Pet insurance limit reached

[smashie]

I have received notification from my insurance that the limit has ben reached with regards to treatment of my Dog for his epilepsy. I have asked the insurance company for a breakdown of the payouts and they have submitted these to me. The payouts for this year fall well below the £7500 limit we have.
I was under the impression that's limit renewed itself every year, but it looks like I may be wrong. I am waiting for the insurance company to get back to me to find out if that os the case or not.
If it does not renew every year, then there is no way we will be able to afford referrals that he may need to have. Does anyone know of a pet insurance company that takes on pets with pre-exisitng conditions? I very much doubt there is one that will though.
I am so annoyed that I did not go with pet plan originally.

Dave

[smashie]

Looks like we are screwed. Turns out it was a maximum benefit policy we were on.
Come renewal, our dogs will be going on petplan with with my Collie's Epilepsy declared and therefore not covered. No Way I am gonna give any more money than I have to to my existing company - I will not name them, but I will say, don't use them!
Now where is a kicking myself picture when I need one?

[xjay1337]

You should name and shame them

Hope the doggy is OK.

[hornetrider]

Whilst I have sympathy for the OP and his dog, why is naming and shaming required? Presumably this policy was cheaper than petplan (does petplan renew the limit each year?), which is why he chose it. I also take it claim limits are documented in the policy details.

[bexVN]

Tbh these policies do make it clear that they are per condition and not cover for life. My cat is with Sainsburys and hers is the same 7.5k per condition.

They do not mislead this. Though maybe your vets could have pointed this out to you at some point (we do).

If it was per year you would have had to pay an excess once a year and then the limit is renewed attached the start of the policy yr (which is what Pet Plan do)

This doesn't help you now though . Not good for you to have found out like this. Though your attitude is harsh on the company, have they not over time paid 7.5k out for your dogs care (and presumably/ hopefully with little quibble)

Edited by bexVN on Thursday 13th August 11:55

[moorx]

bexVN said:

Tbh these policies do make it clear that they are per condition and not cover for life. My cat is with Sainsburys and hers is the same 7.5k per condition.

They do not mislead this. Though maybe your vets could have pointed this out to you at some point (we do).

If it was per year you would have had to pay an excess once a year and then the limit is renewed attached the start of the policy yr (which is what Pet Plan do)

This doesn't help you now though . Not good for you to have found out like this. Though your attitude is harsh on the company, have they not over time paid 7.5k out for your dogs care (and presumably/ hopefully with little quibble)

Edited by bexVN on Thursday 13th August 11:55

Agree. It should be noted that even Pet Plan have different levels of cover - some policies are 'for life' others are not:

http://www.petplan.co.uk/therightcover/lifetimeort...

[bexVN]

Yes good point, they only brought in that crappy one year one to compete against others of the same ilk. Very disappointed when they did that.

[smashie]

Just be clear, we did not get this from our vets and it was more than likely the way I understood their wording. It was originally considerably cheaper than pet plan which is why we went for them (although now its costing s considerably more).
The have paid out the full 7.5k, unfortunately I guess I am more mad with myself than them for not fully understanding the policy wording. Looking on their website today, without looking at their policy wording and fully digesting it, I would still think that it was a yearly limit. Had I figured this out 4 years ago I would never have gone for it.
As I earlier said, I will not be naming and as Bex has said, Sainsbury's are the same (not who I am with), although the Sainsbury's website, unlike my insurer's website says:
Premier (maximum benefit)
Veterinary fees £7,500

Mine says the equivalent of
Premier:
Veterinary fees £7,500

I don't see that my attitude is harsh towards them. I have now found out that I do not have the policy that I thought I had (I do have the best they offer though), and as I do not have the one I thought I had, I will need to get a policy that meets my future needs for both my dogs which their ones do not.

This does unfortunately mean that although I will keep paying for all his pills (currently on various pills 5 x a day) - , we won't be able to afford the referrals if he gets any worse.

[KFC]

smashie said:

Does anyone know of a pet insurance company that takes on pets with pre-exisitng conditions? I very much doubt there is one that will though.

There are none that will take you on and cover for epilepsy that you already know about... they'd basically be burning money if they would as you, them and everyone else knows further vet bills are 100% guaranteed.

[bexVN]

Pet Plan will to an extent. They will exclude a condition and as long as it doesn't flare up in a year they will then consider covering it, sadly I know that is not going to happen for your friend.

[DKL]

We paid for our cat's Keppra privately from our vets. Her insurance was used up and then some with the surgery she had so there was none left for the ongoing meds. I think it was around £300 a bottle (300ml?)and we used about 3 or 4 a year.
But we had another 5 years with her which I wouldn't have missed for the world. I just wish someone would give me the same offer for another 5, sadly not to be though.
I don't think Keppra was listed for animal use but it was prescribed by the neurosurgeon who operated, She still had some seizures but not more than one a very 3 months or so. Not a pretty sight but you got used to it.
Phenobarbitone is cheaper but has other less desirable side effect I gather.

[smashie]

We are currently on Keppra 3x a day, Potassium Bromide 2x a day and gabapentin 2x a day. So far since he has been on the gaba as well we have had no fits (nearly 3 weeks). The pheno was not agreeing with him so we had to wean him off it. If the above fails, then it is onto Zonisamide. We have also tried another drug who's name escapes me, but it was unable to control the cluster fits and probably made them worse so we weaned him off that as well.

At least I managed to find a 5 compartment weekly pill dispenser.

[shep1001]

bexVN said:

Tbh these policies do make it clear that they are per condition and not cover for life. My cat is with Sainsburys and hers is the same 7.5k per condition.

They do not mislead this. Though maybe your vets could have pointed this out to you at some point (we do).

If it was per year you would have had to pay an excess once a year and then the limit is renewed attached the start of the policy yr (which is what Pet Plan do)

This doesn't help you now though . Not good for you to have found out like this. Though your attitude is harsh on the company, have they not over time paid 7.5k out for your dogs care (and presumably/ hopefully with little quibble)

Edited by bexVN on Thursday 13th August 11:55

Tesco's policy conditions for the 7.5K cover is the same.