Too Late to Get Insurance (for a Puppy) ?

Charbel91 on 11/03/2024 - 08:14
Last edited 11/03/2024 - 08:26 by 1 other user

Good morning. I'm seeking some advice regarding insurance for my sisters puppy, or if it's too late/not worth it.

He's a 9 month old Jack Russel Terrier. Around two weeks ago he had a seizure and ended up at SASH Vets. They did a blood test, urine test, overnight stay which costed $4K. They said it was toxicity. Two weeks pass and he's still not well. I take him to my vet and turns out he had a blockage! $1500 for emergency surgery, x-rays we're preformed, overnight stay, etc. he had swallowed a fishing ball. The vet believes that he was having led poisoning due it.

Could these be considered pre-existing?

Poll Options

  • 5
    It's worth it!
  • 35
    It's not worth it!
Pets Insurance Pet Insurance

closed Comments

  • original15 on 11/03/2024 - 08:28
    +10

    Sounds pretty pre-existing to me

  • stirlo on 11/03/2024 - 09:07
    +5

    Could these be considered pre-existing?

    There's no way to get retrospective insurance for incidents that happened in the past. The whole point of insurance is you pay in advance to cover future events.

    I'm unsure if having a medical history like this would prevent you ever getting coverage for future events. But getting insurance now will not help you with these expenses.

    • hmac on 11/03/2024 - 09:37

      There are ways to play the system, but if you were to get insurance and want coverage for anything related to lead poisoning, you would need to visit another vet, not disclose anything and never go back to SASH.

      That however is insurance fraud.

      I highly recommend insurance, puppies are curious animals and they get themselves into a mess every now and then. Just note that an insurance company will find any way not to cover your claim. Some however may cover pre-existing after a certain number of months. Best to call and find out

      • coffeeinmyveins on 11/03/2024 - 09:51

        There are ways to play the system, but if you were to get insurance and want coverage for anything related to lead poisoning, you would need to visit another vet, not disclose anything and never go back to SASH.

        That, however, is also not how vets work. There is a shared history between insurance providers and vets. You can't "game the system" in this way.

        • scrambledeggs on 11/03/2024 - 10:42
          +1

          Vets do not share pet history without your consent

          • coffeeinmyveins on 11/03/2024 - 11:10
            +7

            @scrambledeggs: They won't, but this is how the conversation will go.

            Customer: I want to sign up for your pet insurance
            Insurer: Ok
            Customer: Ok now I want to make a claim
            Insurer: Ok, send us your pets medical history
            Customer: Nah
            Insurer: Sorry we are not able to approve your claim without your pets history

            I'll say it again, you cannot game the system.

  • 2jzzzz on 11/03/2024 - 09:40

    Surely a blockage is an accident and not a preexisting? But insurance companies may just not cover anything stomach anymore.

    In my case,insurance was worth it.. I'm probably ahead $20k

  • JimmyF on 11/03/2024 - 09:45

    Could these be considered pre-existing?

    Any vet bill paid before now won't be covered.

    Just like humans, read the PDS to see what is covered and what isn't covered. Existing conditions generally are either not covered or might have a waiting period, so if you want to claim anything new related to the lead poisoning you wouldn't legally be covered. Sure you could play dumb and go to another vet etc. But hard to say the dog had lead poisoning now it is removed etc.

  • coffeeinmyveins on 11/03/2024 - 09:50
    +2

    Could these be considered pre-existing?

    Read the PDS mate. Exclusions are pretty clear. and it's very clear what pre-existing means, and this is certainly pre-existing.

    You can't have an accident, go and get insurance and be covered for it. There was a similar thread to this and car insurance the other week, I'm starting to think people are getting sillier.

    Also, if he got "lead poisoning" from this (what?) then anything to do with that will be considered pre-existing in the future. What I mean is, if a symptom of lead poisoning is kidney problems and then two years from now he has kidney problems, even if it's seemingly unrelated to the lead poisoning, because it was a "symptom of that pre-existing issue" it will be excluded.

    Why your sister has a puppy without insurance is beyond me.

    • JimmyF on 11/03/2024 - 09:54
      +2

      I'm starting to think people are getting sillier.

      Very much so! Its lots of people who have been brought up thinking they are not at fault, it is always someone elses fault.

      Do love those car insurance threads, I got hit, it wasn't my fault, they don't have insurance and neither do I. How do I get my car fixed!!?

    • Charbel91 on 11/03/2024 - 12:50

      Why your sister has a puppy without insurance is beyond me.

