Pet Insurance

[Guest Jennifer4719]

I just received my first reimbursement check for a claim that I sent in on 6/29. The date of services was 6/28 and my check was received today, 7/14. Not bad. Honey had her physical exam, annual shots, HW test, fecal test, and HW meds. Xena had a physical exam, bordatella, HW test and fecal test. Total for my vet visit was $306(I know, my vet is kinda pricey), but I was pretty surprised when I saw a check for $234.18. The explanation of benefits form is nice, it tells how much routine care reserve is remaining for the year for each dog. It also has a detailed summary of what was submitted, maximum payable, amount requested and amount authorized for each item. I used to have VPI and have never received much reimbursement for routine care and their explanation of benefits was very lame. I have the Preferred plan with Petfirst and so far so good. Both dogs are on the same policy and my monthly payment is $55 a month.

 

I thought some of you would be interested in this info

[Guest greytful4]

I'm gonna check them out ! Kylie's broken toe incident has wound up costing me just shy of $1000.00 so far.

She's STILL in her splint nine weeks later.....

[ShantisMom]

I just asked my mom about which one she had. No one will touch Shanti, but I am thinking of doing it for Asti. This is good to know.

 

I just looked. This is the one my mom has too.

Edited July 15, 2008 by ShantisMom

[Guest Jennifer4719]

With the Preferred plan there is $220 routine care limit, $9,000 accident/illness limit and $2500 per incident limit. For accident/illness they reimburse 90% of covered expenses after a $50 per incident deductible.

[Guest VanillaBean]

I have 5 dogs. They only have a 3 dog plan. Wonder if they will do more?

[Guest zoolaine]

I have 5 dogs. They only have a 3 dog plan. Wonder if they will do more?

 

I just enrolled my four dogs last week. I had to get two 2 dog plans. So I think you would have to get a two dog and a three dog plan. I really checked out all the options and they were by far the best with the $220 in routine care per dog, $50 deductible and 10%copay. My three older dogs have their yearly exam coming up in a few weeks and I figure it should save me around $400 or more!

[gryhndens]

This is the one we have as well. DH said it took about a week to receive our reimbursement. He looked at all of the plans after Fran's jaw incident, and this was the best he could find.

[MP_the4pack]

I might switch Brat to this company, but with Pearl's known heart condition and other problems, it's not worth moving her from VPI.

Thanks for the info.

 

 

[Guest SabrinaInDE]

Thanks for the information! I'm going to look into this.

[Guest KRKWMU]

I think I'm leaning towards Petfirst over VPI. Petfirst's website and policies are so much more straightforward then VPI's. I got myself so confused and overwhelmed yesterday looking at all of the VPI options.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Guest Jennifer4719]

Just got my reimbursement for my second claim with PetFirst. Xena just got her dental done with two extractions. The total cost for her dental was $317. They paid $75 towards the actual teeth cleaning(covered under routine care) which is the max. payable and they paid $41.40 for the periodontitis surgical(teeth extractions, covered under accident/illness). So I got $116.40 back Now I can apply the money I got back towards Xena's annual shots.

[Guest HoustonGreys]

This is almost like you read my mind! I was just thinking about pet insurance yesterday. We previously had VPI and it was such a fight to get ANYTHING out of them that we cancelled the policies. I was hoping there was a better option by now. Thanks so much for the info!

[Guest EmbersDad]

i have vpi and they simply stink. they offer very poor reimbursements and have routinely temporarily denied and delayed claims. i am currently awaiting reimbursement for her amputation. it was temporarily denied because the surgery center did not itemize every stinking thing on the original claim..so they send it back about 2 weeks after the original amputation and i fax them the entire itemized bill as requested. im still waiting.....the total was $2275 and i will be lucky to see $1000 i bet. im keeping it till her chemo is done then i think i will drop them....if they let me.....my cc on file expired and i never provided them with the new expiration and they still were able to charge me...they are relentless.

[Guest Jennifer4719]

i have vpi and they simply stink. they offer very poor reimbursements and have routinely temporarily denied and delayed claims. i am currently awaiting reimbursement for her amputation. it was temporarily denied because the surgery center did not itemize every stinking thing on the original claim..so they send it back about 2 weeks after the original amputation and i fax them the entire itemized bill as requested. im still waiting.....the total was $2275 and i will be lucky to see $1000 i bet. im keeping it till her chemo is done then i think i will drop them....if they let me.....my cc on file expired and i never provided them with the new expiration and they still were able to charge me...they are relentless.

 

Yes, I agree, VPI is really bad. I cancelled my policies with them online without any problem.

[Guest argolola]

They sound like a great company. We just signed up Rudy with PetsBest.

[Guest HoustonGreys]

i have vpi and they simply stink. they offer very poor reimbursements and have routinely temporarily denied and delayed claims. i am currently awaiting reimbursement for her amputation. it was temporarily denied because the surgery center did not itemize every stinking thing on the original claim..so they send it back about 2 weeks after the original amputation and i fax them the entire itemized bill as requested. im still waiting.....the total was $2275 and i will be lucky to see $1000 i bet. im keeping it till her chemo is done then i think i will drop them....if they let me.....my cc on file expired and i never provided them with the new expiration and they still were able to charge me...they are relentless.

