Pet Insurance: Yea Or Nay?

ileen

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Do most pet owners have pet insurance? How did you decide whether or not to get it? After the second emergency vet appointment for Luciano in a month, I'm considering it. The rate I can get through work includes a $250 annual deductible, $7500 annual maximum & pays 90% of vet bills, excluding tax. The rates are either $7.56/week or $10.99/week, the higher rate includes wellness checkups.

Does anyone have any advice in this area? Thanks in advance.
 

lavishsqualor

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Most folks here agree that it's better to open a savings account and put money into each month for emergencies. Pet insurance, in my opinion, has a long way to go before becoming prudent for owners.

One thing to consider is that every insurance carrier that I'm aware of requires you to pay the vet bill in full and then seek reimbursement. So if your bill is, say $2000.00. you're going to have to come out of pocket for that. It isn't the same as insurance for humans where you only pay a portion up front.
 

Kieka

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There also is the issue of pre-existing conditions. I know your recent visit has been over the laundry bag cord. So would any gastrointestinal issues, even years from now, be linked back to that by the issurance company?
 

ReallySleepy

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Most folks here agree that it's better to open a savings account and put money into each month for emergencies. Pet insurance, in my opinion, has a long way to go before becoming prudent for owners.
I cannot agree. It slowly dawned on me that vet bills can reach $2000 and more. I simply cannot afford that, so without the insurance I would have to put down my cat. I pay around $350 a year. It would take a number of years to cover a hefty bill if I simply saved that money, and there is no guarantee that I would not get another hefty bill next year.
One thing to consider is that every insurance carrier that I'm aware of requires you to pay the vet bill in full and then seek reimbursement.
There are no doubt different arrangements in different countries/regions. My insurance company will reimburse a number of pet clinics, though I don't know precisely which clinics. I have to pay 25%.
 

ailish

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Do most pet owners have pet insurance? How did you decide whether or not to get it? After the second emergency vet appointment for Luciano in a month, I'm considering it. The rate I can get through work includes a $250 annual deductible, $7500 annual maximum & pays 90% of vet bills, excluding tax. The rates are either $7.56/week or $10.99/week, the higher rate includes wellness checkups.

Does anyone have any advice in this area? Thanks in advance.
I got insurance when I got Ailish. To me it came down to I didn't ever want to be in a position where I couldn't afford to treat her. It would take me years to save up enough money for a good sized vet bill if I put away the amount I spend for insurance and then after one bill I'd be back to square one with no money saved. I hope I don't get my money's worth out of my insurance, but if she does get sick or hurt I know I can afford it.
 

himawari

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I'd like to hear you all's opinions too. And if you are using pet insurance (and live in the US), which one are you using?

I feel like since I have health insurance then my pet should have one too, but I have heard of stories where the insurance refused to pay out due to a pre-existing condition or some loophole. That's really what I'm afraid of: to be paying something monthly, have a kitty emergency costing thousands of dollars but the insurance won't cover it. Especially my nearest vet (and the one we've been going to since I adopted my cat) doesn't accept Care Credit and doesn't have any payment plans which tbh sucks and is making me want to search for another vet.
 

lavishsqualor

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I'd like to hear from people who not only have it but who have also submitted claims and are still happy.

If their reviews are positive I might re-evaluate my position, but my belief at the moment is that pet insurance is a gamble and, like they say, the house always wins. I've heavily insured myself--home, life, liability--but most of the insurance folks I've talked to don't recommend pet insurance. Like I said, insurance is a gamble and on average, the house always wins; therefore for every pet owner that benefits, there are enough that don't to offset it. But if having pet insurance gives an owner piece of mind then they should by all means have it.

I'm diligent about putting money into my pet fund monthly and have been since I got Atticus and Thirteen.
 

DreamerRose

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Somewhere on this site is another thread about pet insurance and it does have responses from people who have filed claims. That's where I found that review site and the good comments on Healthy Paws led me to change my insurer.
 

lavishsqualor

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Thanks, DreamerRose! I'll look around and see if I can find it. Thanks again. :)
 

jellycatfish

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I'm currently looking into insuring my 2 kitties and I'm sort of... not happy? Because the "best insurance company" I've heard of do cover for dental... unless your cat had gingivitis before. Are all insurance companies like that? If that's the case then except for accidents/illness it's sort of useless to me. Happy always had gingivitis. Only once did he sort of "stop" to have gingivitis, but the next month or so it was back. But still, I mean it's in his file. Meeko also has a bit of gingivitis. So basically, for dental cares, I'm screwed? Is this what it means? Because I won't pay for a yearly dental plan I cannot use. Other questions included "ever sneezed or coughed/ had diarrhea or vomiting". And honestly, diarrhea once in a while (or at least once) is pretty common for cats, no? I should have insured them even before I had them? :(
Setting up savings account is an alternative I guess but personally I won't have $4,000.00 dollars yearly to put in the savings account while a company tells me: Hey lady, you pay us $30 monthly and your kitty is covered up to $7000 yearly if he had an accident or gets ill.
I'm not sure about what I should do, especially about this dental part...
 

sevenplus1

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I have a question regarding pet insurance. I figured I'd ask it in one of the already existing insurance threads. I have two cats; one 1.5 years old and the other just under 6 months. I want to get insurance for both of them now that they are young with no medical conditions. However, I feed them raw. I know that the mainstream veterinarians are opposed to raw and I think I have read that some pet insurers will not insure raw fed cats. Is this true? Are there any raw feeders that have insured their cats? And what experience did you have with the insurance companies? I have had good results with raw so far. My cats are thriving on it so far. I really don't want them to go off it.
 
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ileen

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How would the insurance company know what you're feeding your cats? I don't know anything about raw feeding, sorry.
 

Willowy

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The insurance compnay I have for my dog didn't ask what i feed him. Now, they might have, in the small print, an exclusion for any complications directly caused by the raw diet. . .but they shouldn't refuse to cover other problems. The only way to know for sure would be to contact the companies and ask.
 

Neo_23

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Usually insurance companies ask the vet to submit all file notes about the cat in question. If your vet doesn’t believe in a raw diet and writes in their notes that you feeding your cat raw food caused them to become sick I would imagine that the insurance company could use that against you... but I’m not entirely sure.

One solution might be to make sure you see a vet who is informed about raw food.

I personally think though that pet insurance is not worth it... especially if you have a cat who has ever been sick before. The insurance companies can use that against you to claim that your cat had a pre-existing condition.
 

sevenplus1

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Thank you for the replies. I'm going to be checking out 3 or 4 insurers in the following week. This info helps.
 
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