Pet Health Insurance

[panda]

I know a client who had insurance with Pet Plan but cancelled after their policy renewed as Pet Plan said they were no longer going to cover anything that the dog had in their first year of insurance!! They also have an excess every time you send in a claim.

I'm going to cancell PetPlan when I return from overseas in mid Jan next year. I'm still waiting to hear from The Insurance Ombudsman. I should know the answer by the time I return. Either way, I'm going to cancell with PetPlan anyway.

[cavNrott]

HI

I have just renewed my policy and found that they have recently got rid of all breed specific exclusions, and other general exclusions like hereditary and congenital problems, hip & elbow dysplasia, entropion & ectropion. As long as your pet doesn't have these conditions BEFORE you take out the insurance, they will now cover them. ;) The only things they don't cover now are things like breeding, behavioural problems, anything elective, grooming, food and of course the conditions your pet has already had before you joinvery grateful for it also.

Sorry but that doesn't make sense to me. I have bolded the area that confuses me.

Hip/elbow dysplasia is probably more than likely hereditary and therefore present from birth as is entropion etc., so they would be present before you take out the policy.

I seriously doubt they would pay out on a claim for any of those conditions, say, 6-12 months after you took out the policy. It's more likely they would claim, and probably rightly so, that the condition was present prior to the commencement of the policy.

[ossie]

Hip/elbow dysplasia is probably more than likely hereditary and therefore present from birth as is entropion etc., so they would be present before you take out the policy.

I seriously doubt they would pay out on a claim for any of those conditions, say, 6-12 months after you took out the policy. It's more likely they would claim, and probably rightly so, that the condition was present prior to the commencement of the policy.

Hereditary or congenital conditions are underlying problems an animal is born with and therefore present from birth, of course, but they go on when the symptoms first started. Their new brochures (which we have at the clinic) state:

"Question: Does RSPCA Pet Insurance provide cover towards Hereditary and Congenital defects?

Answer: Yes, provided symptoms or clinical signs of these defects were not present prior to commencing the cover."

So as long as your pet has not shown any signs of these problems before you join, then you are fine.

[Dog Lover]

Our puppy has recently broken his leg and we have paid $1,600 for his first operation inserting pins into his leg and may be up for another $600 for pin removal, x-rays, sedation etc.

We have since sourced pet insurance, but it has been a very expensive lesson!

I'd say the $300 odd dollars a year is worth it...

[Janba]

I have insurance for my two with Vets Own. I got it mainly for accidents and major illnesses.

So far I have had no problem with claims mostly relating to Moss's skin conditions.They have even said they will cover allergy testing for him when I get it done and the allergy vaccinations.