Ask the expert: Our cat heart murmur, a pre-existing condition on our policy?

Earlier this month I received an email from Melissa, concerned that her cat’s heart murmur might be considered as a pre-existing condition by her insurer. Is it or is it not? Let’s find out…

Hi

We have pet insurance and rescued 2 x 3 year old moggies from a rescue centre at the end of November, when the policy was taken out.

We took them to our local vets on Saturday 9th of January to have their jabs and basic health checks.

We were told that one has a heart murmur. We had no idea anything was wrong and are now worried that our insurance company will treat this as a pre-existing condition if we claim?

Thanks

Melissa

Hi Melissa and thanks for contacting me via pet-insurance-discount.co.uk.

I think it should be covered by your pet insurance company. You took the policy end of November and the very first time you found out about the heart murmur is on the 9th of January – which is way past the waiting period. I believe you didn’t see any signs of it before taking your cat to the vet either, since you went for simple jabs and health check (signs are often considered as pre-existing conditions by insurers).

Provided that the existing medical record from the rescued cat doesn’t show any signs of the heart murmur, then it should be covered.

In your policy terms and conditions, it says:

“We will not pay: The cost of treating an illness, injury or behavioural disorder that happened or showed clinical signs before your pet’s insurance started.”

This doesn’t apply in your case, so I would put the claim through. Make sure you read the claiming procedure in your T&C’s too.

I hope this is of help and good luck.