You Never Know If You'll Need It...
 

I have VPI (Veterinary Pet Insurance). The policy has paid for it's self many time over for me. Not only does it cover rutine care like vaccinations, check-up and dental. It also covers blood work, micro chipping and veterinary visits to specialists.

Jewel was perfectly healthy until May. Her illness came on suddenly and we had MRI and Spinal Tap done on Jewel. The bill was over $3,000.00 and we received a check from VPI for over $ 1,600.00. In the course of trying to find out what was wrong with Jewel we must have spent close to $4,000.00. I don't know how I could have paid all my bills with out it.

I pay $32.00 per month for her coverage.

The amout of the claim reimbursement depends on the treatment. They do not cover medications.

The premium does get higher as the pet ages but they do give mutiple policy discounts.

They do exclude any pre-exitsting conditions so get on the plan early in your babies life. It really pays for new puppies needing vaccinations and spay/neuter.

Only draw back is YOU have to do all the work. Get the doctor to sign the claim form, fax or mail the claim with a copy of the bill, keep records of the claims you made and follow up on claims that takes a bit longer. We have had claims declined but got them resolved with a phone call.

Hope this helps you. Sorry I got a little carried away! But my experiance with Jewel has made me a 100% backer of insurance. You never know if you are REALLY going to need it!

We do not have it, but I have looked into it and I have seriously thought about getting it. We have ended up not getting any thus far and doubt if we do. Our vet is pretty inexpensive (doesn't seem to over charge for things and we sometimes get things free) and I just do not see how we would save money from it. Even with our major medical emergency a few months back (4 days IV, 6 x-rays, 2 weeks sick,etc) our bill was not bad at all!

I have insurance for both my dogs.
My lab i've had insurance for him for 9 years and never been able to claim :( as the excess was always more than the vet bills :confused:
Now he is 9 years old i would have to pay £15 premium per month, the excess of £65, then after the excess pay another 35% of the remaining bill before they would pay the rest.....i'm cancelling it.
If i had just put the money in a separate account i would have more than £1000 by now

I had thought about it when I only had one Yorkie. But now that I have 7, it's waaaaaaaay too expensive!! I even asked if they give group rates?!?!? Not a chance in he--. Maybe someone should consider getting a YT health plan that's like Kaiser (in CA). Then it might be affordble for all of us.

Dan & Corrine-Where do you get the VPI insurance? Sounds like something to consider. I've looked everywhere else!

I have always had pet insurance for all our animals.
Our lab we paid for 14 years and only claimed a couple of times, however our Yorkie we had for four years and must of claimed in the reagan of nearly £4000 so was glad to have it.Would never have a pet without insurance would hate not to be able to afford a treatment so for peace of mind I have insurance. :thumbup:

I also have VPI for Max and Abbie. I feel more comfortable knowing that if something serious were to come up that they would be covered and I wouldn't have to clear my savings account out to get them whatever they needed. My vet is also inexpensive and gives me some freebies (removing baby teeth free of charge during neutering and spaying procedures) but VPI paid for at least half of Abbie's spaying, 2/3 of Max's teeth cleaning, and portion of their Interceptor just to name a few. It's only about $30 a month for each, which I would probably spend on going out to dinner and starbucks for the month so I don't mind paying it.

VPI's website:

http://www.petinsurance.com

I personally LOVE Coco's insurance because it's not oodles a month and there's lots of coverage. It's with Petcarepals.com. I just know the minute I cancel it, something will happen to her, so I'd rather pay $11 a month and be covered.

I don't have health insurance for myself. You can guess if I have any for Stewie :)

I really should look into it. Especially for the prices my vet charges.