Dental - any tips for insurance claim?

[Dawn F]

yes my bill was over £300 about three years ago as well

Lynda most vets will help you out of they can

[heather sullivan]

tooth removal, antibiotics etc for my cat 2 years ago was nearly £300 Glad the insurance co. paid up okay

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think you will find that you have to trannsfer your cat completely to any new vet and always best to have a recomendation for a vet.

There is often a lot of difference in the care and handling of a cat and this may affect the price.

I need to be sure that any vet I use are specially good with cats

[lynda]

Glad I saw this thread.

I was told when I had my 4 year olds annual booster and health check that she had really bad tartar and needed a dental. However, the amount my usual vets quoted for a dental made my eyes water and some of my friends with cats said their vets did it a lot cheaper and that I should shop around, which in all honesty, its not something I would have thought to do normally.

Would it be wrong of me to take my cat to another vets and drop in that it may be gingivitis and see if the vet agrees that it can go through the insurance?! Or is that just really wrong?? 

[heather sullivan]

I have claimed twice for teeth removal, the first time the insurance co didnt pay out, but on the 2nd claim they did. Vet put down she had anabscessed tooth (it wasnt) just loose and a bit manky and they paid up okay .

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

gingivitis is an illness and most cats over the age of about 3 will have signs of gingivitis.  It's a good few years ago now but I claimed from petplan when Jaffa had a dental and they paid up (I just paid excess) without any problem.   My vet at the time said if I had any problems to get back in touch with them - I think they did need to speak in person to the insurance company but they paid out pretty quickly.

[jezebel]

I rang Axa and they said it's possible that Bass' extraction will be covered. And if Drum has got gingivitus, that's an illness so that's covered too. They wouldn't confirm it on the phone though, as it all depends on what the vet puts on the claim form - and also on their previous 12 months' medical history (basically, if we'd ignored any earlier signs then we wouldn't be able to claim, which is fair enough). But the vet was very helpful yesterday so I'm sure he'll do his best.

Even if we can only claim for one of them, it will be a huge help!

[caledonia]

Sounds as though as long as the vet puts the right wording you should be able to :-)

[jezebel]

Thanks all.

It's the fact that it could cost about £500 (that's for both cats, not each) that's made me want to try and claim - and surely this is what insurance is for?

[Dawn F]

Star was having a dental (she is with sainsburys underwritten by axa) and it hadn't even occurred to me to claim, however Rosella mentioned it and the vet put gingivitis down and I got the money back!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

It took me ages to find that wording, hidden away well into the booklet!

[Rosella moggy]

Can I just emphasise please that IMO gingivitis is an illness or at least a symptom of an underlying condition so............... as long as vet remembers to put gingivitis on Drum's records, I think that will help with claim. 

Bass needing a tooth extraction is IMO a done deal 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

They have changed this then but I reckon a bad tooth is related to illness and the vet will know exactly how to word the claim

[Rosella moggy]

Policy states they will NOT pay "Costs resulting from dentistry that is not related to an Illness or injury"

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I dont have my axa forms to hand but unless they have changed their policy details dentals , not polishes were allowed.

Certainly a tooth removal was allowed and I have claimed for this for both my late birmans.

Their wording used to be something to the effect that treatment that was not just for cometic effect was claimable.

[Rosella moggy]

Axa are generally OK about claims for necessary dental work where illness (e.g. tooth extractions, signs of gingivitis) or injury involved.  Preventative treatment I imagine would be  trickier. 

It would be helpful I'm sure if vet's record indicated some degree of gingivitis with Drum which may well be the case if the tartar is bad which appears to be the case if the treatment is urgently needed.

Don't phone Axa until vet has properly recorded Drum's illness.

[caledonia]

To be honest I've never even thought to claim for dental work - just didn't think you could. The bad tooth maybe but the scale and polish I would imagine not. Could they not argue you could have taken preventative measures such as the finger tooth brushes or those plaque off flakes?

If they don't cover dental work then surely there isn't any way around that?

Maybe others will have had success though :-)

[jezebel]

Just taken Drum & Bass for their annual booster shot and discovered that Drum has really bad tartar and urgently needs a descale and polish, and Bass has a bad tooth which needs extracting.

My insurance policy (from Axa) says they don't cover dental treatment unless it's caused by illness or injury, which seems to be the norm, so my question is: have any of you ever claimed for dental work? And if so, how did you do it?

I'm going to phone Axa tomorrow to ask what they can do, but I'd be grateful for any tips which might help!

My view is that a bad tooth is the same as an illness, and bad tartar is a condition which, left untreated, will make the cat ill. Is that reasonable?