Pet Insurance guide discussion area

sheramber

 As I said one of my vet's would only claim direct from Petplan.   train a veterinary  nurse on their policies so the vet knows exactly what is claimable.
Your vet has an agreement with Vetsure, so again they will know exactly  what is claimable and   that they will get their money without any problems.
They do not say they will claim direct so you need to check. Not all vets do.
My dog had surgery at a referral practice and they did not direct claim from any company. Thank goodness for a credit card.

Supersonos

This thread is massive and spans ten years.  It would be great if someone new to the thread (like me) could sort replies by how many "thanks" they have.  Might be a good way to quickly sort the wheat from the chaff and get some of the good info that is undoubtedly buried in this thread.

Theo_Cupier

Sorry if this has been covered but, as Supersonos says, 10 years and 45 pages of thread make this hard to navigate.
My question is about pre-existing conditions. I get that, in broad terms this means "anything that your pet has been treated for prior to the start of the policy". But I'm confused and concerned about how a couple of insurers interpret this and would like to understand if this is just standard for the industry.
I'm trying to change insurance provider for my dog. He is 3.5 years old. I've provided details of all his visits to the vet prior to this date.
One of those visits was when he was a puppy. As a new /concerned dog owner, I took him to a vet after he'd been sick a couple of times in a day to check if he was OK. The vet found nothing wrong, gave us typical "keep him hydrated, re-introduce foods slowly" type advice and a couple of pointers on signs that suggest there's a problem meaning we should bring him back. None of this happened and he recovered fine.
TL;DR: he vomited a couple of times, it was nothing serious.
Two insurers I've checked with have told me that they would consider the above to be a "pre-existing condition" which would exclude all claims on his entire digestive system, throat to bum.
That's just staggering to me and feels like, at the very least, I'm being penalised for being a concerned pet owner - encouraging behaviour where I ignore illnesses just to avoid them becoming pre-existing conditions.
Is that sort of interpretation of "pre-existing condition" standard? Or is it standard in the cheap end of the insurance market - so a higher priced insurer might interpret differently?

KxMx

I'm afraid most if not all insurers would class that as a pre existing condition and make the same clause accordingly. 
Someone like PetPlan may consider removing that clause after 2 years if no further occurrences. Don't take my word as gospel though you'd have to ask them.

Prior to changing to PetPlan for my late cat I declared a Vet had told me she would need a dental clean. The exclusion placed was all dental and oral disorders. 
After 2 years I asked by letter for it to be removed. She didn't end up needing any dental work and had just been sedated for something else at which time I asked for her teeth to be checked, Vet said they were fine.
Pet Plan removed the clause. 

buckrogers

Just a update, Insurance paided out in full £4000 for op and £300 for xray, just had to pay the £90 excess.
So very please can pay back money borrowed.
But as i said before if looking for dog insurance , i'd check first if Vets will except payment first from them 'Insurance company' and not want payment upfront, or like me you have to find £4500 which i didnt have.  
Dog is doing fine.
Dog Insurance i have and with is 4Paws, very good, kept updated about claim by email and text messages. 

dirtmother

That's really good news and yes, cautionary story too.

Elisheba

Hi all,
I have a 4 years old Lab with no preexisting conditions. I got him at 15 months old, and I'm pretty certain his previous owners got his from a puppy farm.  So apart from just being morally reprehensible, I have no idea about breeding, or genetic hip issues or anything like that.

I had him insured with Tesco, and from what I could see in the small print there would be no co-payment due ever.  I much prefer the idea of no co-payment - so I know exactly how much I would be due to pay, but it seems very uncommon these days.

His insurance had run out now and I need to find a new insurer.  Because he could develop a condition at any point it needs to an insurer I can live with going forward, and ideally I would like no co-payments even when he is older.  

Does any one know of any insurers who offer no co-payments on dog insurance?

Thanks 

BillBee

One factor that MSE might help research is insurance renewal premium hikes. We went with a competitive quote from Tescos 2 years ago for two new kittens. 2 years later the renewal had doubled from £300 to £600 - young cats, no claims or illnesses. I don’t know if this is an industry standard practice but we’ve gone elsewhere and will find out next year!

oldandwizend

Currently with LV for 4 year old Chow Chow. I have various discounts as have other insurances with them.
just had renewal notice and premium has gone from £70 pm to £80 pm.
If I take out new policy it would be £69 pm!!
I queried this and was not offered a reduction in renewal. When I asked why I could not just cancel policy and take out a new one, I was told that there was nothing to stop me but my dog would then have no insurance for the initial compulsory period. 
I checked policy and found that it was two weeks.
As i have three weeks before existing policy expires maybe i should take out a new policy now and then cancel existing in two weeks time.
It would cost me an initial £69 but would save approximately £132 over the coming year.

Jenni_D

Is your current policy a "lifetime" policy? (i.e. it continues to cover for issues previously claimed for, even as the policy renews). If yes then taking out a new policy may mean that such issues are no longer covered as they're classed as pre-existing issues - i.e. issues that existed prior to the insurance policy commencing.

Something to consider.