Advice please on cat insurance when the cat has a heart murmur

[tedmundo]

It is renewal time.

6 yr old pedigree British short hair.
Excellent health.
Never had a single treatment for diseases.

Only one treatment for a leg sprain in his more active youth.

Cat has a heart murmur grade 3 (of 1 to 6).
Cat has never been treated whatsoever for this as he shows no clinical signs .. Eg greyish of the gums, gasping etc
Vet just listens, says 'yes there's the murmur' but not once suggested any treatment.

So .... It occurs to us that we need to declare this as a pre existing condition. Do you think we do?

Had the murmur needed treatment after the vet diagnosed it, would the current policy fail to payout? We are guessing that once it was spotted and put in his notes, the insurance company would request those notes?

Just a bit annoying as it seems a very, very common condition that the majority of the time has no affect on the cat's life.

Big thanks in advance for any tips on this.

We just want to ensure the cover is good and that the insurance company would pay in the event of treatments required.

I'm probably going to be of limited help only - but my policy, to my occasional detriment financially, is to be completely frank with all insurance companies and deal with any qualifications before the policy comes into effect.

Some of my family and friends think I'm insane (otherwise rational human beings can go a bit dum, dum, dum when it comes to ticking boxes on an insurance application.)

My reasoning is twofold. One - I don't lie/cover up etc. I may stretch and wriggle if necessary but I don't tell falsehoods.

Two - if an insurance company can get out of any claim, they will, wriggle you so mightily. And they talk to each other, bigtime. So if you submit a dodgy (in their lights) claim on something out of the way, it's likely noted as an indication on your files for other insurance matters.

Do your research and do it before you apply for insurance eg before you start filling in forms and submitting them (online or paper.) Have a word with the vet about the murmur. (Seniorboy had one last time he was at the vet but it's gone now.) And so on.

I guess what I'm saying is - your call. If you just fill in the form and either 'forget' or misrepresent something then Sure, you'll get reasonably priced insurance. But will they pay out if there happens to be a real heart-related problem and they delve into the details?

I'm not a clinician so I can't comment on a Grade 3 heart murmur (doesn't sound that all-fired good to me in a 6 year old) but have you considered insuring with exclusions?

They will request the notes and if the murmur was noted prior to the insurance starting they will exclude heart conditions.
When you sign up for pet insurance one of the clauses is that you allow them to access your pets clinical history at any time.

Useful. Thanks for that, Lone.

Sorry. Should add - in my long experience of insurance companies, they may not pay up on anything which could conceivably be related to a heart condition.

The RTA with the badly damaged leg for example. 'Prove to us that your cat didn't have a 'moment' which caused inattention to an oncoming car.'

It can get that dirty when there are £000s at stake.

Thanks everyone for advice. We have just always accepted the renewal and not changed anything. The policy just runs year after year without us doing anything.

It was only this time it occurred to us we have never mentioned this. We are also of the honesty is best camp but as puss has never had any treatment based on this we didn't know if we need to declare it.

The heart murmur has come up while we have had the insurance with them. No false form filling whatsoever.

We will mention it this time though. I am just so glad he has not needed treatment that would not be paid out due to us being thoughtless.

Thank you again everyone.

lonecat .. I am guessing that a renewal is a new contract in insurance world, so when we renew the rules mean that anything before that renewal is pre existing? Even if policy as run for his lifetime?

No this goes back to the date you first took a policy with that company in most cases.

lonecat .. OK, so as the murmur was not found until he was at least 3, when we had already had the policy for 3 yrs, then it is not classed as pre existing.

That is good news, if that is the case.