Waiting Periods
There are usually waiting periods applied to policies (3 months seems to be most common, except for pre-existing conditions, see below). Waiting periods are often waived for claims arising from accidents. Some policies also exclude new conditions that crop up during the waiting period.
Pre-existing Conditions
Some insurers will not cover pre-existing conditions at all.
Some will cover them, but with a 12 month waiting period.
Some insurers have the 12 month waiting period, and only cover the condition thereafter if it did not cause any claims during that 12 month waiting period.
Example: Mutualpets does not cover pre-existing conditions. Oneplan excludes for 12 months.
Exclusions
Insurers also often exclude hereditary and congenital conditions, at least for the first 12 months of cover.
Some insurers will also exclude specific conditions for specific breeds for the first 12 months, even if your pet has not been diagnosed with any of them (yet).
Age Limits
Some insurers will not accept pets over a certain age. What matters here is age at the start of your policy. It does not mean that once your pet reaches this “maximum age” their cover stops.
Example: Genric only accepts dogs 8 weeks to 9 years for cover. Kido has no age limits.
Limits and sublimits
Be careful of sublimits ie. the maximum amount the insurer will pay for a specific service or claim, regardless of the overall annual cover amount. You might think you have more cover than you actually have access to!
Example: Dotsure Standard has R38,500 annual cover, but a sublimit of R4,620 for surgery, per incident. PawPaw Comprehensive has no annual limit at all.
Excess
There is usually an excess you need to pay per claim, although this is not always made clear up front. Be careful of this…sometimes the excess can be as high as R500 minimum or 15% of the claim.
Sometimes the excess is higher in the first 6 months of the policy.
You may have the option to pay an extra add-on to your premium to avoid an excess payment (Oneplan, Dotsure) or you can choose to pay less every month, but have a higher excess with each claim (Medipet).
