Virtually no pet health insurance
policy will cover routine treatments
such as vaccination, boosters, flea and
worm treatments.
The vast majority of pet health
insurance providers will exclude
pre-existing conditions. Some insurers
MAY agree to remove exclusions for
problems that have occurred in the past
but haven’t needed any treatment for a
specified time – e.g. two years – but
not all. This often means that if your
pet has been receiving treatment for a
particular condition and you are unhappy
with your insurer for any reason, you
can’t switch insurers.
Many policies exclude dental
treatment. Some pet health insurance
providers say in the small print that
they will not cover ANY dental
treatment. Others may accept it for
medical reasons, or if it is required as
a result of an accident or injury.
At least one major pet health
insurance provider rules out
“investigative work”! It does not
specify what this includes but it could
mean x-rays, blood-tests, scans and
investigative surgery are excluded. It
could be very difficult for your vet to
reach a diagnosis of most conditions
without any of these procedures, so this
could involve you in a lot of expense.
Some providers rule out “age-related
conditions”. This might mean you
wouldn’t be covered if your dog or cat
developed something like arthritis,
which could be very expensive to treat.
