Pet Insurance

[Guest Duke]

Sorry if this topic has been posted and discussed before. I am doing some research and seriously considering VPI. Anyone out there have insurance for his or her pet? Any suggestions or recommendations?

 

 

[Guest trevdog]

We have Petfirst here, never had to use it yet. I looked at VPI but some other folks on GT had issues getting some things covered with it. Petfirst had a lot more positve reports. We pay about $40 a month for Ossie(10) and Dallas(4), haven't added Reiley yet. Just have the accident and illness as my vet is pretty inexpensive for the routine care to begin with.

[Guest Energy11]

Forget VPI! They are horrible! I have heard this from a few frieinds, and others here on GT. We have Trupanion. They don't cover for routine visits, like exams, dentals, bloodwork, but do cover for accidents and illnesses. I have had good luck so far, getting my claims back fast. They are stuck on Staggerlee's right now, because they are waiting for records from his former vet. For the most part, I am happy with them, and their prices.

 

Best to look at ALL of them, compare, and go from there. NONE of them cover pre-existing conditions.

 

Good Luck!

[Guest K9Cookies]

We also went with Trupanion after doing tons of research. Bonnie was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2008 and we drained our savings account paying for the chemo and vet fees. A lot of the insurance plans have a cap on "per incident" fees, so the chemo would have only been covered to a certain amount. Trupanion has a "lifetime" cap, so that wasn't a worry with them. We've been very happy so far. It gives us peace of mind to know that if something major came up (heaven forbid) then we'd have help, financially.

[Guest Greytluv]

Instead on buying insurance on all four I buy Costco stock. (I work there) I buy $200 month. If something happens (doG forbid) to one of mine I can sell it. I thought that would be better than buying insurance

[Guest Energy11]

Instead on buying insurance on all four I buy Costco stock. (I work there) I buy $200 month. If something happens (doG forbid) to one of mine I can sell it. I thought that would be better than buying insurance

 

 

GOOD idea! Should be a sound investment in this crappy economy!

[Guest Duke]

thanks- will look into Pet First and Trupanion.

[phall]

Check out Pets Best Insurance as well. I've been satisfied with them and I believe they are having a promotion right now where they'll donate $20 to the Morris Animal Foundation for each new policy that is taken out.

[Guest eaglflyt]

I did extensive research and absolutely love our choice of Embrace Pet Insurance. There's no lifetime maximum and you can customize your policy as you choose. We are always reimbursed within a week with every claim so far. We've had numerous claims and never had any problems at all. Customer service has been extraordinary and we have total piece of mind that we can care for our girl in any situation without worrying about the financial aspect. I highly encourage to check them out when doing your comparisons.

[Guest Adoptastar]

We've used VPI for years - 2 dogs, $40 per month or so, and they seem to cover quite a bit. You do have to watch the max amounts they will pay for certain things and you should get it sooner than later - you don't want excluded items because your vet made a comment on his/her form. As an example, the vet commented that my grey had dry skin, so they put an exclusion that anything skin related would not be covered...so let your vet know to be careful about comments prior to getting the policy.

[Guest Fasave]

I did extensive research and absolutely love our choice of Embrace Pet Insurance. There's no lifetime maximum and you can customize your policy as you choose. We are always reimbursed within a week with every claim so far. We've had numerous claims and never had any problems at all. Customer service has been extraordinary and we have total piece of mind that we can care for our girl in any situation without worrying about the financial aspect. I highly encourage to check them out when doing your comparisons.

 

 

VPI did NOT work for me. You only get reimbursed based on diagnosis so if a vet is recommending a test if it comes back negative, no reimbursement. Almost happened to me with an MRI that a vet recommended for a suspected back problem. I got a second opinion and no back injury so I would have been out over $2,000. For my newbie, I went with Embrace as well. Haven't file a claim yet. I did the annual $10,000 with a 10% co-pay and a $200 deductible. On a 4 year old, I pay $42/month.

[seeh2o]

I had VPI for a year and got rid of it. I have Carl & Claire on a PetFirst family plan and I'm really pleased with it. I had Carl on it solo for a year or so and they paid out over $1200 in claims the first year, no questions asked. I like them a lot.

[Guest zoolaine]

I had all mine on PetFirst and really liked them, however when Sunny was diagnosed with cancer I realized a $2500 per incident limit is inadequate. I did a lot of research and picked PetPlan. Their limits ($8,000, $12,000, or $20,000) are per year and fully renew each year. They also seem to have good coverage and got really good ratings on the petinsurance.com web site. I liked Embrace but they only cover you at 25% for ongoing conditions after the first year. And I also considered Trupanion but from the information I got from them they will only cover chemotherapy if it is FDA approved - which I believe the vast majority of chemo drugs are not.

[Guest Duke]

Ugh! so many options, need to do more research.

[Guest K9Cookies]

Ugh! so many options, need to do more research.

 

Yes, it can get overwhelming. I had pages of notes. Someone tipped me off that if you register on Dogster.com, Trupanion will do a 90 free trial for your pets. This saved us a lot of money! It was my number one choice anyway. See what you think will work for you the best based on how you handle vet appointments, Duke's age and his history.

 

Good Luck.

[2ndChance]

Thanks soooo much for posting this! I've been procrastinating on this, and was actually going to post this question!

 

Trupanion is sounding awfully good...same with Embrace....hmmmm.

