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Pet Insurance

Shay

Well-known member
Anyone have VPI pet insurance? It is offered through my husband's work as a voluntary benefit and is payroll deducted. We also receive a discount. It will cost me about $24.00 per month for medical and well doggy care. Do you think it is worth it? The premiums won't go up until she is 4. I never got it for my Lhasa but wished many times that I had. :oops:
 
Several of us have PetCare. They really are the best company when it comes to covering hereditary conditions. It's more than what you said VPI will cost but not by much.
 
I had VPI but didn't care for it. I currently have another one...dang, can't think of the name!! I am going to switch over to Petcare. I need to do that like now! I keep thinking about it. Everyone who has Petcare swears by it.
 
that's very cool that your husband's job includes pet insurance as a benefit.

I used to have VPI a long time ago for my cat, i switched her to PetCare when a friend at work got it for her cat and told me about it, and i found that it was way cheaper than VPI.

When i got Zack last January, i checked VPI, i was comparison shopping. It doesn't cover hereditary conditions whereas PetCare does cover hereditary conditions, so Petcare was the only choice for me. I've filed some claims with them this year and they paid up fast. They have a wide range of options, different levels of coverage and a range of premiums that starts around $20 or $25. My premium is $53 a month for their highest amount of coverage.
 
Yes....I was excited too when they added pet insurance about 5 years go. My Lhasa was 8 at the time, but when I checked the premiums, for a dog that age it was way to expensive. So I never got it. It seems that PetCare is the way to go for Cavs. We need that hereditary coverage.
 
I had VPI for Chester for 1 year and when it lapsed I switched to PetCare because it covers much more. I have the Quickcare Gold 70% plan for Chester and it's $24.95/month. It's well worth every penny!
 
Speaking of PetCare Insurance--I submitted a vet bill for Wrigley in the amount of $345.00 a couple of weeks ago. It included Bordatella vaccine, blood panel, antibiotics and two different vitamin supplements. I got a check from PetCare yesterday for $276.00, more than I expected. I haven't compared the invoice to see exactly what they paid, but the only thing the check indicates they didn't pay was the Bordatella vaccine, which I expected. I think they probably didn't pay for the supplements either, but I would have been shocked if they had...

They're a very good company. I've been with them for a couple of years.

I just checked and it looks like they paid for my supplements, too. :w**h**: After the $50 deductible and $25-30 for the Bordatella vaccine, it would come out to around $276.00.
 
I just got a quote for my 2...I am indicisive on whether or not to go ahead with it as I am on a budget already.... :sl*p:

I have heard alot of pros...but can someone post some cons? Like turn around time to get a check? Any hassle about accidents/injuries or illnesses? Are these limited to just certain illnesses or circumstances? I have read everything on the site, I just want to know what everyone's experiences are with this.
 
I've been with PetCare for two years and submitted at least 6 claims (accident and illnesses) and have never had a problem or question from them. Usually a two-three week turnaround on reimbursements.

No negatives to report on this end...
 
lmallicoat said:
I just got a quote for my 2...I am indicisive on whether or not to go ahead with it as I am on a budget already.... :sl*p:

I have heard alot of pros...but can someone post some cons? Like turn around time to get a check? Any hassle about accidents/injuries or illnesses? Are these limited to just certain illnesses or circumstances? I have read everything on the site, I just want to know what everyone's experiences are with this.

with two, that can get costly, the premiums. i have my cat on it too but her policy is only about $25, zack's is $53. The main con is having to pay premiums and copayments.

But if your dogs get sick, it can be more costly than paying the premiums, if they need patella surgery or an MRI. Bloodwork is expensive. Everything is expensive. Zack had to go to the ER and that was $424. It was during the first 30 days, the waiting period, so it wasn't covered, but otherwise it would've been covered no problem.

Then he had another illness a few months later, pyoderma, and the bills came to several hundred. They paid everything except the copay and toenail clipping and anal gland expression. And they accidentally paid for my cat's Advantage which was on the same bill that i sent in. i didn't claim it but they mistakenly thought it was for zack.

The reimbursement turn around was a lot faster than i expected, the checks they sent me (they also paid a later claim for a scratched eyeball)
had the same date on the check that i faxed the claim, can't get any faster than that on approving the claims. I guess their processing system takes a while after that because it still took 2 or so weeks to receive the checks but they were dated much earlier.

I had one very frustrating and scary problem with them--when Zack was at the ER during the 30 day waiting period, a vet mistakenly diagnosed him with "enlarged heart." That was written on the hospital paper work which i submitted as a claim because accidents are covered in the first 30 days and the hospital said xray showed he had a foreign body in him stomach, maybe. They did not pay that claim, asking for more info from the vets, which was legitimate, the documentation was inconclusive, and by that time, i no longer beleived it was a foreign body causing the symptoms so i didn't resubmit the claim. But when they sent me my policy documents after that, it had a permanent exclusion for anything to do with the heart. :yikes even though on his records, it also shows that the radiologist said the heart was "likely within normal limits." but becuase the first vet had written down 'enlarged heart," they fixated on that and excluded heart stuff--and MVD risk was the main reason i wanted health insurance on him.

eventually i got the exclusion removed but it was not simple. I learned a lot about communicating with them from that experience. now, all is well, but for a while i was afraid he would never get coverage for his heart.

other than that, the process is very simple and works smoothly. As long as a vet writes down a simple diagnosis in a few words, even one word, they just pay it right away with no questions.

Another con would be that they insure by illness categories. the plan i have is $6000 per illness category, and there are about 10 or so illness categories. It probably will be enough to cover everything, but i would like a policy that gives you lifetime coverage as some of the UK ones do, without maximums. Sara found a plan in Canada, Vetinsurance or something like that, and they give you $14,000 to use on whatever you want, and then if you use it up, you can cancel your policy and start over, although i assume they wouldn't cover preexisting conditions. but $14,000 should go a long way. Sara was told that they do cover hereditary conditions. It's not available in the US yet.
 
I went onto the website for petcare and I was trying to get a quote as it seems like a great idea to have the insurance, but when I try from the list of dogs, they dont have Cavalier King Charles.....
 
Gingers Mommy said:
I went onto the website for petcare and I was trying to get a quote as it seems like a great idea to have the insurance, but when I try from the list of dogs, they dont have Cavalier King Charles.....

Did you look under spaniels then cavalier king charles?
 
i think sandy's right, i vaguely remember they had them listed that way.
They definitely cover them. And when i signed Zack up i called them first and specifically asked about MVD. The person looked on a list of what they don't cover and said that MVD was definitely covered. On my policy, it details what is not covered and it pertains to certain specific breeds, none of which are cavaliers. However, you are so right to make sure before signing up. it kind of makes me feel good that they cover cavaliers for everything, as if their actuarial info is not so bad for cavaliers.
 
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