      Because she's an idiot? because she doesn't listen?

      • coffeeinmyveins on 11/03/2024 - 13:40

        Because she's an idiot? because she doesn't listen?

        Fair enough. I guess it's an expensive lesson :)

  • JimmyF on 11/03/2024 - 09:52
    +5

    They did a blood test, urine test, overnight stay which costed $4K. They said it was toxicity.
    Two weeks pass and he's still not well. I take him to my vet and turns out he had a blockage!
    $1500 for emergency surgery, x-rays we're preformed, overnight stay, etc. he had swallowed a fishing ball. The vet believes that he was having led poisoning due it.

    You do realise these two vet visits findings are related to the same cause. The first vet did tests and found 'toxicity' aka the lead poisoning. They treated him for that. It would normally be assumed anything they ate would pass through so no x-ray needed.

    Then you claim they had a blockage that wasn't picked up, was your animal not pooping for 2 weeks and you didn't notice?

    Due to the fishing sinker they ate not passing through they continued to get exposed to the lead. On the next vet, they do more tests building on the 1st vet tests, I'm sure you filled them in on what was happening, so the next step is a xray to found your missing sinker.

    • Muzeeb on 11/03/2024 - 10:20
      +1

      fishing sinker

      Please use the correct terminology of 'fishing ball' in all future correspondence. Thanks

      • JimmyF on 11/03/2024 - 13:42

        Please don't reply to any of my comments in the future. Thanks

        • Muzeeb on 11/03/2024 - 13:45

          Ok.

      • elgrande on 11/03/2024 - 21:04
        +5

        Hook, line and ball

    • Charbel91 on 11/03/2024 - 12:52

      Not my dog,lol. Apparently he was still going to the toilet ,but was vomiting now and then. it wasn't until Thursday when he was lethargic, vomiting and not able to keep anything down.

      • JimmyF on 11/03/2024 - 13:43
        +1

        he was still going to the toilet

        As in having a shit or not? Because if the dog was shitting, then it wasn't blocked up. There isn't much of a middle ground here.

  • JIMB0 on 11/03/2024 - 10:06
    +1

    Classic ozbargain thread asking if you can get insurance after a crash. Of course you can, but it will only cover future incidents not past incidents.

    • holdenmg on 11/03/2024 - 10:19
      +1

      Problem is, now that Blockbuster Video is gone you need a copy of Back to the Future to go back and rent it so you can buy the Insurance you should have bought yesterday.

    • ColtNoir on 12/03/2024 - 09:44

      The issue is now that there is a history, most pet insurance won’t cover anything related to that pre-existing issue, ever. It’s not like human insurance where pre-existing just has a waiting period.

  • ihbh on 11/03/2024 - 11:10

    Aside from pre-existing conditions, if general incidents like these are common, then medical costs are pretty expensive for puppies. The insurer isn't go to write insurance to make a loss, so it might be more cost effective to self-insure.

  • kekw on 11/03/2024 - 11:24

    Too late for now but sure worth it for the next time he swallow another fishing ball :)

  • Randxyz123 on 11/03/2024 - 11:57
    +1

    You can’t buy car insurance after you rear end a Ferrari just like you can’t buy pet insurance now for your puppy. You’ll need to dig into your PDS to see if this would be considered pre exciting. I wouldn’t think so. But perhaps.

    Have a shop around. One thing to note is you can’t change pet insurers that easily.

  • payless69 on 11/03/2024 - 12:08
    +1

    Lead will give him momentum!

  • Charbel91 on 11/03/2024 - 12:46

    I know you can't get insurance and claim for those two things on the spot,lol. I meant if it was worth it to still get it just in case it happened again.

    He's not my pup. I have insurance for my dog.

    They didn't want to listen to me when I told them to get it.

    • Crispr on 12/03/2024 - 15:49

      It depends. If the pup gets sick again and it’s determined to be related to the previous incident, it would not be covered. But other accidents and illnesses that are unrelated would be covered. As others have mentioned, it’s best to read the PDS of the policies being considered, you can also contact the companies’ customer support to get a better idea of what specifically would and wouldn’t be covered (eg. Some may cover for a separate incident of pup eating something he shouldn’t, others might not because they now has a history of doing that)

  • tsunamisurfer on 11/03/2024 - 12:49
    +2

    One of the key tenets of insurance if that you buy the policy BEFORE anything happens.

    If everyone bought insurance only when a claimable event happens all insurance premiums would be the price of a full repair / hospital bill.

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