Pet Insurance Issues - Worried Cat Owner

Ktharry

Hi, if anyone could offer me some advice I'd really appreciate it. I feel sick with worry:(

On adopting my cat over three years ago I took out Superior pet insurance with Asda. I spent a long time choosing the insurance and assessing the benefits etc. It was important for me to take out lifelong insurance as my parents had recently treated their dog for Lymphoma which cost thousands! I'm sure at the time of me taking out the policy the benefits were 6k per year, per condition for the lifetime of the cat, meaning if my cat suffered an ongoing condition he would be covered for life for up to 6k per year.

Anyway my cat developed asthma (who knew a cat could suffer with this!!) and subsequently we have to buy medication from vet at cost of about £130 every six weeks. Claiming on insurance has not been a problem. However, after recently moving house from city centre to nice rural area my insurance premium has gone up by £20 pm! I'm told this is because vet fees cost more in my new area and there are more pet claims (as more people can afford pet insurance I'm guessing!). Im staying with same vet so treatment costs will be the same!! As my pet has pre existing, costly condition my hands are tied!

This rise in premium led me to review the policy and I noticed that the benefits now state that the 6k cover per condition is the maximum they will payout on one condition for the life of my cat....the 6k limit does not reset each year!!!!! This is news to me...I'm sure I checked when I took out the policy, but maybe I misunderstood we've already claimed for 5k worth of asthma treatment so only have 1k left and (hopefully) my cat could live another ten years! I'd really struggle to pay out £130 every six weeks once the 6k is used. I'm petrified I won't be able to care for my cat:(

I've found I can buy the medication online for just £40 with vets prescription - upset that my vet sourced this for £130!! So, if there are no complications, the 1k remaining from insurance threshold could last another 2 years for his asthma treatment. Pet plan have said they will insure my cat on their lifelong policy (7k per year for life) but his asthma will be excluded for 2 years, after this period they will include asthma in the policy. Premium is just £12 pm.

My question is....can I take out this pet plan policy and run it alongside my Asda one? I would only claim off the Asda one while they are both running but my thinking is....if I take out pet plan insurance now by the time the 2 years is up and they start to cover pre existing condition I would just about have run out of the 6k from the Asda policy? This will hopefully mean that my cats asthma will continue to be covered, although the maybe a small gap where I have to cover costs myself. The combined premiums for both polices will be £43 pm, but surely the sensible option in the long run as it means in two years time I know my cats illness will be covered for the rest of his life and i dont know if treatment costs will rise the older he gets? Is it possible for me to do this and run 2 policies side by side?

Thank you for taking the time to read this x

Be_Happy

Ktharry wrote: »

Pet plan have said they will insure my cat on their lifelong policy (7k per year for life) but his asthma will be excluded for 2 years, after this period they will include asthma in the policy. Premium is just £12 pm.

I'm no expert in this, so you'd better check, BUT when Pet Plan say they will exclude for 2 years, does this not mean that the cat must be CLEAR OF ASTHMA for 2 years before they will cover it. I don't think they will take on an existing illness.

InsideInsurance

There are main three tiers of pet insurance as you seem to have found out:

1) Max £X, policy year of diagnosis only, no cover in subsequent years

2) Max £X, limit spans multiple policy years but once used up no further cover for that condition

3) Max £X per policy year, renews each year for that condition

No surprise that version 3 are by far the most expensive!!

I would double check your understanding on Pet Plan taking on the cover for pre-existing conditions. I had a quick look at their policy wording and it seemed a flat no cover.

Outside of pet, which I dont have the greatest practical knowledge of, then certainly pre-existing can have a 2 year statement attached to it but that often requires no treatment, reoccurence of symptoms etc within that 2 years


That aside, in theory there is nothing to stop you having multiple insurance policies. You need to read both policies to see if there is any comments about dual insurance and/ or a more loose "if another policy covers this" type clause. In motor/ home etc they are common but less so in Pet. There is a chance you will find claims more painful because the two insurers share the costs of anything other than the pre-existing but in theory there wont be a long term issue