Pet Insurance Premium Increases

[NeylasMom]

So I just called Healthy Paws to get a quote on a policy for Skye. In the process of the call, I figured out that there was a rate increase in June (which will be reflected for me when my policy is renewed in November). I asked her if she could tell me what Violet's new rate will be, which she couldn't, so instead I asked her to get a "new" quote on a dog that met Violet's criteria. She said it would be close, but probably not 100% accurate - the result is that I can expect Violet's rate to increase 14%. When I told her that wasn't the range I was quoted when I decided to join, she said the typical increases have been 10-15%!

 

I specifically remember this is not what they told me, so I looked back at some old threads and low and behold, they were telling people to expect increases between 3 & 6%. I am pretty furious. I estimated costs over Violet's lifetime assuming 10% increases, which I thought was being very generous. Now I don't know what to do. I'm probably just going to suck it up and get the policy for Skye as well because there isn't another company I like better, but I'm really pissed. This was the ONE concern I had with them because they hadn't been around for a long time when I joined and therefore it was hard to know what previous increases had been.

 

Has anyone else had insurance with them longer than me - have your increases been high?

Edited August 3, 2012 by NeylasMom

[Guest snowmo18]

I know you said you really liked your current insurance company. But have you looked at Pets Best...I have had Raider using it for the last year, just renewed and his premium didnt increase at all. I pay about $225 annually with a $250 deductible for each illness or accident..at 80% reimbursed...Raider is 4 yrs old. They dont require you to send in past vet records or anything. Raider went to the ER vet a few times last year and they still didnt increase his premium, even though he is "accident prone". I just added our new girl Polly to the policy too. Really love it...so just a thought

[cmc333]

We're getting a new puppy this weekend so I've been checking out vet insurance prices too. My other 6 are covered under PetAssure, which IF YOUR VET IS PARTICIPATING, they take 25% off the bill. I just took 2 in for vax and they did give me a 25% discount off everything. There are some things not covered, like food, but not quite sure. For all 7, I'll be paying $194 a year. The important thing is - if your vet is participating. You can look up all participating vets in an area, so if you have more than one vet (if you use one vet for just routine stuff) you might luck out. Not sure how widespread this is.

 

Connie

[jaym1]

I know you said you really liked your current insurance company. But have you looked at Pets Best...I have had Raider using it for the last year, just renewed and his premium didnt increase at all. I pay about $225 annually with a $250 deductible for each illness or accident..

 

the thing is, healthy paws has a $250 annual deductible, rather than a per-incident deductible, along with 80%-90% coverage depending on what you want. thus, a second incident with your plan would likely be equivalent to several years of 15% rate increases from healthy paws.

 

my problem of late with HP has been with respect to their communication. i submitted ALL of my greys medical records for review when i signed up for the policy, and was told that i would be contacted withing 30 days if there were any pre-existing conditions that they wouldnt cover so that i could cancel the policy and get a refund if i was unhappy. they never contacted me, and in fact told me there would be no such restrictions on coverage when i spoke with them after that month had elapsed. but after that, when i submitted my first claim, i was told that they would, in fact, be putting a hold on reimbursements for non-specific gastrointestinal problems he might have for the next six months. granted, the claim i had submitted was for something else, but i was really unhapy with that sort of practice.

 

i have found all the people ive spoken with at HP to be very friendly and accommodating, but so far i am not very happy with their communication (or lack thereof), which also included them forgetting to pay one of my claims for several weeks.

Edited August 2, 2012 by jaym1

[seeh2o]

I think I've been with HP a little longer than you. I was told that increases would be in the same low range as yours. The C's plan renewed earlier this year with no increase. The deductible for my two is higher than yours, maybe that has something to do with it? I'm going to be keeping a close eye on it. As high as their increase was for you, Trupanion was going to increase each of my hound's premium by 33%.

[NeylasMom]

I know you said you really liked your current insurance company. But have you looked at Pets Best...I have had Raider using it for the last year, just renewed and his premium didnt increase at all. I pay about $225 annually with a $250 deductible for each illness or accident..

 

the thing is, healthy paws has a $250 annual deductible, rather than a per-incident deductible, along with 80%-90% coverage depending on what you want. thus, a second incident with your plan would likely be equivalent to several years of 15% rate increases from healthy paws.

Yeah, this is the main reason I chose them and am reluctant to go with another company. If you are truly only looking at the insurance as a way to cover extreme expenses in case of serious illness or injury, then either deductible option should in theory be fine, but I think an annual deductible instead of a per incident will allow me to take advantage of the insurance more often and maybe eek out more in savings over the years. This was in light of Trupanion's rates also being significantly higher than Healthy Paws and the reports of very high rate increases on GT - I did not look at Pets Best.

