Pet insurance .Do you have it? What coverage would you recommend?

[scarleta]

With so many choices I wonder how one would choose an insurance company and proper coverage for a pet.

 

[BigDiamonds]

Scarleta,

People have some very mixed opinions on pet insurance, but the thing that convinced me is this: if you are the type of person who would never say "no" to a procedure or treatment that could save your pet, regardless of the cost, then you need pet insurance. I know that I could never let a pet go knowing that I could have done something else, so I look at the insurance as more for me than for him.

We have insurance for our cat, Coltrane. We use Petplan. For what it''s worth, I''m in the insurance business and when I did a lot of research on the options, I thought they offered the best coverage. Most policies have per incident and per treatment limits, which you could very easily exceed and end up owing a lot of money. Petplan just has an annual limit and very customizable coverage. I met another pet owner who is in the insurance biz too, and she said the same thing - Petplan is the best coverage out there. Keep in mind that for most things you are going to have to pay upfront and then file a claim for recovery, so you still need the ability to pay.

You should also decide whether you want to buy coverage for "maintenance" items, like routine visits. To me, this is like trying to buy car insurance that covers oil changes. It''s just not the purpose of insurance, in my opinion. And it''s not a very good deal, in general. However, if you''re the type who likes to pay a little bit every month instead of all at once, and you don''t mind the paperwork, those types of policies are available.

Hope that helps!

 

[scarleta]

Thanks BigDiamonds: what you said makes lots of sense.Thanks

 

[bee*]

I don''t have it for the main reason that I have worked in the vets for the past four years and I don''t have to pay full price for any treatment so I put money into a separate account monthly and if I need it for them it''s there. If not, I can spend it!! If I wasn''t working there though I more than likely would get insurance. In Ireland at the moment, the only company is petplan but there is another company coming soon but there coverage doesn''t seem to be as good as petplans is.

 

[omieluv]

My mom is an HR benefits administrator and found that Petplan was the best for her cat. In the last few months, she has had to draw on it frequently as the vet has found precancerous cells. My mom said that each time she has had to contact Petplan, they have always been very friendly and helpful. My mom has the bronze level of coverage, which has been working out great for her. From what my mom said, Petplan does have an age limit for cats they will accept. Her cat barely made it in at age 6.

I have VPI and though they have had great service, their coverage is not so good. Omie had to have stones removed about a year ago and they only covered $500 (the entire procedure ran $1350). With PetPlan, I would have only had to pay 90% after the $200 deductible. Had I known about PetPlan earlier, I would have had Omie on that, rather than VPI. Keep in mind, I am on a basic plan with VPI.

 

[goobear78]

Thank you for starting this thread. I need to purchase insurance for my dog - he''s 9 and very healthy, but getting up there in age. I didn''t know where to start with insurance and now I''ll check out petplan!

 

[goobear78]

Boo.

I just checked and my dog doesn''t qualify because he''s 9. That stinks. Oh well, for my next dog...

 

[scarleta]

Date: 11/8/2008 5:28:07 PM
Author: goobear78
Boo.

I just checked and my dog doesn''t qualify because he''s 9. That stinks. Oh well, for my next dog...

Do you know what age is too old to be covered? Maybe you can find a company that will cover 9 years and older.

 

[omieluv]

Date: 11/8/2008 5:28:07 PM
Author: goobear78
Boo.

I just checked and my dog doesn't qualify because he's 9. That stinks. Oh well, for my next dog...

Check with VPI. They might be able to help you and their plan could be better for dogs than for cats. They really do have wonderful customer service and a nice website.