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Vet Insurance, good thing? With Sig we had VPI Insurance most of her life, till premium went unreasonable for value received. We had maybe $2500 in claims over lifetime but premium went up every few years as she got older. We canceld at $56 when she was 13. Her largest claim was at about 4 years old of about $1500 for a root canal, which insurance paid about $600. So is it worth it? Here's my thoughts, if you are a poor budgeter, can't save money, tight budget, probably a good idea as the $30 to $60 monthly will help get your bill more manageable if emergency does happen. But if you can budget well or have good bank account, I would forgo insurance as most policies will never come close to the premium cost. Simply put $30 per month into a rainy day fund, it will add up fast and always be there if you don't use it. |
What happens if something goes wrong 4 months into the rainy day fund? At $30 a month, you've saved $120 which isn't enough for anything. If I've paid $50 a month for 4 months I've spent $200. and can be covered for $2, 3, 4, thousand dollars plus... Even at $600 a year, I feel insurance is well worth it - even if I never use it. :thumbup: |
I don't know about other plans, but VPI never paid that much compared to premium. It had a Office visit plan addition that it took me several months to cancel that covered shots, spay, neuter and such that paid less then what it would have cost out of pocket. Yes if you had a major emergency, it helped, especially if it was the first year of policy. But after a few years you would be in a downhill return on money. Plus if you have too many claims they can raise your rates as they do for aging. When Sig got older and would have more likelihood of need, the Cost of policy went up dramatically although we had not used it. We paid aprox $5500-$6000 in premiums and received about $2500 in benefits. Who knows what her last years (14 Years old) premium would have been. Not saying buy or not buy, just look at cost versus benefit. |
That is because VPI has a benefits schedule (and cheaper premiums). Their payout is not very good. I'd expect to pay $75+ per month for an old pup, but the payout is much better with other companies.:) |
I have Trupanion for Enzo - I pay $48.56 a month and so far, touch wood I have not had to use it..but I sure sleep better at night knowing it's there should he ever need it and I don't have to think twice about care should he need it. It's like house or car insurance, we all pay it in the hopes we never need it, but if & when we do...it's there :) |
I had Pet Plan for just two months and Buster was diagnosed with a Luxating Patella. They paid 80% of the $4000.00 bill. For me I feel safer having insurance. |
Well I'm glad I started this thread, after reading some comments above I did some searching. There are a lot more companies now and Coverage/limitations/reimbursement are much better. Found several that will cover hereditary/no limit and pretty much everything for less then $40 per month. So I guess I'll look into it again when we get her. |
I had VPI for Jake, and they are very slow at paying. I switched to PetPlan for Kiri with 100% reimbursement. My premium is $65/month, but the peace of mind is so great. She has already had trouble with pancreatitis, and PetPlan paid very quickly. |
I have PetPlan for Zoey. I think they are very slow at paying. Takes one month to be reimbursed but each year I have had vets costs the were higher than my premium so it worked out for me. |
I had PetPlan for Pfeiffer when she was a puppy, and I think they paid out about 2k worth of vet costs. I now have Healthy Paws for all 3. Wylie was just diagnosed w/ disc disease, so if he would need back surgery...hello $$$$...but it would be covered bc it wasn't pre existing. |
Poor baby. My Gina had back problems and it was painful for her and for us to see. Hope all goes well with his surgery. |
That's the thing, kinda like Medicare, you have to choose wisely, as preexisting will lock you in as your pup gets older. So far Healthy Paws sounds best as it seems to be rated higher, PetPlan is close secound |
I have Healthy Paws and I really like this insurance. I did a substantial research into companies before signing up, and I am extremely satisfied with my decision. I got my Milana from backyard breeder so I knew that she could have issues. She gets frequent ear infections (maybe allergic reactions?) and in the past had GI issues until I figured out the right food. Healthy Paws covers all the meds and tests - you just have to pay for vet visit fee. At this point, I am probably paying more in premiums than I get back but at the same time it gives me a peace of mind if something goes terribly wrong I will have an opportunity to provide the best medical care to my dog. |
