Pre-existing Conditions Pet Insurance.
Contents
The information listed below was correct as of July 2024. Please double check all information before buying a policy. We haven't been paid to include any of the insurers mentioned. There is an invite link to TopCashback at the end - it is clearly marked.
Why?
Having received Lumi's most recent insurance renewal quote from Napo, I wanted to do some research and compare prices with other insurers for similar cover. The following information is what I found and hopefully someone may find it useful.
What are Pre-existing Conditions?
Any medical issue that your pet has had before taking out a new policy. From my research, I occasionally saw mention of chronic conditions that are on-going and historic conditions that are fully cleared up but when it comes to actually getting insurance it would appear that the vast majority of insurers don't differentiate. They simply won't cover anything pre-existing at all and never will for the life of your pet.
Lumi & Her Pre-existing Conditions
Lumi has had 2 insurance claims since coming into our lives, one in 2022 and one in 2023. Both were listed as "Gastroenteritis" on her insurance record. In 2023 and 2024 she also had to visit the vet on two separate occasions for Conjunctivitis but we didn't claim from the insurance for these.
As far as I can tell, now that both of these conditions are on her vet record, the vast majority of insurers will never cover Lumi for anything related to her digestive system or eyes.
What I Looked For
I searched for an insurer that would cover Lumi's 2 historical pre-existing conditions and that were at a similar level of cover as her current napo policy.
Her Napo policy will cost £46.93 per month and cover £8000 of vet fees per year with a £99 excess.
What I Found
Insurers that cover pre-existing conditions are split into two camps. Those that will provide cover as long as you haven't claimed for the pre-existing condition within the last 2 years and those that will cover pre-existing conditions much sooner.
Listed below, in no particular order and with no recommendations attached, are the insurers that I found. The "Lumi Quote" is for the closest cover they do to what we already have.
Pre-existing Conditions Covered From Start
Petplan
Lumi Quote - £51.06 per month (including a 10% first year discount).
Vet Fees - £7000 per year.
Excess - £110.
Notes - They say they'll cover some historical conditions but you need to contact them to confirm what they will and what they won't cover. As the quote was higher I didn't take it any further.
ManyPets
Lumi Quote - £62.55 per month
Vet Fees - £7000 per year but only £1500 for pre-existing conditions.
Excess - £99.
Notes - Cover for conditions where there’s been no treatment, medication or advice for three months. This quote didn't include some optional extras, such as lost or stolen costs, that others include as standard. I didn't add them as the quote was already too high.
Petsure
Lumi Quote - £61.95 per month
Vet Fees - £7500 per year but only £2000 for cruciate ligaments, MRI's and CT scans.
Excess - £100.
Notes - This quote also doesn't include any of the optional extras. You have to add any pre-existing conditions from the last 2 years during the quote process. The price increased by about £20 per month once I added Lumi's history although someone needs to explain to me why things like dental cover and missing pet cover cost more after adding the pre-existing conditions.
K9 Cover
Lumi Quote - £89.73 per month
Vet Fees - £7000 per year.
Excess - £100.
Notes - They recommend getting £4000 of vet fee cover for £69.02 but that's still more expensive than the other options.
Pre-existing Conditions Covered After 2 Years
Just to stress, the policies below only provide full cover once a condition is free from treatment, medication or advice for two years!
ManyPets
Lumi Quote - £42.05 per month
Vet Fees - £7000 per year.
Excess - £99.
Notes - This is the same level of cover as the ManyPets policy listed above but with the requirement that pre-existing conditions were over 2 years ago for them to be covered.
VetsMediCover
Lumi Quote - n/a
Vet Fees - £6000 per year.
Excess - £90 plus 10% excess for pets aged 4 to 5 and 20% for pets aged 6 or over.
Notes - I didn't even bother getting a quote here as the overall cover is lower than most others and the excess is far higher after the age of 4. Worth checking out though if you're desperate.
Spot On
Lumi Quote - £41.75 per month
Vet Fees - £5000 per year.
Excess - £99.
Notes - This quote included the "Boosters" that they offer to bring it in line with our current policy. The vet fees are limited to £5000 per year which is lower than most other insurers.
Summary
I found 6 insurers that would cover pre-existing conditions but only 4 that could provide cover straight away.
You can see from my research, as Lumi's pre-existing conditions happened within the last 2 years, our cheapest option for Lumi to be fully covered for her past conditions is to stick with Napo for £46.93 per month.
Once we have reached a point where her pre-existing conditions are over 2 years ago then it may be worth us getting further quotes from ManyPets and Spot On as they could be cheaper.
Check For Cashback
It's worth mentioning that most of the insurers listed above are available on cashback websites. At the time of writing this post, Napo, PetPlan, ManyPets, Petsure, K9 Cover and Spot On are all on TopCashback with various amounts of cashback. Be warned though, cashback is not guaranteed to track properly but it's worth a shot.
If you're not already a member of TopCashback, you could use our referral link below to get a £10 bonus (payable after you've made £10 cashback). We also receive a bonus if you sign-up.
Alternatively, our Napo invite link would get you a £30 Amazon voucher and can be found on our Napo review here.
