Pet Insurance

Darwin67Darwin67
edited February 2009 in Products & DIY
I've never really felt the need for pet insurance..and knock on wood, I've never had an experience where I've said...god, I wish I had it. Call it getting older (dealing w/ my aches and pains) and now having kids that I'm thinking that this go round I will want to invest in Pet Insurance, so I'm just curious as to if any of you have/purchased Health Insurance, if you have used it and if so what has your experience been with it...any suggestions you might have would be very welcome!

Comments

  • sujewelsujewel
    edited November -1
    I had VPI, but didn't have a good experience with one of my claims, so I switched to Shelter Care, which I'm pretty happy with.
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    I know Dave has it, but he's on vacation right now - I'm sure he'll respond when he gets back.
  • CrimsonO2CrimsonO2
    edited November -1
    We use Care Credit (health insurance used for people, but looks like it can be used for animals too). Not exactly health insurance but good for last minute health-related emergencies.

    Jesse
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    LJ is right, I do have VPI for both Lucy and Joey. I've had mixed experiences with them. It's a bit of a crap shoot if they will pay or not, but every little bit helps. Before I bought the policies, I did a LOT of research comparing the different companies. Every company has a different "angle." It's a lot like car insurance in that sense. Each company picks a specific type of risk they plan to focus on and structure their policies for those types of drivers. In pet insurance, they do the same things, but the "risks" are of a different sort. For example, some cover cancer, some don't. Some have annual limits, some have lifetime limits. etc.

    I commented in a thread more than a year ago about health insurance here. You might find that useful. As always, feel free to ask any questions. I'd be happy to try to answer them if I can.
  • Darwin67Darwin67
    edited November -1
    Thank you very much for all the input! I read the lengthy post from a year ago and see a lot of well thought out points from everyones persepective, which really helps.

    I'm definately leaning towards VPI. As noted, insurance sucks...whenever life and profits collide...well, we know who usually wins that fight!
  • ZinjaZinja
    edited November -1
    I use VPI. It's pretty good because it covers 90% of the exams (as long as it's covered). If my dog or cat eats chocolate for example, that will be covered and they will cover most of the procedure. Their claim office is also getting pretty fast. A few years ago, I had to wait 3 months or so to get my claim (they said they were understaffed) but now it'll take 3 weeks only.

    What are the rates on other companies? VPI is $25 a month for puppies, and when they are over 3 years old, the price increases (not sure to what though). Kittens are $18 and $22 for older cats.
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    I have VPI but just for the first year. After that I set up a savings account and just put the money I would have spent on VPI in there as a "just in case my Shiba does something crazy" fund. We already had a pretty sizable savings in there before we got Sake so now Im sure we have enough to cover an emergency (god forbid).
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited February 2009
    I'm actually exploring insurance plans now... VPI looks the best thus far but I can't seem to find if they cover HW or not..

    p.s. if you ever need to know whether or not they'll cover heartworm treatments, they do not. It falls under breed restrictions of "diagnosis and treatment of internal or external parasites". And they won't enroll a dog with a preexisting condition that is a coverage restriction. But they will cover preventatives.

    there are a lot of brick walls today!
  • ZinjaZinja
    edited November -1
    Oh really? Sasuke had worms (round, hook, tape) when I first brought him in and they dewormed him and I was reimbursed the money. Not sure about Heartworm though.

    As for meds: Sasuke has a $50 limit of either heartworm or flea/tick a year... which kinda sucks.

    Kristin: that's a great idea! 25x12 is $300 a year... that's pretty insane IMHO.
  • Darwin67Darwin67
    edited November -1
    So, they basically cover a three month supply of advantage??
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    Joe: What dewormer did they use and what diagnosis did they put down? VPI has a schedule of fees that the will reimburse from. If you vet gives you the magic words, they will pay. If not, they won't. Parasites are excluded from VPIs policies (at least the ones they sell in GA). I'm also not sure where you get the $50 limit from. Is that for the well puppy coverage? The well puppy coverage from VPI is an add on to the normal policy that covers things like spay/neuter, annual blood work, heartworm preventative, etc.
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    Yeah Joe, it just makes more sense for us to do it that way. We put away $30 per month per dog so it's $720 per year, plus the savings we already had from before.
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