“Do not under any circumstances take out a policy with this company unless you want to throw your money away. If they can get out of paying they will. Paws and Claws are charging me for the next 7 months because i have had a claim and cancelled my policy when my dog died suddenly. It was not my fault my dog died at such an inconvenient time to the company. When I cancelled they were straight on the phone wanting to know why I had stopped the policy. When I explained my dog had died and insurance was no longer required they were right on to me that I now owe £148.98. I have a letter in my hand from Roythornes Solicitors saying if I don't pay in 7 days they will commence legal proceedings against me. Also they let me take out a Four Paw policy for which I have since found out half of it is irrelevant ie no death or loss benefits are payable for pets over 8yrs old. Please please if you are reading these reviews please go to another company for peace of mind knowing you are no going to be out of pocket at the end of the day”
“Paws and Claws is a complete scam. They take your money and when you make a claim they do not pay out. Even with a letter from the Vet supporting the claim, they refused. I am going to an ombudsman. Whatever you do, do not go with this company. I reckon the positive reviews on here are all written by the company. If you go to http://www.pet-insurance-surveys.co.uk/ you will find some interesting reading.”
“Don't waste your money insuring precious pets with this company.
They took six weeks to settle my claim with no explanation as to why.
Their online portal to track your claim is useless and entries made by staff make no sense.
I made a formal complaint after a staff member put complete lies on my claim notes as to what my veterinary practice had told them. WHEN I asked for the recording of the call they made it could not be traced despite them stating their calls are recorded.
When my claim was finally settled, after having to make a formal complaint, the amount paid was less than it should have been. I have not even contacted them about this, I am that sick of having to deal with them.
A company who works very hard to keep money in their own bank account - AVOID!”
“If I could give no stars I would. Earlier this year one of my dogs died. Aside from taking forever to respond this bunch of cheats decided the 'death benefit' (sic) would be 5%.
Decided that I would insure my other dog elsewhere to be landed with a £30 administration fee for deciding I would go elsewhere. They cancelled the policy and then sent me a threatening letter, promising to hand this over to a debt collection agency, to claw back (no pun intended) what they believed was outstanding.
Do not use these people - shocking.”
“Paws and Claws deliberately sent me unuseable telephone numbers to make a claim after avoiding my emails. I think they are a deliberate con. Please do not use!”
“Unfortunately, we chose this company as the price was competitive. But, as with most insurances, you only get to know how good they are when you need to make a claim. Our experience has not been a good one.
Our dog has developed arthritis in her elbow. At the moment, it's not severe. We had to arrange an x-ray and some medication, resulting in a claim. The claim form was submitted at the end of April. It is now 19th July and we are still awaiting payment!! Even though over two weeks ago, we were told that the claim had been approved!
They are awaiting a cheque to be authorised... despite us giving over bank details and requesting a bank transfer. I'm now told we will probably have to wait another few days for the cheque to be signed and then posted!!
Please.... If you are looking for an insurer... check to see how long they take over claims. This lot say they take 10 days!!!... But in truth, it's taken nearly 80 days!!!
The problem is now that we are stuck with having to renew cover with this company as we have a 'lifelong policy' and no other insurer will accept our pet and cover a pre existing condition.
ALSO, the premium has just over doubled in cost from last year!!”
“Insured my dog with Paws & Claws Insurance when I tried to claim for my dog with terminal stomach cancer, they declined to pay. When I opened the policy i declared my dog had trouble with bile for a few years. They used this to get out of paying they are robbers in suits. DONT INSURE WITH THEM.If your dog dies you have to pay rest of years premiums if you claim and they take it out of your claim if uou did manage to claim AVOID THEY WONT PAY OUT”
“Shop around..............
Probably the worst insurer I have had the misfortune to come across in terms of appalling customer service and unjustified premium cost increases.
My premiums have doubled in the past two years even though I have not made a claim. I will be moving to a more reputable, honest and non - pet specific insurer in the next few days on better overall terms. In the meantime I thought I would share my thoughts with anyone out there who is thinking of insuring a pet through PAWS & CLAWS PET INSURANCE, trading name of Ultimate insurance solutions Ltd, insured/underwritten by International insurance company of Hanover SE.
Year 1 - initial premium cost is likely to be attractive, will get you through the door and all signed up. Year 2 and 3 onwards hold onto your hair or rather your debit card as I can assure you this will change. Whether you make a claim or not the cost of your insurance will go up. If you make a claim then you have the added burden of a claims history which insurers do not like and will limit your options of finding an alternative insurer if you patience expires, as mine has.
Find below the pre-scripted auto response PAWS & CLAWS PET INSURANCE send out when you question/challenge premium cost increases. Do take the time to have a read through and think about how this actually applies to you in terms of justifying year on year increases. In most cases it will not.
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PAWS & CLAWS AUTOMATED AND RE-SCRIPTED RESPONSE:-
"Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review and I am sorry you are not happy about your renewal price."
