# Pet Insurance



## Jackie Lockard (Oct 20, 2009)

Each year it seems at least one dog comes up with a major vet bill. So after my Mal's emergency earlier this year I bought each dog an insurance plan through VPI. An accident plan, supposed to cover accidental injury related vet bills. Was less than $100/year per dog so I figured it was a deal. My Lab broke two teeth over the summer and three weeks after filing the claim VPI is saying that they're not going to cover any of these bills, because apparently this isn't covered in his "accident insurance plan". (Yes I will be calling on Monday to fight this.)

I was wondering if anyone else had similar insurance plans from other companies and what your experiences have been. I don't exactly what to fork out for entire illness plan, but this accident plan seemed perfect for sport dogs.​


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

As always you have to read the fine print, for instance cruciate injuries are not covered as accidents even if they were a result of an accident. You have to be very clear on the insurance companies definitition. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.

I have insurance on 3 of my dogs but I have the comprehensive cover with a large excess to keep the premium down. So far they have been good and forked out for elbow surgery, hip xrays etc. to the tune of around $5000

A friend of mine had a different company and when her dog was diagnosed with HD, they terminated her insurance plan because there was a high chance of her dog needing surgery down the track, and she can no longer get insurance with anyone else as it is now a pre existing condition. My insurance company did not do the same to me with my dogs ED, they copped the bills and continue to insure her.

She fought it, put in a complaint etc but you hardly ever win as it is usually all taken care of in the fine print, so good luck.


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

Samething here. Wifes dog took a stick down the throat, they did not cover it. It was VPI. I then checked consumer reports about pet insurance and they said it was one of the worst buys you could make.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I will say first off I am not a fan of pet insurance. It can in some cases be good for emergencies, but don't expect it to cover anything breed related at all. Instead of pet insurance, I recommend people have emergency fund savings accounts for their pets. Instead of paying a company for something you might never need, put the same amount you'd put for a premium into a savings account. The amount to have in will probably depend on the breed. If you have a relatively healthy breed, you might be fine with something like $1000 for things like a down payment on a major surgery (hit by car, bloat, etc). If you have an English bulldog... :-\" I'd have at least 5 grand for those guys at minimum for their crazy health problems.


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## Jackie Lockard (Oct 20, 2009)

James Downey said:


> Samething here. Wifes dog took a stick down the throat, they did not cover it. It was VPI. I then checked consumer reports about pet insurance and they said it was one of the worst buys you could make.



Damn. ](*,) 

I read the fine print and specifically made sure teeth were covered (bitework dogs, so that one seemed important but just not how these unjuries went down, ha). What gets me is that they're trying to tell me I got a lump removal as a primary diagnoses (untrue, obviously), and then teeth descaling and cleaning??? I didn't even get that done!! I really hope I can fight this as I know dental extractions were covered! My car insurance is easier than this.

Edit: Maren that is what I have always told people to do. A couple years ago my savings got wiped between a horrible winter with no clients and a puppy needing an FHO. Since then I have been trying to recoup and I do not enjoy coming to emergencies with little/no money when my dog NEEDS care. An accident plan for $10/mo seemed like it would cover enough of any bill that would be worth having, even just for peace of mind. What good when they make their own info up and apparently don't cover what they say they will?


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

What Maren said....just put the cash away in a savings account. Or a credit card for use only for vet bills. You will be far better served. 

The pet insurance works alot like health insurance for us. Subject to deductables, usuable & customary fees for service (depending on where you live where cost are higher, it pays about 15-20% of only some of the fees) exclusions, pre-existing conditions etc etc etc. Some even dictate the vets (participating vets only)that you can use.

Just not usually worth it.


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

I must have been lucky, insurance has paid up with no comment, bilateral elbow dysplasia surgery, 2 CT scans, numerous xrays on 2 dogs and emergency pyometra surgery even if I pay my premiums for 3 dogs for next the 7 years I am still ahead. A Canadian friend of mine had over $20,000 worth of claims for a series of complicated elbow surgeries on her dog.

Cattle dogs are notorious for cruciates - I had $9000 worth done on 2 cruciates which fortunately my sister did at the time but now she has left surgery I am on my own. 

I have thought about a fund, but as my dogs work stock and do agility and I have 6 of them I decided I was probably better off insuring 3 of them. The 3 most likely to chase deadly snakes of which I have many($5000 to save a dog) and do cruciates and whatever.

Finding a good insurer is the key. I have heard really bad stories about some insurers, but mine have been great so far, I have just put in the claim and the cheque has arrived promptly in the mail.


