Insurance claim if policy not renewed

[gnubee]

I find myself in a strange position re insurance, and was wondering if anyone has found anything similar.

My horse has had a skin lesion since late last year. Her insurance expired in March and did not auto renew as I expected (my fault for not checking). However, my vet has advised the investigations and treatment he is now doing should actually still be covered as the condition was clearly manifest before the insurance expired and therefore per the insurance terms treatment completed within 12 months of the date the condition arose should be covered regardless of whether it was renewed or not. Has anyone had any success (or otherwise) in pursuing a claim in these circumstances?

 

[Red-1]

I have not done this, but my vet said the same as yours, that you can cancel the policy and still claim for the 12 months.

I would contact your company direct to confirm.

 

[eggs]

I have heard the same thing. If you were with an (ahem!) reputable company you should still be covered but it will be for 12 months from when the condition was first notices and not from treatment commenced.

 

[conniegirl]

yes it should still be covered under the expired policy.
I've got an ongoing claim with KBIS at the moment and before I decided to not renew my insurance (the number of exclusions versus the price of the policy) I double checked with them.

 

[criso]

I had something similar, I did not renew the policy but continued to claim however the claim had already been started before the insurance expired.

However if you are just putting in the claim now, they will probably ask questions as to why this wasn't reported to them sooner and if you hadn't called the vet out for it before the insurance expired, they will probably ask questions and try to argue that technically the condition arose post insurance.

I also had a claim on my household under similar circumstances, I was told something wasn't covered and I found out is was after the insurance had expired. In that case although I had technically cancelled, I had swapped to a different policy with the same insurer and I had a good reason for the delay in claiming.

Surprised the insurance company didn't remind you it needing renewing though, mine kept sending reminders and in the case of the one I didn't renew phoned.

 

[chestnut cob]

Did you open a claim with them before the policy expired? If not then no, I don't think they will pay out and they would also have refused if you were still insured as insurers have a limit within which you must notify them (ie, 6 weeks after a condition starts, something like that).

 

[ihatework]

It's possible you may struggle.
Not because the insurance has run out per se, but because you did not initiate a claim whilst you had an open policy.

It would be a good insurance company who would accept that claim IMO.

 

[Pinkvboots]

You can't put a claim in if the insurance policy that has expired

 

[conniegirl]

Did you open a claim with them before the policy expired? If not then no, I don't think they will pay out and they would also have refused if you were still insured as insurers have a limit within which you must notify them (ie, 6 weeks after a condition starts, something like that).

actually most don't have the limit provided that it is within a reasonable time.
My lads claim was started nearly 3 months after first symptoms appeared and KBIS have not questioned it at all.

However I will agree that if the claim has not started before the policy expired you may have an issue

 

[conniegirl]

You can't put a claim in if the insurance policy that has expired

not true! continueing claims must be honored even if the policy expires!

 

[chestnut cob]

not true! continueing claims must be honored even if the policy expires!

A continuing claim is not the same as trying to start one after your policy has expired, which is what it seems the OP wants to do.

 

[chestnut cob]

actually most don't have the limit provided that it is within a reasonable time.

Which means there is a limit. The limit isn't defined in the policy therefore allowing the insurer, if they so wish, to wriggle out of paying because you are out of what they consider to be a reasonable time to make a claim.

 

[conniegirl]

Which means there is a limit. The limit isn't defined in the policy therefore allowing the insurer, if they so wish, to wriggle out of paying because you are out of what they consider to be a reasonable time to make a claim.

if they dont define it in the policy documents (KBIS do not) then you have a very good chance particularly if you have a vet backing you up as they told you to wait and see.
If nothing else the omsbudman will back you.
I have known horses where it has been 6 months before the treatment costs exceeded the excess amount so the insurance claim wasnt started untill the excess was reached.

 

[AandK]

My old insurance company policy was that you had to submit a claim within 60 days of the date the vet was first contacted, which I think is fair.
If this is a claim you put in before you did not renew your policy, then you should be able to continue to claim until the 12 months or vet fee limit is up. If not, then I doubt very much you will be able to claim.

 

[PorkChop]

As the others have said, you can continue to claim on an open claim for up to 12 months of the original incident.

 

[Elbie]

I would check your policy terms as generally they will say claims have to be advised within a certain period and often it will be before expiry. Otherwise you could get people claiming for stuff from years back.

 

[Elbie]

if they dont define it in the policy documents (KBIS do not) then you have a very good chance particularly if you have a vet backing you up as they told you to wait and see.
If nothing else the omsbudman will back you.
I have known horses where it has been 6 months before the treatment costs exceeded the excess amount so the insurance claim wasnt started untill the excess was reached.

Yes but is that actually starting the claim as in submitting all the documents or starting as in advising the company of an illness or injury?

If the OP advised the company of a potential claim before expiry then it shouldn't be a problem (although they would expect paperwork within a certain time). However it seems in this case the issue wasn't advised to insurers at all.

 

[popsdosh]

You can't put a claim in if the insurance policy that has expired

Thats a very misleading and incorrect statement.

Of course you can as long as the cause of the the claim occurred during the period of the cover.

 

[ihatework]

Thats a very misleading and incorrect statement.

Of course you can as long as the cause of the the claim occurred during the period of the cover.

Not necessarily - depends usually on how long after first symptom that claim is put in.

 

[Notimetoride]

I used to deal with property insurance, but the principles of insurance remain the same. If the date of loss occurred when the policy was in force then there is cover. So in your case if the condition was diagnosed during the term if the policy I would hope that you would have cover. I used to deal with property claims on cancelled policies sometimes so hopefully you'll be fine. There could be some small print tho that states you most notify them of a claim within a set timescale so best just check with your previous insurer as that would mean you can't claim

 

[Elbie]

I work in equine insurance. We would expect to be advised of the injury or illness within the policy period. Claiming after expiry is not an issue but policy conditions state the issue must be advised before expiry to be valid.

 

[gnubee]

Thanks all. I think consensus is it's the not advising which may cause me an issue. Seemed strange to advise when it was a 'maybe nothing, keep an eye on it' type situation but with hindsight I would have done, particularly if I had realised the policy wasn't renewing. I called insurers yesterday and their issue was entirely with the policy expiring rather than failure to notify earlier which meant I thought I might have a shot. My insurers for this horse are not one of the best renowned for quality and paying out so I'll update if I get anywhere!