs.

This has been the third year that Sammi has been insured with Pets In a Pickle and, of course, until I needed to claim, there wasn't a problem.
We visited the Vet due to Sammi limping on her back leg for over a week. She had x-rays etc. It was her cruciate!
I spoke to PIAP and explained what the problem was and discussed whether I could claim for the operation which she would need inevitably. During this call, she explained that the Cruciate Ligament was only covered up to £1,500 but that I could ask for pre-approval and to call before she has the operation. My policy limit is £3,000 per annum. No mention was made of any timeframe involved.
PIAP paid towards this claim, less the excess and a percentage for her being over 6 years old.
After a couple of months, it was obvious that Sammi wasn't getting better so the operation was arranged for the 14th October, 20. I phoned PIAP on the 12th October to let them know what was happening. During this call, I was told that I had £2,400 odd left for this year - which was the cost of the operation. I questioned this (due to my previous call a couple of months previously) and asked re. the pre-approval The Advisor told me that he would check with the Manager and send me an email. I told him when the operation was booked for and that I was told to call prior to this operation so it was urgent.
I received an email late that evening stating that I only had £900 left for Sammi's operation.
I phoned PIAP and spoke to another Advisor who I asked about pre-approval. She told me that I needed to fill in a form. This was sent and I took it straight to the Vet's Surgery for him to deal with. He said he would deal directly with PIAP. The turnaround was 48 hours. (I also asked for the previous calls to be listened to).
Sammi had her surgery and it was successful.
I again called PIAP and spoke to another Advisor who reiterated that I only had £900 towards this op.
I asked her about the pre-approval form that I had been sent and what was happening with that. Her response was that I had left it too late to do this as it should have been done 48 hours before the operation. I explained what had happened on the first call with the Advisor and that he hadn't advised me of the form, or sent it to me to complete. She said that all she could do was apologise and would forward he feedback re. the first Advisor. I was speechless!
If I had received the form when I spoke to the first Advisor on Monday morning then it would have been within the 48 hour timeframe. She just wouldn't accept it. I was so angry.
Also, I questioned the fact that they would know that Cruciate issues were expensive and why did they have a limit of approx. half of what the costs are to have this problem dealt with. She said I should have taken the relevant level of cover. My response was to question how I would know which medical problems Sammi would encounter and, therefore, this would mean that I would have to always use the highest level of cover!!!
She also said that because I had explained that I would have to have let the surgery go ahead anyway, as Sammi needed it - that they wouldn't have helped me.
I was so unhappy with the whole experience. I just couldn't understand the logic of the final Advisor's explanation.
My point was that, if I had received the pre-authority form on my first call to PIAP, then I would have had the form, taken it to my Vet, had it completed and back to them within their required 48 hours. But, as I had to wait until the next day to receive this form, I was, therefore out of that timeframe. I don't understand how she couldn't see that this was the first Advisor's fault.
I have been so upset about the whole situation and also very worried about Sammi.
I had been sold the idea that if Sammi had any medical problems I could be assured that PIAP would ease my concerns.
The last Advisor was so unhelpful and I feel that I should take this to another level of complaint as too many people are duped by insurance companies in one way or another.
My Vet has also agreed that insurance companies are well aware of the various costs of animal procedures and that it was "naughty" of them not to take these into consideration with their levels of cover.
In the past 2 years I have paid £525.36 in premiums - more including this year's. This was almost what they gave me for the Vet's examination of Sammi!!! So, in fact, so far they haven't given me anything but my own money back!!!!
Pets In a Pickle have left me in a pickle. I will not be recommending them to anyone with a pet.

I have my 2 Dalmatians with them and they have been great to deal with. I find the customer service 1st class. I have not had to make a claim but you can tell they would go out of there way to be helpful.
I have been with other pet insurance companies which have been not so great.

I have recommended them to other dog walkers. I don't think they are on comparison sites but I think I got there details from a tv advert.

I actually called this morning to renew my policy and they offered a discount for loyalty.

I would highly recommend pets in a pickle for your fur babies. Unfortunately I lost one of mine due to being run over. We didn't have insurance for that long, but they still paid out on the policy direct to the vet. No problems whatsoever.