Everything you need to know about Pre-Existing Conditions

You may hear or read about insurers offering insurance policies with exclusions based on pre-existing conditions and want to curl up in a ball of confusion. Don’t worry, Animal Friends is here to answer all your questions.

What is a pre-existing condition?

A pre-existing condition is defined as ‘any condition developed by your pet before the start of your pet insurance policy’. Existing pre-the date of taking out the policy. See, not so tricky when you break it down!

Pre-existing conditions generally fall into two categories. Firstly, ongoing health problems, such as past injuries like broken bones, which may provide complications in the future. And secondly, problems that are likely to reappear, such as infections.

How will a pre-existing condition affect my policy?

If your pet has a pre-existing condition, let the insurer know when you’re signing up for a policy with them. They will then add an exclusion covering that condition on to your policy. This means that, while any other conditions that affect your pet during the period of insurance will be covered, pre-existing conditions won’t be.

Why won’t a pre-exisiting condition be covered by my policy?

Because a pre-exisiting condition is far more likely to reoccur than any condition not yet experienced by your pet, and is therefore too great a risk for the insurer. This is a standard procedure for all pet insurers, but it is worth checking the terms and conditions of any insurance policy to see what provisions they offer for pre-existing conditions.

What difference will the type of policy I have make to my costs?

If you are on a lifetime policy with your insurer, then all conditions that affect your pet from the start to the end of the insurance will be covered for the duration of its life. If you switched provider mid-policy, then all previous conditions experienced by the pet will be marked as pre-existing, and will not be covered.

If, however, you opt for a 12-month policy, at the end of this time, or once your vet fee limit has been reached, you will be required to renew your policy anyway, rendering all conditions developed by your pet as pre-existing when you renew your policy or move to a new insurer.

You could opt for a per condition policy, which will insure your pet against a specific condition only, up to a certain vet fee limit. This is a practical option if your pet is only affected by one problem in the duration of its life, but does prove difficult is an unexpected illness arises.

So it really does pay to stay with one insurer for the duration of your pet’s life to avoid major vet bills and major disruptions to you and your pet.