 

I think I've been with HP a little longer than you. I was told that increases would be in the same low range as yours. The C's plan renewed earlier this year with no increase. The deductible for my two is higher than yours, maybe that has something to do with it? I'm going to be keeping a close eye on it. As high as their increase was for you, Trupanion was going to increase each of my hound's premium by 33%.

When did your policy renew? I got my policy in November and was told by the CS rep that rates were increased in June so if your policy renewed before June, you may not be seeing the increases yet. I technically haven't seen them either and won't until November, but unless this woman was very confused, I can expect them to be about 14%. They do supposedly depend on actual veterinary costs in your area so that could also explain a discrepancy.

 

I did some more calculations last night with a new "worst case" scenario of 15% rate increases each year and I think I still feel it's the best plan choice for me, I'm just very angry because I feel I was lied to. If they've only increased rates once since I joined and she said, and I quote "The increases have typically been between 10 and 15 percent" then that means there were similar increases before I joined and their telling me that rates would likely be 3-6% was an outright lie. THAT is what makes me not want to get another policy with them. And honestly, how do I know they're not lying again and increases will be higher in the future. I guess it's a risk you take, but unfortunately you're pretty committed to one policy as your pet ages and racks up what will be considered pre-existing conditions.

[seeh2o]

I also signed up with them in November. Did they send the rate increase to you via snail mail? Email? I've received no notice to-date. I just logged into my account, both dogs are signed up for a $500 deductible, monthly premium is $35.04 for each dog.

 

I'm going to dig through my email and see if the estimated yearly 3% - 6% increase was mentioned in writing. Not sure if it was in an email or if it was over the phone.

 

unfortunately you're pretty committed to one policy as your pet ages and racks up what will be considered pre-existing conditions.

 

So true.

Edited August 3, 2012 by seeh2o

[seeh2o]

Found it in writing in an email from the company after I told them that Trupanion wanted to jack up monthly premiums by 33% for each dog. It wasn't 3 - 6%, but it was still a low estimate. I know that this does not constitute a contract, but if they plan to increase my dog's premiums higher than the estimate, I do plan to pull this out and lord it over them...for whatever good that will do.

 

Here is the email I received (I bolded the pertinent section):

 

 

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 4:02 PM, Healthy Paws Client Services <info@healthypawspetinsurance.com> wrote:

Hello Connie

 

 

Like all pet insurance companies, our monthly premiums will increase during the life of your pet to reflect the rise in cost of veterinary medical care. Every year the cost of veterinary medicine increases just like the cost of living. We have factored these expected increases so that our premium increases are small and manageable. You can reasonably expect small increases (5-7%) once a year to keep up with the rising costs of caring for your pet.

 

Although these small increases are expected, they are not based upon your pet having a birthday, or for the number of claims you submit. Its not your fault if your pet is unlucky!

 

If you have any other questions please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-453-4054. We are in the office Mon-Fri 7am-7pm and Sat 9am-5pm PST.

 

Best,

 

Kyrie

Customer Care

Healthy Paws Pet Insurance & Charitable Foundation

Edited August 3, 2012 by seeh2o

[NeylasMom]

So 20 minutes ago I received a phone call from the CEO of Healthy Paws. He had heard about my frustrations with the pending rate increase (as well as a more minor issue I was having with their online quote system) and called to apologize for my frustration and try to explain the reasoning behind the rate increase this year and set my mind at ease about future increases. It turns out there was a miscommunication in my discussion with the CS rep. My main concern was that the company was being disingenuous with their previous estimates when she said increases "had been" 10-15%. It turns out that this isn't true - previous increases have been in single digits and this year's larger across the board increase, which he confirmed will be about 14% for me (Connie, I believe you will see it when your policy renews) was to play "catch up" due to increasing incidences of cruciate ligament repairs and cancer diagnoses. In theory, moving forward they will return to increases in the single digits.

 

One could argue those costs could have been better anticipated and the jump in rates avoided, but they're a newer company so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on that one, at least this one time. Again, my main concern was were they being disingenuous when estimating what increases would be, and after my conversation I do not believe they were. And obviously a company whose CEO would personally contact you cares about it's reputation and takes customer complaints seriously. With my concerns addressed, I went ahead and enrolled Skye.

 

You gotta' love the internet btw. I knew from earlier posts when I was considering enrolling Violet that Healthy Paw's keeps an eye on this board (and one would presume others) for chatter about it's company and while I didn't think about that when I posted, I'm pretty confident this thread had something to do with my phone call, so hopefully I've relayed the gist of my conversation accurately. If not, maybe they'll chime in and clarify.

[NeylasMom]

So I did some digging to answer a question for someone about rate increases with Healthy Paws and I'm curious what people using Healthy Paws have seen annually for their increases? I did some calculations and it looks like one year mine was more like 7%, but otherwise they've been 8%. This is much more reasonable than the one time increase that was an anomoly, but still outside the ranges we had received. I'm obviously very happy with them overall, but am curious what others have experienced. We'll have another rate increase coming soon so I'd like to have the info ahead of time.

