On this page
- Understanding your Current Pet Insurance Policy
- How to Cancel a Pet Insurance Policy
- How to Switch to a New Pet Insurance Provider
- What Happens to Coverage After You Cancel?
- Refunds and Policy Credits, What do They Entail?
- Tips to Avoid Coverage Gaps When Switching
- When You Might not Want to Cancel
- How to Compare New Pet Insurance Providers
- Cost Considerations When Switching
- Choosing What's Best for Your Pet & Budget
You love your pet, but the truth is that you may not love your pet’s current insurance policy. For this reason, many pet owners are faced with frequent fleeting thoughts on how to switch pet insurance without risking gaps in insurance coverage or losing protection for existing conditions.
Well, here’s some good news for you. You can actually cancel or change providers. However, timing and planning matter.
Usually, pet owners would prefer to switch insurance policies due reasons like:
- Insurance cost changes
- Better coverage offered by another provider
- Adding or removing wellness coverage
- Moving to a new province
- Poor insurance claims experience
- Changes in deductible or reimbursement terms
- Changes in their pet’s needs.
Depending on what situation you find yourself in, cancellation might make sense. At other times, switching your pet insurance provider yields better value. The key is knowing what your current insurance policy entails before making any decision.
Remember that your pet insurance isn’t a permanent contract. Your situation can change at any moment, and your policy should change to match it.
Understanding your Current Pet Insurance Policy
What pet insurance coverage do you have?
Most pet insurance policies fall into one of these three categories:
- “Accident only” coverage.
- Accident and illness coverage.
- Comprehensive plans with extra wellness add-ons.
Before making any changes to your current pet insurance, read your existing policy carefully. This includes going through details like your current insurance renewal date, cancellation terms, and refund conditions. Check your deductible, annual limit, and reimbursement rate.
These details affect how much you get back after a claim. For pet owners insured with providers like Trupanion, Fetch Pet Insurance, or Petsecure, your policy documents will outline these limits clearly.
It’s also important you look out for key dates like your current policy start date, renewal date and cooling-off period.
Most Canadian pet insurers offer a cooling-off period of about 14 to 30 days. If you cancel during that window and have not made a claim, you usually receive a full refund. Understanding these rules helps you decide how to switch pet insurance without losing so much money in the process.
How to Cancel a Pet Insurance Policy
Knowing how to cancel pet insurance is a must for every pet owner.
Usually, the first step in cancelling your pet insurance policy is reaching out to your insurer directly. It could be via a phone call, email, online payment portal or a written request. The important thing is that you reach out by yourself.
Your insurer will most likely ask you to confirm your cancellation date in writing alongside other details like your policy number, pet’s name, and your full name.
Understand Cooling-off Periods and Unused Premiums
Insurance cooling-off periods are usually a 14 to 30 days period after a new insurance policy becomes active. If for any reason you cancel your pet insurance within this period, and you’ve not filed a claim, you’re eligible for a full refund!
On the other hand, if you made a claim during that period, the refund may be reduced or sometimes denied. It’s also important to note that the exact duration of the cooling-off period differs with insurers.
After the cooling-off window, most insurers provide a pro-rated refund, some deduct administrative fees while others may offset refunds against paid claims. This is why proper planning on how to switch pet insurance matters; no one likes unexpected deductions.
How to Switch to a New Pet Insurance Provider
One common mistake when switching pet insurance is cancelling your old insurance policy too soon. To avoid coverage gaps, it’s generally advisable to start your new policy before cancelling your old one.
A very good depiction of this is in waiting periods. Every insurer applies waiting periods to new insurance policies. It’s a timeframe after the start of a new policy where you’re not allowed to make any insurance claims.
It’s basically an “anti-fraud” measure and it differs for each condition or coverage type. For example, it’s approximately 48 hours for accidents, 14 days for illnesses.
If your pet develops a condition during a waiting period, it becomes “pre-existing” and that condition will not be covered under the new plan.
Also, if your pet was diagnosed before the new policy start date, that issue will likely be excluded. This basically means pre-existing conditions are not included in a new policy and switching providers can reduce coverage for pets with medical history.
What Happens to Coverage After You Cancel?
Insurance claims submitted before cancellation are often processed, but new incidents after cancellation are not covered. The moment your policy ends, you cannot submit new insurance claims for incidents that’ll occur after cancellation.
