“Still trying to resolve unpaid claim from August. Fobbed off with excuses time and time again. Was told claim is delayed due to previous vets not providing the pets information. Called the previous vets myself to chase and they havnt been contacted by purely pets. Shouldn't need to do your work for uou purely pets. Disgraceful... distressed pet owners relying on insurance... stear clear!!!”
“Avoid this company at all costs. Claim submitted on 18.10.24 its now 11.12.24 and no one has even been able to start to process my claim yet. It was confirmed for me today on the phone that it hasn’t even been started.
Purely pets, why are you being so dishonest? Why are you telling your hardworking customers it is taking UPTO four weeks to process claims, when it seems like it is taking more than 12 weeks? Surely just being honest would avoid most of these complaints? I have now been told my case has been prioritised, this doesn’t leave me with much faith considering all the other complaints on here that have also been “prioritised” and not heard anything back from you for weeks!
To make matters worse I made a complaint with yourselves 4 weeks ago, it wasn’t even logged. So have had to write another complaint today which I have to wait for your response before reporting you to the financial ombudsman. (I have been told it will take two months for someone to process my complaint)
My advice to fellow customers is to make a complaint and then report this company to the financial ombudsman service. Purely Pet’s will receive a £650 fine every time they have to be investigated. You can reach the financial ombudsman here, 0800 023 4567.”
“Unacceptable delays in processing claims. I have one claim outstanding for for 9 weeks now for medication that has been authorised on 4 previous occasions. Another for the unfortunate death of my beloved boy is now into its 8th week.. It seems claims are not even looked at for the first 6 weeks. Good luck calling as you will be on hold for up to an hour at times with little resolution when you do get through”
“2 claims unpaid in their shockingly poor system - one is now 14 weeks and waiting, the other 9 weeks and waiting. They state 4 weeks turnaround. Abysmal communication, fobbed off with generic emails, online portal worse than useless, and no real reason offered than 'high volume of claims'. I am owed hundreds of pounds which I paid out on a credit card (now accruing interest) and my vet thousands of pounds. I submitted a complaint 4 weeks ago and even that has not been dealt with in their stated 4 week time limit. They now have another 4 weeks and then I fully expect to have to go the Financial Ombudsman. Avoid this shambolic company at all costs. I just want me and my vet to be paid.”
“Tired of chasing for settlement. Losing a beloved pet is bad enough, chasing for settlement adds to the distress. In desperation I wrote to the CEO, Kevin Spencer who didn't even acknowledge. apparently there aren't enough assessors to handle all the claims so more assessors are employed, then assessors leave...says a lot about morale in this company. I honestly do not believe they will settle my claim ever!!”
“They say claims take up to 4 weeks, it’s closer to 4 months!
Unbelievably difficult to speak to someone, when you do they fob you off with excuses.
We were over £3k out of pocket, eventually paid up but we had to really work and fight for it - it shouldn’t be like that.
Wish I had read reviews before going with them, will not be renewing next year!”
“Been trying to recieve my payment now for my pet Border Terriers' vet bill.Sent numerous emails and tried to get through on phone(impossible) just asking for an update, Not one reply !!!! Having read other reviews on this company I now understand why, they seem quite happy to take your hard earned money so you can give yourself protection in the unfortunate event something happens to your loved pet but when something does happen it near impossible to receive your insurance. Please be aware of this before you take out a policy with them !! Disgraceful and very unprofessional.”
“Just thought I'd update on my previous review!!!!
Having been quoted a 153.5% increase to renew my dogs policy I decided to try and speak to the company with regard to reducing the amount of cover. They very 'kindly' offered to reduce the amount of cover from £8000 downwards to £4000 annually. Great I thought. Well only until they quoted a renewal premium of £1241 which reduced the annual premium by £48. A £48 (3.35%) reduction for a 50% reduction in cover was derogatory. Needless to say I told them politely to shove it. PLEASE before you buy a policy from this firm read their 1* reviews first as almost all the 5* reviews are people buying policies (which the company are extremely efficient at) NOT people who have to negotiate their dreadful claims procedures'! You have been warned. They know full well that once you insure an older dog with them that you are stuffed once they start jacking the renewal quotes upward as alternative cover is usually impossible to obtain, especially if you've made a claim and therefor your pet has or has had 'pre existing conditions'. There are far better companies out there. You may pay more initially but please do your homework. Check out how they rate amongst other insurers.
Requests for further details are just a sham exercise to appear concerned about poor reviews. .**********JUST ONE LAST THING. To all the people who think they are getting a better deal with Purelypets by taking out a new policy with them at a reduced premium via price comparison websites. Be aware....they are the winners because by doing that you are losing cover for pre-existing conditions which is exactly what they want. Less risk for them and they've still got you screwed because on renewal next time they will jack up the price leaving you back in exactly the same position. They want your money with as little risk as possible to them. It's their business model: very low initial premium to suck you in and then bleed you dry!
MY BUSINESS MODEL when I get a new puppy is simple. Go to one of the bigger players, get a premium quote, double it and save money year on year in an decent interest earning bank account (maybe increase by a small % annually) and baring catastrophic problems you'll be quid's in over the lifetime of your pet. A gamble yes; but that's life.”
