Switching pet insurance with pre-existing condition

Super_Whiskey

I've got a cavalier king charles which has had surgery on both its legs to ensure its patella doesn't pop out while running and has no existing health conditions which we're aware of.

My insurance has gone up to £50pm which I think is quite high so I was wondering if I'd be okay to switch as while the surgery is a pre-existing condition, I don't expect to have any more issues with it? Also, given that the dog is about 6yrs old and the breed is susceptible to heart murmurs, what sort of cover should I get? Lifetime?

elsien

You need to bear in mind that any conditions that can be potentially linked to the surgery (such as arthritis in later life) are also likely to be excluded.
I would always go for lifetime cover (as in proper lifetime because they do vary), otherwise every time something happens you get another exclusion added to the list. 

Super_Whiskey

Thanks, when you say proper lifetime do you mean until the pet dies as opposed to say 10 years?

KxMx

Lifetime means the pot of money available resets each year, even for the same condition. 

Instead of cover for a condition stopping after a year or when the applicable amount is reached. 

purplebutterfly

My oldest cat has asthma and hyperthyroidism and her insurance is £125 per month which is less than her annual vet bill.  
 I have had pet insurance for cats with health issues for 12 years and have NEVER found a way to change to a different policy without severely restricting the cover offered.
 
 As elsien says, pretty much any further leg issues might be refused cover - even for the legs that haven't had surgery.   You will need to ask the insurer very in depth questions about what effect the surgery will have on the cover offered.  

We use M&S insurance with a yearly cover of £7000 per pet with no limit per condition.  A lot of companies offer cover with a maximum per condition which is very quickly reached.