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Pet Insurance

KingstonsMom

Well-known member
I'm having a dilemma. I currently have a policy with Petcare Insurance, but they just raised my rates, bringing me to about $50 dollars a month. I've been researching PetPlan Insurance, and it seems like they can offer me a lower rate with more coverage. Some of you may be interested to know that Petcare raises their premiums on an annual basis, while PetPlan only raises their premiums on your pet's 3rd birthday and again on their 8th birthday.

One thing that bothers me with PetPlan is that they require a 30% co-pay on any emergency room visit (unless the condition is immediately life threatening). They also require a 30% co-pay on any referral visits.

Have any of you dealt with PetPlan? Are there any drawbacks to it? I'm happy with PetCare, but their coverage is much lower than PetPlan's.
 
Does Pet Plan cover congenital/hereditary issues such as MVD, luxating patellas, SM, etc? We have Pet Care Insurance for Miles, and we went with them because they were the only company we found that covered these things. All of the other companies we looked at excluded certain issues for certain breeds, and wouldn't cover them even if your dog was clear of everything when you signed up for the insurance. I know there are different plans, deductibles, etc...we have a plan where we pay 70% of the cost, have a $100 deductible, and the "per incident" maximum is $5,000.00. I think we pay $33.00/month...I expected it to go up by a few dollars every year, but since he's only 6 months old we haven't had it long enough to experience a rate increase.

If you're going to switch companies I would just make sure that they cover all of the congenital/hereditary issues...Good luck!
 
Thanks for the reply! Yes, PetPlan does cover hereditary illnesses, with no limit on coverage throughout the pet's lifetime. Their plans offer annual limits of $5,000, $12,000, and $20,000 dollars (for total vet costs, not per illness/accident). The amount replenishes each year, whereas with PetCare once you use up your $3,000 per illness/accident, they will no longer reimburse your claims.
 
Thanks Kingston's Mom! I'll have to look into that company; we haven't had to use it yet (knock on wood!), but if there's a more affordable option that's great!

Carrie
 
VPI doesn't cover hereditary problems -- hence MVD or SM -- unless they have changed their policies.
 
I just switched to Petplan from PetCare. I had the $3000 per category with Petcare and of course that was quickly eaten up with Molly's SM treatment/surgery. At the end of the year, my premium went up quite a bit as well as my deductible and they now required a co-pay.

With Molly's history I know there are alot of medical issues that won't be covered by any company, but I still want the the comfort of knowing that any accidents or MVD will be covered. I opted for the $8000 per year/ $100 deductible 0% co pay. The yearly premium is $356. PetCare's increase brought the $3000 policy up to $528. I much prefer the per year policy over the per illness category policy.
 
I didn't think any pet insurance covered pre-existing conditions such as SM and MVD? Be good to know if any did, can you name names Karlin?

I'm currently with Sainsburys with both my dogs, which cover me per condition £6,500. But not pre-existing conditions.
 
My lot are all with Petplan on their breeder block policy, however lately I have been hearing that the policy offered by Marks and Spencer's is pretty good and also there is NO excess to pay if you do have to claim, worth looking into? So now not only can you get nice undies at M&S (;) Justine!!) but competitive pet insurance too!!

For Non-Uk members, M&S/Marks and Spencers/Marks and Sparks is an up end department store here in the UK!!
 
I'm with Marks and Spencer's and am very happy with them. It's not automatic not to have to pay an excess, I paid about £20 or £30 extra to have no excess, so that paid for itself the first claim I ever made. The best bit about them is, and I quote,

"We cover your pet for the full duration of the treatment up to £7,000 per year..."

Here's the whole deal:

Cover for cats and dogs from 2 months old
We cover your pet for the full duration of the treatment up to £7,000 per year as long as you keep your policy renewed, subject to your policy excess
Benefits up to:
£750 for complementary treatments
£2m third party liability
£1,500 for accidental death
£1,000 for death by illness
£1,500 theft or straying
£1,000 for advertising costs
£500 reward costs
£750 for emergency kennels or cattery fees
£2,500 holiday cancellation
Free pet travel cover
Free Helplines

I have made small claims and always get the money really quickly. :p
 
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