Any condition your pet has experienced prior to enrollment, during past policy years, or during the applicable waiting periods would be considered a pre-existing condition.
You can easily find out if your pet has any pre-existing conditions by requesting your pet’s medical records from all vet clinics they have visited in their lifetime. Any conditions your pet has experienced (including signs or symptoms) prior to enrollment or during the applicable waiting periods of any pet insurance will be considered a pre-existing condition and not eligible for coverage.
If you are unsure what exactly a pre-existing condition is or how to properly determine your pet’s pre-existing conditions, our Care Team would be happy to review your pet’s medical history with you to inform you what would be pre-existing.
It’s also important to note that with PHI Direct’s new-condition coverage, any condition experienced in one policy year will be considered pre-existing in future policy years, including any associated or bilateral conditions.
Associated and Bilateral Conditions
Understanding Associated and Bilateral Conditions is helpful in understanding pre-existing conditions.
- Associated Condition: any medical condition or complication arising from another primary condition.
For instance, scratching at the ears is a sign of allergies. If a pet then is gnawing at their paws, this may also be due to allergies and would be considered an associated condition.
- Bilateral Condition: conditions affecting body parts of which your pet has two, one on each side of the body (ie. eyes, ears, kidneys, hips, knees, hocks, wrists, elbows, or shoulders). If only one body part of the two is affected by a condition prior to enrollment, then this condition would be considered pre-existing should it affect either body part at any time in the future.