“I accidentally let my policy renew, I rang them the day after and they insisted on charging £30 admin fee to cancel after being a loyal customer of 5 years paying them over a thousand pounds in premium over this time. Had no compassion or empathy for a customer who is currently going through a hard time in their life, and I literally called them as soon as they opened. The employee also spoke over me whilst I tried to explain my situation. Do not use”
“DO NOT GO NEAR THIS COMPANY THEY ARE SCAMMERS. If I could leave 0 I would. My policy is nearly £500 a year these were 2 straightforward small claims for about £200 in total-2x excess. in march still not sorted .3 times have sent forms and full vet history say they've not received them. Have spent over10 hours on phone to them no call backs when they say they will. They are now using every excuse not pay out . Even deducting money from cost of drugs saying was overcharged as if I know what certain drugs cost! My vet are extremly professional and well priced .Thankfully these were relatively small claims dread to think the response on a larger claim. Please use a different company. I am reporting to the financial conduct authority so hopefully their mis- practice can be stopped . Stear clear”
“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.”
“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% of the cost meaning that the excess was 95%.
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.”
“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””
“Customer service non existent. Their main aim is AVOID paying out and find any loop hole they can to wriggle out of paying. They are happy to take payments for the insurance but paying out another matter. They take ages to settle a bill if you are lucky enough to be assessed for a pay out. Please give your hard earned money to another company that cares about pets and their owners and offer support and empathy and compassion rather than looking for loop holes to avoid settling the medical bill.
Avoid ! Avoid ! Avoid !!!!!!!!”
“This company needs to be avoided!! They are a scam! Liars said that send emails to ask information, what more they need to settle a vet bill!?, but never did!!! And we have to pay! Going to check now how to proceed to have them paying and also to complain about the company! Let everybody knows how bad they are!”
“I cancelled their insurance and they attempted to bully me in to paying an excessive administrative fee, which was the equivalent of 5 months worth of premiums. So much for my honesty as they do not charge if your animal 'disappears'. Classic example of poor business practice and best deal with more quality brands as you can only imagine their 'claims procedures' could be even more robust, as is apparent in reviews below. Indeed there seems to be a lot of 1 stars below. Time for insurance regulator to be informed.”
“A RIP OFF, ONCE YOU ARE SIGNED UP THEY TAKE YOUR MONEY, BUT YOU RECEIVE NO POLICY AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LOG INTO YOUR ACCOUNT TO SEE IT. THEY DON'T ANSWER EMAILS EITHER.DO NOT WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED CASH.”
“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!”
“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!”
“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”
