Does anyone know if Pet Insurance is worth the beans?
One of our eldest cats (we'll call him Bob), is starting to get up their with age, he just turned 10, and Pet Insurance is looking quite sexy these days.The problem is, or problems really, is that I have absolutely NO experience or knowledge, or even a clue for that matter, about any of this stuff. Like, is Pet Insurance even worth it? Does it cover checkups, accidents, anything and everything? Not a clue.
In fact, I'm specifically posting about this today so that i'll force me to do a little research ;) That way we all learn a little somethin' somethin', and then YOU leave me comments about whether pet insurance is retarded or not. Esp. for all you Vets out there - you know who you are. Deal or no deal? Good good...now here we go.
As I mentioned, i'm starting from scratch here, so i figured the best way to start is to plug in "pet insurance" and see what Google googlizes for us. Here are the top 3 sites (not ads) that showed up under this keyword. Keep in mind, I'll be focusing on the cat stuff since Bob, and his sister LaLaLa, are of these species. Here's what we got:
VPI Pet Insurance :: petinsurance.com
First Impression: Awesome! Sharp, clean, easy to navigate and very professional looking. Their toll-free # is bold up at the top, and right off the bat I'm inclined to use them. They even have a "10 things to ask before buying Pet Insurance" page! I'm liking that.
Animals they cover: dogs, cats, birds, and exotic pets (like sugar gliders! what?)
Packages: Focusing on just cats here, there are 3 options you can go with. You can see them here.
Quote: You fill out a few questions online, and then give you a quick quote right away...except for Bob. Turns out he's too old to insure due to "underwriting guidelines"! Poor Bob :( I still want a guestimate for this sorta stuff though, so i tried our 2 year old cat - we'll call her LaLaLa. She's apparently worthy, and it pumped out a range of $7.88/mo. up to a max of $38.33 depending on the package. Either way, it def. seems worth it! that ish is expensssssive.
PetCare :: petcareinsurance.com
First Impression: Eh, so-so. Not as cozy looking as the previous one, but def. "Vet-like". They also state their the "#1 choice of North American pet owners", so they gotta be good ;)
Animals they cover: dogs, cats
Packages: 4 choices to choose from, with lots and lots of information. You can check 'em here.
Quote: YAYYYY, Bob can be protected! $9.95 for the smallest package, $11.95 for the medium one, and $21.95 for "the best" one. From the bat already cheaper than LaLaLa's quote above - and she's 8 years younger? So i plopped her info in and WOW did it come back w/ options! 9 different ones actually, all depending on the amount of coverage i wanted. But the 3 comparable ones here were $9.95, $25.95, and $38.45 respectively....in the same ballpark as VPI's insurance. This also tells me that the packages for Bob probably aren't the best out there, but at least they'd still cover him!
Pets Best Insurance :: petsbest.com
First Impression: cute, warm, and "salesy" right off the top. Top half of page dedicated to giving you a quote..can't tell if i like this or not, but i'm giving it a shot! oh, and in their FAQs they state that no pet is too old for pet insurance! i'm like that already...
Animals they cover: looks to be just dogs & cats.
Packages: 3 options with all sorts of coverage. Clicky here for the deets.
Quote: Negative. You have to enter your email address to get an instant quote...sorry Charlie (or Bob & LaLaLa i should say), but i'm not doing it. Not worth the possible amount of emails i'll get down the road from them. BUT, they do state all over, that the monthly packages start at $19.99 so that gives me something to consider, and I already know Bob can be covered.
Wowww, so lots of information huh? It took a little bit putting this together, but at least i know some more now. It still hasn't swayed me to act on it yet, but i'm hoping some of you might have a few nuggets of knowledge to share with us :) And in the meantime?
We'll just keep loving the hell out of Bob & LaLaLa and hope it's enough to keep them out of the Vet's clinic! They're indoor cats anyways, so unless they trip and fall while eating dinner, they should be out of harms way. haha....
posted by J. Money at
12:09 PM
20 Comments:
I looked into pet insurance once, too. The conclusion I came to is that it's not really worth it. You're paying a lot of money every month, and there are a TON of loopholes that can get them out of paying. (For instance, your cat's pre-existing conditions reset every year. So if Bob is diagnosed with a chronic condition that requires lots of treatment, he's only covered for it until the end of the year. When it's time to renew, they'll consider his condition pre-existing condition and won't cover it in your new policy.)