 

thanks GT

[KahluasMagic]

I have Pets Best. The routine care didn't work for me, but the accident & illness has been great. I had VPI before and was not happy with the limits on certain procedures.

[Guest bigbrindlebunny]

THANK you all so much! I just put Pete on Insurance. The research you did helped me choose a plan, and got me over the worry/procrastination/intimidation factor. Special thanks to zoolaine and eaglflyt!

[Guest eaglflyt]

So happy for you!!! You can rest easily now knowing that finances won't be a factor in your decisions for your pup and your budget won't be vulnerable.

[Guest eaglflyt]

I liked Embrace but they only cover you at 25% for ongoing conditions after the first year.

 

It's not a 25% coverage for ongoing conditions. It's a limit of $2,500 per year for any ongoing condition. That's covering everything in the percentage you chose (80 or 90%) up to $2,500 each year. That's still a LOT. For example, Ady Bea just had surgery for chronic UTI's. They have covered everything wonderfully! When our plan renews next year (in June for us), they will continue to cover any UTI issues each year (hopefully none will occur since her surgery) up to $2500. Even with all the problems with UTI's and her surgery she has had in this current insurance coverage year, we may not have reached the $2,500 mark on this condition. I'm just saying that's still a LOT of coverage for anything ongoing. If it were diabetes, Cushings, arthritis, LS, or even cancer ... that's still a LOT of coverage after the first year.

 

We chose the $200 annual deductible, 90% reimbursement, $10,000 annual maximum options on our customizable policy. I hope next year we don't have so many claims, but this year we had many. Her UTI's and vaccine reaction really ran the veterinary expenses up. Embrace has paid beautifully and quickly and always expressed concern for Ady Bea. BTW, I have no connection with the company at all .... I'm just a very happy customer.

Edited April 2, 2010 by eaglflyt

[Guest lisa_grublesky]

I had all mine on PetFirst and really liked them, however when Sunny was diagnosed with cancer I realized a $2500 per incident limit is inadequate. I did a lot of research and picked PetPlan. Their limits ($8,000, $12,000, or $20,000) are per year and fully renew each year. They also seem to have good coverage and got really good ratings on the petinsurance.com web site. I liked Embrace but they only cover you at 25% for ongoing conditions after the first year. And I also considered Trupanion but from the information I got from them they will only cover chemotherapy if it is FDA approved - which I believe the vast majority of chemo drugs are not.

 

We have Pet Plan for Sundae as well, and thus far they have been awesome!

They paid for most of her bill (besides our deductible) when she wiped out in the backyard and had to have staples in a few places.

 

I would recommend them.

[Guest zoolaine]

I liked Embrace but they only cover you at 25% for ongoing conditions after the first year.

 

It's not a 25% coverage for ongoing conditions. It's a limit of $2,500 per year for any ongoing condition. That's covering everything in the percentage you chose (80 or 90%) up to $2,500 each year. That's still a LOT. For example, Ady Bea just had surgery for chronic UTI's. They have covered everything wonderfully! When our plan renews next year (in June for us), they will continue to cover any UTI issues each year (hopefully none will occur since her surgery) up to $2500. Even with all the problems with UTI's and her surgery she has had in this current insurance coverage year, we may not have reached the $2,500 mark on this condition. I'm just saying that's still a LOT of coverage for anything ongoing. If it were diabetes, Cushings, arthritis, LS, or even cancer ... that's still a LOT of coverage after the first year.

 

We chose the $200 annual deductible, 90% reimbursement, $10,000 annual maximum options on our customizable policy. I hope next year we don't have so many claims, but this year we had many. Her UTI's and vaccine reaction really ran the veterinary expenses up. Embrace has paid beautifully and quickly and always expressed concern for Ady Bea. BTW, I have no connection with the company at all .... I'm just a very happy customer.

 

 

Sorry I should have said you are covered at 25% of your yearly maximum. You have the $10,000 annual maximum plan so yes you get $2500 per year to cover ongoing, chronic conditions. For most issues you would be fine and up until 3 months ago I thought $2500 was a lot of coverage, but with Sunny I quickly found out how expensive specialized treatment is. He went over his PetFirst $2500 per incident limit in about 4 visits with the oncologist, heck one overnight stay with tests and his first chemo treatment was over $1300. and to give you an idea of ongoing costs his current chemo protocol is $1200 per month. One thing that really scared me off of Embrace was when I called to get some information and the lady told me "a worst case scenario would be to be diagnosed in the last couple weeks of the policy because once it renews everything previously diagnosed would then be considered a chronic condition". So if you got a cancer diagnosis and two weeks later your policy renewed - only the treatment you got in during those two weeks would be covered under the annual maximum - the rest would be under the $2,500 for the next year.

 

Embrace does have a lot of good benefits, as does Trupanion. I just really liked the yearly renewing maximums and that they will pay for chemotherapy, even if it is not FDA approved as long as it is prescribed by a vet. And for insuring 6 dogs, it was the best price/options for me.

Edited April 3, 2010 by zoolaine

[Walliered]

I bought PetPlan for Da Vid yesterday. After reading all of the other plans, I thought this one would be the best.

[Guest meakah]

Bummer! I have been looking for pet insurance too and decided to check out Pet Plan due to the reviews on here. Unfortunately...it doesn't appear as though it is offered in Canada. Anyone have recommendations for up north?

[Guest suzq]

Embrace is AWESOME!!