Do you have a pet that can’t get health insurance? There are several reasons this might be the case:
- You may have a breed of pet that the pet insurance company won’t cover. There are very few breeds that are not eligible for coverage, so this won’t disqualify many pets from being covered by health insurance. Most of the time, the breed restriction is because certain breeds are known to have a lot of health problems.
- Your pet is too young or too old for coverage. Most companies cover pets over 7 or 8 weeks of age. Some companies will cover pets any age. Some companies will insure older pets up to 12 or 14 years old. Other companies will not cover pets over 6, 8 or 10 years old.
- Your pet may have pre-existing conditions that preclude coverage for illnesses. The conditions that fall in this category are serious and/or chronic illnesses e.g. cancer, diabetes, Cushings Disease, etc. In these situations, the insurance company knows that these diseases require not only treatment, but frequent monitoring for possibly several years costing you and subsequently them a lot of money.
Sometimes older pets and those with pre-existing conditions, while not eligible for illness coverage will be eligible for the company’s accident-only coverage. There are usually no age or illness restrictions to qualify for this coverage. Of course, to get the broadest coverage for your pet, coverage for both accidents and illnesses is preferable. Therefore, you should get pet insurance while your pet is young, preferably as a puppy or kitten, before any problems occur that could be considered pre-existing and so that age won’t be an issue.
Only one company will insure exotic pets at this time.
The best way to determine if your pet is eligible for coverage is to go to each company’s website and get a quote. You will be given a quote for each policy the company offers for which your pet qualifies for coverage.