This is why I joined this forum. After having a son and getting mommy brain I get very forgetful so since this is my first puppy since having my son I forget things like pet insurance that isn't so wide spread heard of. I'm now in persuit of a great insurance plan for Darla. I have checked into Healthy Paws and PetPlan. Healthy Paws states that it excludes wellness care like vaccines. Well Darla's still a baby so of course she still needs lots of wellness care in the next year or so. Thus, I've stumbled on to ASPCA's insurance. Has anyone heard of it or used it. I'm sure we're all familiar with ASPCA but the fact that they have pet insurance is news to me. I always like to support the ASPCA in anyway I can. |
Im still deciding btwn healthy paws and pet plan.......with 3 dogs to insure it can get pricey |
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One of the main things you need to look into is there a cap (top limit paid out) per incident or does the cap reset each year. If it is per incident if something comes up that will be an ongoing issue you could use up all your money in the first year. |
PET insurance is worth it! But you need to know in detail what you are buying. This is so there are no surprises when an emergency happens, and or a serious health concern. Many plans will ask you to pay the up front costs and then you get re-imbursed. Many plans have either an annual or a lifetime cap per medical condition. Some plans will not cover the costs of diagnostics, but will cover the surgery or on-going costs. Many plans will not cover genetic conditions and or hereditary conditions. Just a few things to know and to decide upon what is important to you |
So far Healthy Paws is my pick, no cap or exemptions, you pay normal wellness, spay, office visits and shots, they pay 90%/$100 ded for $38.92 per month and they don't raise rates because of dog getting older "Healthy Paws' coverage is provided with no limits on claims. We are the only company to provide unlimited lifetime benefits with an annual deductible! If your pet needs treatment for any accident or illness, and it's not a pre-existing condition, you're covered. It’s that simple. " |
I've had Healthy Paws for a couple of years now and I LOVE them! I did my research before going with them and even now I can honestly say they are unparalleled in the pet insurance world. You simply will not find anyone that has better coverage or customer service. I faxed in Stormy's medical records to be assured that there wouldn't be anything considered pre-existing and since they had her records, when I finally made my first claim, I received my reimbursement within 3 days. I cannot say enough good things about this company. Their prices did recently go up, but unfortunately that seems to be pretty standard. :rolleyes: The routine care exemption shouldn't be a deal breaker, in my opinion. The purpose of insurance is for illnesses and accidents that can get costly, wellness visits don't fall under that umbrella. Just my two cents! |
The biggie is they will not raise your premium as your dog gets older as VPI did to us and all the others I called said they would. Yup, glad I started this thread, I was going to just use our funds, which would have been OK, but in this case insurance is a better investment. VPI paid, but no where near the actual costs, usually about 40%, but we started at almost the same rate as HP's about 15 years ago and it was almost $60 when we canceled when Sig was 13. |
My hubby and I are shopping insurances for Darla. We don't have it on our other dog Buckwheat but we feel it's necessary for Darla due to the lineage of Yorkies and how they came about. To get the small desirable size for years and years runts of the litter were mated to make the Yorkshire Terrier gradually smaller and smaller. Well runts are known for a being prone to more health issues than the other pups in the leader. Thus it seems logical to us that Darla, although healthy now, could have some exponentially expensive health issues down the road. If there's even just a slight potential for that, we'd rather be safe than sorry. We don't want to be crippled financially by unexpected vet bills. I guess the simple answer, for us anyway, is that vet insurance is worth it. |
I have trupanion for Guinness. We have a fox terrier, Maggie who is 12 years old. She has Addison's disease which was diagnosed 6 years ago. It has been very costly over the years with blood work and monthly shots. I considered it when she was a pup but didn't get it. Wow do we wish we had gotten it! |
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