Dog Insurance

[kayleighs]

Hi there,

At the end of January, my husband and I, along with our Golden Retriever dog, will be emigrating to Sydney.  It is for a two year assignment with my employer, and whilst the two years can often be extended up to 4 years, the plan is to move back to the UK after this time.

Has anyone had any experience with what to do with their pet insurance?  He is currently 1 year old and is covered by LV Insurance in the UK on a lifetime policy.  I've called them and they were next to useless.  Essentially I would have to start again when we return and anything he has ever suffered with will then be excluded.

I also tried PetPlan as they obviously have UK and Australian businesses, thinking that maybe because they were both underwritten by the same company that they may be willing to essentially transfer the policy between them - but they weren't interested either.

Any advice please?

[Marisawright]

I don’t think you’ll find a policy that’s transferable for dogs because health insurance for people isn’t transferable either

[VERYSTORMY]

You won't get one that is transferable. Different risks. For example, chance of being bitten by a snake in the UK, is tiny. No way to transfer that to Oz. 

[rammygirl]

Did you ask if was possible to suspend the UK insurance rather than cancel?

[kayleighs]

Hi rammygirl, I asked that too but they weren't interested.

I wasn't expecting it to be the same policy and costs as I understand the risks are different, but hoping that they would continue to cover pre-existing conditions. Interestingly, I've just heard back from the Health insurers in Australia, and because I provided them with our cover we have in the UK, they are willing to remove the 2 year waiting period for treatment for pre existing conditions. I was looking for something like that but for pets!

[rammygirl]

Can’t have it all I guess!

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Hi @kayleighs unfortunately Australian Pet Insurance is rubbish. I worked alongside Petplan in the UK and helped them get established in a number of very large veterinary practices inc AWL over here as they started the year we moved over 2004. I currently get paid if I recommend them and the person gets 6 weeks free but I can’t bring myself to do it.

Firstly, no one will continue or acknowledge your UK pet insurance so you will be starting again. Even for myself, I’ve one of my dogs I want to upgrade to a better policy and another insurer but it would mean starting her waiting periods again.
Secondly despite having numerous options of who to choose for your pet insurance ie Pet Plan, RSPCA, Woolworths, PIA, Bow Wow Meow, Guide Dogs etc You only have four underwriters in Australia

Pet Plan - Was Allianz from 2004 until 2017 now they are Lloyd’s MS Amlin (all policies that needed renewing quadrupled)

Pet Sure/Hollard Insurance -  So basically if you look at any of these PetMed; Bupa Pet Insurance; Vets Own Pet Health Insurance; Petsecure; RSPCA Pet Insurance; Perfect Partners Pet Cover; InsuranceLine Pet Health Plan; Manchester Unity Pet Health Insurance; Bow Wow Meow Pet Insurance; Pet Insurance Australia; 1300Insurance- Pet Protect; Medibank Pet Insurance; Provet- Prosure Pet Insurance; Real Pet Insurance; HCF Pet Health Insurance;Petinsurance.com.au; Woolworths Pet Insurance; Guardian Insurance;Prime Pet Insurance, Guide Dogs then you are going to be dealing with Pet Sure/Holland.   Although we Insure with one of their brands they are the most difficult to deal with, I would probably ban myself if I started. Take a read here https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/petsure

RACQ - Are new to the market in Pet Insurance think it was 2017, I haven’t had much to do with them so cannot personally comment. 

Trupanion/Hollard Insurance - Again new to the market this year,  I don’t know a lot about them they do exclude a lot of animals from their policies but once you have a policy they don’t put a limit on the amount you can claim. 
 

Most will have a waiting period when taking out a new policy the average is 30 days, but for some breeds that may be prone to health issues ie cruciate ligament, hip dysplasia, breathing difficulties they are known to either not cover that condition (read your small print very carefully) or there may be a waiting period of 6 months.

Pre existing conditions - now this is one they will always throw at you when they don’t want to pay out. No matter what you or your vet say, they will argue that a condition was there prior and you/your vet have to prove it wasn’t which is impossible. I would suggest before you take out any insurance policy you go to a vet and get them to give your dog a clean bill of health. However be warned that in 6 years time if your dog/cat (let me think) let’s say was hit by a car and was rushed to the vet with a broken hip, they would demand to know every vet who had treated that dog/cat in the last 6 years. They then contact each of those vets and request all the veterinary records for your dog/cat. If they have had any previous damage to their back, leg or nerves they will blame that for the hip damage and class it as pre existing.  This isn’t always the case but I’ve heard and seen more cases being denied on these grounds than being approved.

If you look on google, there will be an article somewhere how Australia’s 2019 Awards refused to name a Pet Insurance because basically they are all dodgy.

We do have another option here called Vetpay and it’s like an emergency loan for vet fees, more and more people and vet clinics have switched to this. https://www.vetpay.com.au

 

 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Ps sorry for the rushed reply