Pet insurance

Craiger · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:52 am Post subject: Pet insurance

I was thinking of getting some insurance for greta.I was looking at VPI and was wondering if there is anyone has used it or any other pet insurance for any their four legged friends in the household and got positive feedback by using it.

scrbear11 · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:36 am Post subject:

The woman I work with has two Labs that she shows- she got pet insurance for the first one, and she said that she was better off putting the $30 a month or whatever it was away in a savings account for the vet. It was more of a pain in the butt than it was worth and the dog who had been accident prone the year before she got the insurance, only went to the vet twice for his bi annual check ups and shots.

mtbazz · Housebroken Joined: 20 Sep 2008 Posts: 51

I guess it depends on who you speak to. My brother and sister in law spent $4,000.00 on their dog last year for some type of joint surgery, and if they would have had insurance, that surgery would have been covered.

I personally would not have been able to pay that.

I ended up getting insurance from ASPCA or my 9 week old. It seems like a good deal for just under $40.00 a month.

Id rather spend that, than be faced with a vet bill in the thousands...

http://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/

peppernaei · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:21 am Post subject:

We have a Vetinsurance policy which we decided on for the first two years on recommendation from our breeder.

At the end of year one, I am happy with the company. The three claims I have made have been processed within a few hours and the cheque came the next week.

Looking at it financially though we've paid $432 in premiums for $200 is claims + peace of mind i guess. As you can see the $30 per month in my bank account would have covered it with savings.

Vetinsurance just changed their options and if you now add a deductible your premiums go down ...
$100 deductible - $32.99 monthly
$250 deductible - $28.85 monthly
$500 deductible - $22.90 monthly
$1000 deductible - $12.46 monthly

If I was going to continue insurance I think I would look at adding a deductible and only use the insurance for large issues.

LunaBrown · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:48 am Post subject:

We have VPI pet insurance, and I am torn as to if I want to renew it for the next year. They have paid on every claim, but there is a $50 deductible... in the first year with all the shots, spay, microchip, and 6+ ear infections I think it has paid for itself... but I don't know if it will be so in the upcoming year.

I am going to ride it out through her first hunting season though - she's a tough girl but with her thin ears and sparse coat I am concerned we may end up having to go in for some stitches... only time will tell though.

Luna got very very ill when she was a pup, about 16 weeks old. We spent over $6,000 out of our pocket (thank you, mastercard) on vet bills... after that we sprung for the pet insurance. I guess the peace of mind is worth it having been through that...

mtbazz · Housebroken Joined: 20 Sep 2008 Posts: 51

Sundown127 · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:05 am Post subject:

To compare insurance companies, and also see reviews, check out this very informative site:

http://www.petinsurancereview.com/dog.asp

If go there and then click on any company name on the left of the list, it will take you to a page of reviews by those who actually have insurance with these companies, and their experiences. I do have pet insurance, but have yet to use it.
I chose to avoid the most well known pet insurance, VPI, because of a very poor overall rating at this site, by those who have it. And a significant number of unhappy customers.

Here is a link to loads of reviews of VPI at this site:

http://www.petinsurancereview.com/moreReviews.asp?ID1=200&ID2=VPI

sherry · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject:

We also have Vetinsurance for Jag we are happy with them as well. The first claim I made went through without any problems and another one is being processed now. This week I will be putting in another one for Jags' surgery the other day.We have had this for about 1 year.

waitingonmyweim · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:57 pm Post subject:

we have vetinsurance as well and are planning on keeping it for a couple of years probably. as others have also mentioned I'm paying 30-something dollars a month mainly for peace of mind. I don't want to have to drain my savings for an obstruction surgery or a laceration or something more serious. I just feel better having it there, even though I know using a separate savings account makes more financial sense.

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:25 pm Post subject:

ive started putting $40 a month per dog in a savings account.
if we have something soon, we will get beat up pretty bad. if we have something later, we will have the money for it. if we have nothing at all, we will have the money left.
insurance drove up human health care costs (ie the ol' if you have insurance this procedure is $3000, if not its $1000 move), its going to do the same to vet care... already is.

to that end, this time last year we lost Lola at 2.5 years to leukemia. dropped a few grand on chemo, etc. during that time, so we have experienced some of the potential high costs of an illness already.

G-Smith · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:55 pm Post subject:

We do not have insurance, but we have something called CARE CREDIT... My wife actually got it for herself when she needed a root canal and crown that was gonna cost 1,200.00. You can pay it off in a 12 months same as cash... Anyway we can also use it for our pets if need be or any other medical expense. We have never had to do so but it's nice to know if we had a major expense for our pets we could put it on there and take a year to pay it off intrest free, if we had to.. Vets are high priced...