When to claim pet insurance

lhoney

Hello. I made my first claim on pet insurance from L&G in September for X-rays and medicine after my cat started limping due to a high fall. It took about six weeks, but they eventually paid out in full. The X-rays revealed that the cat requires two separate operations to fix his kneecaps in place, done separately with 2-3 months of recovery between each surgery. This condition wasn't caused by the fall, but was discovered during the physical examination and X-rays. The vet said it would have become apparent at some point. The surgery isn't urgent, but the vet said it's probably better to do it sooner rather than later. My question is: how/when do I claim the insurance for this? The two surgeries are probably going to cost around £1800-2000 each. The cat is insured for £10,000 per condition on a lifetime policy, which is obviously more than enough. I don't know how this works though. For the X-rays and medicine we paid the vet and then claimed it back afterwards. Do I need to do this for the surgery or would the insurance pay the vet prior to the surgery being done? Or do vets do the surgery and then await payment from the insurers rather than from me? I just don't want to risk paying out £2000 twice and then finding out afterwards they won't pay up. Thank you.

sheramber

Your policy document should state whether they are prepared to claim direct from the vet. If they are then you need to check with your vet if they are willing to claim direct.

Assuming they are then you pay the excess on the policy to your vet and he claims the balance from the insurance company.

If they do not pay up the vet will pursue you for the money.

lhoney

So there's no way of knowing if the insurance is guaranteed to pay out before opting for the surgery?

sheramber

Check your policy document. I t will probably state there that they will not guarantee payment in advance.

Sometimes they will discuss with your vet, who can supply previous medical history. and agree payment. You need to speak to your vet,

abz88

lhoney wrote: »

Hello. I made my first claim on pet insurance from L&G in September for X-rays and medicine after my cat started limping due to a high fall. It took about six weeks, but they eventually paid out in full. The X-rays revealed that the cat requires two separate operations to fix his kneecaps in place, done separately with 2-3 months of recovery between each surgery. This condition wasn't caused by the fall, but was discovered during the physical examination and X-rays. The vet said it would have become apparent at some point. The surgery isn't urgent, but the vet said it's probably better to do it sooner rather than later. My question is: how/when do I claim the insurance for this? The two surgeries are probably going to cost around £1800-2000 each. The cat is insured for £10,000 per condition on a lifetime policy, which is obviously more than enough. I don't know how this works though. For the X-rays and medicine we paid the vet and then claimed it back afterwards. Do I need to do this for the surgery or would the insurance pay the vet prior to the surgery being done? Or do vets do the surgery and then await payment from the insurers rather than from me? I just don't want to risk paying out £2000 twice and then finding out afterwards they won't pay up. Thank you.

As others have said, check your policy documents and ask your vet is they are able to bill direct to L&G (most do this with Pet Plan and some others, not sure about L&G though). Based on your statement that it wasn't caused by the fall, the issue you might face is your insurer claiming it is in fact a pre-existing condition so not covered (again, depends on policy docs).

Might be worth getting a 0% purchase credit card that you can pay off over the course of a year plus just in case they won't cover it.