Insurance - when to claim or pay yourself

SaddlePsych'D

SaddlePsych'D

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Ivy has her first non-routine vet trip this morning. She got a small cut to her paw on Sunday, it bled a little and stopped quickly. I cleaned with salt water and couldn't see or feel anything in there. Ivy did not react to me touching the pad. We've been at home quite a bit this week as she hasn't wanted to go out in the never ending rain but has been trotting (and zooming) around the house just fine, up and down stairs and hopping in and out of the back door to the garden. This morning she has come down limping not wanting to put weight on that paw so I was straight on the phone to the vet.

I will let the vet know that we have cover if needed and some of our own funds depending on how much it is (i.e., if it's something we can afford to cover ourselves then if not have the insurance in place). Are there circumstances where it's better to pay yourself instead of claim?

It's the first time I've had to deal with this as everything else she has needed has been routine so we either paid or it was covered as part of a Pet Club we pay for monthly. OH is away working so I'm going alone and I'm panicking slightly!
 
How much is your excess? I found that most of my non serious vet treatment came in just under or a £1 or 2 over the excess so no point in claiming.

They will probably give her paw a rinse out, some antibiotics and metacam so that may well come in under your excess depending on your vet prices.
 
I'm the same as petmurf and if it's only just over the excess then I pay myself. Anything over the excess goes on the insurance. If you do claim on the insurance, quite a few vets require you to make the payment anyway and then get the insurance company to pay you back rather than the insurance paying them.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I think you need to inform the ins Co, even if you don't claim. Check it out before long, because in the unlikely event of any complications, you might want to claim in the near future.
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I made this mistake with one of my old dogs. She had colitis which I didnt claim for as the vet bill was around the cost of the excess.
When she had to stay overnight at the vets a few years later with severe colitis, the company refused my claim. They said if they'd known about the earlier instance they'd have excluded it from the policy?
 
Worth checking the policy wording but the above is usually only the case if you have a 12 month limited policy or have changed insurers, not for lifetime policies.

Claim if or when you exceed the excess, being aware that the vet may request payment up front in any case and the claim will be made to reimburse you directly.
 
We have lifetime cover where pre-existing conditions are 'written off' after two years. If I claim or not, I guess this would become pre-existing?

My understanding is that the lifetime bit means there isn't a time limit on the conditions.
 
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Well we're back from vets and they felt no infection which was my main worry, and no sign of anything in it. He also mentioned no sign of a break which hadn't crossed my mind at all but good to know! We have come away with some Meloxaid (same as Metacam) and strict instructions to rest for a week.

They quoted for x-rays as that would be next if no improvement/gets worse and told me if we did need to claim it could all go together with today's appointment which was well under the excess.
 
Injuries/wounds like that don't generally get classed as pre existing conditions unless they go on to cause related problems later on. Also foreign body ingestion - although serial offenders may possibly have that excluded after several incidents IME.

Be aware that anything mentioned to the vet or even a vet nurse as a concern, is likely to end up with a note in the pet's records and will be seen by insurance company as they will ask for complete history at the start of each new claim.
 
Hmm, just returning to my own thread two-years later having been checking my insurance policy wording. Ivy is fine, I just want to be sure what our cover is as we have recently moved house and changed vets.

I noticed that although we have a lifetime policy, the definition of 'pre-existing condition' includes things which have been diagnosed and treated, but also anything that has had advice. So I checked the definition of 'advice' and basically this is anything in the veterinary history.

Old vets sent over a copy of their notes for me to pass to new vets. So reading through this, the vet made a note that Ivy's eye looked a bit red during a routine check up apt, my assumption is that eye is now not covered for the next 24 months. Or when I asked the vet to look at a paw that Ivy doesn't like me to pick up, I'm guessing that's out too even though they didn't find anything or recommend further investigation.

So basically I'm now wondering wtf we are paying premiums for if any time we want to ask our vet about something, we run the risk of creating an exclusion. I understand if it's something which has had investigations and/or treatment but it seems so wrong that even asking for advice on my pet's health could be a problem!
 
Pre existing conditions are injuries that happened or conditions that showed symptoms (including asking your vet's advice about, without treatment or investigation) before your policy/cover started. If you have had the same lifetime policy this whole time, you are covered for new eventualities for as long as you continue paying the premiums (or for 12 months if you have a time limited policy).
 
My old boy has cover for pre-existing conditions so I only claim for bigger things. But as he has pre-existing cover it doesn't really matter.
 
blackcob said:
Pre existing conditions are injuries that happened or conditions that showed symptoms (including asking your vet's advice about, without treatment or investigation) before your policy/cover started. If you have had the same lifetime policy this whole time, you are covered for new eventualities for as long as you continue paying the premiums (or for 12 months if you have a time limited policy).
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I think I need to double check on this; I have been emailing their customer services to check my understanding and they haven't been any help at all, just parroting back the information in the policy document. They keep signposting me to a pre-existing condition policy.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
And this is why we don't insure! If I'm going to have to pay my own vet bills anyway I'm not going to be forking out monthly premiums just for the sake of it!
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This is what I'm worried about! We're in a better position to self-insure now too so can put the premium money away monthly knowing we've got an emergency fund and can make use of credit card.
 
TBH, I regard the insurance as only useful for significant injury/scans (over £300), and for public liability/legal fees. Other than that, its fairly pointless. Anytime I've actually claimed has impacted the renewal to such an extent, it didn't seem worth the effort.
 
SaddlePsych'D said:
I think I need to double check on this; I have been emailing their customer services to check my understanding and they haven't been any help at all, just parroting back the information in the policy document. They keep signposting me to a pre-existing condition policy.
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If you've been emailing them with the term pre existing conditions then I wonder if you are talking at cross purposes - they will assume you're referring to conditions that began before your policy came into effect. Anything that happens during the term of a lifetime policy is just a condition, it doesn't become pre existing unless you are looking to change insurers/take out a new policy, or if you have a time limited (12 month) policy.
 
blackcob said:
If you've been emailing them with the term pre existing conditions then I wonder if you are talking at cross purposes - they will assume you're referring to conditions that began before your policy came into effect. Anything that happens during the term of a lifetime policy is just a condition, it doesn't become pre existing unless you are looking to change insurers/take out a new policy, or if you have a time limited (12 month) policy.
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Thank you I will have a look and make sure.

I'm looking into my horse rider insurance today as well and feeling mind-boggled with all the terms and exclusions!
 
Well balls. When I was confused about this and hence seeking the clarification from the insurer, I said I thought I needed to cancel the policy. Rather than look at the vet history I sent over and say 'these things were after the policy started so not pre existing' they've cancelled the policy and told me if I want to take out a new policy these things will be pre existing.

Well done SPD. Well done 🤦‍♀️

Eta - further update, have been able to get the policy reinstated. I figure if we still have cover then we may as well keep it going because Ivy didn't have anything pre-existing before we insured her. One day I'm sure it won't make sense to cover her when she is older so we can keep money aside for then.
 
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