# Dog Insurance but no treatment till i pay up front!!



## Nemisis (Aug 22, 2008)

Hi all

I am new to this community and i need some advice.

I have a 1 year old chocolate Lab called Kira that has developed a bad limp that has gotten worse over the past 4 weeks. At first we thought she had just sprained her leg somehow. Being only one she is very active and gets long walks to drain her of energy, but when we noticed her limp slightly we stopped taking her on the long walks and just took her on small runs rounds the block to rest her leg. Unfortunately this did not work since even on these short walks she bounds about like a kangaroo even when kept on a short leash. So for the past 2 weeks we have kept her in a cage in the house to stop her bounding about and we take her out to do her thing on a short lead, but even still the limp has gotten worse so we took her to the vet today.

This is where the real problem begins.

I have been with this Vet for 6 years and we have always taken our dogs to them as they are a great vetinary hospital and we have all our animals insured and in the past we have always paid up front for any treatment required and claimed it back to us. Fortunately we have not had any major incidents and the bills have only been minor. Unfortunately we have hit hard times and can no longer afford to pay upfront for the treatment required but since we have insurance and they offer the ability to pay the Vet direct we did not think this would be a problem.

But our vet has now told us after looking at Kira that she needs to have X-rays done on both front legs one on the good and one on the bad to compare what exactly has gone wrong with her bad leg as the Vet could not determine exactly what has happened by just a physical exam.

So we said well thats ok cause the insurance will pay for any treatment including x-rays as she has top level cover. We then got told that all treatment will have to be payed for then and there and that they do not treat any animals if payment cannot be made at the time of treatment.

We could not believe this as they are gauranteed to get thier money from the insurance company. So we had to pay for her consultaion for today which was only £45, but the X-rays are going to be up to £200 and they refused to book my dog in until I could gaurantee I could pay for the X-rays at the time! So despite being fully insured my dog will now not get the X-rays till next Friday payday despite the fact they could take her on Monday if I had the cash, and if they do find a fracture or anything more needs done then I will not be able to pay for this next Friday and my dog will then need to wait and suffer needlessly till I can afford to pay for the next step in her recovery!!

When i got home I phoned up 2 other Vets in the area and they both said they do take insurance for animals but they still need to be paid up front for treatment! So what is the point of having insurance to pay for Vets fees when you cant claim until the treatment is complete and you can't get treatment unless you pay up front?

So Vets don't take any insurance for Animals at all since they are all asking to be paid first! What would happen if my dog needed £5000 worth of treatment after a bad accident? I can't get a loan, can't pay the bill up front, so is my dog supposed to suffer and die because of this stupid Vetinary system?

Bupa would still operate on you as long as they knew you had the insurance to cover it, and they got authorisation by the insurance company, so why not Vets?

What can I to do? I refuse to let my dog suffer with this bad leg any longer, yet unless I can find a few hundred pounds by next Friday she is only going to be diagnosed and not treated. Surely this can not be the way all vets work?

Please help i need advice.

Thanks in advance


----------



## Guest (Aug 22, 2008)

Nemisis said:


> Surely this can not be the way all vets work?


Unfortunatly this seems to be the way they are all going. Our vets used to take payment in instalments until recently but now demand payment on the day. Im sure there will be vets out there that would do it the way you want, you just might have to look further afield.


----------



## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

I think that is disgusting.. (but I suppose they have so many peeps who's insurance won't pay out).

Your vet must believe all is not life threatening and your dog isn't in too much pain.. 

I can't believe £200.00 for xrays.. where do they get there prices from...

My pony's vet came out in feb and took two xrays of my pony's feet.. He brought the xray machine out! He charged me £20.00 call out and £70.00 for the xrays, he rang me back that night to tell me what he had found.. 

I hope all is well..


----------



## Guest (Aug 22, 2008)

I too believe this is the way a lot of vets work now. You have to pay upfront like any customer, and claim back the costs with your insurer after.

At one vet near me, it's been like this since 8 years ago. I remember listening to a lady in reception moaning that she couldn't pay there and then but had insurance, the reception lady said you have to pay upfront then make a claim etc.

Like Alan said, there probably are some vets around that do it the other way. You might just have to get the yellow pages out and ring around local vets (or how ever far you're prepared to travel) to find one that you don't have to pay upfront when insured.

Some times it isn't even worth going through your insurer when you take your animal to the vets, especially if you have a high excess fee. But obviously for X-Rays that wont be the case, cause they are rather expensive. But for treatment that's under £50 it's not really worth going through your insurance. Most of the insurance I have come accross, the excess is at least £60.


