Memphis and Phoenix are insured with Sainsburys, at a cost of about £45 yr.
I had the renewal through at the end of November, rang up, paid by
Switch,marked the envelope 'Paid' with the date on it and filed it away
(being a tidy sort!)
A few weeks ago, Phoenix had a tummy upset. Took him to the vet and got a
bill for just under £50. Put the claim in. A couple of weeks later, a letter
informed me that they would not paid out as I had not paid the premium. I
checked and rang the insurance company.
Apparantly, the card number had a digit missing. They said they had written
to me, but I had received no letter. They put the card through another party
and there had been an error and the money had not been taken. I agreed to
pay the premium and they agreed to pay the claim.
I suspect the reason they paid was that since Memphis was still insured, it
had been my intent to continue the same for Phoenix, and that the amount of
the claim was small. I hate to think what would have happened if he had
major surgery and the bill was a big one.
I received a chq for the full amount, with no excess.
Moral of the tale - don't be too tidy -  I would have noticed I had not
received an insurance certificate, and check statement to make sure payment
has been taken!
The frightening thing is this could happen on other things like the car
insurance, leading to Big Trouble.

Sandra