Insurance and exclusions

I've just had a claim approved for my boys recent abscess/ear infection treatment, really pleased as they've covered everything (minus the excess of course and less than £5 of dental work). My query is in peoples experience, will the condition become an exclusion when his policy renews, and is it likely that if he had a recurrence before the end of policy year, that it would/wouldn't be covered? I am with helpucover. Will give them a ring at some point to confirm but just wondering what is 'usual'. My understanding is that abscesses are likely to recur so I want to be prepared for covering that cost if he will no longer be insured for it!

I have no experience of Helpucover's policies but with the two insurers I deal with Petplan and Pets at Home then as long as you keep paying your premiums then you are covered. This *in theory should* apply if you have a life time policy with an insurer. Definitely check it out for peace of mind but I would expect it to be covered. It certainly has for any of mine with the insurers I use.

It depends on what cover you have. If you have a 12-month cover policy then you'll be covered for any recurrence within 12 months of the original and then you pay for anything after that, but if you have a lifetime policy then it should be covered for life as long as you keep the policy continuous and up to date with payments, and you will probably have to pay the excess every year. So it's an impossible question to answer as it depends on the nature of your policy. Fingers crossed for you!

Seems like its mostly covered by others.

You can check on your insurance documents your level of cover.

12 month cover means they'll pay for the first 12 months up to your limit. After this 12 monts is met (or your limit, which ever happens first) you will have to pay out your own pocet for the rest of your buns life.

There is another type of cover that is rarely offered these days - its a bit like a bucket of gold. They'll pay for a condition until the money runs out (be it one year or 6 years) after the money runs out its up to you to pay for the rest of buns life for that condition. (I'm sorry but I can't for the life of me remember what its called).

A covered for life or lifetime policy means they pay out year after year for a condition up to your policy limit and the amount you're able to claim will renew each policy year.

If you find you're on a bad deal, remember that his ear now has a pre-existing condition and many insurance companies will not cover it if you change (might not be a big loss if you are on a 12 month policy) (Some companies will put on an exclusion for pre-existing conditions for 1-2 years, if no trouble with it in that time they'll then cover it)

Thanks for the replies, as suggested I will also check with the company. He is on a premium lifetime cover policy which I pay monthly so fingers crossed ear issues will continue to be covered! Not sure what the likelihood/frequency of re-infection will be so may pop something up in 'health' too. He also isn't covered for 'miscellaneous lump' whatever catch-all that may be!! Vet was of the view that if the cause of a lump (in this case the abscess) is known, it is no longer 'miscellaneous' so lets hope the insurance agree if it's ever an issue!

sashababe said:

Thanks for the replies, as suggested I will also check with the company. He is on a premium lifetime cover policy which I pay monthly so fingers crossed ear issues will continue to be covered! Not sure what the likelihood/frequency of re-infection will be so may pop something up in 'health' too. He also isn't covered for 'miscellaneous lump' whatever catch-all that may be!! Vet was of the view that if the cause of a lump (in this case the abscess) is known, it is no longer 'miscellaneous' so lets hope the insurance agree if it's ever an issue!

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Sounds like a lifetime policy so you should be fine to claim year after year if need be.

As for the miscellaneous lump - this generally means any lump that can't be diagnosed.