----------



## Nemisis (Aug 22, 2008)

My dogs insurance does come with Excess of £50 and that fair enough and i'm able to pay such a sum, but it really get me annoyed thinking about how the receptionist refused to book my Kira in for treatment until i got my next wage to pay for it, so at the moment she will have to wait a week with a possible fracture to get the X-rays and another week or two till we can pay for treatment. It is disgusting. Afterall that is what insurance is supposed to be for, to cover the costs of something that you yourself are unable to pay for!

Imagine if you house insurance worked like this and you had to pay for the rebuilding of your house after a fire what would be the point? You couldn't afford to do it!


----------



## jackson (May 22, 2008)

To be honest, you were happy ot leave your dog for 4 weeks without taking her to the vet, so I don't know why you're comlaining about an extra 4 days!  It's not rocket science, if the dog is limping, something is hurting and it needs a vet. You could have made things much worse by leaving things this long. 

That aside, some vets will just claim from your insurance company as long as you pay any excess up front, so it might be worth ringing round. Who is your insurance company? That might make a difference. 

Good luck with her, I hope she recovers soon.


----------



## Nemisis (Aug 22, 2008)

My gripe is not with the time limit but the bad practice that has only now shown itself to me in Vet practice. My Gripe is if she had been run over and I ran to the vet for help for my dog, the attitude that I got from the receptionist very clearly told me that my dog would be left to die if I did not pay for it there and then. As for me leaving it so long to goto the vet well they are Happy to leave her for another 7 days not 4, making it even worse when they have the ability to help her now but they are more interested in the money than helping an animal in distress. 

I did not take my dog to the Vet straight away due to the fact that she is very active and is a very happy dog even now and the very slight limp she started with was only visible after a lot of excercise and by that I mean after her hour walk on the beach where she loves to retrieve her toys. So it appeared that it was only a very minor strain and was not visible at any other time, so rest seemed to be the best option after all to many people run to the doctor with a sneeze and waste thier time. We did contact the Vet after her limp worsened even after getting no excercise, that was when it was clear that it was something more than a simple sprain. 

If I had taken her to the vet earlier then it would not have changed the situation maybe she would have less of a limp now, but I would not be able to pay for £200+ treatment in 1 go and she would still likely be waiting on treatment of somekind.

That aside the whole reason that animal insurance is supposed to exist, is because Vet fees have risen dramatically over the last 15 years and people can no longer afford the high fees charged for something like a broken leg! But how does having insurance have any benifit to anyone if they cannot afford to pay on the spot? It seems to me to be that all this will do is make more animals suffer needlesly or even be put to sleep for no reason because Vets refuse treatment even though the are Gauranteed to get paid.

As for insurance companies not paying out being an incentive for Vets to act in this manner then there is a simple solution. Call the insurance company up and get their permission to carry out the treatment in the understanding that they will pay for it as it is deemed nessesary for the well being of the animal.


----------



## BlackCat (Feb 17, 2008)

Certain insurance companies are notorious for being difficult and incredibly picky with what they will and won't pay out for. As a lot of practices have many overdue payments from bad debtors etc, non-paying insurers leads to higher outstanding debts for the practice. For very large sums of money though I should imagine most places will be able to arrange direct claims.

Hope you get everything sorted out soon.


----------



## siams (Nov 2, 2007)

My vets are brill and they claim it back off the insurance but only if you are insured by pet plan.


----------



## gillieworm (Jul 4, 2008)

I must admit myvet is fantastic. He does all the claim for me and gets the insurer to pay him direct, and even if I don't have enough cash on me when I go he still does the treatment but tells me to pop the money in another time if its something not worth claiming for.

I can understand why you are so hacked off, I would be too. I'd defo ring round some more vets.

Hope your girl gets better really soon


----------



## Georges Mum (Aug 12, 2008)

Hi for smaller things you would need to pay up front but i do know if you were to speak to your insurers they might be able to negotiate with the vet. This i have seen for my gran's bassett where the treatment ran into thousands!!!!!!!!

Who are you insured with?


----------



## Guest (Aug 23, 2008)

Think that the majority of vets are now demanding payment upfront, this is maybe due to the amount of different insurance companies that have now joined the market, some of these being notorisouly difficult when it comes to paying up.

Casting that aside, with the receptions attitude you mentioned above I would be looking for a more compassinate vet.

hope you get this sorted out quickly - for the dogs sake.
regards
sue


----------



## cav (May 23, 2008)

All vets are different if i were you i would try to find a different one as you got nothing to lose


----------



## Nemisis (Aug 22, 2008)

Well I am definitely looking for a new vet, I don't mind having to travel as long as my dogs will get treated. As far as I am concerned my dogs are my 3 Daughters and I am going to make sure that they get the treatment they need to keep them fit and happy.


----------



## kittykat (Nov 2, 2007)

Good on you for looking for another vet!
Being a customer for 6 years and to be treated like that??!! I would of taken it up with the vet himself as the woman was just a receptionist and doesnt really have any pull in the matter. 

