'I broke down in tears when they told me Emma was not covered': Vicky sold her clothes on eBay to save her dog - after pet insurers refused to pay up

The cost of the average annual pet insurance policy has rocketed from £166 to £223 over the past five years

Many owners resent the cost of cover, but feel held to ransom because they fear being hit by the huge cost of treatments at the vets

Extreme measures: Vicky Hughes with her dog Emma

As she drained her bank account of its last few pounds, Vicky Hughes was close to despair.



In May, the 33-year-old office worker had been distraught to find her beloved pet dog Emma collapsed on the floor at her home in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.



She rushed the six-year-old Dogue de Bordeauxe to the local vet, where Emma was diagnosed with a slipped spinal disc that would require six hours of emergency surgery. The cost was astronomical, she was told: a staggering £4,000. But Miss Hughes immediately gave the go ahead.

She had taken out pet cover with insurer Petpals Direct and was paying £144 a year to protect herself against huge financial hits such as this.



But days later she received a brief phone call from the insurer who dropped a bombshell: the expensive treatment was not covered by her policy.



‘I broke down in tears on the phone when they told me Emma was not covered. It was as if they didn’t give a stuff about what had just happened,’ she says.



Her insurer’s response left her with very few options. Vicky raided the last few pounds in her savings account and, with not enough spare income to cover the vets’ bill, she was forced to sell her fridge, freezer and dresses on eBay and at car boot sales to raise as much as she could.



After amassing £3,000 over a matter of weeks, she also appealed on a charity website hoping to attract kind-hearted donors to help her raise the remaining £1,000.



‘My bank account was empty,’ she says. ‘I’ve had to sell everything I absolutely don’t need. I simply assumed my insurance would cover all accidents. I had no idea that treatment would be excluded.’



Miss Hughes is the latest victim in a worrying trend that has caught the eye of the City regulator and the Financial Ombudsman: pet insurers throwing out claims because of sneaky small print and exclusions.

Money Mail has heard from many others left out of pocket by their insurer.



Ian Thompson was forced to battle his insurer for six months over a £400 claim following the sudden death of his family’s pet dog Keira, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever.



Insurer Animal Friends rejected the 50-year-old’s claim because Keira, a former competitor at Crufts, had been pregnant.



A death linked to pregnancy was excluded, buried in the terms and conditions.



But when the vet later confirmed she had, in fact, died of a stomach ulcer unrelated to her pregnancy, Animal Friends then told Mr Thompson it still would not pay up because the dog had had several litters. Its small print said animals that had been used for breeding were not covered without prior permission.

Animal Friends then returned the £45 the family had spent on four months of premiums after taking out the policy in 2012.



Mr Thompson, a computer analyst from Maidstone, Kent, argued that the wording of the policy suggested Keira would be covered.



Back to health: Debbie Weston had to remortgage her home to find £15,000 to treat Blue, a Hungarian Vizsla cross, after he ran in front of a train

Finally, the Financial Ombudsman Service ordered Animal Friends to pay the bill in full, plus interest.



Mr Thompson says: ‘Seeing our beloved Keira die in front of us was incredibly traumatic. Not only did we lose our pet, but also her litter of puppies. After an experience like that, all you want to do is forget.



‘It was appalling that our insurer came up with so many excuses not to pay our claim.’

Pet owners pay up to £1,000 a year for insurance and the costs of premiums have soared by a third in five years.



Vets’ fees have also risen sharply over the same time.



For many, though, these expensive policies are practically worthless. Some are so riddled with loopholes that owners are left struggling to get claims paid out.





All this is leaving desperate owners with bills of thousands of pounds. Complaints about pet cover have soared by 50 per cent over the past year, according to the Financial Ombudsman Service — the independent body that deals with consumers’ grievances about insurers and banks.



This is being driven by insurers throwing out claims on the slightest excuse and customers who have been caught out by sneaky small print. The Ombudsman says it is finding in pet owners’ favour in two-thirds of cases.



For some owners, premiums have become so expensive they have simply stopped paying them.



Many owners face the heart-breaking choice of putting down their poorly pet or finding emergency cash in case of illness or accident.



Some have resorted to appealing for money from strangers on charity websites, while others have taken out loans.



Now the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, says it is monitoring the industry closely.



WHAT SHOULD PET INSURANCE COVER?

A policy aims to cover medical expenses if your pet falls ill or is injured in an accident. But it won’t cover routine visits to the vet for health checks, vaccinations or neutering.



Nearly half of Britain’s 14 million pet owners take out insurance to protect themselves against a financial blow if their pet falls ill.



With the cost of the average annual pet insurance policy at £223, some £1.6 billion is being spent on cover every year — a figure that is set to grow.

The average vet bill is more than £300, with more complex treatments such as hip dysplasia costing in excess of £4,000. Ongoing conditions could cost as much as £10,000. However, there are plenty of pitfalls and exclusions — many buried in the small print. No pet insurance policy on the market will cover pre-existing conditions. So if you have made a claim for your pet on a policy and decide to switch provider, the new insurer will exclude that condition from the policy.



