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Do Petplan tend to wriggle out of things linked to pre exisitig conditions?

Ruthyjones89

Mama Doe
Hi Everyone,

you have may have already seen another post of mine about my little bunny Harvey. Last month he went throught an awful ordeal but his legs are now fused back together.

My question is, I spoke to Petplan earlier to try and get a new insurance quote and discuss harvey's condition. I am hoping to get him back insured, but wanted to know because of his legs is it likely (sorry to be frank) but they can screw me over by saying it could have been inially caused by???

for instance, if for some reason because of all this, he starts to have bad ear infections or has abssesses? becuase he broke his legs previously could they say this is not covered becasue his legs may have initally caused this and it's built up from it?

They have said no, and it's only anything actually related to his legs that will not be covered, but just wondering if anyone has ever been in a similar position?

hope you don't mind me asking, and thank you! :)
 
I wouldn't have thought that the broken legs could potentially cause abscesses, and certainly not in random places, although I may be wrong. Things like ear infections or ear mites from his broken legs would only really be in the immediate future while he's still without 100% leg function (that is if he's likely to regain normal or almost normal function of the legs) - it's just perhaps later on in life that he may start to struggle if he gets arthritis etc which may lead to the inability to clean his ears. However, arthritis is so common in rabbits that they would have a job proving that it was the breaks that caused it - and your vet will likely be more than happy to send a letter off accompanying it to state that there is no hard evidence that any arthritis that occurs is linked to the breaks.

They can't just link any old illness or ailment to previous things, so unless it's directly linked and as long as your vet is happy that it's not directly linked then you should be fine. I have found petplan to be excellent as long as notes are written up with them in mind (i.e. any potential confusion cleared up) - but most vets are aware of this.

Essentially as long as your vet can justify it, which I'm sure they can if any given problem is not directly linked, then you should be fine. They may quibble it but it's very common for vets to have to write back to them and set them straight!

EDIT: They have not quibbled on things that they could've easily quibbled with me. For instance when both Nena and Tapla were on metacam I'd take it in turns to get metacam on each of their policies, to spread the cost. But I'd buy a big bottle on Tapla's policy where I was nowhere near the £2000 limit, and I'd buy a smaller one on Nena's policy where I was very close to the policy limit :oops:. They didn't quibble mite treatment for both rabbits claimed under Nena's policy - Nena got cheyletiella mites when undergoing treatment due to her body being under stress and Tapla had to be treated as well... which they had no problem with as my vet explained both needed to be treated to ensure successful treatment of Nena's mites. Nena was on some antibiotics for a week that cost over £100 for a weeks worth - they didn't quibble that. They are always happy to lump in Tapla's ongoing snuffles and stasis issues together under one excess, as they are directly linked... but I thought they may raise an issue as it's technically 2 diagnoses... nope, no issue. I don't have any exclusions in place for my two so I'm not sure if they would perhaps look more closely due to your exclusion, but petplan have generally been excellent with me.
 
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I thought the case was if you vet will say they aren't linked then pet plan can't say it's pre existing?

If you're worried send them an email and ask for an email response confirming what they told you on the phone.
 
Hi both, thanks so much for your replays, really appreciate it!

Okay, I will contact them & ask for a written confirmation to just put my mind at rest. But thank you, I've never used pet insurance before and with what's previously happened just wanted to check it would still be worth it and if you like wouldn't hold that against Harvey! Xx
 
I think rather than wriggling out of paying they are more likely to impose some exclusions at the start so you know exactly what you will be getting, so then you can decide whether to insure or not.

I have Rudy who I adopted at one year old and had a molar spur dental a couple of months after I adopted him. He is now nearly eight years old and has an exclusion for anything dental or jaw related, facial abscesses or eye related!! All this because of one dental (probably due to not being fed enough hay in his previous home). My vet feels it is unjust and that it could be challenged but she also thinks he isn't particularly predisposed to suffering any of those things so I've not bothered to challenge it.

I've been lucky with the many insurance claims I've made, none have been challenged. I even had Pets at Home pay out for kidney stone removal when the rabbit had pre-existing bladder sludge problems, I thought I had little chance with that claim (£800) but as my vet was happy to say the conditions were not related then they paid out.
 
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