What is with breed specific exclusions?
An interesting topic came up over the past few days under my post on Why do pet insurance policies have so many limits? about breed specific exclusions.
What are they?
Very simply, a list of coverage exclusions if you enroll a given breed. Fortunately for you pet owners, there is only one company that is doing this, that I’m aware of. The list is quite exhaustive, has just about every dog breed out there with at least 2 or 3 specific exclusions next to each. AND at the top of the list says “Please refer to your policy for a full list of exclusions that apply to all breeds, including mixed breeds”. So, buyers beware: this list isn’t even complete!
Well apparently, they have a similar list for cats! The pet owner I had been chatting back and forth with mentioned that she wasn’t even aware of the exclusions, and was shocked to find that her previously healthy kittens (as in cats who are still very young, and with few health problems) had so many exclusions. I wasn’t even aware of the list myself until she brought it up, which of course made me go do some research. It is much smaller than the dog breed exclusion list, but exists none the less.
The sad part about the whole situation, is that like Sandy, many pet owners aren’t aware of such lists until it’s too late. Now, unfortunately for her, her cats now have these pre-existing conditions so if she wanted to switch providers these things wouldn’t be covered.
I still think the whole thing is crazy. You don’t hear about “breed” specific exclusions in human health care. That’d be like saying people with fair skin won’t be covered for skin cancer because they might be more prone to it!
I’ll revert back to my mantra: if it sounds crazy, it probably is!
So now I want to hear more stories about people’s experiences with breed specific exclusions. Is there anyone out there that was aware of this list before purchasing the insurance?
Hi Melissa…I was aware that my dogs had breed specific exclusions. I read my policy. I have two cats who are insured and I’m assuming there are no exclusions because I don’t see it in any of the paperwork.
What I find interesting is the insurance company you are talking about has it’s own breed exclusions and they are totally different from my current policy’s breed exclusions. I just don’t get that.
I have two beagles. One insurance says the following are excluded for beagles: Canine juvenile polyarteritis (Beagle pain syndrome), Copper hepatopathy, Hyperlipidemia, Lens luxation, Narcolepsy, Shaker
syndrome.
My insurance exclusions are: Glaucoma and Epilepsy.
What’s up with that? None are duplicated on either list.
I think if there’s one thing that gets repeated over and over again, it’s READ the policy…it’s so important. I would not have picked up on my beagle’s exclusions unless I read the policy.