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## Ricardo Ashton (Jun 3, 2010)

They tell you that you're covered. But if you make a claim, they say not for that type of injury. Or that you are covered but they will only pay $500 on the surgery that the vet is billing you $5000 for, because the last survey they did on costs of procedures was back in 1990 and they went to green vets with no experience to get an idea of what costs what. And they won't ever give you a detailed list of what is covered in the policy to the maximum value of how much they'll pay out on specific procedures, because then you will be able to research and see the kind of crooked turds you're giving your hard earned money to.

Insurance can be one of the biggest cons people get suckered into. As far as I'm concerned, they're right up there hand in hand with Ponzi/pyramid schemes.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

I have VPI on one dog and there are TONS of things they don't cover. So with my second dog, I got Trupanion. I've been very happy with them. I find it only takes one incident and I get my money back for my yearly enrollment, so it's been worth my time getting the insurance. I already have savings set aside that I can always tap into if needed, but since I haven't really lost any money on insurance, I end up renewing it each year. Trupanion paid to get Bacci's hips x-rayed. I only paid the deductible and got back enough from that to cover the cost of his insurance.


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## Jackie Lockard (Oct 20, 2009)

Looking into Trupanion I like their optional benefits plan (includes training, might be nice for my clients) and their additional benefits (might cover the chiropractor if it covers acupuncture?). Looks like they don't have just an accident plan though. Will look into that one more.


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## Kelly Godwin (Jul 25, 2011)

I have heard that Pet Plan is pretty decent pet insurance. There is a vet tech at the UGA Teaching Hospital who's Vitosha female pup had elbow dysplasia in both front elbows. Pet Plan paid for the surgery on both elbows and the owner was left with just the $200.00 deductible.

If it were not for my fiance being in her final year of vet school, I would seriously consider pet insurance. With the rising cost of Veterinary care, it certainly helps!

http://www.gopetplan.com/


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

Their regular plan does not cover physical therapy. They call it "alternative" medicine.  So far, that's been my biggest complaint. Not sure if you can add additional benefits so that such treatments are covered, but I know in the regular plan I have it wasn't covered. If I had other medical expenses involved with the physical therapy with meds and such, then I can submit those receipts to get reimbursed. However, Bacci's sessions on the underwater treadmill, laser therapy, and his general visits with the physical therapist weren't covered.

I did look at Pet Plan after reading about another person's positive experience with them, but they were more expensive than Trupanion, and VPI was cheaper than all three. I guess in a way you get what you pay for.. at least when I was comparing these three plans.


Edit: Just wanted to add that Trupanion was very quick sending me my checks. They even called me at home to explain how they were figuring out the total amount that they would be sending me. They have always been very helpful over the phone, and I felt that I was getting a lot of personal attention from them. Submitting claims didn't always go so smoothly with VPI. If Trupanion needed additional info, they'd contact my vet themselves, whereas VPI would ask me to go to the vet to get the photocopies of records sent to them. The added hassle was a pain in the butt.


Jackie Lockard said:


> Looking into Trupanion I like their optional benefits plan (includes training, might be nice for my clients) and their additional benefits (might cover the chiropractor if it covers acupuncture?). Looks like they don't have just an accident plan though. Will look into that one more.


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

A friend of mine is a young general pracitice vet and even she now has insurance. One of her dogs had a major rare condition and needed 2 rounds of surgery done by a specialist who was only available in another state. It cost her thousands of dollars. She also needed the use of a physio centre for rehab, so even vets can have big vet bills if their animals need speicalist surgical treatment.


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## Jackie Lockard (Oct 20, 2009)

Erica Boling said:


> Their regular plan does not cover physical therapy. They call it "alternative" medicine.  So far, that's been my biggest complaint.


Well anything to charge an extra buck. You're still dealing with insurance. :-({|= I'm probably being hopefully optimistic with the chiropractic being covered, since he's already going at least once a month. I'd be willing to pay extra for it (darn) since it would practically cover itself.


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

I have Pet Plan on my Mals and GSD - great insurance. Have yet to find anythng they have not covered for me to include Chiropractic, Water Therapy etc. The one year fee for my Mals was very cheap...about $100.00 a year more for my GSD.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Erica Boling said:


> Their regular plan does not cover physical therapy. They call it "alternative" medicine.  So far, that's been my biggest complaint. Not sure if you can add additional benefits so that such treatments are covered, but I know in the regular plan I have it wasn't covered. If I had other medical expenses involved with the physical therapy with meds and such, then I can submit those receipts to get reimbursed. However, Bacci's sessions on the underwater treadmill, laser therapy, and his general visits with the physical therapist weren't covered.


 
Oooh, that burns me...remind me not recommend their services either. :evil: You'd never have a major surgery for a human covered by insurance but not the PT. 

