Pet Insurance

[marinenck138]

I found a thread that was a year old but you can't post to it. I wanted to see if there were any updates to what people think is considered good for pet insurance. I have the PetSmart stuff which works for shots but I just received the AKC 60 day free pet insurance trial and that paperwork seems to cover a lot more. Anyone have any suggestions from personal expirience?

Thanks

[moondog]

My thoughts on pet insurance haven't changed for a long time.

My insurance of choice is healthy food, good exercise, an excellent credit rating and faithful deposits to a savings account in an amount equal to what a pet insurance company would charge me in premiums.

People always seem to come back with the idea that "no one ever puts the money away", but I don't understand it. If you can reliably pay the bill every month, why can't you take the same amount and put it in a savings account instead?

[peachesandchubby]

I have the AKC pet insurance and they have been pretty good so far. I know the most pricey one even pays for the spaying and neutering. On the bad side they say they dont cover things like HD or major issues that the breed might have (genetic problems..) so your vet needs to be good about how to write up things. They wont cover anything to do with Chubbys HD or therapy for it, but for the things like emergency trips they are very good.
Teresa

[Maqroll]

Do folks get pet insurance in case the pet gets sick, or if the pet bites the neighbor?

[parajeeper]

I have VPI (Veterinary Pet Insurance - Insurance for Dogs, Cats, Puppies, Kittens, Avians, Exotics) through my company. I am dropping them. They nickle and dime you and pay out nothing

[Anne]

I'm not sure how it works over there but over here your public liability insurance should cover the dog biting the neighbor....god forbid.

It's a totally difference policy for pet health issues.

[Hannamia]

I never considered I needed pet insurance until my Mia came down with bone cancer and I saw my credit cards go thru the roof.....so I looked into them and realized that it may be a good idea to put my other on it and it may be worth it in case something happens where I may need their help someday. Hopefully I never will. I have VPI and I also have it where they cover his yearly shots etc. I have not had to use them yet...so we will see what happens when he is due for his annual updates.....

[buckeye96]

I have VPI and it has paid for itself over the last year. We pay $330 a year for full coverage and received around $300 back for the vet vists.
They have paid quickly and send you an email reply when they have received your fax. I am happy with them.

[Chantal]

Pet insurance in my opinion is such a waste. I have been paying on both my dogs for 7 & 6 years. My 7 year old was diagnosed with leukemia mid-April. My policy was set to renew May 1st. As it has every year since she was 9 weeks old. I was told that anything relating to the leukemia, after May1st, would be considered a pre-existing condition & would not be covered. Even though I have had coverage since she was 9 weeks old & have never filed a claim on that dog. I used it 2 times on my 6 year old. I had the plan that covered accidents & sickness (not yearly check ups). We payed about $25 a month. Needless to say, I canceled both policies & will never have it again. Luckily I got some chemo treatments in that were covered & some meds for her, before the cut off date of May1st. Ironically, my 6 year old has HD & I always thought well, at least she'll be covered, but no, because it will be comsidered pre-existing from previous years.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by Chantal

My 7 year old was diagnosed with leukemia mid-April. My policy was set to renew May 1st. As it has every year since she was 9 weeks old. I was told that anything relating to the leukemia, after May1st, would be considered a pre-existing condition & would not be covered. Even though I have had coverage since she was 9 weeks old & have never filed a claim on that dog.

Yep, people don't seem to realize that since the policy expires yearly, it is considered a new policy each year no matter how many years you've been paying for the coverage. And, if you've ever filed a claim, they know exactly what is "pre-existing" come the new year.

After paying for years on my horse without a single claim, his policy was cancelled the year he turned 16. What a waste of money that was. If I had put it in an interest bearing savings account, the medical care he did need (at age 26 no less) would have been easily paid for out-of-pocket.

It's a rip off to buy pet insurance. The companies are in it to make money, not lose it, so they're going to find every angle they can to keep yours.

[Anne]

Originally Posted by Chantal

Pet insurance in my opinion is such a waste. I have been paying on both my dogs for 7 & 6 years. My 7 year old was diagnosed with leukemia mid-April. My policy was set to renew May 1st. As it has every year since she was 9 weeks old. I was told that anything relating to the leukemia, after May1st, would be considered a pre-existing condition & would not be covered. Even though I have had coverage since she was 9 weeks old & have never filed a claim on that dog. I used it 2 times on my 6 year old. I had the plan that covered accidents & sickness (not yearly check ups). We payed about $25 a month. Needless to say, I canceled both policies & will never have it again. Luckily I got some chemo treatments in that were covered & some meds for her, before the cut off date of May1st. Ironically, my 6 year old has HD & I always thought well, at least she'll be covered, but no, because it will be comsidered pre-existing from previous years.

I would be reading the fine print and checking the legality of this. You are renewing an existing policy rather than taking out a new policy. They sound shonky to me.

The insurance company I used had a long list of exclusions and an even longer list of additional breed exclusions that increased each year. Evenetually, though the dogs were insured for accident and illness, most illnesses were not covered. The cover was decreasing and the premium kept increasing.

My dog was sent for an arthroscopy for suspected FCP. As it turned out it wasn't FCP at all. It was an unecessary surgery as it turned out to be a pinched nerve causing a shoulder muscle to spasm. However since FCP was an exclusion the insurance company refused to pay out...even though it was found not to be the the problem. I cancelled the policy and now bank a fixed sum of money each month. (I also changed vets)

[moondog]

Originally Posted by Anne

I would be reading the fine print and checking the legality of this. You are renewing an existing policy rather than taking out a new policy. They sound shonky to me.

It's perfectly legal (and shonky!). You are buying a policy with a fixed one year term. They can issue you a new policy for another one year term when it expires, at their discretion and with whatever modifications they choose to add to it, or they can decline to renew. Of course, they want to renew you because all the cards are in their favor, and if they discover one that isn't, they just yank it out and put it in the discard pile.

[ALBERTABUG]

I have had my dogs on pet insurance and I have never had a problem with them. One of my dogs was also striken with cancer and the policy renewed while she was getting treatment with no problems. I use Plet Plan (I live in Canada)