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IMPORTANT
NOTICE
This
notice affects owners of all animal patients who have purchased Pet Insurance
or any other indemnity products for care of their pet from MORE TH>N, Tesco, Bank, M&S, John Lewis,
Argos and Homebase, or any other member of the RSA Insurance Group.
RSA
Insurance Group has informed us about changes that it is making to its pet
insurance policy conditions. Henceforth RSA Insurance Group is advising its policy
holders in NON EMERGENCY cases that require referral for specialist care or
diagnostics to contact their insurer first. RSA Insurance Group will then arrange a
referral to one of their preferred professional specialist or referral
practices. If you fail to follow RSA Insurance Group’s procedures, you, the
customer, could suffer a financial impact
over and above any policy excess. You should check your policy carefully because not all
insurers make this type of demand on their policy holders.
A
NON EMERGENCY case is a case that is not an emergency. An emergency is defined
by RSA Insurance Group as a situation which if not resolved immediately will
lead to a loss of life or cause a serious threat to the present or ongoing
health of your pet.
WHAT
THIS MEANS FOR OUR CLIENTS
From
time to time, we may recommend that your pet requires Non Emergency Specialist
Treatment from an expert veterinary surgeon in order to ensure that your pet
continues to enjoy good health and well being.
Under
the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons, a vet must keep
within his or her own area of competence.
If we consider that it is in the best interests of your pet, to receive
specialist or advanced care or diagnostics we will advise that they be referred
to a consultant. We will then advise you of where your pet is likely in our
opinion to receive the best care.
Under
the terms of your policy of pet insurance, we will no longer be able to refer
your pet for specialist care unless and until you have contacted your insurers.
RSA Insurance Group will then offer to
refer your pet to one of its panel of specialists. If you do not adhere to the requirements of RSA Insurance
Group and your pet is referred to a specialist who is not on the insurer’s
panel, then you run the risk that RSA Insurance Group will not pay for the
treatment of your pet, and you may therefore suffer a financial impact over and
above any policy excess, and may require to meet the costs of the specialist
out of your own personal resources.
We
and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons do not consider that, in the
matter of animal care, the decision as to which specialist that your pet should
be referred should be made by your insurance company. The decision which the insurer may make may
be motivated by factors such as cost and administration expediency rather than
clinical excellence. We strongly believe
that your vet remains the most qualified person to decide what is in the best
health and welfare interests of your pet, and which specialist is best placed
to provide the care that your animal needs.
DISCLAIMER:
When you bring your pet to us, we make no assumptions as to how you propose to
meet the cost of your pet’s care, although we will as a matter of practice
discuss care and treatment costs and means of payment with you as part of our
standard terms of business with clients.
However,
we will not discuss with you the merits of any insurance provider, the
particular type of insurance cover that their policies provide, or what kind of
insurance policy is most suitable for your pet. This is because vets are not
regulated by the Financial Compliance Authority to give advice or
recommendations to the general public relating to insurance products. If you are seeking
to rely on pet insurance to meet the cost of your pet’s treatment while under
the care of your vet, it is essential that you inform us of the identity of
your insurer and provide us with basic details of your policy, such as policy
number and any other information which we may reasonably request you to provide
about your policy, so that we can establish that the specialist to whom your
pet is to be referred is on the insurer’s panel. This procedure must be followed before referral treatment is commenced.
Your
failure to disclose to your vet that you are seeking to recover any element of
the cost of your pet’s treatment under a pet’s insurance policy may result in
invalidation of your cover, for which we accept no liability or responsibility.
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