My vet has been great, the receptionist too ... she always tells me where I can get stuff cheaper rather than paying their prices!


----------



## Guest (Aug 23, 2008)

My vets want money up front too... i had to borrow money for my 2 year old chocolate labs tumor but at the end of the day it was worth it because i value my dogs higher than any ammount of money in the world..


----------



## Nemisis (Aug 22, 2008)

Well you will all be glad to hear that I found a local vet that is more than willing to treat my young Kira for her condition and reclaim the treatment cost from the insurance, all he asks is that the excess be paid so no probs there.

While speaking to him he was the one that said to me the main reason for pet health insurance is exactly for people in my predicament so that you don't have to postpone treatment or even not get treatment for thier pets.

He did say that some insurance companies will not pay for treatment of a condition that has came back a second time like a skin condition but not all are like that and a simple phone call to the insurance company will let you know if this is the case or not, but for the symptoms I described for Kira he said no Vet should have any problems with an insurance claim for what is a new injury.

Excellent to find a vet that has an animals health as thier first priority and not whats in thier pocket, although it took around 10 calls to other vets that had the same policy as my original vet to find him.

Thanks for all your comments and well wishes


----------



## marlynaveve (Aug 13, 2008)

Glad to hear you have got sorted, good luck with the treatment.
Mary
x


----------



## kittykat (Nov 2, 2007)

_I'm so glad you found a good vet that actually seems to care!

I hope the treatment goes well_


----------



## puddyphat (Jan 14, 2010)

Sorry, I know this is the dog forum but I had exactly the same problem as the first poster. My cat was unwell in Dec-08, 2 weeks before christmas, she had stopped eating and had a temperature. The vets kept her in during the day on a drip and took blood tests....over £300 in one go and further follow ups totalled over £600 over two months (for a thyroid condition).

The vet wanted me to pay there and then, I showed her my petplan insurance and then basically begged her in the most humiliating way as I couldnt afford it. After some negotiation (and tears) they gave in.

Again in December 09, the same cat again stopped eating....another £300 and absolutly no chance of the vet going through insurance.

Grrr, not the best treatment, service (they left a catheta in cats leg) or customer care...am going elsewhere now.


----------



## pennytwinkles (Nov 29, 2009)

Chloe's hip operations had to be paid up front £3000 for which I applied and used an 0% credit card and then paid it off when insurance claim was paid out. Not ideal I know but I had no other way of paying for the treatment. I know this isn't an option for everyone.

My vet doesn't take payment upfront so long as I give them a claim form they are happy to claim direct from the insurance company. When Chloe had her hips operated on it was an independent specialist practice she was taken too hence the reason the bill had to be paid upfront.


----------



## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

thank goodness I am a large animal client too so get any dog treatment on my account. It sounds horrendous, I know you cant always raise money at a moments notice.


----------



## metaldog (Nov 11, 2009)

My vet will claim directly from the insurer, after a quick phone call (by them) to confirm the treatment is covered. I am not in a position to pay for expensive vets bills up front which is why I have insurance.I think it's diabolical that you have to pay up front when you have insurance for your pet. Can you imagine that happening with car or house insurance? I don't think so!

If everyone boycotted vets who have this insane practice they would have to change or go out of business!

To the OP I'm glad you found a more sensible caring vet  I hope your dog gets well soon x


----------



## sextoni (Jan 29, 2013)

hi, can't believe what i'm reading, just joined and posted similiar, just rang round more vets its a closed shop, most want all the money up front, i cant think who to write to but this seriously need to stop, see my thread. hope you can sort something out good luck.


----------



## catseyes (Sep 10, 2010)

This thread was started in 2008!


----------



## Owned By A Yellow Lab (May 16, 2012)

My vet has always insisted on payment up front - even though we're with PetPlan who would pay directly.


Can I also mention: a one year old Lab is not fully grown and should NOT be walking for miles and miles on a regular basis. It sounds as though you may be over exercising your girl 


WHOOPS - just realised this is an old thread!


----------



## S_Rollo (Oct 1, 2010)

Unfortunately it seems to me most vet practices are in it for the money not a pets health. Although I would pay anything to keep my babies healthy and happy, it doesnt mean I need to be paying through the nose for everything possible. Things like my dog was ill it cost something like £5 for an injection and £40 to give the injection, it really is a joke.
Owning a dog is expensive I know but it doesnt mean that owners have £5000+ sat waiting just incase and as Nemisis sid surely that is the point of insurance.

Please help all pet owners and shop around with vets and insurance you dont have to be stuck with one if you are not happy and they are money grabbing show them we are the consumer and we decide. 

...rant over


----------

