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Pet insurance is designed to cover unexpected illnesses or accidents.
For this reason, pet insurance companies don't offer immediate cover to new customers for conditions they already knew about.
ManyPets' pet insurance works differently.
We've removed the 14-day waiting period for claims for pet owners who switch to us. Customers who switch straight from another insurance company they've been with for 12 months or more can claim immediately as long as there's no gap in cover between the two policies.
We'll just ask you for proof of your previous policy if you need to make a claim in that first 14 days with us.
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If you're new to pet insurance, or you've had a gap between your previous policy with another provider and your policy with us, we cannot pay for illness claims during the 14-day waiting period and they'll be treated as pre-existing for 12 months.
Once 12 months has passed you'll be able to make a claim for treatment that takes place after that period.
Most other insurers will completely exclude conditions that develop during the 14 day waiting period.
| Pet insurance provider | Waiting period for illnesses |
|---|---|
| ManyPets | 0 days if you switch straight from another insurer you've been with for 12 months or more, otherwise a 14 day waiting period applies |
| Churchill | 10 days |
| More Than | 14 days |
| John Lewis Finance Pet Insurance | 14 days |
| Direct Line e | 14 days |
| LV= | 14 days |
| The Kennel Club | 14 days |
| Tesco Bank | 14 days |
| Sainsburys Bank | 14 days |
| Animal Friends | 14 days |
| Petplan | 14 days |
How soon can I claim on pet insurance?
As you can see from our list of waiting periods, you will usually have to wait around 14 days before you can claim on a pet insurance policy for an illness.
The waiting period for accident claims is shorter - usually it's 48 hours.
At ManyPets, we have removed the 14-day waiting period for pet owners who choose to switch insurance providers they've been with for 12 months or more. You can now make an immediate claim if you've switched to us straight from another provider.
We are not aware of any pet insurers that offer instant dog insurance cover for new customers.
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Why is there a waiting period for pet insurance?
There's a waiting period for claims to prevent people from buying a pet insurance policy and immediately claiming for an illness their pet already had or looked like they were going to develop.
If there was no waiting period, they could get a big payout from their insurance while only having to pay a small premium. That would push up the prices of premiums for all customers.
It would also be classed as a fraudulent claim because when you take out a policy you tell the insurance company you believe your pet is healthy. And if you do know about any previous conditions, your insurer will let you know whether it can cover them or not.
In the UK, there isn't an option to buy 'emergency pet insurance' once an incident occurs. Insurers expect you to be prepared by taking out a policy before any unexpected emergencies happen.
The problem for customers is that any legitimate claims for illness in the waiting period will be excluded and classed as a pre-existing condition by the insurer. The condition is then likely to be excluded from the policy completely after the waiting period.
At ManyPets we will cover a condition that occurs in the 14 first days, once 12 months has passed.
Wait periods when you switch pet insurers
If you want to change pet insurance companies the wait period means your pet potentially won't be covered for the two weeks after you move to a new company.
That's why we've removed the 14-day waiting period for pet owners who switch from insurers they've been with for 12 months or more. Switch to us from another insurer and you'll have immediate cover.
You could overlap policies by having your new policy start two weeks before the old one ends. But this means you'll have to pay for both policies during this overlap period.
You should check with both insurance companies that you can do this when you come to the end of your insurance period. Being covered by two policies at once can cause some complications if you need to make a claim as the insurance providers will need to decide who is responsible for the claim.
If you're switching away from ManyPets, we'll pay out any successful claims during the final two weeks even if you've started a policy with someone else.
How long is ManyPets's pet insurance waiting period?
It depends whether you've been insured with another provider and how long for, before you switched to us.
Switching to ManyPets from another provider
As part of our mission to make pet insurance fairer, we've removed the industry standard two-week period for customers switching insurers.
If you're a new customer switching to us from someone else you've been with for 12 months or more, you can claim for vet treatment within the first two weeks of starting your new policy, as long as your pet was insured by your previous insurer up to the date this policy starts.
We'll just ask you to give us details of your previous insurance to confirm there was no gap in cover.
New customers without a previous policy
Waiting periods do still apply for new customers.
In the first 14 days, you can't claim for any illnesses and there's a 48-hour waiting period for accidents.
If something develops in those 14 days, it'll be treated as a pre-existing condition for 12 months. After then you'll be able to claim for it as a new condition.
If your pet's been poorly before you switched to us, take a look at our Pre-Existing pet insurance policy. It can cover most conditions that your pet has suffered from in the past before you take out our cover. It won't cover conditions that have been diagnosed or that have had signs or symptoms, medication, treatment or advice from your vet three months before your policy starts and then we still have the 14-day waiting period.
We are the only company to offer cover like this for pre-existing conditions.
Should you switch to us?
We don't just offer immediate cover. Our pet insurance offers up to £15,000 vet fee cover, 24/7 access to a professional with FirstVet and a range of ManyPets Perks.
Remember: we'll waive the 14-day waiting period so you can get immediate cover. But this is only for customers who switch to us from another insurer they have been with for 12 continuous months or more.
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