Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:56 pm Post subject: I'm Making a Claim: Direct Line
Hello people.
I'm in the process of making a claim on my pet insurance from Direct Line.
On 18th Feburary Perro (my eldest) ruptured the cruciate and cartilage of his left hind leg. Probably caught in a rabbit hole but I'm not sure. Whilst walking through fields he came running back to me on three legs.
My vet diagnosed the cruciate and referred Perro to a vet in Harrogate who specialises in orthopaedics.
To cut a long story short... the op went well on 27th Februry, it took two hours, TPLO and meniscectomy, and Perro is doing great.
Direct Line sent me two claim forms, one for each vet practice, I had to pay the vets (unfortunately £1600) and the vets send off the forms to Direct Line.
I now have to wait for Direct Line to reimburse me. They say it could be 8 to 12 weeks.
The insurance costs £10 per month per dog (I have two choc labs) and there is a £65 excess.
It wouldn't have made any difference to Perro's treatment but I am very thankful I took out the insurance.
I have had to use DL a lot with my lab and so far have claimed over £3000 for her in her 21 months of life, it is a godsend
In fact we have 2 more claims been processed at the mo, luckily our vets take direct payment from them
Also I would ring them every week to get your money, thats what I did when my vets made a claim and it was over 12 weeks, after a few heated phonecalls from me it was there in a couple of days
Last edited by Animal-Outings on Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:36 am; edited 1 time in total
We changed vet our practice. We enquired if they would deal with M&S direct and the answer was no. We rang around and found one that will.
Good Lord, it's a good job car insurance and other things do not run the way some vets do. Here's your car, it will cost you £3,000 and you need to pay us now and claim on your policy. Oh, it may take 8 weeks.
Vets need to get their act together. Oh, AND the insurance co's that think we have money to fork out for 8 weeks, GRRRRRRRRRR
BushYakker, love the name. Just keep nagging Direct line. Your claim could sit at the bottom of the pile as our Tesco one did last year. We just kept ringing. 8-12 weeks is dreadful business practice. That's why we changed to M&S.
Direct Line sent me two claim forms, one for each vet practice, I had to pay the vets (unfortunately £1600) and the vets send off the forms to Direct Line.
I now have to wait for Direct Line to reimburse me. They say it could be 8 to 12 weeks.
£1600
You're lucky then, ours cost £2195 2 weeks ago! and that was after the other £1800 already spent on the cruciate ligament
Luckily, the Vets have claimed directly for the larger amount.
The remarks I made yesterday, re; inheritance factor for cruciate rupture, were the words of my own specialist
I'd be interested to hear how your boy is doing and what you are doing to aid a good recovery, i.e exercise etc......if you could pm me i'd be very grateful....thanks
Direct Line sent me two claim forms, one for each vet practice, I had to pay the vets (unfortunately £1600) and the vets send off the forms to Direct Line.
I now have to wait for Direct Line to reimburse me. They say it could be 8 to 12 weeks.
£1600
You're lucky then, ours cost £2195 2 weeks ago! and that was after the other £1800 already spent on the cruciate ligament
Luckily, the Vets have claimed directly for the larger amount.
The remarks I made yesterday, re; inheritance factor for cruciate rupture, were the words of my own specialist
I'd be interested to hear how your boy is doing and what you are doing to aid a good recovery, i.e exercise etc......if you could pm me i'd be very grateful....thanks
All my dogs are insured with Direct Line - found them to be pretty good but I have to pay 50 quid a month now to insure them all as they're all "oldies"!
What does annoy me about insurers is that they come up with more and more policy exclusions every year. They excluded vet fees for anything to do with teeth & gums last time and guess what - my Jess has got to go in for some dentistry work now!
Perro's TPLO has been a great sucess. He's now nearly back to normal.
Direct Line were very good. Every time I phoned them they were easy to deal with. They have paid out nearly £1800. Not bad for £10 per month.
The only draw back is that you have to pay out before you can claim back. I made two claims (1 assessment and operation; 2 follow-up) and each time it was 4 weeks until the DL cheque arrived.
Some vets will deal direct with insurers but most don't or they only deal with a certain insurer, ususally one they are promoting.
The specialist I used for Perro doesn't deal with any insurers direct.
It's now a case of getting Perro up to full speed. We have some fell walking to do in September.
I am with Direct line also. I am not working at the moment, due to long term illness and cannot afford to pay the vet direct. Jack, at the moment, sees 4 vets. His normal one, one for hydrotherapy for his arthritis, a dermatologist and a homeopathic vet for his skin. All of them have signs up in their surgeries saying that they will not claim direct from the insurers as they have been ripped off in the past. I expalined my circumstances to them and after a bit of checking around, ie phoning my original vet, they were all quite happy to claim direct. If I was working I would certainly ask the vet to claim direct if there were large sums involved because who has a couple of thousand pounds lying about, albeit you get it back.
____________ Hamish McHaggis aka Cricklecreek Caribou At Dunnabbey
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