Does pet insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Pet insurance excludes pre-existing conditions industry-wide — any illness or injury your pet showed signs of before the policy started or during its waiting period.
What flips the answer
- Covered when
The condition was curable, fully resolved, and your pet has gone the insurer's required symptom-free period without recurrence — some insurers will then treat it as newly eligible.
- Not covered when
The condition is chronic or incurable and was present, diagnosed, or symptomatic before the policy started or during the waiting period.
- Not covered when
You enrolled after your pet already had documented symptoms, even if it wasn't formally diagnosed until later — insurers review vet history, not just diagnosis dates.
Every pet insurer excludes pre-existing conditions, defined as any illness or injury that showed symptoms, was diagnosed, or was treated before your policy's effective date — or during the initial waiting period after you enroll. This is a structural feature of how the industry underwrites risk, not a gap specific to one insurer.
Some insurers distinguish between curable and incurable pre-existing conditions. A curable condition (like a past ear infection or a resolved case of vomiting) that hasn't recurred for a defined symptom-free period — commonly six to twelve months, insurer-dependent — may become eligible for coverage going forward. An incurable or chronic pre-existing condition, such as diabetes or a heart condition already present, is typically excluded for the life of the policy.
Because the exclusion is judged against your pet's medical history, insurers usually request vet records going back at least a year when you file a claim, to confirm the condition wasn't already present.
That's the general answer. Yours is written in your actual policy.
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