They really only cover emergencies and accidents, and in that case, you're looking at paying a lot of money every month just in case.
The conclusion I came to is that it's more practical to self insure for your pet's health with an emergency fund or a pet fund. We put a little money every month in a savings account for our dog's yearly check ups and preventative meds (he's still a young pup, so his care doesn't cost much). If he ever gets sick or needs emergency vet care, we'll pull it from our emergency fund. If he doesn't, great, and we're not paying every month for insurance we may or may not need.
I second Karen. We had a few clients who had pet insurance at the animal hospital I worked at, but it was the rare policy that covered a substantial amount and really paid for itself. In fact, I can only think of one person who loved the insurance because it paid for preventative and emergency care. We had a few conversations about it and she said that the reimbursements covered EVERYTHING. No one else could say the same.
My recommendation would be to put money aside every month and self insure. I used to have a medical fund from which my dogs's care would be paid in cash. And I need to start it again. :P As our pets get older, we can accrue some pretty insane vet bills, but there's a point at which it's too much money and too much treatment to put your little one through. The latter is always a major consideration.
I'm really thankful for our pet insurance (We've got VPI). I got it when i first moved to a new city and my dog Charlie got sick a couple of times and I had to bring him to the emergency vet because he didn't have a regular vet yet. It covered some of his visits, not 100%, but getting anything back was helpful. Then he got really, really sick and after several emergency trips and lots of ultrasounds, xrays, bloodwork, testing, etc was diagnosed with a rare disease (Addison's) - the Pet Insurance only covered about 50% of my total cost on that - but 50% of $1500 is enough of a value for me! And the pet insurance only cost me about $175 for the year.
I'm not sure about the pre-existing condition thing, but he's up for his renewal in February so I'll look into it before I get him insurance again.
So, I'd say Pet Insurance is worth it - even though I hope you never have to use it! It's a pain in the butt and it never covers everything it *should* (like human medical coverage in this country), but that isn't enough of a reason for me to go without it!
You could call your vet and see what they think. I had a dog and my vet basically told me that it wasn't worth it - a lot of insurance companies have crazy loopholes, like they wouldn't cover diagnostic tests, but then they wouldn't cover pre-existing conditions either.
I did the pet fund (read: credit card) thing too.
I think Paradigm's suggestion to call your vet and ask for his (or her) opinion is good (it would probably good to ask your vet if they accept pet insurance, too). My guess is that different areas of the country have different insurance options. Perhaps some states/cities have better coverage options than others.
While I haven't done a lot of research on pet insurance, I've always been a bit leery of it. To me, it seems like a smarter option would be to create a "pet" category in your budget and set aside a certain amount each month, beyond what you need to cover vaccines and check-ups each year.
I'm reading through the terms of Pet Care Insurance's coverage. Illness coverage doesn't start until the 31st day your pet has been insured. For certain issues (vaccine-related sarcomas in cats), there are various exclusions (again, using the sarcoma example, the cat must have always received a specific type of vaccine in order for the coverage to be effective for sarcomas). If your pet was sick with an unknown condition before or during the thirty-day waiting period, that condition will not be covered. Here's the quote:
"Any Illness or Accident pre-existing to the policy is not available for coverage. This includes illnesses that are existing, symptomatic and/or treated but not necessarily diagnosed, prior to the coverage effective date, or during the thirty day waiting period for illness coverage."
As with any, read the terms, conditions and exclusions carefully. In my quick glance at the pet insurance, most of them do not cover yearly check-ups and vaccines unless you purchase special coverage for it. Accidents and illnesses seem to be covered, with varying exclusions, of course.
My personal opinion is that there are so many exclusions and potential loopholes that my money would be better spent (or not spent) by putting it into a "pet fund" that can be tapped when the pet becomes sick.
