Does pet insurance cover hereditary and congenital disorders?
I wrote about hereditary and congenital disorders a while back, but wanted to touch on the subject again. They are, after all, extremely important to our pets’ health. In short, a congenital disorder is one that a pet is born with, whether or not they show signs or symptoms right away. Think of this as a growth abnormality. A hereditary disorder is one that certain breeds may be prone to, usually having to do with how a given pet is built (short and stubby, long and lean, short snout, etc.).
What does this mean when it comes to pet insurance?
It can mean a number of things. But one thing is for certain, if you are concerned about either type of condition please do your homework before buying a policy! Because treatments for things like diabetes or Von Willebrands Disease can run into the thousands of dollars, if you’re looking to have decent coverage you should really do your homework. Some companies simply do not cover both congenital and hereditary disorders, some severely limit the maximum payout for, some will allow you to add on coverage for hereditary or congenital issues for additional premium, others will cover hereditary conditions but consider congenital disorders to be pre-existing, and some will actually cover all!
To learn more about how Trupanion and its competitors handle congenital and hereditary disorders, please visit their site and do a little pet insurance comparison. Or, feel free to post questions and comments here of course!
Doing your homework is definitely a good idea when it comes to pet insurance. Great post.
If a dog/cat is born with a breed prevalent “deformed spinal cord” or some other Obvious condition . Since you can see the problem exsists before it is clinically dianosed. Does this mean that even with the added rider coverage for hereditory illnesses this would still not be covered because it falls under the “Pre-Exsisting” conditions evident “Prior” to enrollment? If so then a fair argument could be made that any Hereditary condition could be eliminated under this verbage. And what if the pet is a mix breed are breed prevalent ailments still considered pre-existing?
Hi Barb,
I’m going to go ahead and answer on behalf of Trupanion, although I’m not sure if you were asking about pet insurance in general or another company.
With Trupanion, there is no added rider for hereditary illnesses, as most of those are included with the exception of hip dysplasia coverage. If the pet is enrolled before his or her first birthday, you may elect to have the hip dysplasia rider.
You do bring up a good point about a hereditary condition (or rather a congenital condition) being construed as pre-existing – and some companies do treat such conditions as such. However, with Trupanion, as long as there were no signs or symptoms or diagnosis prior to enrolling (or during the waiting periods) then you would be covered.
To clearly answer your last question, Trupanion does not have any breed specific exclusions and therefore it doesn’t matter if the pet is pure bred or mixed.
Does that help?
If when u join your pet to an insurance co you must tell them every little thing that your little one has had.Pre existing If it develops a life condition after they had gone past the waiting period and have accepted u provided that you have taken out a life policy, which is always a little dearer, they will pay up to whatever you are insured for each and every year after, up to whatever cost you are insured for. even if the animal is a stray and you have no knowledge of any preexisting condition. You will pay as with a car an excess on each condition that will be once a year and every year that you stay with these people. Always make sure that you are not in arrears, and are truthfull with them. When your cat reaches 7 it is considered old, and you will pay usually one third of the costs +the exc unless the animal was insured with them before they were 7 years old.Then they can only charge you the access as usuall. I use animal friends as they make no profit and all the money goes into helping all kinds of animals and new sanctuaries here and all over the world. Large and small organisations. If u would like to know email me.remember once you have taken as insurace out unless you are lucky if you go to another any pre existing condition will not be covered so choose wisely if the animal was born with this condition it would be so unusual for them to insure this condition sharron
If you are looking for a pet insurance policy in the UK, then it is always advisable to shop around and read the small print to make sure you know what you are purchasing.
If is stressful enough worrying that your pet is ill, the last thing you want is more stress if you are not fully covered.