If your pet falls ill within a month of you taking the policy, they usually won’t be covered. Other insurers exclude ailments such as back injuries or won’t pay out if the pet is used for breeding.



A policy aims to cover medical expenses if your pet falls ill or is injured in an accident. But it won¿t cover routine visits to the vet

DON’T GET TRIPPED UP BY TIME LIMITS

Matters are made even more complicated for owners thanks to three confusing types of policy.



The cheapest option is a ‘time and benefit limited’ policy. Here, for each ailment or condition, a policy typically provides up to £2,000 for vets’ fees with a 12-month time limit.



This means enough cover will be provided up to the £2,000 limit or for up to a year — whichever is reached first.



So if your pet’s illness needs more treatment after the limit is reached, it’s up to you to pay for it. A second, slightly more expensive policy will cover vets’ bills up to a higher level — £4,000, say — without any time limit.



Lastly, a more comprehensive — and pricey — ‘lifetime’ cover is available. While expensive, this insures your pet for illness or injury up to a much greater maximum amount per year — £10,000 in some cases — or to a large overall limit such as £45,000 across your pet’s life.



DESPERATE OWNERS TURNING TO CHARITY



Beverley Cuddy, chairwoman of the Tailwaggers Club Trust, says the dog charity has been inundated with calls from desperate owners let down by their cover.

Many owners resent the cost of cover, but feel held to ransom because they fear being hit by the huge cost of treatments at the vets

‘People are fighting like mad for legitimate claims to be paid and we are seeing more and more of them having to make horrible life and death decisions,’ she says.



‘These are not irresponsible owners who haven’t bothered to take out cover for their animals. They have done everything right, but they are still being penalised because of clauses buried in their terms and conditions.’



An Ombudsman spokesman says: ‘Disappointingly. we’re still seeing some insurers hardening their approach to claims. While we have seen some improvements with businesses taking a more flexible approach, we are still coming across a black-and-white stance from others.’



WHY YOUR PREMIUMS ARE SOARING

The cost of the average annual pet insurance policy has rocketed from £166 to £223 over the past five years.



Incredibly, some owners are paying close to £80 a month to cover their dog or cat, particularly if it’s older or prone to illness — more than they are for their own life insurance. By contrast, the average life insurance premium for a 35-year-old couple giving £150,000 worth of cover for 25 years is around £30 a month.

Many owners resent the cost of cover, but feel held to ransom because they fear being hit by the huge cost of treatments at the vets.



There is a dispute over who is to blame for this. Some insurers say vets’ bills have risen by 12 per cent a year — pushing up premiums.

The cost of the average annual pet insurance policy has rocketed from £166 to £223 over the past five years

However, the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons argues that its members’ fees increased by only 2.4 per cent last year on average. Lower earners who receive certain benefits can turn to charities such as the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) or Blue Cross for free medical help for their pets.



But many middle-class families don’t qualify for this emergency help.



Debbie and Vince Weston were forced to remortgage their three-bedroom home to find £15,000 to treat Blue, a Hungarian Vizsla cross, after he ran in front of a train.



The couple, from Enfield, North London, had been unable to afford the £75-a-month insurance bill for Blue and his 14-year-old companion, Buster.



The monthly premiums for Buster, a Staffordshire bull terrier, had soared by more than 500 per cent over ten years. When he was a puppy, the policy with Pet Healthcare Services had cost around £9.99 — but years later they were costing £65. The couple had made just one claim in this time.



When Mrs Weston had to stop work temporarily after being diagnosed with arthritis, they could no longer afford the pet cover premiums on Mr Weston’s salary as a council worker.



Then, in March, Blue disappeared on a walk with his owners. He was found bleeding on a nearby railway line after being hit by a train. Blue had suffered a punctured lung and fractured bones, including a broken pelvis.



Blue recovered, but the treatment cost £10,000. With little in the way of savings, the couple had to remortgage their house to raise an extra £15,000 to be sure of covering the bills.



As a result, it will take them an extra five years to pay off their home loan.



‘Remortgaging sounds drastic, but we were determined Blue would have the treatment he needed. Seeing him today full of health makes it worth every penny,’ says Mrs Weston, 55.



The couple are appealing on charity website Just Giving to cover some of Blue’s treatment costs.



In the case of Vicky Hughes, a spokesman for Petpals Direct says: ‘The full list of illnesses and accidents covered are provided to consumers during the online sales process to enable them to make an informed decision. In addition, a full policy pack containing all literature was sent to Miss Hughes’s home.’



As for the Thompsons, a spokesman from Animal Friends says: ‘Animal Friends Insurance are content that our policy wording was not ambiguous, but decided not to seek a review of the Ombudsman’s decision in view of the length of time the Ombudsman had taken to make its decision.’



In the Westons’ case, a Pet Healthcare Services spokesman says: ‘We’re sorry to hear about the Westons’ circumstances. Premiums are higher for a pedigree animal, which are more susceptible to certain illnesses.



‘With significant advances in animal medicine, we have also seen the cost of treatments increase.’



A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers says: ‘Pet insurers are paying out £1.2 million every day to cat and dog owners. Last year, insurers paid £452 million in vets’ bills for sick and injured dog and cats.’



