Pet insurance - pre-existing conditions

aroominyork · 10 October 2019 at 10:30PM

I have a question about pre-existing medical conditions in relation to pet insurance. We have a two years old German Shepherd who has had a couple of stomach problems. After the first (campylobacter, probably from something he ate) the insurers said they would not cover any future gastro issues. The second time the vet recommended Vit B12 which may have helped fix it although nothing specific was diagnosed. I have yet to make the claim but it's a different insurer and I hope will go through OK.

My question is about what counts as a pre-existing medical condition. Campylobacter (which I also had recently) comes from something you eat and is not a condition so to my mind should not cause any exclusion. Obviously I do not want to declare things which would make the insurers have a knee-jerk reaction to exclude anything to do with his stomach. But equally I do not want an invalid insurance policy. Where is the line drawn on short term illnesses vs. pre-existing conditions?

elsien · 10 October 2019 at 10:34PM

When you applied for your new insurance you would have been asked about previous illnesses. If you did not declare it then, and they ask your vet (which they are likely to do) then don't expect the claim to be paid.

aroominyork · 10 October 2019 at 11:50PM

elsien wrote: »

When you applied for your new insurance you would have been asked about previous illnesses. If you did not declare it then, and they ask your vet (which they are likely to do) then don't expect the claim to be paid.

That skirts around my question. I got campylobacter a few months ago, possibly from the Chinese takeaway. If I was now taking out health insurance I would not disclose that as a pre-existing health condition. Same situation here with the dog. Illnesses (acute) are not the same as chronic ongoing health conditions - why would pet insurers treat them as the same?

elsien · 11 October 2019 at 12:04AM

It's not intended to skirt the question but the definition may vary between insurers.

So when you took out your specific new policy and there was a section on previous conditions, what did it ask and what did you answer? If it asked about any vets visits in the last two years and you told them about the first illness they then use that information to decide whether it's an exclusion or not, or whether to adjust the premium accordingly. If you didn't tell them then you were withholding relevant information. Your dog has had stomach issues necessitating treatment twice now and your first insurer declined to cover. That is something that your current insurer would very likely want to know about.
It doesn't have to be a chronic condition to count, they do want to know about illnesses as well. My rescue dog had mange when I got her - it was a one off, never recurred. but the insurer still decided to exclude all skin conditions for two years.

To return to your analogy, if you took out travel insurance and didn't tell them about your campylobacter, if you became ill with anything that could potentially be related while away and made a claim your insurer would do their very best not to pay.

sheramber · 11 October 2019 at 9:05AM

The important part is IF THE CURRENT CONDITION CAN BE RELATED TO THE PREEXISTING CONDITION IN ANY WAY.

The previous stomach problem may have left your dog more susceptible to future stomach problems.

When you make a claim the insurance company will ask your vet for a copy of the medical history so the previous problem will be on that. It will be th decision of the underwriter whether a previously noted condition is relevant or not.

You do not need to have received any treatment from your vet . I f you have consulted your vet about any condition and that is recorded on your pet's medical history then it will be considered against any future claim.

aroominyork · 11 October 2019 at 10:08AM

I just spoke with the claims dept of More Than, telling them I am about to claim and asking what needs to be declared on a new policy. The annoyance is that I want to renew the policy but the same policy is cheaper online so I have to let one policy lapse and take out a new one. This seems to increase the risk of subsequent claims being excluded if something relevant is not declared.

The advice from More Than was not to declare every short-term and resolved accident or trauma, but only ongoing issues. That is what I wanted to hear, but I guess it leaves open the question of whether he has any predisposition to digestive problems. Is part of the answer that German Shepherds are known to have sensitive stomachs, so that is taken into account when the premium is calculated and it is expected that GSDs will have more stomach claims than other breeds?

elsien · 11 October 2019 at 11:48AM

Are you taking out 12 month policies? That's why they can stick an exclusion on at renewal time.
You may want to consider lifetime cover. It is more expensive, but it does mean that any conditions are covered up to the policy limit each year, then it resets at renewal time so no exclusions as long as you stay with the same insurer. Obviously you'd have same issues if you wanted to move to a different insurer at any point.
And always read the t&cs carefully because some lifetime cover is more lifetime than others.

Yes, breed susceptibilities will be taken into account in the premium along with age and the usual risks such as postcode.
Gitdog was £64 a month as a full bull terrier and £24 as a crossbreed
- did both out of interest because I wasn't sure quite what he was at that point.

aroominyork · 11 October 2019 at 1:17PM

Yes, I take out 12 month policies. It feels very hostage to fortune to tie myself to one insurer.

If breed susceptibilities are taken into account in the premium levels then presumably they are taken into account when assessing claims?

Each year I take out car insurance, home insurance, health insurance and pet insurance. Pet insurance is by far the most complex and stressful! We're also trying to decide whether to keep insuring our cat - she's 18 and we are not going to put her through any heroic treatment if she gets ill, so paying a premium and an excess seems a waste of money. The most she is likely to cost us is one or two appointments and perhaps being put to sleep.

elsien · 11 October 2019 at 1:22PM

Lifetime cover doesn't tie you to one insurer. You can still change if you want to, it just means that you may have more exclusions if there is anything that needs to be declared to the new provider. The dog's illnesses are covered for as long as you are with them, rather than being reviewed annually, that's all lifetime cover means. Although I have insurance more for what idiot dog might do to himself and others rather than for illness cover.

With older animals you could consider self insuring and just put the money aside each month. By the time you've paid all the excesses and higher premiums it probably isn't worth it.

KxMx · 11 October 2019 at 1:50PM

aroominyork wrote: »

Yes, I take out 12 month policies. It feels very hostage to fortune to tie myself to one insurer.

If breed susceptibilities are taken into account in the premium levels then presumably they are taken into account when assessing claims?

Each year I take out car insurance, home insurance, health insurance and pet insurance. Pet insurance is by far the most complex and stressful! We're also trying to decide whether to keep insuring our cat - she's 18 and we are not going to put her through any heroic treatment if she gets ill, so paying a premium and an excess seems a waste of money. The most she is likely to cost us is one or two appointments and perhaps being put to sleep.

So my late cat was a bit younger at 13.

Her illness could not be diagnosed through local vet so we had to see a specialist. Their bill was £3k and that was diagnostic only. Unfortunately it turned out to be the least likely cause, small cell lymphoma, and not the most likely, IBD, which would have been quite treatable.

When we got the diagnosis she was being treated for a bladder infection which the specialist picked up, so couldn't start chemotherapy. I had however decided within a day or two against it.

The diagnosis meant by the time the end came (within a week) I'd made all the decisions about how I wanted it to happen. I also like to hope she felt a bit better despite the cancer progressing, as she had over a week of correct anti biotics (they did an in lab test to see which ones would work) for the bladder infection.

Diagnostics alone can be expensive, worth bearing in mind. Big bills don't always come from heroic treatment. Needing a specialist like that is rare but I never thought it would happen to us!

So my bill was £715 (excess, because policy renewed between local and specialist & 20% of bill) and Pet Plan paid the rest. I couldn't have afforded to see the specialist otherwise.

aroominyork · 11 October 2019 at 2:44PM

Well, since his policy runs out on 25 October and I need to take out a 'new' online policy with More Than, I need 14 days' crossover to ensure there are no breaks in cover so I've stated no pre-existing medical conditions which, from the way it is described on the website and the phone conversation I had with them this morning, I believe is accurate. Thanks for your help on this, guys.

Pet insurance - pre-existing conditions

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