Direct Line pet insurance and cataract treatments

FlowerPowerGirl · 29 August 2019 at 11:19AM

Hi all,
Our dog has cataract in one eye. He is insured with DirectLine pet insurance and we want to know if all cataract treatments will be covered by Direct Line. We are taking him to the eye vet specialist soon and it is very likely that the specialist will suggest operating and removing the cataract so that he can get his eyesight back (according to our usual vet).
I rang Direct Line several times to confirm that everything will be covered and they said yes but I do not trust them as they refuse to send me any written confirmation that it will be covered, and I have read on other websites that they don't actually cover anything related to cataracts!!! Plus, I looked in their policy booklet and cannot find anything about cataract treatments.
Has anyone got experience of cataracts with DirectLine and were the operations and further treatments covered?
Thanks a million!

sheramber · 29 August 2019 at 7:32PM

Do you have the 12 month policy or the lifetime policy?

Did these reviews say why cataracts were not covered? It could be something related to a specific policy such as over 12 months for a limited time policy or linked to a pre existing condition that was excluded.

Can you do a web chat and take a screen print of the answer. Then you would have it in writing?

Has your vet had anybody else claim for cataract fromDirect Line?

One reason I can think of is that they might not consider the operation medically necessary ,but a choice as you dog can see with his other eye.

Fire_Fox · 3 September 2019 at 7:03AM

FlowerPowerGirl wrote: »

Hi all,
Our dog has cataract in one eye. He is insured with DirectLine pet insurance and we want to know if all cataract treatments will be covered by Direct Line. We are taking him to the eye vet specialist soon and it is very likely that the specialist will suggest operating and removing the cataract so that he can get his eyesight back (according to our usual vet).
I rang Direct Line several times to confirm that everything will be covered and they said yes but I do not trust them as they refuse to send me any written confirmation that it will be covered, and I have read on other websites that they don't actually cover anything related to cataracts!!! Plus, I looked in their policy booklet and cannot find anything about cataract treatments.
Has anyone got experience of cataracts with DirectLine and were the operations and further treatments covered?
Thanks a million!

You have not sent Direct Line anything in writing only your limited amateur knowledge. It is hardly reasonable to expect the insurer to give a definitive written answer until they have read the expert/ specialist assessment of your dog's case.

Whether you are likely to be covered partly depends on the terms of your policy. But cataract operations not being excluded from the policy does not mean that Direct Line have to cover all such operations in all insured pets.

Some cataracts are congenital/ hereditary, some are secondary to diabetes, some are linked to a past injury or past infection. An insurer will often seek to avoid paying for anything that predates the pet being insured with them.

Direct Line pet insurance and cataract treatments

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