Insurance help !!!

Hi everyone

Unfortunately my poor boy has a suspected ruptured cruciate ligament and is booked in for x-rays and investigations under anethestic next Monday to determine the exact cause of the injury.

Obviously I'm gutted knowing that if this is the case surgery is inevitable and a long road of recovery and rehabilitation lies ahead.

My main concern right now is my insurance cover. I am with John Lewis who provide cover for life at £10,000 per year.

Never having claimed in the last 2.5 years I've now read my policy from cover to cover to make sure there are no exclusions that the insurance company may try as a loophole to get out of paying out.

In my policy it states that they do not cover, amongst banned breeds, Irish or American Staffordshire Bull Terriers or dogs crossed with those breeds! I insured my dog as a SBT and they asked no questions about his breed or questioned any cross breeding.

Having rehomed him I never received any breed papers for him and have no idea of his background or breedin or proof. He isn't short or stocky and has always been on the lean side with longer legs, but not skinny at all. Altho he's already putting on weight from a week of no excercise already so I'll be watching his intake of food during his recovery process whilst he can't burn it off. I know "Irish" classed staffies are bred to be taller and leaner so am kinda a bit worried now. As far as I'm concerned he is a SBT and nothing else!!!!

My vet asked which insurance company I was with and did not show any signs of concern when I said JL. I'm now worried they may not pay out and claim he could be an Irish Staff/cross. But why then include SBT in their list of insurable breeds?

Has anyone else had similar problems with any insurance claims, especially big claims? I know a cruciate ligament repair op is going to cost a good couple of grand or more and there is no way I have the money up front to pay for such expensive treatment, which is why I took out the insurance in the first place!!

I want the best treatment I can give my boy to get him well again, but just need to know my insurance will help me do that coz that's the reason I have it!

Thanks all

There is no such thing as an irish staff.

He is a staffy cross, pure and simple. If noone asks questions, don't say any answers.

if the insurance refuse to pay out on the grounds of breed, then they should not have covered you from the start. citizens advice and a decent lawyer would have wet dreams over that

have calimed with JL before but with a papered weimeraner (pyometra, plus surgery, plus aftercare, and also an emergency callout after a scrap with another dog late one sunday) and they paid out to the vets straight away. if i remember rightly, the pyometra alone was well into the thousands as it was at a very late stage (and lucky we caught it).

If they cover staffys they cover staffys I was told when I claimed with Sainsburys (for dental work for Ledger) that they confirm 12 months vetinary history from your vet before they pay out to confirm check ups etc and was told that as I hadn't owned him for a year then it could delay payment where they would trace back to rescue centre vet if needed. But there were no issues and when i popped in a couple of weeks later to check with the vet that they had received payment they told me that the payout also actually covered the initial consultation which I wasn't expecting so I am now in credit at the vet ready for next years vaccinations

By what breed is your dog registered at the vets. ??

If it is SBT then you have nothing to worry about as all the paperwork from them will state this anyway.

If he is insured as a SBT and they said nothing at the time when you took out the cover you should be OK.

What does your paperwork from the rescue centre say his breed is?

Thank you all!!

I am feeling a little less panicky about the whole thing now. I just know how quickly insurance companies will try to get out of a claim if they can and when I read the bit about "Irish SBTs" I started to stress!

He is registered at my vet as a SBT and I never got any papers with him as I heard about him thru a friend as the family that had him were about to get rid of him as they no longer had time to care for him and he was being left in a cage all day every day ... so I didn't hesitate to give him a loving forever home

He only came to me with his vet medical card and his microchip papers and that was it.

Am calling the insurance company today to get the wheels in motion ready for the start of diagnosis on Monday then treatment and recovery to follow.

Thanks again x

There you go, sometimes we all stress about things we don't need to.

Hope it all goes well and he makes a full recovery.

We've just been through cruciate ligament surgery and rehabilitation with our SBT Kora. It has taken 3 months so far and she is almost back to normal. But we still stress about her though!! She is just about to have her last hydrotherapy session (covered by our insurance).