 

When we dropped them years ago we had them debiting our checking account and the ONLY way we got them to stop was to PAY the bank to put "stop pays" on the account! They were the most frustrating people!

[seeh2o]

I have had PetFirst for almost a year, they are great at paying claims. HOWEVER, please note that if your dog develops a chronic condition when it comes time to renew the policy the next year they look at it as a brand new policy rather than a renewing policy and will exclude any claims for that condition from that point on. Excerpted from their paperwork: Exclusions include: "Continuous coverage of chronic and long term conditions that manifest in a previous policy year".

 

When I read that initially, I thought no big deal, I've not had any dogs ever with a chronic condition. Well, now I do. Come next February they exclude any claims for Carl that are thyroid related - I believe this includes his eye condition. That's one of the reasons why I'm on a tear to get him to all the specialists (of course to get the condition diagnosed correctly and get him on the path to being ok is the #1 reason) before his policy expires in Feb. I'm just glad that I started way early as we've been to 2 vets and one eye specialist...2 incorrect diagnosis later and we're headed to a REAL veterinarian ophthalmologist at the beginning of December.

Edited November 29, 2008 by ckruzan

[Sharpshot]

Oooh, interesting.

 

Does anyone know if the veterinarians have any kind of contracts with this insurance company?

Do you have to use certain vets, or can you go to ANY vet?

 

 

[Guest ArtysPeople]

I read that on their site and wondered how it worked. Thanks for sharing your experience. I really wish I had realized earlier that there was a semi-good/good pet insurance company out there, as it would have been nice to sign my cats up before their 10th birthdays (PetFirst will cover pets for life if they are signed up before age 10, but won't cover them if they aren't signed up by then).

 

I have had PetFirst for almost a year, they are great at paying claims. HOWEVER, please note that if your dog develops a chronic condition when it comes time to renew the policy the next year they look at it as a brand new policy rather than a renewing policy and will exclude any claims for that condition from that point on. Excerpted from their paperwork: Exclusions include: "Continuous coverage of chronic and long term conditions that manifest in a previous policy year".

 

When I read that initially, I thought no big deal, I've not had any dogs ever with a chronic condition. Well, now I do. Come next February they exclude any claims for Carl that are thyroid related - I believe this includes his eye condition. That's one of the reasons why I'm on a tear to get him to all the specialists (of course to get the condition diagnosed correctly and get him on the path to being ok is the #1 reason) before his policy expires in Feb. I'm just glad that I started way early as we've been to 2 vets and one eye specialist...2 incorrect diagnosis later and we're headed to a REAL veterinarian ophthalmologist at the beginning of December.

 

[Guest greydogluvr]

I have had PetFirst for almost a year, they are great at paying claims. HOWEVER, please note that if your dog develops a chronic condition when it comes time to renew the policy the next year they look at it as a brand new policy rather than a renewing policy and will exclude any claims for that condition from that point on. Excerpted from their paperwork: Exclusions include: "Continuous coverage of chronic and long term conditions that manifest in a previous policy year".

 

When I read that initially, I thought no big deal, I've not had any dogs ever with a chronic condition. Well, now I do. Come next February they exclude any claims for Carl that are thyroid related - I believe this includes his eye condition. That's one of the reasons why I'm on a tear to get him to all the specialists (of course to get the condition diagnosed correctly and get him on the path to being ok is the #1 reason) before his policy expires in Feb. I'm just glad that I started way early as we've been to 2 vets and one eye specialist...2 incorrect diagnosis later and we're headed to a REAL veterinarian ophthalmologist at the beginning of December.

 

This is true. I had VPI for my first grey. He developed septicemia which required extended hospitalization. Then he developed a seizure disorder. After the renewal date there were exclusions for both of these conditions. I was planning on dropping the policy but they took it upon themselves to discontinue debiting my account. I only found this out when I tried to make a final claim. I guess the couple of thousand dollars we got in reimbursement was too much for them to risk.

[seeh2o]

I'm thinking of switching Carl to Petplan US, once insured they can be insured for life even if a chronic condition develops during the course of the policy. They cost a bit more, but I like their business practice better.

[Guest Greytluv]

we're headed to a REAL veterinarian ophthalmologist at the beginning of December.

Are you going to the one in Tustin? I hope so. Dr. Brinkis is the best. I wouldn't take my dog anywhere else.

[Guest sirsmom]

Im going to look in to Petfirst also

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

Petfirst: from the policy exclusions:

Congenital or hereditary defects or diseases

Jake is a cryptorchid (missing/lost nut) I don't suppose this will pay towards his surgery.

How would you all interpet this?

[Bevd]

I'm thinking of switching Carl to Petplan US, once insured they can be insured for life even if a chronic condition develops during the course of the policy. They cost a bit more, but I like their business practice better.

I know insurance is different here in the UK but what you've said above is exactly what we encourage people to go for. A Covered For Life Policy. Anything else is really not worth paying for unless the insured dog is extremely old and unlikely to be requiring a policy the following year.