Can I get pet insurance cover before I collect my kitten?

MILLIEMOGS · 21 April 2019 at 7:38AM

I am collecting a new kitten in just over two weeks. I am wanting to arrange pet insurance now as there is a standard 14 day period before you can make a claim. However you obviously have to put your address/ where the pet lives. At the moment he doesn't live with me as he is only six weeks old, but by the time it would pay out he will be living with me.

Can I take out the policy now to my address or do I need to wait till he gets here, meaning I wouldn't be able to make a claim in the first two weeks?

Fen1 · 21 April 2019 at 9:02AM

Will your kitten only be 8 weeks old when you take him home?

Where are you getting him from? A rescue centre? Breeder? Online site ( Facebook, Preloved etc)?

A reputable rescue centre or breeder would never release a kitten under 10 weeks old. 8 weeks is still too young to be separated from mum and siblings. Those first weeks are crucial for the kitten to learn life skills from mum, including how to be a cat. Kittens that have been taken away too early can develop socialisation problems as they don't understand who or what they are.

sheramber · 21 April 2019 at 2:45PM

I think you will find you cannot insure under 8 weeks.

You have to own the pet and it has to live with you.

MILLIEMOGS · 21 April 2019 at 5:12PM

Policy I chose insured from 4 weeks old, which is why I asked the question as you wouldn't have a four week old kitten unless it was one you had bred or hand reared.

I"d better cancel it then and take another one out when he arrives. I read all 41 pages of the policy and couldn"t find the answer, unlike Petplans policy document which makes it clear on the front screen.

All cat rescues around here, including Cats Protection rehome at 8 weeks, and RSPCA at 9 weeks.

Soot2006 · 21 April 2019 at 5:21PM

You can claim for the first 14 days, usually (or else there'd be no point!), but only for accidents and injuries, not for illnesses as many have an incubation period over 14 days or diseases as these might be pre-existing.

A few years ago, I bought a horse, insured her. Day two, she broke a leg in a freak accident and needed £6,000 of surgery. Insurance covered £5,000 of that without question as it was an accident.

Fen1 · 21 April 2019 at 7:50PM

I am shocked that they would home kittens that young. At 8 weeks kittens are weaning. It takes another two weeks for them to be fully on solid food.

I am a volunteer with a local rescue. We do not home kittens before 10 weeks, minimum. The kittens must be fully weaned and happily on solid food before we even consider homing.

You learn something new every day ( and not always in a good way!)

Some rescues have a free welcome pack insurance plan that covers the kitten for the first month or so. You then have the choice to either continue with that insurance or choose a different company. The welcome pack insurance may not be the best insurance policy, so always do your research.

sheramber · 21 April 2019 at 10:02PM

Battersea rehome at 9 weeks

SensibleSarah · 24 April 2019 at 1:46PM

The rescue I volunteer for will rehome at 8 weeks as long as all healthy and eating solids/drinking properly on their own (which they usually are by 6 weeks) and you get a month's cover with Pet Plan included in your adoption fee that you activate the day you adopt.
When they get kittens in without their mum (as they frequently do, sadly) then they sometimes let them go to very experienced homes a little earlier than 8 weeks, but usually stay with a fosterer instead.

Many policies won't cover kittens under 12 weeks of age, due to the number of things that can happen when they are so little

Can I get pet insurance cover before I collect my kitten?

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