E&L Insurance Reviews 180

Sadly there are so many review sites out there I was fooled and didn't see these reviews. They appear to get 41/2 stars on some sites but if you actually read reviews, its about having policy documents sent out promptly??
This site tends to have peoples experiences dealing with the company. I've made 2 claims and both times had to chase at every single stage despite their emails always finishing with "we will update as soon as..." they don't. They always seem to have a missing email that "must be in your junk mail", which isn't and my latest and worse experience I even said, before they had the chance, to state I'd checked my junk mail and this left the Customer Service agent at a loss. Payment only received after like others, Ombudsman was contacted. Beware that I've also noted, when looking to change companies, that one of the best deals at the moment is being offered by a company that when you look at the policy, is still E&L - sorry, didn't write name down but beware special offers. I also have to say the Ombudsman was somewhat useless too and I ended up withdrawing complaint once payment received as I was doing more work than they were.

Very poor staff i am not saying more as i getting legal advice.

First they told us we wouldn’t be insured but after speaking to friends they encouraged us to appeal. When we rang they suddenly said we could claim. We had three separate claims but never claimed for the cancer diagnosis.
Three separate claims in May and June 2017.
Out of £8,000 we have still only received £2,900!
Excuse after excuse. We rang again today to be fobbed off with ‘its being dealt with by the financial department. They have been telling us that since October! Very stressful when you have a dog with terminal cancer and £5,000 out of pocket
Avoid this company at all costs.

Our cat Billy was knocked down by a car and after a week of treatment, unfortunately had to be put to sleep. The treatment and fees was £2,900 - we received just over £2,400 which is more than I expected considering we had only had the policy 8 months and the treatment was lengthy. The customer service team were great to deal with, my only complaint would be that it took 14 weeks to receive payment (which I chased every 4 weeks) but I’m assuming this is normal for a big claim.

Shocking company they just lie about needing information, they delayed payment for months, only way to get any replies was the threat of the ombudsman. The comments on this site are true do not use this company they may be cheap but it will cost you in the end

Pretty much the same experience as the other reviewers. I have been paying into the policy for 12 years and have made very few claims. Our dog now has arthritis and needed some help as well as a small cyst being removed from her eye. The letter from E&L excluding these ailments from further claims came through two weeks after the claim was made. However, I'm still waiting 3 months later for any recompense for the vets fees even after chasing. E&L need to overhaul their customer service values if they wish to remain in business.

We lost our dog during an operation and a claim was submitted in August. Taken 3 months to confirm we'll now be paid out but we have done all the chasing. Since the claim forms were submitted, e&l have not contacted or attempted to contact us. Staff have just said 'we've been busy' and offered no apology for such a sloppy service. Our other dog insured by M&S who paid out within days of serious illness. I find the attitude of their claims staff seriously lacking and their internal processes needs some work. I would certainly recommend AGAINST using this insurance company for anything.

Last claim they took almost 4 months to make a payment on, I rang them in October to tell them I had to have my cat put to sleep and they promised to stop the direct debit and process the claim for me. Today they take the direct debit payment from my bank account.

I still am waiting for the claim to be settled and they take more money and add to my agony of losing my cat, call themselves trustworthy, not in my case they have not been.

Made a claim in June/July still haven't received the refund. We are almost in October.

When we call in they cannot even tell us when this will occur. Very disappointing and poor service.

Held a policy with this company a few years ago and the processing time for a claim was 2 months and their excess is extreme. Vowed never to use them again but forgot and went with them again to my regret. Again their processing time is ridiculous, they won't advise you how long the claim will take and their attitude to customers is extremely poor - AVOID THEM !!

Honestly, don't bother. They are inexpensive but take way too long to pay out.
It seems they refuse to invest in their staff and this causes claims to be looked at in "date order" and can take months and months.
Go somewhere else, pay more and you'll be much much happier.

Appalling company. They consider it acceptable to take 10 weeks to even look at a claim because "they don't have enough staff". Refused to pay out our claim and didn't care that we were dissatisfied with the dreadful customer service. Staff unhelpful and uncaring,

Our beloved dog Tara has just passed away following a short illness. To add to our distress in the last few months of her life E&L Insurance created real financial hardship for our family. Tara was diagnosed with severe protein loss following a routine trip to the vets in April (liver tumour, kidneys and intestinal problems) we knew we only had a short time left after 12 wonderful years but wanted to do all we could for her; especially so we could have one last family holiday. Thanks to our amazing vets she wasn't in pain and didn't even appear ill until the very end. Our initial claim to E&L for over £1000 took over two months to process and in the end they paid £200. We had used our credit card so as you can imagine the interest was becoming astronomical. They did not communicate with us at all during this time and gave no indication that the payout would be so low. If we had known we could have taken out a loan which we have now done. After 12 years of regularly paying premiums this was the final payout for a bill of over £3000. This isn't the issue though as it was worth every penny to have those last precious months. What was the issue was there total lack of customer service and uncaring attitude any communication would have been good. They finally contacted us today via email to say they would not be making any further payments - a week after I advised that we had lost Tara - not a single word of condolence. I am writing this in the hope it will avoid anyone else having to go through the additional stress we did at such a painful time.

Poor website, poor frontline staff, better once you get to a manager.

UPDATE FEB 2020
The initial review was honest at the time. HOWEVER, E&L Insurance have certainly turned things around. We are still with them as our pet dog has life long conditions so not cost effective to move and over the last 12 months we have seen (and experienced) a great improvement in the service provided by E&L.

Therefore, whilst the initial review was fair at the time, only fair that I post this update on the HUGELY improved service.

If I was basing my star rating as of the last 12 month's service, I would definitely go for 4 stars.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Cheap premiums, looks good on the tin but inside absolutely rubbish. Take SO long to settle claims, we are not talking days / weeks but MONTHS, even after they claim has been cleared.

Always the same excuses about influx of claims and only being able to pay so many in a day - to me it sounds like they do not have enough cash in the pot to settle all claims on time.

They are that bad that I found out to me expense (and too late), that my vet will not deal with them direct due to their poor turnaround on claims.

I am best part of another £1,000 out of pocket for a claim that was sent off at the end of February been chasing for the last 3 weeks, told each time that the claim is approved and payment will be released in the next 10 - 15 days, then 5 - 7 days etc. Surprise surprise, claim is being released on Friday exactly to the maximum number of days specified.

Will they pay interest? Was that a piggy that flew by the window?

Of course, they know they have you over a barrel as once you have made a claim, most other insurers will then not insure your pet for the same illness.

If only I'd known about their poor (or lack) of service / turnaround on claims before I would never had touched them with a barge pole.

Lesson for the day : Cheapest is not always the best, despite all the promises and check with your vet first if they deal with the proposed insurer of your pet.