Her insurers said she wasn’t covered because Darcey was being used as a working dog. Darcey said dog agility was her hobby and she’s never been paid for it.
On appeal the Ombudsman ruled in her favour.
“I feel badly treated,” she says. “I wasn’t even given an email to read. I looked at a screen and saw ‘policy cancelled’. It’s just unbelievable.
“I think they were trying to get away with it. They just thought, ‘you’re a customer and you won’t fight us’. I honestly didn’t think they thought I’d fight them.”
Frustrated with the firm’s refusal to pay out, she took her case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) – which can order insurers to pay compensation.
Watts lost her initial claim but won on appeal and got the £8,000 back in full. However, she says she still had to pay £900 for specialist legal advice.
Her insurer, Purely Pets, says it had implemented the ombudsman’s recommendations in full and reinstated the policies for Darcey, her border collie.