Good luck with the insurance and the surgery. I am sure you will have no problems. There is a lot of information on the web, Kora had TPLO surgery and it has worked really well. She is now tearing around again. She was under 1 when she had the surgery so keeping her quiet was a challenge, but well worth it so see her now.

Our vet recommended changing her feed to a weight control variety whilst she was inactive. We used this and she hasn't put too much weight on.

Once again, good luck and hope Dizzy makes a speedy recovery.

Phil

Big Phil wrote:We've just been through cruciate ligament surgery and rehabilitation with our SBT Kora. It has taken 3 months so far and she is almost back to normal. But we still stress about her though!! She is just about to have her last hydrotherapy session (covered by our insurance).

Good luck with the insurance and the surgery. I am sure you will have no problems. There is a lot of information on the web, Kora had TPLO surgery and it has worked really well. She is now tearing around again. She was under 1 when she had the surgery so keeping her quiet was a challenge, but well worth it so see her now.

Our vet recommended changing her feed to a weight control variety whilst she was inactive. We used this and she hasn't put too much weight on.

Once again, good luck and hope Dizzy makes a speedy recovery.

Phil

Thank you Phil much appreciated!

Dizzy had his x-rays and investigations yesterday and unfortuantely it is definitely the cruciate ligament that has ruptured Also the onset of arthritus has started in the same leg, so he will be on a lifetime of joint supplements from now on bless him.

Op is now (hopefully) scheduled for 26th July and the vet is hoping to perform a different procedure on Dizzy called TTA surgery, which has a quicker recovery period of up to 6 to 8 weeks apparently. So I really hope he qualifies for this as a specialist is coming in to do the op. My vet seems to think he will be able to have this surgery so fingers crossed!

I called the insurance company last week and thankfully they said this treatment is covered by my insurance, so HUGE sigh of relief there! Also they said any aftercare such as hydrotherapy is also covered. PHEEEEEW!!

I'll let you know how he gets on with the surgery and recovery. It's just so hard not to be able to get a dog to understand why he can't go on on his daily walks, especially for the next 10 weeks or so But in the grand scheme of things it's only a short time really and hopefully he'll be back to his normal energetic self very soon!!

x

Good luck with the op, we'll be thinking of you both ><

janey wrote:

Good luck with the op, we'll be thinking of you both ><

Awwwww, thank you so much Janey Big woofs and licks from Dizzy too

We'll keep you posted on his recovery.

x

Good luck with the op. I've never heard of JL insurance being 'difficult' with a claim, so I doubt there's a problem. And if the vet says your dogs a staffy, that's all the insurance company will be interested in!

Caryll wrote:Good luck with the op. I've never heard of JL insurance being 'difficult' with a claim, so I doubt there's a problem. And if the vet says your dogs a staffy, that's all the insurance company will be interested in!

Thanks Caryll that is good to hear and also much thanks for your kind words x

Good luck for you and Dizzy really hope it all goes well for you with a speedy recovery, its so hard when they are young and you need too restrict their exercise, they just don,t get it..!! But this new procedure sounds great, all the best keep us posted as too how you both get on x

crystel wrote:Good luck for you and Dizzy really hope it all goes well for you with a speedy recovery, its so hard when they are young and you need too restrict their exercise, they just don,t get it..!! But this new procedure sounds great, all the best keep us posted as too how you both get on x

Ahh thank you Crystel that is very much appreciated. I know it's so hard especially when that face looks longingly at me when I go near his lead :-( I so wish at times like this we could explain to them so they understand what's happening. We're taking him on lots of car trips at mo just for change of scenery and some diff smells. Got 2 wks just to wait for op yet so it's so frustrating already.

He's already become a bit more mischievous where he's not releasing all that energy!! If anyone's got any good tips for good non physical menral stimulation I'd be grateful for a few more ideas than I already have. Especially for during the first few critical weeks after his op!

Much appreciation! X