[seeh2o]

So I did some digging to answer a question for someone about rate increases with Healthy Paws and I'm curious what people using Healthy Paws have seen annually for their increases? I did some calculations and it looks like one year mine was more like 7%, but otherwise they've been 8%. This is much more reasonable than the one time increase that was an anomoly, but still outside the ranges we had received. I'm obviously very happy with them overall, but am curious what others have experienced. We'll have another rate increase coming soon so I'd like to have the info ahead of time.

Mine is going up 8.7% in November.

[NeylasMom]

Mine is going up 8.7% in November.

Thanks. If mine is that high again I will be calling them. I hope this year's is more reasonable, but honestly I will be surprised.

[racindog]

I must admit I feel somewhat vindicated with regard to my Healthy Paws experiences. After reading the above posts I can say this is in line with my most recent experiences with them as well. I think it is safe to say that they are definitely not the company they used to be( I have been with them since they were born). It seems to happen to all of them once they get so big and successful. Anyway I just made my first payment after this years increase and mine just went up 9.94% exactly for 2 dogs. I am not impressed when a big wig from a company calls me over a problem. I am impressed when I don't have problems with them in the first place-like HP was in the beginning. To me its sad that they lost themselves. When they first started they were great. Now they have demonstrated that like the others you don't know if you can believe what they say or not etc. JMO.

Edited September 21, 2017 by racindog

[seeh2o]

My monthly premium is going up $9.55. I have no problem with that, it is what it is.

 

I'm still happy and grateful for them, extremely happy. They've paid out well over $9,000+ for Bowie's osteo amputation, chemo treatments and follow up care since January alone with absolutely no problems. I feel fortunate to have chosen such a good company. Feel free to blame those of us with hefty claims like mine for the premium increase.

[claudiav]

you think you had a hefty increase??? take a look at what i had been paying in increases, from 2011 - 2016, and what i had to pay in 2017 b/c i can't go elsewhere until they die....

YEAR Remy Leyla Sarge Reese

2011 341.40 341.40

2012 341.40 341.40

2013 358.53 358.53 301.86

2014 376.43 323.46

2015 376.43 323.46

2016 376.43 323.46

2017 1,432.80 883.08

281% increase 173% increase

 

This was not a one time catch-up... this was because they were affiliated with Best Friends and they sold this policy as Best Friends Pet Insurance for 6 yrs, though it was under the 24PetWatch umbrella. Their affiliation with Best Friends ceased, they no longer sold the Best Friends Pet Insurance policies, but lucky us, we could continue insuring our pets thru 24PetWatch, underwritten by another company... bottom line, they realized they were losing money with this Best Friends affiliation, cut them off, and figured we had nowhere to go, as all our covered pets would have pre-existing conditions that wouldn't be covered elsewhere, so we had no choice but to stay with them, until our pets die... Leyla passed, so i got a good chunk of that $1432 back, but i have no choice but to keep Reese on it as he has pannus, and it is a lifelong issue with drops and annual checkups with opthomologist... I am adopting a Beagle/Basset Hound mix next week, and he will go on another insurance... I searched the internet though, and HP came up as #1, all things considered... but the premium wouldn't be any different than what i had to pay this year with the 200% increase...

Edited September 21, 2017 by claudiav

[NeylasMom]

Wow, that must have beem tough to take. Though I'm not surprised the first company failed. Setting and keeping premiums at the low amount you were paying, not a good business plan.

 

I had a similar issue with Zuri on VPI. When he turned 10 they jacked up his premiums over 30%, but by then you have nowhere to go. I did look into switching and just eating the costs with his LS, which would be pre-existing, but at that age we could only get some lower % of reimbursement. Had he been younger and eligible for the normal policies I probably would have switched him because VPI was paying pretty much nothing for his LS anyway.

 

The pre-existing thing does leave the insurance companies with a lot more leverage unfortunately. But the thing working for is is we will have many pets over our lifetimes so if they want to keep their business beyond a single pet, they'd better keep us reasonably happy. I would never ever go back to VPI now Nationwide after my experience with them.

[claudiav]

oh... i agree, VPI is the worst of the worst... had them before Best Friends Pet Insurance, for 12 yrs with my inbred german shep... they were utterly useless, other then doubling premiums...

[gracegirl]

We called to get Tessie insured with Healthy Paws the day after we got her. We have the $100 deductible and 90% coverage on her for just under $60/mo. Jackson will be 12 in December, we pay $77/mo for him. They paid out over (I think) $8k for his cancer surgery a few years back. We'll never have pets who are not insured with Healthy Paws.