Pet Insurance

[BokCh0y]

I'm curious about pet healthcare insurance and if it's worth it. I've heard nightmare stories about Vet bills, was told to get pet healthcare insurance.

Does anyone know how it works, if most vets except this type of coverage, average cost?

Biggest thing, can someone recommend to me a good company to go through for Pet Healthcare Insurance?

Thanks.

[rony_espana]

Can't recommend a good place to get it, but I would. My dog had surgery 3 times and it cost me a total of about $5000. In order to get pet insurance I believe you have to get your pet checked out to ensure your not trying to get some existing condition fixed. I only started to look into it after my dog got sick.

[BokCh0y]

Totally thinking about getting it.

Looking into a place called Petsecure. About $60/month for the Level 3 coverage which includes:

$400/Year Dental (up to)
$5000/Year per incident and accident (uo to)
$300 deductible and the above covers 80%

not sure if this is good? And don't know about Petsecure. Anyone have experience with them?

Thanks.

[Mitsu3000gt]

$60/mo seems really high for that low dollar value insurance, but I know nothing about the pet insurance industry .

Car insurance isn't much more than that, has an equal if not higher risk, easy to get zero deductible, and covers your for over a million dollars.

[Troll-ol]

Dental insurance really? Think my cat is like 14 and it has never needed anything... same with the leapard gecko.

[00sir2]

We use it, i think it's called Trupanion or something. It's not bad, I think they charge $40.00 a month. We don't make much use of it yet because our dog is only 2; however, I'm guessing as he gets older we might use it more. Make sure you read the contract carefully, not everything is covered. Our dog had cherry eye in his left eye, that was covered; however, when he got cherry eye in the right eye it wasn't because it's a reocurring problem. I would get it again, just make sure you understand what your paying for.

[Mitsu3000gt]

So $40/mo, lets say your pet doesn't have problems for 10 years, you've already put in $4,800, so you would need to claim more than that to make it worth it I guess.

[Troll-ol]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
So $40/mo, lets say your pet doesn't have problems for 10 years, you've already put in $4,800, so you would need to claim more than that to make it worth it I guess.

Plus there is probably going to be a deductible anyways. Even if your pet needed a little operation every 5 years or so it would probably be cheaper not to have the insurance

[civic roller]

PC Financial has pretty decent Pet Insurance.

[z24_wheels]

I was going to get this, but then I looked into what was truly covered. It wasn't a whole hell of a lot. So instead of paying $50/mo into an insurance plan that *might* cover me, I put $50/mo into a savings account and will use that money should my pups have an issue.

[BokCh0y]

Yeah it sure is pricey...i was told it would be like $120 a year, but this is a lot more than I anticipated. But whatever. I'm not worried about the money to be honest, i love my pet and i would pay whatever i needed to to make sure she's good, i wouldn't put a price on her whatsoever, she's family. But i am curious about insurance and covrage and if people have this and a recommendation on who to go with.

I heard it's good to have for emergencies and what not. Peace of mind because i don't wnat to be in a situation where I have no coverage and no money and instead of being able to save her and have x time with her, i have to walk away from the whole thing. This is afterall a living animal....

[lilmira]

Yeah, I found them to be quite expensive compared to insurance for cars and house.

It adds up to decent chunk of change over time. I'd rather put some emergency fund aside for stuff like this. Most importantly, get a healthy pet and do what it take to keep it that way.

[R-Audi]

The cost depends on what kind of dog it is, and how old they are.

For my English Bulldog (Notorious for health problems) its $49/month. I started to think it was a ripoff, then earlier this year he got pneumonia and two years of dues were paid off almost immediately. (Along with a $500 deductible if you use claim something annually)

For our policy (Pet Secure) you can only claim a certain health problem once a year to a certain amount. (~3k) After that you are on your own till the next year.

[CMW403]

Originally posted by Troll-ol
Dental insurance really? Think my cat is like 14 and it has never needed anything... same with the leapard gecko.

How would a leopard gecko have dental problems?

[Troll-ol]

Originally posted by CMW403


How would a leopard gecko have dental problems?

It shouldn't, but the plan doesn't only cover dental.

[codetrap]

Do the math. How much are you going to pay in premiums, vs how much you expect to have to pay out. I've dropped about 5k in vet bills on my dog, and and she's 6 now. Pet insurance for me is not worth it. Simpler to pay out of pocket.

[ganesh]

We used to have it. We have two big dogs ( Rotti Germanshephard X , and a king german shephard) Both breeds are known for health issues so we were paying $2400/Year for them. Then we had some dental work done on them and the insurance only gave us 30% of it. - It is a rip off. After that we decided not to go with the insurance.
Couple of years ago rotti german shephard had hip surgery and it was just over 6K and I was telling the surgeon that I wish I had insurance at the time and he laughed and told me that even if had insuarance,
a) They will not cover 100%
b) once you make such a claim they will bump your rates and lock you on a contract as well.

My advice is get a quote from the insurance company once you know how much they are going to charge you open up a account and start putting that money in the account. - This is what we are doing right now. This way if and when you need the money for vet you will have it.

[BokCh0y]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

I'm gonna have to really think about it now....

Oh and my dog is a 2 year old Bichon/Toy Poodle.

[Troll-ol]

Originally posted by BokCh0y
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

I'm gonna have to really think about it now....

Oh and my dog is a 2 year old Bichon/Toy Poodle.

No point then if it's that young. It should be cheaper just to pay for whatever it needs.

[Feruk]

I would assume pet insurance would not cover prescription drugs either?

Think about it this way; unlike a car, the insurance company KNOWS problems will arise with your pet. The coverage must therefore be higher (proportionately to costs), and benefits must find ways to pay out less (percentage) for them to ever turn a profit. As pointed out above, chronic problems aren't covered either. I don't see any way you'd come out ahead buying insurance. If you want "peace of mind", set money aside every month just in case.