DEAR SALLY: My canine’s ailing and my insurance coverage will not pay

I have two greyhounds that my late husband and I rescued five years ago. One, Tintilla, has become desperately ill with cancer.

I paid £1,500 for a scan at the vet and when I rang my insurer Animal Friends to claim for the cost, I was told I was not covered because the policy was in the name of my husband, who died two years ago.

Surely it is the dog that is covered and not the policyholder. Please help.

L.S., Denbigh, N Wales.

Sally Hamilton replies: When someone dies, those left behind are left in emotional turmoil and the practical matters of organising paperwork can seem insurmountable.

You told me that two years on you still find it hard to function at times. Your husband’s death from a heart attack was sudden and you found him on the bathroom floor.

To add to your woes, your husband had always done all the paperwork for you both.

You had never made a pet insurance claim in the five years and it hadn’t occurred to you that it would be a problem just to continue paying for cover as before.

This misunderstanding got you tied up in knots when seven-year-old Tintilla, who you’d rescued from Spain, became ill and you wanted to make a claim.

All insurance policies, whether motor, home or pet insurance, become void on death. As overwhelming as it is, those left behind need to contact providers.

When you contacted Animal Friends to make your claim, you became upset that the insurer would not just accept your word for it that your husband had died. You found this so distressing that you simply cancelled the direct debit for the two policies covering each of your two dogs.

You felt aggrieved and wrote to me so I could warn others of the pitfalls of what can happen if you do not change policy details when someone has passed away.

When we spoke, you were still feeling upset and were all for just forgetting the claim for the £1,500 vet bill. But I suggested this was too big a sum to brush aside, especially as you and your husband had paid an estimated £7,000 or more in premiums over the years.

I asked Animal Friends what it could do to guide you sensitively through the steps to get your claim back on track.

A spokesman for Animal Friends says: ‘We are very sorry to hear that Tintilla has been unwell and that L.S. feels we have her let her down in our service support. At Animal Friends, we pride ourselves on not only delivering excellent customer service but also genuine understanding and support when it matters most.’

It explained that it was necessary to add your name to the policies in place of your late husband’s for data protection and security purposes.

The spokesman adds: ‘We also understand that grief is incredibly difficult and complex, so offered to support her through the process to make this as easy as it possibly could be.’

Animal Friends said it would follow up and speak to you again by phone about reinstating the policies and completing the ‘transfer of interest’ so that they are in your name, that both dogs remain covered, and your £1,500 claim can be submitted.

It added that, following your feedback it will be reviewing its policy on requiring a death certificate to see what additional improvements can be made.

Have you had problems with an insurance policy after a loved one passed away? Email [email protected]

Barclays wrote to me in November last year to say it was closing my euro account as it was inactive. I did not care as I found the service on this account appalling. I have long since transferred the balance.

Then in March I received a text telling me that as my ‘currency account’ was inactive it would be closed. I was surprised to see online later that the euro account was still there but my US dollar account — which held $10,000 (£7,829) — was gone. Barclays had closed the wrong account. I can’t get this resolved. Please help.

Z.S., London

Sally Hamilton replies: You practically had steam coming out of your ears, you said, when you realised the error. You found guidance on Barclays’ website that suggested you should present yourself at a branch to recover the account that had been deemed dormant by Barclays.

The member of staff you dealt with said he could not start the recovery process as you did not have a dollar account into which to transfer the money and you were asked to open a new one.

The agent then recommended you raise a complaint, which you did. Five days later, having heard nothing back, you went on to the customer chat service to try and resolve matters. Nothing practical was achieved.

You contacted me and I asked Barclays to find out what had gone wrong and reunite you with your missing $10,000 dollars.

Its investigation found that it had sent you two letters, one warning of the closure of the euro account and one for the dollar account. You think you may have failed to open the one referring to the dollar account as you assumed it was the same as the first letter, referring to your euro account.

As far as you were concerned the dollar account was active and you were happy for the euro account to close. On my intervention Barclays has arranged the transfer of your dollars to a new US dollar account.

Barclays spokesman says: ‘We take the protection of our customers’ funds and data extremely seriously. As result of a period of inactivity on our customer’s foreign currency accounts, and not receiving a reply to our correspondence, the accounts were closed.’

The bank denies any error on its part over the account closure, but it has paid you £100 redress.

Although pleased you now have access again to your $10,000, you were aggrieved that a single letter was the only contact regarding the dollar account’s closure.

You say a message on the banking app or a text alerting you to the closure would have helped you prevent the ensuing worry and hassle.

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