The most important thing to keep in mind is if your pet has had any medical conditions in the past. If the answer is no, then switching should be a walk in the park.

If the answer is yes, this becomes a little more complicated. Here at Itch we put the needs of our furry friends first, so we want to be transparent about the risks that may come with switching.

If your pet has needed vet consultations or treatments for any accidents or illnesses, these may be considered pre-existing conditions. It’s important that you know that most insurers, including Itch Insure, won’t be able to cover pre-existing conditions. What does this mean? If the consultations or treatments happened while you had lifetime cover with your current insurer, they should continue to reimburse you for follow ups as long as you continue to renew your policy with them. If you decide to switch and start a new policy, the condition would be considered pre-existing. This means that the policy would have an exclusion for this condition, so any further treatment or consultations would not be covered by your new insurer.

Another important thing to consider is your current insurance provider’s cancellation policy.

If you’re paying for your pet’s policy on a monthly basis, most providers should allow you to cancel and stop making payments at the end of the month.

If you’re paying on an annual basis, some providers will be happy to cancel your policy and reimburse you for the remainder of the policy year. Unfortunately, others will allow you to cancel anytime but you will have to continue paying for the policy until the following renewal date, at which point they will stop taking payments.

If you do decide that switching to Itch is the right thing to do for you and your pet, there’s something you should know. When you switch, most providers will not accept claims for accidents in the first 48 hours of your policy, or illnesses in the first 14 days. However, at Itch we may be able to waive this for you as long as your Itch policy start date is the same day as the day your previous policy finishes. All you have to do is get in touch with us, send over the Certificate of Insurance from your previous policy, and we’ll do the rest. That way, you can rest assured that you’ll be covered from Day 1 with Itch Insure.