To scam pet insurance

[serialcatbuyer]

I'm having a problem with my kitten and I'm worried he may need surgery. We have an appointment later today. It's with a new vet and I haven't mentioned him seeing a previous vet already for the same concern. He didn't have insurance at that time as I'd just got him days previously. I have him insured now for £3000 treatment costs, but it will not cover him for anything that started before I took it out. Will the insurance company be able to find bis previous record ?

I’m not sure. When I’ve changed vets they’ve asked for previous vets details but I’m not sure how they’d know if you told them it was their first visit.

Check there isn’t a clause about how soon you can claim, there was on my John Lewis pet insurance.

Needless to say it’s fraud, you’ll be in a sticky situation if you’re caught.

Well I’m a fraud investigator for insurance .. so I’d advise against it ! And yes of course there are ways to detect and flag this up ….

So you registered and went to one veterinary surgery and they mentioned something was wrong and then you transferred the details elsewhere or you went to another surgery completely and registered the kitten again?

I didn't transfer anything, I just registered at the new vet because it was cheaper. They never asked me if they had a previous vet

I hope he is just ok and doesn't need treatment, this is so stressful

Besides committing fraud, you're harming your kitten by withholding the information you have from the previous vet which could help the new vet more quickly diagnosis and treat your kitten.

But the fraud will be when you try and claim and they ask the date this was initially symptoms presented /diagnoses/ noted by a vet - which is the first vet … before you had coverage . Also it will be a huge red flag to the insurer a diagnosis/claim just after policy inception …. So additional validation will be required because we know people do this :)

Try it. If the insurance asks about the previous visit at a different vet you can say you didn't think it was related as it was days after you got your kitten. As your vet doesn't have the records of this, I doubt they would go around asking every vet in the area if you've ever taken your kitten there!

What is the health problem? Hope your kitty is okay!

That's fraud.
My insurance you can't make a claim for the first two weeks, check yours.
Someone messed up my cat insurance and now I'm stuck paying for what is classed as pre existing conditions.

They note down what you say on the telephone when making appointments, so that sick note has to be from after you got insurance.

You might want to increase your cover, £3 k is very low coverage. We had £7k before and i was worried. Changed to one worth £14k coverage.
10 years ago my cat broke her ankle and it was £3500. God knows what it would be now.
One night in the Emergency Vet was £1500, then £1k each night after. My policy year renewed 20 minutes before she was admitted and I had to pray all year she wouldn't get ill again.

My mums cat got cancer. She had £7k coverage and it cost over £14k in one year, so was hugely out of pocket and premiums went up, but can't switch as locked in.

Who are you with? Need to make sure they pay claims out.

@Hateliars34 He keeps throwing up. He ate something that could have got lodged in his gut. I keep thinking he's fine but then he will vomit a few days in a row.

I think you have to wait so long before claiming, check the policy.

Obviously you would need to lie about when symptoms started. If your new vet is competent they won’t need the previous vets knowledge or diagnosis.
I’d do it in your shoes. You have no idea if the symptoms are linked or require an op. Could be totally unrelated.

@Kay286 why are you putting a sarky smiley face on?

I don't even think I would get a loan my credit is terrible

I wish I could remember whether I answered yes or no to whether he'd seen a vet before when i took it out. I've had coverage for about 6 weeks

@RickyGervaislovesdogs it’s not a sarky face , it’s a smile because it’s such a common fraud , new policy, immediate claim , glaring fraud indicator right there , the smile was to gently confirm it we know it happens !

I think that's true, and he tries to eat things all the time so I wouldn't necessarily know if it was from the same time even if it is linked, neither would the insurance but I feel like they might be difficult about it if I share the records

There is usually a clause that if your pet is ill within 14 days of taking out your policy they won’t cover the illness so I’m assuming you are now over the 14 days threshold. It will mean you will have to lie about how long your kitten has been ill for. What is wrong with them? I hope they get better soon.

As an aside after working in veterinary practices for over 20 years both in first opinion and referral practices £3000 cover is not very much. You will obviously have an excess to pay, is this your full policy or is this in your 4 weeks free that some insurers give you? I’ve now left the veterinary industry and both of mine are insured up to £12k each as things like MRIs, specialist surgeries/investigations, treatments are expensive and the costs are always going up.

@VioletCreams I think that's a good point and I should get better cover. He just vomits a lot and he ate something when he was little. The vet said I could sedate him and get a scan at the time or just wait and see. I waited and he was fine but he's been vomiting again.

Well he had vomited a few days in a row, and then nothing for a while and now he has vomited a few times again in the last few days. I hope he's just been eating too much but i'm going to ask for a scan now

They won’t allow you to increase in this policy year and depending on what they find out what is wrong they might not increase the amount in future. Do they think if it is a foreign body? Poor thing, I hope they get better soon.

Yes it looked like he ate a piece of rubber although I didn't actually see him eat it I could just tell he had chewed it. I have another cat close in age I'm wondering whether to mix their names up at the vet today

Don’t mix up their names, that will cause problems later on. If you’re 6 weeks in your cover will have started and you are over the 14 days clause.

I think technically they should cover it really because he could have eaten something again, and we don't know if it's from previously or not

And he does try and eat everything he finds

All this, I bet your job is busy

@Edingril i don’t investigate pet insurance I’m giving her guidance on her question basic principals apply for any fraud detection …. Could they find out if she commits fraud - yes. I’m involved in investigation and intel for serious organised crime so yea thanks it’s busy.