Sara, I've heard some practice managers will offer pet insurance for employees (including associate vets) instead of giving them discounts. Not sure if that's better or not...


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> Sara, I've heard some practice managers will offer pet insurance for employees (including associate vets) instead of giving them discounts. Not sure if that's better or not...


I think it depends on the problem. If you need a specialist for a dog with a problem that can only be fixed by a specialist then insurance is helpful. If your practice can handle the situation then maybe the discount is better. I have had vet friends spend upward of $15,000 on dealing with situations in their top dogs that could only be handled by a specialist. Those bills would have hurt.


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## Zakia Days (Mar 13, 2009)

Hey Sara. Which insurance co. do you use? Didn't see it mentioned in the thread. Thanks


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

Zakia Days said:


> Hey Sara. Which insurance co. do you use? Didn't see it mentioned in the thread. Thanks


Hi Zakia, I use Petsecure Australia. The company is actually Canadian but I dont know how similar they are in what they offer compared to in Australia.

When I started with them it was about $20 a month with a $200 excess for comprehensive cover. The plans have changed recently to about $23 +GST a dog with a $300 excess, and $11,000 per annum cover. The excess is only detuctible once per condition. I had a number of procedures and scans done on my dysplastic dog over the course of her treatment and there was only one deduction of the excess which at the time was $200. 

So far I have been pretty happy with them, so I hope that continues and I am not dissapointed at some stage.

I personally am not interested in bothering about insuring for alternative therapies, physio etc. because of where I live - absolutely nowhere near anything like that, I just take the basic cover that will cover me for major surgeries, chemo, snake bites etc. if I need it.


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> I will say first off I am not a fan of pet insurance. It can in some cases be good for emergencies, but don't expect it to cover anything breed related at all. Instead of pet insurance, I recommend people have emergency fund savings accounts for their pets. Instead of paying a company for something you might never need, put the same amount you'd put for a premium into a savings account. The amount to have in will probably depend on the breed. If you have a relatively healthy breed, you might be fine with something like $1000 for things like a down payment on a major surgery (hit by car, bloat, etc). If you have an English bulldog... :-\" I'd have at least 5 grand for those guys at minimum for their crazy health problems.


I, 100% agree with this!!!! Could not stress it enough. Find a nice high interest account that will allow you to access the money immediately if necessary - if you only have a little to start off with, may be a good idea to apply for a line of credit, either 5 or 10k. Don't touch it, if you don't use it, it doesn't cost you anything.

I was paying almost 80 a month per dog, when one of my dogs had a catastrophic injury. The end result after surgery and rehab costs was OVER $15k. The insurance company gave us, the accident maximum of $2500... and said the rest, was not covered as they do not cover rehab costs and/or it was related to the initial accident and thus excluded.

Also if a dog you have has an accident, say to an eye, once they payout (if they do), that eye will not be excluded from any other potential claims. It's highway robbery...

Keep your money where you know you have it. Price out what it would cost with a pet insurance place, and put that much into an account. Don't cheat, and if you need it you've got it.


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Sara Waters said:


> Hi Zakia, I use Petsecure Australia. The company is actually Canadian but I dont know how similar they are in what they offer compared to in Australia.
> 
> When I started with them it was about $20 a month with a $200 excess for comprehensive cover. The plans have changed recently to about $23 +GST a dog with a $300 excess, and $11,000 per annum cover. The excess is only detuctible once per condition. I had a number of procedures and scans done on my dysplastic dog over the course of her treatment and there was only one deduction of the excess which at the time was $200.
> 
> ...


see my post above - this is who I was with also.


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

Ryan Venables said:


> see my post above - this is who I was with also.


That is not good I agree and I would also have been pretty anti - but in Australia they have been good. 

I have had all my bills related to my dogs elbow dysplasia covered and also hip xrays for another dog. As I said I pay about $75 per month for all 3 dogs combined. I just added things up and I have received about $5000 for the bills and I had to pay about $1000 so I am reasonably happy to date. The accident max per year is $7000 and illness is $11,000. I have only been insuring one for 3 years and the other 2 for 18 months

I do have a friend in Canada and she had $20,000 worth of bills covered on one of her dogs, I am not sure who her insurer is. 

I may need more surgery on my ED dog so I will stay at least with her and one of my insured rescues could need a hip replacement down the track.

I dont insure all my dogs but with 6, a couple of catastrophes could be very bad financially. I had a cattle dog blow 2 cruciates, if my sister hadnt been a surgeon at the time it would have cost $9000 and that is just one dog. Snakebites are also very high risk here.

I will take my chances with insuring 3 of them. If I had less dogs I probably wouldnt bother. I may even reveiw one of them and keep insuring the 2 I know have problems.


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