Due to the recent reluctance of many insurance companies to settle claims promptly, we regret that from April 2008 we will be unable to make 'direct insurance claims' on the behalf of our clients, with the exception of claims in excess of £250 made to Pet Plan.

Clients insured with companies other than Pet Plan should therefore settle their account with us direct. We will continue to complete insurance paperwork at no charge, but will then pass the paperwork back to the client so that they can deal with their own insurance company.

The only exception to this will be where a 'Pre-Authorisation' claim is made before the work is carried out. As far as we are concerned, this can be done with any company, though we think that Pet Plan are the only ones who do it just now.

We recognize that this might cause cash-flow difficulties for clients whose pets have complex problems, and so have arranged with a company called Braemar Finance to offer interest-free loans to our clients over the short-term. We hope that this will be a useful facility when insurance companies are slow to settle a claim.