It was refreshing to receive such a prompt response from John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury regarding my original email to him. In it, he pointed out that as this is a ministerial matter, I would need to contact him through the HM Treasury’s Public Enquiry route. I have done so accordingly and also taken the opportunity to copy in our local MP, Mr Crispin Blunt.
We now await to see what response is received regarding my request to have this 14-day “no claim” clause looked at on UK pet insurance policies.
Email Transcript
Date:
To:
HM Treasury Public Enquiries
Cc:
Mr Crispin Blunt
From:
Dave Parker
Subject:
Pet Insurance in the UK - 14 Day Clause
Dear Mr Glen.
Regarding your response to my original email regarding the subject of pet insurance dated 21st April 2021. You advised me that I need to contact you through this email address () as my email relates to a ministerial matter. Therefore, please find below my email to you regarding the 14-day clause on pet insurance. I have also taken the liberty to Cc my local member of parliament, Mr Crispin Blunt.
I very much look forward to your response.
Kind regards
Dave Parker
—[ Original Email to ]—
Dear Mr Glen.
I am writing to you in your role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury. It is my understanding that under your remit, you are responsible for financial services, including insurance.
I have started a campaign to lobby insurance companies to review the “14-day no claim clause” imposed on pet insurance. This campaign came about after my parents switched their pet insurance for their dog, Danny in November 2020.
A few days following the switch, Danny suddenly and quite unexpectedly became unwell. During an emergency investigative procedure, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The prognosis was poor, and as a result, my parents made the heartbreaking decision to put him to sleep whilst still under sedation from the operation
Using a comparison website, my father had found his current policy at a cheaper price, provided by the same intermediary, Tesco Bank, and the same underwriters, Royal & Sun Alliance. At the time of the renewal, Danny seemed fit and well, and had shown no signs of illness, nor had he attended the vets before this with any symptoms of cancer. My father mistakenly assumed that because it was with the same intermediary and underwriter, this would be seen as a continuation of insurance – much in the same way as car insurance is continued.
As a result, because this was seen as a new policy, Tesco Bank advised my father that they would not honour any insurance claim. At a time when my parents were utterly heartbroken, they were faced with a vet bill of over £1000. At this point, my partner and I stepped in and paid the bill for them to take away this worry.
This was the beginning of the “A Change For Danny” campaign. The campaign aims to lobby the pet insurance sector for a change to either completely remove the 14-day clause, or make it exempt in certain situations such as sudden, previously unknown, life-threatening/life-ending illnesses, or injury to an animal through no fault of the owner. We feel that pet insurance should not be able to exclude cover for the first 14 days. At the very least, insurance companies should not be able to offer a like-for-like quote on a comparison website to a pre-existing policyholder if they do not see this as a continuation of the existing policy.
Whilst I did try to open a dialogue with insurance companies, only Royal & Sun Alliance responded to my initial emails. Even then, after many attempts, the underwriters at RSA failed to reach out to discuss the matter. I also, with my father’s written consent, contacted Tesco Bank’s customer relations department. Unfortunately, I never received a response from them to discuss the matter formally or informally.
I have chosen to write to you to ask what could be done by way of legislation to make pet insurance fairer. There are already many safeguards in place to, rightly, prevent fraudulent claims from being made against pet insurance companies. We feel now is the time to look at how the pet insurance industry is regulated – especially in the light of the number of people who will have taken on pets during the Covid-19 pandemic, who may themselves become victims of the same kind of scenario as my parents.
You can find out more about the campaign, along with a history of the email correspondence between RSA and myself on the A Change For Danny website at changefordanny.org.uk.
I very much look forward to hearing from you with your views and any intervention or representation you can make as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
