Pet insurance can be a lifesaver if you have expensive vet bills to pay. But not all companies will insure older cats and dogs.
Getting insurance for your dog or cat while it’s young isn’t generally a problem, but it can be a different story once it’s reached a certain age. A number of pet insurers won’t insure cats or dogs for the first time if they’re older - typically over the age of 11 - while most companies will ask you to pay a higher excess if you claim for vet's bills. It’s worth knowing what the options are as some companies are definitely more generous and flexible than others.
The Law Commission says new laws are needed to stop consumers from getting their insurance claims unfairly rejected.
Every year thousands of people have their insurance claim rejected because of mistakes on their application form. The Law Commission believes this is unfair.
If you’ve ever had your insurance claim turned down because of an innocent mistake on the application form, you’re not alone. By law, insurance companies can refuse to pay your claim because of something called ‘non disclosure’. The law says that it's your duty to tell an insurer anything that might be relevant to your application. If you don't, it can turn your claim down, even if it didn’t specifically ask for the information and you answered all those it did ask honestly. Consumer groups and the Law Commission think this should change.
Many people haven't heard of 'crash for cash’, where fraudsters stage car crashes for insurance claims, but it’s big business.
One criminal gang was recently jailed for staging almost 100 deliberate car crashes, but insurers believe there are many similar scams operating on our roads.
If you never heard of ‘crash for cash’, you’re not alone as over 40% of drivers haven’t heard of it either. But ‘crash for cash’ - a scam whereby fraudsters stage a car crash in order to claim on your insurance - can be lucrative for criminals and potentially dangerous – as well as costly - for car drivers. The insurance industry reckons that fraudulent claims (including crash for cash) add £40 a year to the cost of an average car insurance policy.
