Insurance for rescue dog

maddie050592

Situation is a little bit complicated! I brought my dog to the UK from Mexico last July, she’s never been sick or injured. In the last 6 months she’s had a couple of little falls, nothing major and everyone has always told me to stop being paranoid all dogs fall sometimes. She has no limp or anything else. Just to be safe I take out an insurance policy and take her to a vet for a check up a couple of weeks later. He does some leg pulls and suspects an orthopaedic issue and x-rays show she has a mild Luxating Patella. 

My worry is that she is from Mexico, obviously I had to have proper medical check ups to even bring her into the UK and all were fine, but could it be a problem that she has not seen a vet in the UK before this and could they claim this was a pre existing condition since I can’t officially prove otherwise? 

Any help or input much appreciated! 

KxMx

If you told Vet about the fall time frame, and they disclose that for the claim, I doubt the insurance claim will be approved. 
Your dog had the issue for 6 months before you sought Vet help, insurer could argue you didn't seek treatment in a timely manner. 
It also was a pre exisiting condition when you took out insurance, which won't be covered.
Although no diagnosis or Vet input you dog had signs of a problem which you should have declared when taking out the policy.
I'm sorry to be harsh but if everyone took out insurance when their pets had problems, then had them investigated a few weeks later, the industry wouldn't be financially viable.

sheramber

It will not be  problem that she hadn't previously seen a vet.
However, what do you mean by 'little falls'. Did she fall off something  or did  her leg give way?
It is not normal for a dog's  legs to give way.
I expect you suspected there was a cause since you took out insurance and then consulted a vet a couple of weeks later.
Check your policy document as there will be  an excluded initial period for any claims apart from an accidental injury after the start date.. It is normally 3 weeks .
Although a luxating patella will have been there from birth the relevant date for insurance cover is when it was first noticed. As this was before you took out the insurance   if it is noted on your dog's medical record, which the insurance will request a copy of,  then it will be a  pre existing condition.
 Even if it not noted , a claim within the initial exclusion period will also b declined and the condition treated as pre exisitng  in future.

maddie050592

Her legs haven’t buckled or anything like that at all, it’s only happened a couple of times, once when she jumped and landed funny and once during very rough play with my other dog that she hurt it and was limping for a little bit. I asked everyone about it and was told not to worry, I even called the vet office to ask if I should bring her in to have it looked at but the receptionist told me it would be a waste of time as with a little fall like that the vet wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway, and all I could do was just let her rest (I just followed her advice and no note of a fall or limping was made) 

My insurance company has a 14 day exclusion and I brought her in 16 days later which I do realise seems super suspicious, she had no sign of a limp or anything at all wrong with her at the time, but she hadn’t seen a vet in a while and with a super expensive insurance in place now was as good a time as any for a check up, she also needed her nails cut which I’m rubbish at. I never suspected anything like this.

KxMx

You admitted in the opening post you had knowedge of an issue and took insurance out to get it investigated, after the exclusion period had passed. 

That is fraudulent and against the policy terms, perhaps you will get lucky and not be found out, perhaps not. 

I do hope your dog is okay. 

maddie050592

I knew she’d had a couple of falls, everyone including receptionist at the vet told me no need for a consultation, but yes I did have a tiny niggling doubt, never expected it to be anything major like this which I suppose is naive of me. 

I know I shouldn’t have got a pet in the first place if not able to pay for situations like these but she wasn’t able to get adopted at the shelter I worked for and I didn’t have the heart to leave her behind, I know that doesn’t make it alright but not taking her with me didn’t seem like an option at the time.  

I appreciate everyone’s time and help! Thank you 

sheramber

It all depends   on what  you told the vet. I f you mentioned  the  previous episodes and the vet recorded it then it is unlikely insurance would cover  it. 
If you just asked for a check up and the vet found the problem then it might be okay.
 Has your vet recommended surgery? Many dogs live quite happily with luxating pattella if it is not a severe case.
 Or you may be able to delay surgery until you  have the money to pay  for it. 
Your vet may offer a payment plan .