Would you pay £2,692 a year to insure your dog? ManyPets thinks so.
On 14 May 2023 we received an exorbitant pet insurance renewal quote for Hyko from ManyPets.
I’ve written about the experience on LinkedIn, including follow-up comments. Below, you’ll find all those posts in one place.
Post 1: 22 May 2023
Would you pay £2,692 a year to insure your dog? ManyPets thinks so.
When K. Annabel and I adopted our dog Hyko five years ago, we immediately took out pet insurance with ManyPets. They seemed to be highly rated so we thought it was a safe option — even if it was a bit more expensive.
We went for pricier lifetime insurance so that he’d be covered for chronic conditions, not just one-off accidents or illnesses. Which was a smart move, as he had his first epilepsy seizure shortly after we adopted him.
After some tests, we realised that Hyko would most likely be taking epilepsy medication for the rest of his life. But we weren’t too worried because ManyPets said “You won’t be singled out for making a claim” in a renewal email to us.
And for the first few years, it looked like that was the case. Price rises were small and fairly manageable. That was until 2022, when ManyPets increased Hyko’s policy by £500 for the year. I made numerous calls to their customer support team, but couldn’t get them to reduce the price.
Then eight days ago, I got the email I’d been dreading: ‘Luke, it’s time to renew your policy for Hyko’. ManyPets now wants £2,692.27 a year to insure Hyko. The price has doubled.
After more fruitless phone calls, and aghast reactions from people who work in the animal care industry — as well as everyone we speak to — we’re at a loss for what to do. We can’t switch provider because of Hyko’s pre-existing conditions. And with 3-5 years of life ahead of him, we’re dreading what future price increases could look like, and the tough decisions we might need to make.
So, some questions for the team at ManyPets, seeing as no one on the phone will give me answers:
1️⃣ What are the predicted price rises for Hyko over the next 3-5 years based on his current conditions? I might need some time to figure out how and where to sell a kidney.
2️⃣ Do you really not single out customers for making claims? I… struggle to believe it.
3️⃣ Why don’t you provide estimated price increases for owners when signing up to insure their pet? It seems cruel and predatory to lock people into a payments scheme that many will struggle to keep up with.
4️⃣ Given the impressive growth you’re experiencing (Luisa's words, not mine: https://lnkd.in/eAsnt7fR), might you consider passing on some of this good fortune to your customers through price reductions?
5️⃣ Why can’t I, a customer of five years, leave you a review on Feefo? Are you scared that existing customers might not agree with that 4.4-star rating? There are a lot of angry people on Twitter.
Looking forward to your replies, Steven, Oke, Luisa, Steven, Charlotte, Ryan, Abi, Stuart.
📈 Hyko policy prices
2018 — £530.16
2019 — £529.20
2020 — £653.40
2021 — £833.16
2022 — £1,352.90
2023 — £2,692.27
P.S. You might want to reconsider cutesy email subjects like ‘You're one paw away from award-winning cover 🐾’ when asking for £2.6k.
Post 2: 22 May 2023
Hey everyone! Thanks for all your support and for sharing stories of your own experiences with ManyPets and co. It's sad that so many of us are going through this.
Someone from ManyPets has arranged a meeting with me for later today. I'll be asking for answers to the five questions above and will let you know what happens.
I'll also be contacting Financial Ombudsman Service, as recommended by many of you, and I encourage you to do the same.
Hyko and I are sending good vibes for your day 🌞
P.S. Keep your stories coming but pls include photos of your pets, too 💕
Post 3: 23 May 2023
Greetings, pet people. I met with a senior ManyPets employee today. The gist of the conversation was:
ManyPets don't know what's going to happen with vet prices
something about inflation being bad
as animals get older they're higher risk
ManyPets tried to do a 'fixed for life' policy where you pay the same amount each month for your pet's lifetime but it didn't work
ManyPets expects to pay out 80% of what they charge in policies
I'm now expecting a further conversation with another ManyPets employee who might be able to tell me more and explore ways to get this bonkers price down.
In the meantime, I'll continue reading your comments and speaking with helpful people who've offered advice on — *waves hands around* — all of this.
I plan to gather this information together into a resource that'll be helpful for pet owners and aspiring pet owners — so we can all make more informed decisions about our insurance options.
It's the kind of thing that ManyPets and their pals should be doing themselves, rather than leaving us in the dark about the whole process. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.
More updates when I have them. I'm not finished with ManyPets.
P.S. Here's Hyko enjoying a good scratch.
Post 4: 25 May 2023
Hyko had a seizure last night. It was horrible. Meanwhile, there’s been no word from Ryan, who said he’d set up a meeting with his colleague in complaints by the end of Tuesday.
I’ve also still heard nothing from ManyPets’ executive team (hi, Steven, Oke, Guy, Charlotte, Luisa) or received answers to the five questions I asked in my initial post.
(Oke doesn’t allow tags on LinkedIn. Perhaps he’s not the "Inspirational leader, passionate about changing the world to make it better for customers" he claims to be on his profile.)
As Hyko’s policy renewal date of June 11th draws closer, we’re strongly considering going the uninsured route and putting the money aside that we would have spent on insurance — for the reasons many of you have outlined in your replies.
Even if we can afford this year’s policy, we don’t want to remain tied to ManyPets if they plan to fleece us even more next year — and they still haven’t offered any data on what our predicted price rises will be in future.
We also got a decent quote from Petsure, who cover pets with existing conditions. If you’re in a similar boat to us, you might want to consider them.
Other people in comments have strongly recommended Animal Friends. So even if you haven’t experienced the dreaded #ManyPetsPriceHike yet, you might want to consider switching before it happens.
I joked during my meeting with Ryan that ManyPets would probably be glad to see the back of sickly Hyko. He insisted they want us to stay. I’m struggling to believe that, Ryan.
Your customer service remains appalling. The comments in this thread suggest you routinely take 4-6 months to settle claims. (My vet's currently waiting for money dating back to February.)
I try to avoid giving my money to cold, unethical businesses that chase profits while exploiting regular people. That’s why I boycotted Amazon many years ago.
And that’s why, pending a miraculous intervention from ManyPets — and some honest, detailed answers to the questions in my original post — I think we’ll be leaving.
I encourage you to do the same. With nearly a quarter of a million views on this post, I feel like our actions could make a big difference.