What does the Figo policy say about waiting periods, hereditary conditions and the second side?
Read from policy form IAIC FPI POL AI KS 1025, underwritten by Independence American Insurance Company. Every row below cites the section it came from.
The Figo rules, by condition class
These are the four rules that decide whether a claim is paid in the first year: how long the waiting period runs, what happens to the second side of the body, whether hereditary conditions are covered, and when a cured condition becomes insurable again.
| Condition class | Waiting period | Second side of the body | Hereditary and congenital | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| accident | 1 days One day for injuries caused by an accident, the shortest accident clock in this register. The exception matters: orthopedic conditions caused by an accident are pulled out of this clause and put on the six month orthopedic waiting period instead, so a fracture is not the same as a torn ligament here. | Not stated in the document | Covered | Definitions 44, Waiting Period, page 3 of 13 |
| other-illness | 14 days Fourteen days for illnesses generally. Anything that occurs during the waiting period is excluded afterwards as a pre-existing condition, which is the standard mechanism in this market. | Not stated in the document | Covered | Definitions 44, Waiting Period, page 3 of 13; What We Cover, Illnesses including Genetic Conditions, page 4 of 13 |
| hereditary-congenital | 14 days Covered, and unusually for this market the document says so in the covered list rather than leaving it to be inferred from silence. A genetic condition is defined as an illness whose presence is determined by hereditary factors, and it runs on the ordinary fourteen day illness clock unless it is also orthopedic, in which case the six month clock applies instead. The catch sits in the pre-existing clause: genetic conditions are listed among those never considered curable, so one that predates the policy has no route back into cover. | Not stated in the document | Covered | Definitions 18, Genetic Condition, page 2 of 13: an illness whose presence is determined by hereditary factors; What We Cover, Illnesses including but not limited to Genetic Conditions, page 4 of 13; Pre-Existing Conditions, page 5 of 13 |
| orthopedic | 180 days Six months from the original start date, and it applies to orthopedic illnesses and to orthopedic conditions caused by an accident alike. That is the longest wait of any insurer in this register. It can be waived, but only actively: an orthopedic examination by a veterinary provider plus the Orthopedic Waiver Form submitted within thirty days of the policy taking effect. The bilateral rule in this policy is written for knee and ligament conditions by name, so it does not reach hip or elbow. | Second side counts as pre-existing | Covered | Definitions 44, Waiting Period, page 3 of 13, which sets the orthopedic waiting period for dogs at six months; Definitions 28, Orthopedic; General Conditions 6, page 4 of 13, on the Orthopedic Waiver Form |
| cruciate-ligament | 180 days Six months, and the wording that follows is the strictest combination in this register. The knee clause is identical to the one in the other Independence American policy here, calling ligament, patella, meniscus and knee soft tissue bilateral and related regardless of cause. On top of that, this document states that ligament and knee conditions are never considered cured, so unlike an ordinary condition they cannot come back into cover after a symptom-free year. | Second side counts as pre-existing | Covered | Definitions 22, Ligament and Knee Conditions, page 2 of 13: conditions involving a ligament, patella, meniscus or soft tissue disorder of the knee, considered bilateral and related regardless of cause; Definitions 44, Waiting Period, page 3 of 13; Pre-Existing Conditions, page 5 of 13, which states that ligament and knee conditions are not considered curable |
Everything on this page comes from the policy document Figo publishes itself. We have not bought this policy and we have not filed a claim under it.
Source: Figo policy form IAIC FPI POL AI KS 1025, read on 2026-09-02. Section references are given per row. Oldest check date on this page: .
What stands out in the Figo policy document?
The orthopedic clock here is six months, and that is the longest wait in this register by a factor of six. Definition 44 sets one day for injuries from an accident and fourteen days for illnesses, and then carves out orthopedic conditions for dogs, including orthopedic illnesses and orthopedic conditions caused by an accident, at six months from the original start date. For a breed whose documented problems are mostly orthopedic, that is the number that decides the first year. It can be waived, but not passively: an orthopedic examination has to be done and the Orthopedic Waiver Form submitted within thirty days of the policy taking effect. There is a second clause worth reading twice. Where most policies let a cured condition return to cover after a symptom-free year, this one states that genetic conditions, ligament and knee conditions, orthopedic conditions and chronic conditions are not considered curable at all. A knee that was excluded once stays excluded.
What does this document leave unsaid?
The state question is sharper here than for any other insurer in this register, because Figo does not publish a national specimen at all. We read the Kansas form; the Maine form of the same product defines a waiting period without stating any duration in that definition, which is what Maine law requires, so the six month orthopedic clock cannot be assumed to travel. If you are not in Kansas, open your own state's form from the link above before relying on the numbers on this page. Beyond that: no breed-specific exclusion appears anywhere in the document, and nothing states what happens to a condition that is diagnosed during the orthopedic waiting period but treated after it.
Who actually pays a Figo claim?
Sold as Figo and underwritten by Independence American Insurance Company, which is the same carrier that stands behind Spot. That is visible in the wording as well as on the paperwork: the definition of Ligament and Knee Conditions is word for word identical in both documents, down to the phrase regardless of cause. What differs is the clock. Spot puts knee conditions on the same fourteen days as everything else; Figo puts orthopedic conditions on six months. Two brands, one carrier, and a materially different product. Figo also files a separate policy form per state rather than publishing one national specimen, so the document we read is the Kansas form dated October 2025. That is the most recent one it publishes.