Another E&L nightmare!

Hi everyone, I found this forum after googling how to deal with E&L. I just wish I had bothered to do this before taking out insurance with them 4.5 years ago.

I've had my Cavvie insured with them since he was 8 weeks old (now 4 yrs) and have never had to claim until now. Taz has his anal glands emptied every few months, his previous groomer used to do this as part of the service but when we changed groomers, the new one didn't offer this. Hence we started to take him to the vet to have this procedure done (I tried to do it myself but found the whole experience very unpleasant!).

Until this summer he had not had a problem with them, but then they started filling faster, started to harden and became became infected. The vet advised it would be beneficical to have them removed which we did at a cost of £430.

I clamed on E&L for this operation but they have rejected the claim stating he has had anal gland 'problems' since Feb 2008 (when we started to visit the vet instead of groomer for them to be emptied) and I should have informed them that he had this issue when I renewed the policy earlier this year. They have now backdated an exclusion for anal glands to Sept 2008.

To my mind (and my vets), anal gland emptying is part of general maintenance and care for many dogs and it wasn't something I needed to inform them about when I renewed my policy. To say I'm disgusted is putting it mildly, I've got two horses and the dog insured with them but that is now going to change. They are not having my business and hard earned cash any longer.

Can anyone offer me any advice as to trying to get the claim paid and/or complaining. Many thanks

When I had trouble getting them to pay I went directly to the financial ombudsman.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

These people were brilliant, although E&L still refused to pay for certain things relating to my old lad, they did make a gesture of, I think, around £35. Leon went to the bridge in June of this year but I had already cancelled the policy as they excluded him from everything so it was not worth continuing to pay them.

Definately try the Ombudsman, if nothing else they will give you some impartial advice.

I've now got Henry insured with PDSA and, although we ended up cancelling the claim when Henry was attacked as the other people paid up, they were marvellous from start to finish.

Best of luck

Many thanks, I have contacted the Ombudsman today and they are sending a letter to E&L on my behalf. Fingers crossed.. I just wish I could screw this company to the wall. They are the biggest bunch of scammers and crooks I've every known. I even came across a FB group for E & L staff members and they have the nerve to take the p*** out of customers in distress. I'm glad their poor customers's cause them such amusement , I don't know how they sleep at night!

Best of luck with your claim.

I've also had terrible problems with E&L. When Esau was 'bounced' by a trio of playful labs, he pulled a shoulder muscle, and a week later was still limping. I took him to the vet who took the precaution of giving him an aneasthetic and drawing off some fluid from the shoulder to check for inflamation/any excessive calcification. The test was clear and a course of anti-inflammatories cleared the problem.

E&L paid out - but then removed cover for ANYTHING connected to his right foreleg!! I couldn't believe my eyes, and wrote, asking them to clarify exactly what that meant -what if he stood on some glass? What if he got bitten by an adder on the foreleg? They replied by simply repeating ANYTHING happening to his right foreleg in future wasn't covered.

On another occasion, Esau had to be treated for a mange infection he'd picked up from foxes that come into our garden. E&L paid out for the tests, anti-inflamatories and wound-cleaning stuff, but refused to pay out for the actual mange-treatment because it was also a flea-treatment! I rang them to protest; they said I needed a letter from the vet clarifying that the treatment had been purely for mange, not fleas. I rang the vets, who were already annoyed (E&L had demanded a full history of the dog's health!), and even more so when they found the original claim-form where they had stated clearly what the product had been used for! Eventually E&L had to pay out - and promptly excluded all/any future skin conditions, despite the fact that the mange was successfully cleared up.

I'm not happy with them AT ALL but finding it difficult to find another insurance company who won't exclude all these 'silly' things because E&L already have

BTW, I saw in Which? magazine a couple of months ago that they'd been in contact with E&L after a client complained - oddly enough, the moment "Which Magazine" was mentioned, E&L paid out on the claim . .

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

just the mention of that name makes me see red

Thanks to everyone that replied. Well I got the FSO involved and also decided to play nasty back. I found a [a social network] group for E&L employees. They were mocking the misfortune of customers!! Armed with that, I sent the link to E&L claims manager and threatened to go to the media, I gave them a blasting for their clear contempt for customers! Low and behold... a cheque for all costs arrived two days later!!!!

disgusting! E&L really are the pits!

I would broadcast it far and wide. For an insurer to have a FB group and be ridiculing their clients just CANNOT be acceptable. That is shocking and a bit upsetting (and I'm not even insured with them!)!!!!