Pet Insurance

swwahokkaido

So I searched through the forum and did not really find too many posts regarding Pet Insurance. So I was wondering how many of you have Pet Insurance and if so, which company and level of coverage you chose and why?

I purchased Pet Insurance for Emiko a few weeks ago. I have heard too many horror stories regarding obstructions that made me decide to get it.

After looking over ALOT of companies and a plans I decided on the following:

Company: Pet's Best

Plan: Accident only

Cost: $10.00 per month (it was more like 9.50 if you use a 5% discount code)

So the company has been in business since 2005, have paid out over 100 million in claims, and they have pretty good reviews.

I decided on the accident only plan because it features " A $10,000 annual limit with a $250 deductible and 90% reimbursement. This plan covers the treatment of accidents, like broken bones, foreign body ingestion or being hit by a moving vehicle."

Now I am not saying Emiko is not worth paying $30-$50 dollars a month for coverage that includes illness, but I think the risk vs. value for a dog her age does not justify paying exorbitant prices. I think obstructions and accidents are a higher risk than illness for a puppy. I can afford routine care, unexpected visits to the vet, etc. no problem. But I think for the cost of the insurance and the value option you get, it is a pretty good deal for peace of mind for the what the biggest risk is.

Thoughts?

WrylyBrindle

I recently bought plans for both of my Kai dogs. (Sage, my senior dog, is too old to insure and lives a pretty risk-free life) The Kai, however, hike and adventure with me near-daily and I want to be sure that if anything happens (porcupines, etc..), or if they were to get sick, that we're all set to get them the care they need and that discussion is not made stressful or complicated by 'How much? " or "Can't we just...?" My husband's employer offers a group rate with Nationwide, and other friends have the same plan and have had good experiences with it, so we went for it.

Six

I have pet insurance for all of my dogs (x5) but I believe it's a lot more common over here in the UK than it is in the USA.

My monthly prices are anything from £21 (Hokkaido) to £44 (Northern Inuit) but I have to say that insurance, for me, has always been worth its weight in gold. I have had 2 dogs go through cancer diagnosis and treatment this year alone and we have maxed out our limit on both dogs to try and give them a longer/better quality of life - something we would have had to consider very hard if we didn't have insurance. All in all they've probably paid out in the region of £20,000 in the last 7.5 years for my dogs. For major surgeries my vet will claim direct through the insurance so I don't have to pay the costs upfront.

Kirin ended up being insured as a Shiba because they didn't have Hokkaido on their books and decided that was close enough.

I am with Petplan, all of my dogs are on 'Covered For Life' policies, so if they end up with a lifetime illness - for example, Yōkai, one of my Inuits, is epileptic and requires daily medication and frequent blood tests for monitoring - they will pay out for the condition for their entire life rather than adding it to an exclusion list after the first 12 months.

PoetikDragon

My advice is to read very carefully about what is actually covered.

Bootz

^ I second what @poetikdragon said.

I've looked into pet insurances before, but only certain things are covered AND each condition had a maximum $$$ limit. So for example, even if you have a $10k annual limit after $250 deductible... if your animal accidentally broke a bone, some insurances only cover X amount even if it's below the annual limit.