'I broke 負かす／撃墜する in 涙／ほころびs when they told me Emma was not covered': Vicky sold her 着せる／賦与するs on eBay to save her dog - after pet 保険会社s 辞退するd to 支払う／賃金 up

By Ruth Lythe for the Daily Mail

Updated: 16:18 BST, 3 July 2013

Extreme 対策: Vicky Hughes with her dog Emma

As she drained her bank account of its last few 続けざまに猛撃するs, Vicky Hughes was の近くに to despair.

In May, the 33-year-old office 労働者 had been distraught to find her beloved pet do g Emma 崩壊（する）d on the 床に打ち倒す at her home in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.

She 急ぐd the six-year-old Dogue de Bordeauxe to the 地元の vet, where Emma was 診断するd with a slipped spinal レコード that would 要求する six hours of 緊急 外科. The cost was 天文学の, she was told: a staggering £4,000. But 行方不明になる Hughes すぐに gave the go ahead.

She had taken out pet cover with 保険会社 Petpals Direct and was 支払う／賃金ing £144 a year to 保護する herself against 抱擁する 財政上の 攻撃する，衝突するs such as this.

But days later she received a 簡潔な／要約する phone call from the 保険会社 who dropped a bombshell: the expensive 治療 was not covered by her 政策.

‘I broke 負かす／撃墜する in 涙／ほころびs 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 保険会社’s 返答 left her with very few 選択s. Vicky （警察の）手入れ，急襲d the last few 続けざまに猛撃するs in her 貯金 account and, with not enough spare income to cover the vets’ 法案, she was 軍隊d 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 事柄 of weeks, she also 控訴，上告d on a charity website hoping to attract 肉親，親類d-hearted 寄贈者s to help her raise the remaining £1,000.

‘My bank account was empty,’ she says. ‘I’ve had to sell everything I 絶対 don’t need. I 簡単に assumed my 保険 would cover all 事故s. I had no idea that 治療 would be 除外するd.’

行方不明になる Hughes is the 最新の 犠牲者 in a worrying 傾向 that has caught the 注目する，もくろむ of the City regulator and the 財政上の Ombudsman: pet 保険会社s throwing out （人命などを）奪う，主張するs because of sneaky small print and 除外s.

Money Mail has heard from many others left out of pocket by their 保険会社.

Ian Thompson was 軍隊d to 戦う／戦い his?保険会社 for six months over a £400 （人命などを）奪う，主張する に引き続いて the sudden death of his family’s?pet dog Keira, a Nova Scotia Duck （死傷者）数ing Retriever.

保険会社 Animal Friends 拒絶するd the 50-year-old’s （人命などを）奪う，主張する because Keira, a former competitor at Crufts, had been 妊娠している.

A death linked to pregnancy was 除外するd, buried in the 条件 and 条件s.

But when the vet later 確認するd she had, in fact, died of a stomach ulcer 関係のない to her pregnancy, Animal Friends then told Mr Thompson it still would not 支払う／賃金 up because the dog had had several litters. Its small print said animals that had been used for 産む／飼育するing were not covered without 事前の 許可.

Animal Friends then returned the £45 the family had spent on four months of 賞与金s after taking out the 政策 in 2012.

Mr Thompson, a computer 分析家 from Maidstone, Kent, argued that the 言い回し of the 政策 示唆するd Keira would be covered.

Finally, the 財政上の Ombudsman Service ordered Animal Friends to 支払う／賃金 the 法案 in 十分な, 加える 利益／興味.

Mr Thompson says: ‘Seeing our beloved Keira die in 前線 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 保険会社 （機の）カム up with so many excuses not to 支払う／賃金 our （人命などを）奪う，主張する.’

Pet owners 支払う／賃金 up to £1,000 a year for 保険 and the costs of 賞与金s have 急に上がるd by a third in five years.

Vets’ 料金s have also risen はっきりと over the same time.

For many, though, these expensive 政策s are 事実上 worthless. Some are so riddled with （法などの）抜け穴s that owners are left struggling to get （人命などを）奪う，主張するs paid out.

All this is leaving desperate owners with 法案s of thousands of 続けざまに猛撃するs. （民事の）告訴s about pet cover have 急に上がるd by 50?per cent over the past year, によれば the 財政上の Ombudsman Service ― the 独立した・無所属 団体／死体 that 取引，協定s with?消費者s’ grievances about 保険会社s and banks.

This is 存在 driven by 保険会社s throwing out （人命などを）奪う，主張するs on the slightest excuse and 顧客s who have been caught out by sneaky small print. The Ombudsman says it is finding in pet owners’ favour in two-thirds of 事例／患者s.

Pet 保険: A 政策 目的（とする）s to cover 医療の expenses if your pet 落ちるs ill or is 負傷させるd in an 事故. But it won't cover 決まりきった仕事 visits to the vet.

For some owners, 賞与金s have become so expensive they have 簡単に stopped 支払う／賃金ing them.

Many owners 直面する the heart-breaking choice of putting 負かす／撃墜する their 貧しく pet or finding 緊急 cash in 事例／患者 of illness or 事故.

Some have 訴える手段／行楽地d to 控訴，上告ing for money from strangers on charity websites, while others have taken out?貸付金s.

Now the City regulator, the 財政上の 行為／行う 当局, says it is 監視するing the 産業 closely.

