Pet Insurance?

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

Anyone have any experience with pet insurance providers? Or can anyone make an informed recommendation? My vet has pointed me toward VPI and Embrace, but it's hard to find good reviews of these (or anyone else) online.

Thank you!

Comments

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I don't know of any good reviews of pet insurance, mostly because they generally aren't good. I think Consumer Reports even was skeptical about them. Be very careful reading the details of coverage. I read one years ago when I first got my dog. The terms were horrid! Basically, the only thing they're good for is if your dog has an accident while it's young. If your pet is 3-5+ years old, or has any diagnosed problem (including genetic hip/back issues in various breeds) you likely can't even cover the critter. Policies generally don't cover diseases like kidney issues, heart disease, and joint pain/arthrytis which are the majority of serious problems critters get. It's often simply better to put that money into a bank account/mattress regularly, and use it whenever your pet needs help. You'll likely end up better in the long run.

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

I second this comment!

[nu-luba.livejournal.com]

i absolutely love Trupanion. They are a PPO and you can select the deductable that you are comfortable with to reduce your monthly payments. The deductable applies to same illness over a lifetime so if you already met it you dont have to pay for it again. Service is prompt and after the deductable they pay 90%.

This was great when my cats needed their teeth pulled.

If you are going to sign up please use http://trupanion.tellapal.com/a/clk/304Ty

Disclaimer: This is my referrer link

[molyflogs.livejournal.com]

We had ASPCA pet insurance on our dogs for a few years. We got it when we got the dogs, and it was great for awhile. It paid for 80% of their spay and neuter. When we had to take one to the emergency vet in the middle of the night, it paid for 80% of that ,which ended up being a couple thousand dollars, so that was nice. It was 80% of pretty much everything. After things settled down with the dogs, we eventually dropped coverage, and instead, we put what we would spend on the premiums in the bank every month, and just use that if something comes up with them. While the insurance definitely paid out more to us than we paid in premiums, it wasn't going to be that way anymore. The dogs don't have any health concerns, and we only seem to need to take them in once a year, so it's not worth it anymore.

[ultra-lilac.livejournal.com]

We have VPI. There are quite a few routine things they don't cover, but for emergencies they've been great. They covered about 3/4 of the cost of our dog's 2 emergency surgeries which came to almost $18,000 together.
Claiming was very straightforward and they paid up pretty quick. Theyve always been very helpful when i call them too.

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

I use Healthy Paws, although I haven't had a claim yet, so I can't really tell you anything about it from personal experience, but I have heard good reviews of it and they seem to cover a lot of things that other insurances don't cover (genetic diseases, ongoing problems, etc.). The terms seem quite reasonable to me. They don't cover pre-existing conditions, obviously, but pretty much everything else seems to be covered. (and pre-existing stuff doesn't raise your premiums, it just won't be covered)

And they give a discount for animal welfare volunteers, which I think is pretty cool (I am a shelter volunteer).

Several dog people I respect have said that basically if you're going to bother, Healthy Paws is the one that's worth it. Ultimately, over the life of the pet, it may not exactly save money, but for me, the peace of mind of knowing I won't have to factor cost into treatment decisions nearly as much, especially now, while she's young, and I haven't had a chance to save up is worth it. If she were to need to go to the e-vet and get some expensive diagnostic or treatment, I want to be able to just do whatever she needs and not worry about the cost.

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

Thanks everyone who responded. I followed all your leads, some I got from other sources, read Consumer Reports and here's what I've decided.

Daisy is a healthy cat, approximately 6-7 years old. She is spayed and never goes outside and hasn't come to any sort of accident-related harm in all the time I've known her. Given that she probably does not have any accidents or illnesses looming in her near future (knock on wood), I think that for now, I'm just going to put aside a little money each month in a special savings account just for emergency health care for her.

A private fund should be fine for anything that might come up for a while. In a few years, when I'm guessing she's probably approaching the last quarter or third of her life, and when I figure she's got to be due for end-of-life health issues like every other cat I've known, I'll review insurance options again.

So that's my plan! Thanks again for all your great feedback!