You can't keep your cat from getting older but there are things you can do to help him (or her) stay healthy. Check with your vet for suggestions specific to your pet. Keeping your pet at a healthy weight, feed a good food, and ensuring appropriate exercise are good things for any pet (or person!).
Let me know what you decide. I'm interested to hear about it.
I have a friend who takes out insurance on his dog, but only to help replace or help continue the income that is generated from studding fees and dog shows that would be lost if the dog could not perform.
i used to work at a pet hospital and the most common carrier was VPI (here in Southern California). they had packages specifically for older animals and it's worth it if 1. you plan on using the services in the package (such as prophylaxis, or, teeth-cleaning), or 2. you want coverage for possible emergency care (hit by car, etc). animal hospitals can be very costly if you have to take them into surgery so it's really a matter of if you have the emergency funds in your savings in case something happens and you need to save their life. i've seen so many people in this situation where they have to make the decision on the spot bc they don't have pet insurance. :( but just keep in mind that just like human insurance, most likely it won't cover everything in life and death emergency situations.
I don't know about pet insurance, sadly (I SO want a puppy), but i had to comment that my roomie in college had a sugar glider (and also a cockatiel). It was SO FUNNY. it was really cute for a psuedo-rodent. it would climb everything and run around everywhere at night; more than once it escaped underneath a crack in our door and we would have to rescue it from underneath a neighbor's bed while someone was sleeping in it!
Eventually the maid that came in through our room to get to the shared bathroom found it and my roomie had to get rid of it. I miss lil Pablo!
Ok, if anyone should consider pet insurance, it would be me. I have a 14 year old beagle. I got her when she was 11 and I thought about it then. After talking to my vet (she thought it was a ripoff as did her partner) and after living with my dog into her golden years, I think it is. Sadie has had one major surgery ($500) two years ago and not many other issues since. Better sticking that $40 a month into a higher yield savings account in my opinion and take your animal for routine checkups.
And a little woot! to all those sexy senior pets out there who've still got it. Sadie sure does!
Unfortunately you'll never know if you needed pet insurance until it is too late. Many pets live their whole lives without requiring more than the annual check up, making pet insurance a waste. Others were born lemons, and aren't insurable. Like a previous commenter said, it's only good for accidents or emergencies. The once in a blue moon type stuff, which of course happened to me and I didn't have pet insurance! We went through a $3000 obstruction surgery with one of our bostons, don't get me started on that nightmare. My second boston has epilepsy, the one thing we'd want covered would be excluded as an existing condition. Then our third needed surgery to help him breathe, would have been excluded as a congenital defect (known problem in the breed). I paid for his surgery with Care Credit, it's like a credit card but just for medical expenses (pet or people) and lots of 0% interest plans.
Pet insurance doesn't cover the most likely and most needed conditions, so most people think it's a waste. In hindsight, it would have paid off for me. But you need to sign up, before you need coverage.
I know that it's not really worth it here in the UK. If the US is anything similar I wouldn't bother. Here they don't cover you for anything that happens to your pet when it is out of your sight or possession (in other words, anything that happens to your pet while it's not sitting on your effing lap or on a leash!)
I love how you give your cat an alias.. is he famous? If we knew his real name would it break your cover?? hehehe :)
Hot damn i'm glad i posted about this - you all have some freakin' killer ideas! I'm not sure what we're gonna do as yet, but the first thing we're gonna do is ask our family Vets to see what they think (and if they cover it), and then play around with the #'s a bit...so far it looks like the best plan is to just save the $ on the side, but we'll see! THANKS SO MUCH for your comments and honesty, they all help :)
@Karen - Wow, i had NO idea about that pre-exising clause stuff...i wonder if all of them do that? I think your idea of keeping a separate fund for this is an excellent idea for sure. thanks for the great info :)
@Revanche - yeah, i'm not looking forward to when that "too-old" time comes :( but we still have some years left!
@Anonymous - You're the first person i've ever "met" to have this insurance! And i'm glad it's working out for you all so far, that's wonderful :) Thank you so much for your input.