DON’T GET TRIPPED? UP BY TIME LIMITS

事柄s are made even more 複雑にするd for owners thanks to three 混乱させるing types of 政策.

The cheapest 選択 is a ‘time and 利益 限られた／立憲的な’ 政策. Here, for each 病気 or 条件, a 政策 typically 供給するs up to £2,000 for vets’ 料金s with a 12-month time 限界.

This means enough cover will be 供給するd up to the £2,000 限界 or for up to a year ― whichever is reached first.

So if your pet’s illness needs more 治療 after the 限界 is reached, it’s up to you to 支払う／賃金 for it. A second, わずかに more expensive 政策 will cover vets’ 法案s up to a higher level ― £ 4,000, say ― without any time 限界.

Lastly, a more 包括的な ― and pricey ― ‘lifetime’ cover is 利用できる. While expensive, this insures your pet for illness or 傷害 up to a much greater 最大限 量 per year ― £10,000 in some 事例／患者s ― or to a large 全体にわたる 限界 such as £45,000 across your pet’s life.

WHY YOUR PREMIUMS? ARE SOARING

The cost of the 普通の／平均（する） 年次の pet 保険 政策 has ロケット／急騰するd from £166 to £223 over the past five years.

Incredibly, some owners are 支払う／賃金ing の近くに to £80 a month to cover their dog or cat, 特に if it’s older or 傾向がある to illness ― more than they are for their own life 保険. By contrast, the 普通の／平均（する） life 保険 賞与金 for a 35-year-old couple giving £150,000 価値（がある） of cover for 25 years is around £30 a month.

Many owners resent the cost of cover, but feel held to 身代金 because they 恐れる 存在 攻撃する，衝突する by the 抱擁する cost of 治療s at the vets.

支援する to health: Debbie Weston had to r emortgage her home to find £15,000 to 扱う／治療する Blue, a Hungarian Vizsla cross, after he ran in 前線 of a train

There is a 論争 over who is to 非難する for this. Some 保険会社s say vets’ 法案s have risen by 12?per cent a year ― 押し進めるing up 賞与金s.

However, the Society of Practising Veterinary 外科医s argues that its members’ 料金s 増加するd by only 2.4?per cent last year on 普通の／平均（する）. Lower earners who receive 確かな 利益s can turn to charities such as the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) or Blue Cross for 解放する／自由な 医療の help for their pets.

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

Debbie and Vince Weston were 軍隊d to remortgage their three-bedroom home to find £15,000 to 扱う／治療する Blue, a Hungarian Vizsla cross, after he ran in 前線 of a train.

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

The 月毎の 賞与金s for Buster, a Staffordshire bull terrier, had 急に上がるd by more than 500?per cent over ten years. When he was a puppy, the 政策 with Pet Healthcare Services had cost around £9.99 ― but years later they were costing £65. The couple had made just one （人命などを）奪う，主張する in this time.

When Mrs Weston had to stop work 一時的に after 存在 診断するd with arthritis, they could no longer afford the pet cover 賞与金s on Mr Weston’s salary as a 会議 労働者.

Then, in March, Blue disappeared on a walk with his owners. He was 設立する bleeding on a nearby 鉄道 line after 存在 攻撃する，衝突する by a train. Blue had 苦しむd a 穴をあけるd 肺 and fractured bones, 含むing a broken pelvis.

As a result, it will take them an extra five years to 支払う／賃金 off their home 貸付金.

‘Remortgaging sounds 激烈な, but we were 決定するd Blue would have the 治療 he needed. Seeing him today 十分な of health makes it 価値（がある） every penny,’ says Mrs Weston, 55.

The couple are 控訴，上告ing on charity website Just Giving to cover some of Blue’s 治療 costs.

In the 事例／患者 of Vicky Hughes, a 広報担当者 for Petpals Direct says: ‘The 十分な 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of illnesses and 事故s covered are 供給するd to 消費者s during the online sales 過程 to enable them to make an 知らせるd 決定／判定勝ち（する）. In 新規加入, a 十分な 政策 pack 含む／封じ込めるing all literature was sent to 行方不明になる Hughes’s home.’

As for the Thompsons, a 広報担当者 from Animal Friends says: ‘Animal Friends 保険 are content that our 政策 言い回し was not あいまいな, but decided not to 捜し出す a review of the Ombudsman’s 決定／判定勝ち（する） in 見解（をとる） of the length of time the Ombudsman had taken to make its 決定／判定勝ち（する）.’

In the Westons’ 事例／患者, a Pet Healthcare Services 広報担当者 says: ‘We’re sorry to hear about the Westons’ circumstances. 賞与金s are higher for a pedigree animal, which are more susceptible to 確かな illnesses.

‘With 重要な 前進するs in animal 薬／医学, we have also seen the cost of 治療s 増加する.’

A 広報担当者 for the 協会 of British 保険会社s says: ‘Pet 保険会社s are 支払う／賃金ing out £1.2?million every day to cat and dog owners. Last year, 保険会社s paid £452?million in vets’ 法案s for sick and 負傷させるd dog and cats.’

• Vicky is raising money for the Tailwaggers Club 信用 - a charity which helps needy people 直面するd with big veterinary 法案s - 寄付する to save Emma.