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Unfair exclusion in pet insurance policy

12 replies

Canshopwillshop · 09/05/2019 08:05

DDog had a small lump on her ear a few months ago. It was totally removed and tests showed that it was completely benign so all good. However, my insurers, Animal Friends, have now excluded ‘all lumps, tumours, cancers etc’ from my policy! I queried it and sent the histology report from my vet showing it was a harmless, benign lump, but they wouldn’t budge. I stupidly just accepted that that was the way insurers work so when my policy came up for automatic renewal I just ran with it.

However, a friend of mine has just had something similar with her and she’s been told she would be covered in future for cancer or a different type of lump elsewhere. She does have lifetime cover whereas I don’t so not sure if that’s the difference but surely the point is that my DDog has not had cancer so why exclude it?!

I’m thinking I will try my insurers again and if they won’t change it then go elsewhere next time. I’m wondering if another insurer will just carry over stick the exclusion from my existing insurer though?

Any advice?

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BiteyShark · 09/05/2019 08:10

Yes the difference is lifetime cover versus 12 month cover.

With a life time cover if you stick with the company they will continue to cover you.

Yours is a yearly one so anything you see the vet for, irrespective of whether you claim for it or not, will now be a preexisting condition.

It's why lifetime covers are more expensive but they are definitely the ones I would always get.

Given that you now have a preexisting condition you might want to look at swooping to a company for lifetime but declare 'everything' you have been to the vets for so you know what is excluded BEFORE you need to claim.

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BiteyShark · 09/05/2019 08:13

surely the point is that my DDog has not had cancer so why exclude it?!

Because in their eyes you are more likely to have more bumps which could be cancer. It's the way insurances work.

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Canshopwillshop · 09/05/2019 09:19

Thanks. I decided to phone another insurer to ask what their stance would be and they’ve told me that whilst anything related to the initial growth would obviously be excluded, I would still be covered for unrelated conditions. This seems much fairer and I’m contacting my insurers again to argue against this blanket exclusion.

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billybagpuss · 09/05/2019 09:21

I do think the pet insurance industry is a joke, they exclude for the most ridiculous things.

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Lonecatwithkitten · 09/05/2019 09:31

Animal friends are pretty much the bottom of the heap for pet insurance policies yes they are cheap, but their cover is rubbish.

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BiteyShark · 09/05/2019 09:35

Even if you get your insurers to agree I would swop to a life policy because if you get a chronic condition you won't be covered beyond the 12 months.

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Canshopwillshop · 09/05/2019 10:02

Thanks everyone. Definitely going to swop and will get lifetime cover.

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Floralnomad · 09/05/2019 10:04

I would take that statement from the other insurer with a pinch of salt personally .

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Elderflower14 · 09/05/2019 10:48

Look at Petplan. They are excellent!

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user1468246318 · 09/05/2019 11:10

Agree with other posters - always go for lifetime cover and check the total claims limit and per claim limit before you buy. Other policies just aren’t worth the money.

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pigsDOfly · 09/05/2019 11:14

I had a similar situation as for the first year of my dog's life I had a yearly policy. During that year she caught a stomach virus that was going round locally and was treated by my vet.

The next year I took out a lifetime policy that excluded anything stomach related related as a preexisting condition, because that's they way they work and all insurance policies do this.

However, I read the small print and realise that after two years I was able to request to have that exclusion removed, which they did as she hadn't had any stomach issue for the whole two years. Your insurance company should do the same.

Thank heavens I did because my dog later went on to developed pancreatitis, which I imagine would come under that exclusion, and as it can flare up from time to time it would have meant I couldn't have claimed for any of her treatment, treatment that can be very expensive.

I'm with PetPlan. Always been more than happy with them.

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adaline · 09/05/2019 15:10

Yep, this is why we have lifetime cover. It's pricier but well worth it in the long run.

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