I have two cats, one a ginger Tom who is about 11 years old, called William, and a tourtoishell female called Tammy who is nearly 14 years old. I have had them both insured with Rias Pet Insurance in Portsmouth since 2007. Then William had Silver cover (£3000) worth of vet's fees which worked out at £91.53 a year (£7.63 a week) and Tammy had Bronze cover (£1000) worth of vet's fees, at £6.30 a week. Obviously, over the years these premiums have increased and last year I cancelled William's insurance as I could not afford the premium. However, as Tammy has got an ongoing skin condition (Eosinophilic Granuloma) which is sometimes caused by an allergy to flea bites, I continued her policy with Rias. Since I took out the insurance in 2007, my claims have amounted to under £1000
so I had not exceeded the cover. In October this year when her renewal came through, the monthly premium had increased to £82.74! I immediately thought it was a typing error but was told that this was correct and that the premium reflected the area in which I lived, the breed of cat and her age, the number of claims I had made and the rate of inflation! I was dumbfounded and contacted the Financial Ombudsman, who in turn contacted AXA Insurance (used by RIas). They wrote to me and agreed that the calculations were correct and passed the complaint back to Rias who then wrote to me with the exact same explanation and hoped that this resolved the complaint fairly!! In fact, the complaint has not been resolved fairly, because I have had to cancel the insurance and would not be able to insure Tammy with another insurer who would cover her 'ongoing condition'. I have insured her with 'Healthy Pets' under a normal insurance and where I insured Willliam.