Insurance claim re calicivirus

[Rosella moggy]

Yes Tango has been in for similar probs but don't know if it started pre insurance kicking in 4 years ago.  Brother a bit testy on the subject MM so would prefer to wait for vet's response.  He's under pressure workwise so don't want to push it.  The letter to vet basically asks if she would be prepared to support brother if he pursues claim which should answer the "showing clinical signs" dilemma better but I just thought I'd ask what peeps thought.

Yes they are outdoor cats Gill although all hell breaks loose if they are not in before bedtime  .  They are very well loved and cared for 

[Millys Mum]

Can your brother not remember taking tango in for anything similar?

how strong the link would need to be between symptoms and illness to denote a pre existing condition.

Alot of things can be down to having had flu at some point as its so common but its maybe also coincidental that many cats will be positive for certain viruses with no symptoms. Its down to each company how picky they want to be 

Until you find out what history your vet has you cant really argue the case with m&s, if vets have noted symptoms of calici but not tested then they can use it against the claim if they so wish. Are they vaccinated? If not thats another way they could get out of paying up

The cost of treating an illness, injury or
behavioural disorder that happened or
showed clinical signs before your pet’s
insurance started.

If theres clincal signs of calici on his records then i would say the above is why they refused

This is where im glad to be with a company who will review exclusions, petplan can review after 12months if no further probs have been had. They even paid for simons tongue/mouth probs and biopsy this year even tho he started having mouth probs at a year old, he had a 12 month space with no issues so they lifted it 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

i agree with Ruth and gunky eyes etc does not necessarily mean calici, and unless the cats was previously tested nobody can say whether it was.

if its an outdoor cat it could pick it up from another cat at any time.

my brother had a cat who was a carrier of calici which was found out after a test cos he was very ill and by then he had mixed with all the neighbourhood cats so brother wenr to see all their ownwers and nobody was bothered and as far as i know no other cat caught it.

i reckon m an s are on a policy of avoidance!

[Kittybabe (Ruth)]

Generally if the vet writes to the insurers stating that the previous gunky eyes etc were unrelated, the insurance should accept that. They can however state they wish to have an independent assessment but as that costs them money they may not. Either way I'd move to Axa, they've been pretty good for us.

[Rosella moggy]

My brother has 3 gingers, mom and 2 boys all covered by M&S insurance.

One of gingers, Tango, has recently tested positive for calicivirus.  M&S are saying that medical records show symptoms existed before policy commenced in 2006 when he moved from Petplan.  Brother's initial reaction was to throw his toys out of the pram and was going to cancel all policies and start putting money to one side.   He said that he had spoken to vet about it but he was so annoyed I couldn't quite get him to recount exactly what vet had said. I have encouraged him instead write to his vet to clarify.  I'm thinking that records probably showed Tango had a gunky eye or sniffles at some point prior to policy commencing and wonder what people's thoughts are as to how strong the link would need to be between symptoms and illness to denote a pre existing condition.

In the letter I have also asked vet to indicate any other signs of pre existing conditions for all 3 that either predate M&S policies or have arisen during the M&S policy period so my brother can consider whether he should remain with M&S, move to Axa or go ahead and cancel all insurance (a move to Axa is prob more likely)

I feel a bit responsible for all this upset as, until I'd suggested that my brother should make a claim, he hadn't considered it