“I was a customer for 3 years. I made a claim in August 2024 and it took them 10 weeks to assess it and they only did that after I made a formal complaint.
They only paid out £200 of my £600 claim due to various deductions and fees so it wasn't worth the hassle at all.
They didn't communicate proactively and it was very difficult to get through to them on the phone to chase up the claim.
Ultimately I cancelled my cover and decided to just pay out of pocket from now on. I wish I'd done more research and gone with a different insurer in the first place as my dog is now classed as having pre-existing conditions that wouldn't be covered by a new insurer.”
“Our dog Zeus did on the 5th September, I have two claims submitted, one from the vets and one from me! It has now been eight weeks and still no sign of the claim being settled anytime soon. ‘Ready to be processed’. I spoke to a lady a few weeks ago to chase, she was so rude and unhelpful! I spoke to a lovely young man today, who claims he has spoken to management and prioritised in the queue, but just holding my breath. Terrible service to people who have just lost their fur babies, adding to the lie upset, loss, and stress.”
“Appalling insurer - £1700 claim, took 6 weeks to settle and ended up only getting £850 as they had exemptions and claim limits on most items. If you have a big dog be aware for hidden limits on every item needed for medical bills!
Customer service hopeless, long wait times and they're unable to do anything. Portal to upload items is very poor, bad admin and a huge amount of stress to deal with when your pet is at their worst.
They don't care at all!”
“Abysmal service and time to assess claims. The time this company take to assess claims is terrible and well in excess of 4 weeks. Their customer service fob you off when you chase and you can't get a straight answer of when it will be assessed. Their online claim system is a joke the in reality provides a useless update on the claim. Furthermore secondary claims are set up for the same claim to afford them extra time to assess!”
“Dreadful company, owe us hundreds of pounds, won’t respond to emails, don’t pick up the phone, at a stressful time of pet illness and then passing it’s the last thing you need. One more week and I can then raise after 8 weeks email. Been going on since July. Please stay away from them.”
“They cancelled my claim and won’t tell me what document they deem to be missing. They don’t answer the phone or respond to emails. I’m furious. Avoid these fraudsters. It’s worth paying extra for a more reputable insurer.”
“First ever claim for my 5 year old dog and 10 weeks later still waiting 'for it to be assessed'. It's 8 weeks since my vet sent everything to them and still no settlement. This last phone call to chase took 50 minutes for them to answer. Then told again - sorry we're a bit behind. Told me they'd make it a priority and would let me know something within 3 working days. I won't hold my breath! Definitely going to cancel. They may look great with their prices but that's no good if you have to wait forever to be sorted.”
“Same as everyone else here. Gawd awful poor service. Over 3 months to sort the claim. Hiked the renewal price. Despite our dog 14.5 years old and his first ever claim. You lose a year of your life trying to call them and when you finally get through it’s just nonsense. They request the pets medical record again and again and again that even the vets were shaking their heads. Then you’re waiting more weeks before you try again.
Just don’t ! Look elsewhere. Please”
“Avoid Purely Pets!! Please!
They took my money and when we had to make a claim they've been a nightmare. I've spent hours and hours on the phone trying to sort it. They lied to me, told me a cheque had been sent when it hadnt. They took the £160 excess twice, even though my vet confirmed it was the same condition/problem. I've been waiting since July for the 2nd excess charge of £160 to be refunded. Still nothing!! Check your small print too as they didn't cover the out-of-hours charge from an emergency vet - not my dogs fault they needed a vet over a weekend. Wasted so much time & money 😡😡😡😡 I'm not giving up though!!!!!”
“On the phone again 4th time covering over one hour then same message and wait last time we claimed. Large claim now over 4 weeks waiting. Now sadly we have just lost our pet but just get hold of them. Disgusting customer service please don't use this insurance company . The review only allows one option we tried email and telephone”
“THINK VERY HARD BEFORE YOU USE THIS COMPANY
Currently insured with Petwise but this changes to their parent company Purely Pets upon policy renewal later this month. Apparently all Petwise policies now transferred to Purely Pets. RESULT 153.5% increase upon renewal. Yes we made a claim and guess what; that percentage increase virtually equates to the sum cost paid for the veterinary procedure! Originally went with Pet Wise because they supposedly specialised in affordable insurance for older dogs but now that our dog is yet older it is all but impossible to get insurance elsewhere if we don't renew with them. This means you either pay the extortionate fees demanded by Purely Pets or risk going without insurance!! I would point out that we had annual cover for £8000 so you can imagine that our monthly DD was for quite a substantial amount and our claim with them was less £850. God only knows what the increase would be if we had a claim approaching the policy limit! Forget about their statement that they settle claims within 4 weeks. They don't reply to emails (take an age pick up the phone) and in our case had not even LOOKED at our claim until 4 weeks after we submitted it AND ONLY THEN BECAUSE WE EVENTUALLY MANAGED TO SPEAK TO A REP. We have had many dogs insured over time with various companies but this outfit are dreadful. Take my advice and look elsewhere for insurance. They may offer a good deal initially but make a claim and they will hammer you when you go to renew! Vets get loads of stick regarding their fees but insurance companies are a law unto themselves. I know, lesson learned, new kids on the block may seem cheap initially (they need to be to get the business) but something will always come back to bite your backside!”
