Pet Insurance - Again!

[Bonnie Pup]

Does your certificate of insurance list your dog's exclusions in your policy?

And which company are you with (if you're comfortable sharing?)

:D

(edited to clarify my question.)

Edited August 26, 2010 by Bonnie Pup

[RubyStar]

If your dog had treatment for something before you signed up to insurance, and you told the insurance company about it when you signed up, is it listed on your certificate of insurance as an exclusion?

If you're comfortable please also say which company you're with.

:D

Probably will. That is something to discuss with the individual insurers, as some are happy to lift it as an exclusion after a certain time period depending on what the actual condition is.

[Bonnie Pup]

Thanks :D I was wondering about specific examples of people who have insurance.

If there are exclusions on your dog, are they listed on your certificate of insurance?

[Staranais]

Thanks :D I was wondering about specific examples of people who have insurance.

If there are exclusions on your dog, are they listed on your certificate of insurance?

Yes. My pup had shoulder OCD before I got her insurance sorted, she is therefore not covered for anything to do with shoulder OCD (in either shoulder, even though it was only clinical in one shoulder).

[Winterpaws]

Not dog but horse

Petplan

I declared that he had been treated for lameness that was thought to be from an abcess. PetPlan put a broad exclusion on the policy excluding "all lameness".

I made some representations to Pet Plan and they removed the exclusion :D

[Winterpaws]

Thanks :D I was wondering about specific examples of people who have insurance.

If there are exclusions on your dog, are they listed on your certificate of insurance?

Yes. My pup had shoulder OCD before I got her insurance sorted, she is therefore not covered for anything to do with shoulder OCD (in either shoulder, even though it was only clinical in one shoulder).

Is that specifically stated on your schedule?

[Staranais]

Thanks :D I was wondering about specific examples of people who have insurance.

If there are exclusions on your dog, are they listed on your certificate of insurance?

Yes. My pup had shoulder OCD before I got her insurance sorted, she is therefore not covered for anything to do with shoulder OCD (in either shoulder, even though it was only clinical in one shoulder).

Is that specifically stated on your schedule?

Yes.

[Bonnie Pup]

Thanks :D I was wondering about specific examples of people who have insurance.

If there are exclusions on your dog, are they listed on your certificate of insurance?

Yes. My pup had shoulder OCD before I got her insurance sorted, she is therefore not covered for anything to do with shoulder OCD (in either shoulder, even though it was only clinical in one shoulder).

Is that specifically stated on your schedule?

Yes.

Would you please let us know which company you're with (or PM if you prefer?)

[Staranais]

Thanks :D I was wondering about specific examples of people who have insurance.

If there are exclusions on your dog, are they listed on your certificate of insurance?

Yes. My pup had shoulder OCD before I got her insurance sorted, she is therefore not covered for anything to do with shoulder OCD (in either shoulder, even though it was only clinical in one shoulder).

Is that specifically stated on your schedule?

Yes.

Would you please let us know which company you're with (or PM if you prefer?)

Petplan - not sure if it's available in Aussie or not.

http://www.petplan.net.nz/

[marinapoint]

I put in that my dog had had cruciate ligament surgury and specifically asked about if the other leg would be covered, they said it would be and there are no exclusions on his insurance form.

Insured with medibank.

[Bonnie Pup]

Thanks to all who replied.

Does anyone have exclusions on their dog's policy AND doesn't have it written on the certificate of insurance?

Edited August 26, 2010 by Bonnie Pup

[Staff'n'Toller]

I put in that my dog had had cruciate ligament surgury and specifically asked about if the other leg would be covered, they said it would be and there are no exclusions on his insurance form.

Insured with medibank.

I would still get that in writing, that they definitely will cover the other leg.

[Bonnie Pup]

Can anyone else help with any info? :D

Does your certificate of insurance list your dog's exclusions?

[spikey]

This is from the Petplan PDS, so it appears that they always list any exclusions specific to your dog on the Certificate of Insurance. We had insurance with Petplan (not any more after major administrative hassles with them) but there were no exclusions applicable on our policy as neither dog haad any pre-existing conditions.

Certificate of Insurance means the current Certificate issued by Us to You

containing details of the Cover provided under Your Policy, including any exclusions

and other specific Insurance details that We have applied to Your Cover.

Some insurers also have breed specific exclusions, and there's always a whole section in every insurers' PDS about all the OTHER exclusions as well, so it always pays to read it very carefully.