However, check the exact terms. Each insurer defines your pet’s insurance coverage differently. If you are making plans on how to switch pet insurance, ensure you confirm how pending claims are handled before cancelling.
Refunds and Policy Credits, What do They Entail?
Refund eligibility usually depends on timing, your insurance claims history, and insurer rules. Here’s a simple table that should help you understand it better.
| Cancellation Time | Refund Type |
|---|---|
| Cancelling within cooling-off period with no claims | You get a full refund. |
| Cancelling mid-term with no major claims | You get a pro-rated refund |
| Claims exceed premiums paid | Refund may be reduced or even denied |
| Monthly billing cancellation | Future payments stopped |
The scenarios illustrated in the table are only four of the numerous ways your insurance cancellation time can affect the possibility of a refund, hence the importance of always speaking to your insurer to explain how specific refunds are calculated.
Tips to Avoid Coverage Gaps When Switching
Normally, avoiding coverage gaps even when you know how to switch pet insurance would require some serious professional hands. However, you can still pull it off yourself if you know some helpful do’s and don’ts.
To be specific, you can never go wrong with keeping your current policy active until the new one begins. It’s also often helpful to confirm the commencement date of the new policy.
When switching your pet insurance, timing is of utmost importance, that’s why you should double check waiting periods and exclusions associated with the new policy. Remember to acquire a written cancellation confirmation from your old insurer.
Let’s discuss a few “don’ts” to consider when switching an insurance policy. This is because even a few days without coverage can create serious risk both for you and your pet.
Typical mistakes to watch out for are:
- Cancelling your current insurance before approval of the new policy.
- Ignoring waiting periods and their possible impact on your pet’s wellbeing.
- Forgetting about pre-existing exclusions
- Neglecting your insurance refund terms
- Failing to request written proof of your current insurance cancellation.
When You Might not Want to Cancel
In special cases where your pet has new health conditions, switching may reduce coverage because the new insurer may exclude these conditions permanently. You wouldn’t want that, right?
When considering whether to switch your pet insurance or not, you should compare what you’ll lose to the old policy against what you might gain from the new policy.
This little comparison will help you make a stronger decision on what’s best for your pet. Sometimes keeping your current policy might even be the safer choice.
How to Compare New Pet Insurance Providers
It’s quite easy to focus only on price when comparing pet insurance providers. However, a solid comparison should go beyond price alone, it should compare coverage depth, reimbursement rates, and annual limits.
You can even create a checklist for each offer. It’s should contain details like:
- Monthly premium
- Annual maximum payout
- Deductible options
- Reimbursement percentage
- Waiting periods
- Coverage exclusions
- Customer reviews
Bear in mind that cheap coverage will only deliver equal value!
Cost Considerations When Switching
The cost impact of switching your insurance provider is another factor that needs serious consideration before any decision is made. Pet owners need to be more aware of the fact that switching insurance providers may reset premiums based on their pet’s age or breed.
This is basically because pet insurance premiums often increase as pets age. Hence, staying with your current provider may be cheaper long-term, especially if your pet is older.
Aside from age, breed-related risks may also increase insurance costs. Unfortunately, these financial factors are often overlooked when pet owners switch their pet insurance.
Choosing What’s Best for Your Pet & Budget
At this juncture, it’s quite clear that having a good understanding on how to switch pet insurance is possible. However, it requires careful planning and an in-depth understanding of how pet insurance works, the price impact of switching providers and potential losses or gains when switching.
As discussed earlier, it’s always helpful if you keep details like your pet’s age, breed, possible medical conditions, your insurance refund terms, etc.
When you fully grasp how to switch pet insurance correctly, you’ll easily avoid coverage gaps, refund issues, and denied claims. Primarily, the goal is to protect your pet without overpaying.
FAQs about How to Cancel a Pet Insurance Policy
Your insurer will usually provide you with a way to make contact. Whether it's by phone, email or any other media, contact your insurer to provide your policy details. Also request a written confirmation of cancellation.
You may receive a full refund during the cooling-off period. After that, most insurance companies offer pro-rated refunds.
Although claims for new incidents after cancellation are not covered, claims for incidents that occurred before cancellation are usually processed.
Yes, you can. Though it'll only be possible if you cancel your current insurance after the expiration of your new policy’s cooling-off periods.
Most insurers exclude conditions diagnosed before the new pet insurance policy begins. So, no, pre-existing conditions do not transfer.