Pet Insurer Ordered To Stop Poaching

A pet insurance underwriter has been reminded that the hunting season does not begin until 12th August. On Friday the High Court in London issued an injunction against E&L Insurance ordering it not to contact the customers of the pet insurance broker Animal Friends, (AFI) until after its contract with the broker officially ends - on 11th August.

Earlier this year E&L informed AFI that it intended to end its pet insurance underwriting contract with the Wiltshire based broker. As a result AFI sought and found a new underwriter for its pet insurance products - Red Sands (Europe) Limited. The broker contacted its customers asking them to agree the transfer of their policies to the new underwriter.

However a dispute, over who owned the customer database (E&L or AFI), led E&L to also write to the same customers offering them the option of insuring their pets directly through E&L - at a discounted rate. Customers caught up in the dispute were left confused about whether or not their animals were still insured

AFI lodged an emergency application to the courts to prevent E&L further contacting its customers until the contract between the two had ended. An injunction was granted preventing E&L from trying to sell pet insurance or other products directly to AFI customers until 11th August.

AFI was also told that it was entitled to renew policies into its new underwriter, (Red Sands) without customers having to do anything further.