By the way, just in reference to Marinapoint's post about her dog's pre-existing cruciate ligament surgery on one leg, the following sections are from the Medibank PDS:

Bilateral Condition means any Condition affecting body parts

of which the Pet has two, one each side of the body (e.g. ears,

eyes, knees, cruciate ligaments). When applying a Benefit Limit or

exclusion, Bilateral Conditions are deemed to be one Condition.

and

Condition means any Injury sustained during, or resulting

from, a single Accident or any manifestation of an Illness having

the same diagnostic classification or resulting from the same

disease process regardless of the number of incidents or areas

of your Pet’s body affected (also see Bilateral Condition). For

example: all types and occurrences of cancer that occur will be

classified as one Condition.

Might be worth contacting Medibank again and get something in writing to confirm that they wouldn't exclude cruciate ligament in the other leg, as the wording in the PDS seems to be a bit ambiguous - mind you, they also mention in another section about exclusions listed on the Certificate of Insurance, so if there's nothing specific on the Certificate, then I guess they couldn't knock back a claim?

Edited August 26, 2010 by spikey

[Bonnie Pup]

That's the issue I'm having. There's nothing listed on the certificate of insurance to say there's an exclusion. But the company is saying just because nothing's listed doesn't mean there aren't exclusions. It turns out that there are exclusions on my animals that I had no idea about.

I was under the impression that exclusions have to be written on the certificate of insurance.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Bonnie Pup

[spikey]

So what condition are they trying to exclude? It's OK, you don't need to name the company, your breed of dog etc, just what they're saying the exclusion is for.

[Bonnie Pup]

So what condition are they trying to exclude? It's OK, you don't need to name the company, your breed of dog etc, just what they're saying the exclusion is for.

From what they've said it sounds like they are going to exclude anything the pets have ever been tested, treated for or suspected of having(??) prior to taking out the policy and in the waiting period. I understand that's even for things that the pet went to the vet for because there was a question over if something was wrong, and after a vet check it was shown there was nothing to worry about and the vet gave the all clear. I understand they are saying those things are also excluded (though I'm not totally clear on it.)

I still don't totally understand it but that's the impression I'm getting.

I know that most companies exclude pre existing conditions, but I thought that if they were to be excluded they had to be listed on the certificate of insurance.

I've been with this company for a while and only just found this out.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Bonnie Pup

[spikey]

Unfortunately I don't think there's going to be much you can do about it - here are several sections from the Petplan PDS (and I would assume most insurers would have something similar:

These are only examples of some common exclusions. For full details of all relevant

Policy exclusions You must refer to the Certificate of Insurance and the general

exclusions to all sections and also to the specific exclusions to each section under the

heading “What We will not pay”

So with the above paragraph, they effectively cover themselves by stating you have to refer to the Certificate of Insurance AND various sections of the PDS regarding things they will not pay for. There's also this bit:

Pre-Existing Condition means any Condition(s) or symptoms or signs of that

Condition occurring or existing in any form prior to the Policy commencement date, or

any Injury or Illness or symptoms or signs of that Injury or Illness occurring or existing

in any form during the Waiting Period. When referring to Pre-Existing Conditions,

and Conditions affecting a part of Your Pet’s body of which it has two, will be deemed

to be a Bilateral Condition and both will be excluded from cover

And then this, which would be similar to what your company is telling you regarding ANYTHING that is on your pet's record at the vet:

What We will not pay

1. More than the Maximum Benefit.

2. To the extent permitted by law, costs of any Treatment for:

i) an Injury that happened or an Illness that first showed Clinical Signs before

Your Pet’s cover started; or.

ii) an Injury or Illness that is the same as, or has the same diagnosis or Clinical

Sign as an Injury, Illness or Clinical Sign Your Pet had before it’s cover

started; or,

iii) an Injury or Illness that is caused by, relates to or results from an Injury, Illness

or Clinical Signs Your Pet had before its cover started,

no matter where the Injury, Illness or Clinical Signs are noticed or happened in, or

on Your Pet’s body.

They spread the net pretty wide to cover just about anything that you've ever even asked your vet about!

[Bonnie Pup]

Thanks spikey. It's not Petplan, but I'll have a look at the PDS to see if there's something similar in that or not.

[Chiwogabull*]

Sorry to Hi-jack

I'm picking up my new addition in the morning and I am going with pet insurance

( I can't insure until tomorrow as he will be exactly 8 weeks)

My insurance policy wouldn't or shouldn't have any exclusions as I have not seeked treatment for

any condition or illness?

The statement of not being covered for anything you have seen your vet about worries me.. what about the

crutial ligament form that needs to be signed off from your vet?

and the once over I always like to get for peace of mind when bringing a new pup home?