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Interesting PetPlan Fact!

KingstonsMom

KingstonsMom

Well-known member
I finally decided to switch pet insurance companies from PetCare to PetPlan. I'm now getting more coverage at a lower rate! Anyways, I called PetPlan to enroll and guess who answered the phone..... The co-founder of the company, Natasha Ashton! She said she usually doesn't answer calls but she was helping out today. We began talking, and she asked me what type of dog I have. I told her a Cavalier and she said, "Oh how wonderful! I have a black-and-tan sitting right next to me!" It turns out that she is the owner of Wellington, her fourth Cavalier.

She said she created PetPlan with Cavaliers in mind because they have so many inherited conditions. She even gave me her email address and asked me to send her a picture of Kingston!
 
I currently have Miles on PetCare, and I just tried to get an online quote for PetPlan, and it says it's only available to residents of Canada.

Kingston's Mom - is this the same company you used (www.petplan.com)? I see that you live in Texas, so maybe I looked up the wrong company...

Thanks!
Carrie
 
I'm going to switch Mia over to PetPlan. If you don't mind my asking, what was the down payment? Is is more than one month's premium payment? I've been meaning to call them and haven't had an opportunity yet. :)
 
It's actually a UK company, about 30 years old now, that has licensed franchises in the US and Canada and Australia. The US franchise is owned by a different insurance unmderwriter than the Canadian one -- and is available in the US on a state by state basis. So some states have PetPlan, and some don't. In Ireland we have PetPlan too, which is now owned by Allianz (just to make it more complicated). Policies vary from region to region but PetPlan does cover inherited conditions unlike a lot of other companies so is a really good choice for cavaliers. Here. we don't have those ranges of plans and deductibles -- it is a flat rate deducible for coverage. So this woman must have been behind setting up the US franchise and wanting their broad coverage approach. :)

History:

http://www.gopetplan.com/AboutPetPlan/AllAboutPetplan.html
 
Thank you so much for posting this....I just got back from the vet with Molly...she has a suspected UTI, and the charge was $140! (with another $36 for 2 more weeks of Clavamox if they decide to keep her on that after the culture results) I did a quick estimate with this plan and it looks very reasonable...I never thought insurance made a lot of sense for us because it cost so much, and seemed to cover so little...but this looks reasonable...I will call maybe next week and look into it.

Thanks again!!!!!!!
 
For up to maybe three cavaliers I think insurance definitely makes sense; but when you get up there in number it might be better to have a kitty you donate to monthly for each cavalier. I don't pay insurance on my cats because I figure most of them are not likely to get an expensive illness. For four cats for example I would have paid over €2100 by now yet I'd never have claimed anything. So that gives a pretty large fund I can draw from for the cats. With the dogs, just MVD and SM alone make me feel insurance is worth it.
 
Hi there folks!

To answer some of your questions...I chose 90% coverage with a $100 dollar deductibe, and the premium came out to about $34 dollars a month. The initial deposit was going to be $75 dollars, but I chose to pay the whole annual premium (which came out to a total of $393 for the year). I picked the Silver plan, which covers up to $12,000 yearly and replenishes each year. The Bronze option covers $8,000 and the Gold covers $20,000. When Kingston gets a little older I will probably switch to the Gold.

Interestingly, I was paying PetCare $50 dollars a month for the same coverage. However, they will only pay up to $3,000 dollars per accident or illness. PetPlan has no limit per condition (other than the yearly maximums).

When talking to Natasha Ashton, I admired the fact that she praised her competition--PetCare Insurance--for being a good company. However, she dislikes the fact that PetCare raises premiums based on how many claims you make. Her company, PetPlan, only raises premiums based on your pet's age (at 3 yrs old and 8 yrs old). I thought that made a lot of sense, since PetCare raised my premiums by $10 dollars after I submitted a $1700 dollar claim.

One thing to note if you enroll with PetPlan... A 30% copay applies to any emergency room visit, regardless of which plan you have with them.
 
You may have swayed me. I changed to PetCare early last year. I have yet to need to use my insurance but an thinking about PetPlan now.
 
We use PetPlan and, for us, it's worked really well, as they continue to cover chronic conditions like MVD for the life of the dog.

Most of our dogs are insured - ironically, the one who isn't insured picked up a tummy bug earlier this year and cost us £300.00 :(

We have a £65.00 excess per annum, per condition.
 
Kingston's Mom I had the same experience.. when PetPlan became available in Ohio it was Natasha I spoke with, too. We emailed pictures of our Cav's back and forth. She's very nice.

My monthly premiums are about the same as yours; Bentley's is $34 and Clancy's is a bit less because he's younger and was never insured before.

I haven't had a big enough claim to file yet, thankfully, but from what I've read they are very good on that end too.
 
Can someone give me an online link? When I pull up petplan.com it refers me to VPI for the US.
 
Looking over the site, I see that you have to pay the vet bill and then you're reimbursed later after submitting a claim. Has anyone ever submitted a claim to them? What was the turn-a-round time? I'm concerned about an expensive emergency cropping up, and not having enough cash to cover the bill. It seems like a great plan, but I would still have to put on a credit card or borrow from family if I didn't have the cash readily available.
 
All of the policies I've used in the past work this way. You pay the bill and then get reimbursed by the company after you submit the claim.
 
Unfortunately, I don't know of any pet insurance company that pays the vet fees upfront without you having to submit a claim. It doesn't work the same as human insurance.
 
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