There are many rating factors taken into consideration when it comes to renewal. The individual claim conditions and amount are taken into consideration however the main factors underwriters use in setting premiums are; the pets age, breed and gender. Your address is also a factor. Some postal codes are rated higher than others for two main reasons:
· There may be a higher concentration of claims in some areas.
· Costs of vet fees can also vary across the country.
· The cost of vet fees is taken into consideration as well as the number of claims in that area. Most premiums have also increased over the last few years because technology in veterinary treatment has advanced, so conditions are costing more to treat.
I can see you have been contacted with regards to this query, thank you for taking your time to provide us with your feedback””
“I've found their premiums very reasonable compared with other companies and they are very fair and prompt in settling claims. I have had pets for the past 50 years and dealt with various insurance companies for the last 35. I rate P & C among the best.”
“Total rip off merchants. I took out an insurance on my pet dog for (accident & illness, and still have the original policy). Now my dog is ill and i have made a claim, they are refusing to cover me, stating that there was a mistake and that i was only covered for accidental death. Absolute garbage.. Please steer clear of this rip off lot..”
“Awful company. They have taken nearly 6 months to settle my claim, and only paid out part of it. Repeatedly lost documentation, repeatedly re-requested information i had given to them, gave me email addresses that didn't work. Purpose of the company seems to be to deter you from claiming, and to minimise the pay out through dragging everything out. Do not use!”
“I would never use Paws & Claws for a pet again. 1. Insurance premiums have been increased by over 22% this year (2018). 2. If you have to make a claim, don't expect a quick response - or even a response. 3. They will claim that your vet has not sent documentation when the vet has copies of the emails sent! 4. If you try to look at your claims history, it will make no sense with missing claim values, wrong dates and weird comments saying 'Duplicate Claim', etc.”
“When making a claim
The staff don't even know what's covered, so how is the customer meant to know
Dental is not covered, even if your dog has an accident, or bangs his mouth.
I'd call that an accident
My dog banged himself jumping through his dog flap.
Paid insurance for years, first time I need help, and there just isn't any!”
“Please do not use paws & claws they will not pay out . They are Ok taking your money . But when My dog needed a MMI scan they have refused to pay out. They are a scam of a company . Please be aware .
Very unhappy custermer.”
“I made a claim for an injured dew claw on my dog and it has been rejected saying this is a cosmetic procedure. Why would I want to remove my dogs dew claws is they were healthy and the dog is 3 years old. I took the dog to the vets who advised it was the best solution due to a chronic infection because of the injury and my claim has been rejected twice. I will not be renewing my policy and I will pursue this via the insurance ombudsman however I shouldn't have to be going to all this trouble. Disgraceful company.”
“Watch out for the terms of business - there is no cooling off period (usually 14 days) on the autorenewal of policies. You have to pay a fee to cancel the policy which is very cheeky and it is not explicit despite being in the terms of business. Such a fee is not ethical in this day and age when people tend to shop around and switch providers.
My policy payments went up significantly each time the policy renewed despite making no claims in one year. No reasoning as to why there was such an increase - I wish I had made the time to shop around sooner.
Also unable to tell me how much I would be refunded on the monthly premium I had paid. Not ideal - surely someone could hazard a guess?!
I would not use them again, nor would I recommend them. For any who use them, make sure you are ready to pay the exit fee which I am informed cannot be waived!”
“I would never use this company again every time I have made a claim surprisingly they have not received the claim form I have been with them for the past 6 years and made 5 claims and over a month later on (each claim) be told not received. Even though I have waited and posted the filled in paperwork myself and posted first class and twice were by recorded delivery. My vet as emailed them the forms too and they tell lies that did not receive and also did not receive the faxes. It is terrible enough experience to deal with your injured or poorly pet but then you have to deal with the nightmare of dealing with (Paws and Claws) and it truly is a nightmare believe me lies and endless phone calls. I would warn anyone to stay away from this company and spend your money with a company like pet plan more expensive but no problems at all with my other dog and cat very very helpful. Plus my polices with petplan do not more than double every year. Me personally I would not give them 1 star if the opinion was available. Please all stay away”
“Absolutely dreadful company. AVOID AT ALL COSTS
PawsnClaws will employ every dirty trick in the book to avoid paying out. Resending correspondence and then claiming they didn't receive it, constantly waiting for 'updates' from vets, despite the fact I sat and listened to the vet give them everything they need. Even had the cheek to hang up on me when I asked them what had happened tO my claim that I had submitted 3 months prior!
USUAL DIRTY CHEAP TRICKS TO NOT PAY OUT. AVOID AVOID AVOID”
“We insured our red fox Labrador with them fully comp . He hurt himself while playing with his brother in a play fighting so this involved x-ray medicine vets fees and the rest quess what this terrible insurance company says its not a accident and refused to pay over £900 in vet fees complete rip off have told kennel club not to advertise them am also telling local vets to warn customers to be aware that they wont pay”
“Submitted a claim by post with all relevant documentation from vet. Have heard nothing since. Emailed them for confirmation and received no reply. Tried calling claim line and was on hold for over 20 minutes before I gave up. Will be going elsewhere in future. Utterly useless!”
