Pet Insurance

[Warrant Guru]

Is it worth the money or a waste of money? Since joining the AKC, I've gotten atleast one e-mail a day asking if I want to sign up. It sounds good in writing. I am sure not all plans are the same but would like some opinions. We've had lots of animals before and never had medical insurance on them but we've also had tons of vet bills due to illnesses, etc. What do you think??

 

[camily]

Is it worth the money or a waste of money? Since joining the AKC, I've gotten atleast one e-mail a day asking if I want to sign up. It sounds good in writing. I am sure not all plans are the same but would like some opinions. We've had lots of animals before and never had medical insurance on them but we've also had tons of vet bills due to illnesses, etc. What do you think??

Waste of money. Don't accept many claims. Dr. Hocking always advised against it when people asked about it. I don't think alot of places accept it anyway due to it being a huge PITA.

 

[Warrant Guru]

Waste of money. Don't accept many claims. Dr. Hocking always advised against it when people asked about it. I don't think alot of places accept it anyway due to it being a huge PITA.

That's what I thought. Typical "too good to be true" hype. Seemed to me that unless your animal is really sickly, you'd be paying for something that you rarely use just to get alittle money back. I've had pets all my life (almost 36 yrs) and in that time, we've had one cat with cancer (who was diagnosed and died a week later) and a Dalmatian with arthritis. Not very many illnesses to justify insurance. SCAM CITY!!!

 

[krazd_kat]

I had it one time for 3 of my dogs. After paying only 2 or 3 premiums one of my dogs contracted a blood disease. I had to pay the bills out of my pocket but my total bill was $3000 and insurance reimbursed me $1500 which was the limit of my policy. They paid great, even though I didn't file till the day after my time line, they worked very well with me.

I only had the policy for accidents or illness, not for the regular everyday shots, etc... The main thing they wouldn't cover was anything that was genetic (i.e. dysplasia).

I wouldn't hesitate to get it again, right now it's a $$ issue.

 

[camily]

I had it one time for 3 of my dogs. After paying only 2 or 3 premiums one of my dogs contracted a blood disease. I had to pay the bills out of my pocket but my total bill was $3000 and insurance reimbursed me $1500 which was the limit of my policy. They paid great, even though I didn't file till the day after my time line, they worked very well with me.

I only had the policy for accidents or illness, not for the regular everyday shots, etc... The main thing they wouldn't cover was anything that was genetic (i.e. dysplasia).

I wouldn't hesitate to get it again, right now it's a $$ issue.

They are experts at calling things "genetics" though.

 

[krazd_kat]

They are experts at calling things "genetics" though.

That's why it depends on what you are getting it for. If it's to cover accidents or illnesses, then it's like any insurance, maybe you will use it, maybe you won't.

You dog gets hit by a car, if it blows it's ACL, or even like mine a blood disease brought on by a tick bite, after loosing my first one to that, I also lost a 2nd one to that years after, so for me the insurance paid off (I didn't have it for the second one though).

 

[bernsm]

If you're the kind of person who is going to drive your pet up to Annapolis when something catastrophic happens and tell them to do whatever they can (within reason) to save your dog or cat, then pet insurance is for you. Another example of my own---when my dog had to have his spleen removed in order to save his life (yes, most likely a genetic issue) to the tune of $3500, my pet insurance company ended up covering 75% of the cost. If it's a good company, it can be worth. However like any health insurance company, they are in the business to make money so over a pet's lifetime, you will most likely pay out more than you receive in benefits.