@ParadigmShifted - that's a hulluva good idea actually! my wife's been using the same vets her whole life, so asking them for their opinion ain't too shabby! Damn i'm gald i posted about this ;)
@Pamela @ Frugal Vet Tech (student) - THERE YOU ARE! I was thinking of you when i wrote this and was hoping you'd reply ;) I'll def. keep you guys updated.
@Hank - yeah, that makes total sense...never thought about "show dogs" or pets, i bet most of them have some sort of insurance lined up for various needs.
@Danielle - that's still good information to know! i'm thinking VPI is the way to go though over the others from what i've heard so far. thanks!
@Sense - Lil Pablo!! hahaha.....OMG i love it. (and i really want one now!)
@Nicole - Woot woot! Thx for sharing girl, may our pets live on forever ;)
@Miss M - Huh, that's really interesting...hindsight is always better i suppose, but i really want a 100% answer to know if i should get it or not! haha...is that so bad? ;) I'm sorry to hear about all your animal troubles, but it's good you all love them enough to pay all that money! And i'll have to check out Care Credit - never heard of it before.
@FruGal - Oooh wouldn't you like to know ;) Bob is really Garfield, and LaLaLa is really Jay-Z's old cat who gave him inspiration for the song....there, you happy now?
even i have plan to take an insurance on my pets. Thanks for your information share with us.
Folding Dog Stairs
When I looked into this it wasn't worth it for me to do it. I have three cats that I take to the vet an average of two times a year. They're indoor, declawed cats, and fortunately they're pretty healthy. What I checked into was something like $75-80 a month for all three cats which on the low end is like $900. Taking the cats to the vet 2 times a year each is about $450. It didn't make sense for me to do the insurance. Now, I could have been looking at a super ridiculously priced carrier, and I couldn't tell you who it was because it was offered through work, but that just seems like a waste of money.
What I've been doing is budgeting out what I need for them per year and I set it aside at the beginning of the year and then use it when I need it. I actually set aside $500 just in case, but I've not run over this the last two years I've been doing it.
I've not taken out pet insurance, primarily because a friend did (expensively! He had several dogs) and found it worthless. When his dog got sick and required several surgeries, the insurance covered not. one. penny.
When it became clear that my own dog was going to rack up some hefty bills in her old age, I looked into pet insurance. What I found was...
a) most companies won't insure an older dog;
b) they will not cover anything that they can argue, by the longest stretch of the imagination, was a pre-existing condition, and most things that afflict older animals are chronic conditions;
c) most policies cover the injuries but not illnesses.
Since my dog never went out of the house without a leash, she wasn't likely to get hit by a car. As Kristy's post reveals, if you put $75 or $80 a month into savings instead of forking it over to an insurer, you'd be ahead of the game.
This is a very relevant topic to me today. One of our dogs had surgery today to recover something blocking his intestinal tract.
I plan on asking my vet his impressions on pet insurance, and I'll report back my findings!
Oh crap! sorry to hear that bro :( Yes, PLEASE report back and let us know what you end up doing....poor dog.
Hey J. Money! Thanks for the copious amount of detail on Pet Insurance. I linked back to you from my little site. http://frugalfundamentals.blogspot.com/2009/02/omg-who-hacked-your-dog.html
My guys were with Petcare initially but they paid out less and had those Exclusion issues. I shopped around and decided that they were cheap enough at the time without being shady. I ended up going with PetsBest last year because they were at the right price.
I didnt bother going with vaccine and preventative care coverage. I just went with the "hit by a bus" type coverage. Love your posts as always and thanks for keeping it real!
msimonkey!
Perhaps even more important is the veternarian. I learned the hard way. Do research on Vetratingz.com. Yeah, I happenned to go to the crappiest vet in B'more (http://www.vetratingz.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tcvid=22027).
Jake
You should do a post of doing research on people you do business with. After all, having a good budget means getting good values! Or have people suggest links.
I vote that this one should be used for vets.
wow, that sucks hardcore man, i'm sorry to hear that :( thx for bringing this site to our attention! it's def. going on the bookmark list, as well as that post idea.
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