Petplan US - Ridiculous premium increase

[Chuck]

Yes, one year later Now I have had to drop the Pet Plan insurance on Cooper.It increase to the point that I can no longer afford it. will miss the magazine.

[dandelos]

Here was their emailed response after I sent them a note expressing my disappointment at the premium increase --

Thank you for contacting us.
On a yearly basis we do look at a couple of factors that will change the premium on a year to year basis.
Age: As a pet ages there will be an increase, just like humans as a pet gets older the opportunity for injury and illness does rise.
Location/veterinary spending: We do take your location as well as what vets are charging pet parent to treat and diagnose injuries and illnesses into consideration. This will change on a year to year basis as veterinary spending does go up and down from year to year.
Breed: The breed of the pet has a major part in the baseline of the premium. As some breeds life span may only be 6-8 others may be 13-15. Depending on the average cost of the pet your premium may fluctuate a bit.
If there are any other questions you have about your policy please feel free to let me know.

[Chuck]

Well. according to that I messed up! I thought that by buying it when he was a pup would save me money as he got older. Should just buy it when they get about 6-8 years old, as it looks like that would be the same rate for a new policy.

[Rosewoodsteel]

This year, PetPlan's premium has increased 25% for my 11 year old, Charlie McFarlie. We have been with PetPlan for over 6 years and have not made a claim until just recently. We have been waiting over 18 business days (26 total days) for the claim to be processed and are hopeful that PetPlan will come through. (Although their initial email to us mentioned that they settle claims within 10 to 15 business days, after all requested paperwork has been submitted to them. All of our paperwork was received by them when they sent this email to us.) Our total vet bill was approximately $1300, so with the 20% deductible (for a specialist) and $200 co pay, we are not talking about a huge re-imbursement here..
At any rate, Charlie's yearly premium went from $869.17 last year to $1086.6, this year.

[Rosewoodsteel]

PetPlan processed our claim today and we are satisfied with the re imbursement.

[Kate H]

I think insurance premiums generally are going up a lot. My Oliver's jumped from £40 a month to £60, and most of his serious problems (CM/SM and arthritis) aren't covered anyway as they were diagnosed before I moved to our present insurers 5 years ago. They have been very good about paying promptly, and fortunately Aled is covered for all his problems, but I've decided that I won't renew for Oliver but put £40 a month into the bank for him. He's nearly 13, and with his other ailments, if he got something like cancer I don't think I would put him through invasive treatment anyway (though I may feel differently if it actually happened!). Part of the problem is that many dogs are staying alive longer (vets can now treat conditions where before the dog would simply have been put to sleep), and hitech procedures such as MRI scans are much more common and are very expensive. So we have to pay for it.

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[waldor]

I think insurance premiums generally are going up a lot. . . . . .

Part of the problem is that many dogs are staying alive longer (vets can now treat conditions where before the dog would simply have been put to sleep), and hi-tech procedures such as MRI scans are much more common and are very expensive. So we have to pay for it.

You are spot on, Kate H. It's the same with humans and our own health insurance premiums here in the U.S. (no national/universal health care). The cost of our health insurance premiums increased by 30 - 35% every year while the deductible kept rising and coverage benefits became less and less. The same will happen with pet insurance. The money has to come from somewhere to pay out all those exorbitant claims they profile in the nice, expensive-to-print magazine that PetPlan sends us.

[dandelos]

Just got our latest renewal letter (see the 2015 line below). Here is an updated history of the annual premiums for Skippy's (currently 5.75 years old) Petplan policy since year 1 --

2015: $681 ($8k vet fees, $200 ded., 80% reimbursement) = 36% increase
2014: $499 ($8k vet fees, $200 ded., 80% reimbursement) = 29% increase
2013: $527 ($8k vet fees, $200 ded., 100% reimbursement) but reduced to $386 ($8k vet fees, $200 ded., 80% reimbursement) = 28% increase
2012: $413 ($8k vet fees, $200 ded., 100% reimbursement) = 25% increase
2011: $330 ($8k vet fees, $200 ded., 100% reimbursement) = first year of policy

[Lani]

Lucky's is crazy expensive - I think it is over $100 a month now! But I've paid out over $3000 in this past month on an Ophthalmologist, neurologist, MRI, etc. It is funny, a week ago I found myself looking at the debit and thinking maybe I should cancel it. I am hoping they will pay out. They should but I won't rest totally easy until I get the checks in the mail. ;-)

Next week we have to see a dermatologist and hopefully soon we will get a myringotomy (ALL of these things are related to his PSOM and how we came to diagnose and unravel the mystery of his sudden and severe dry eye).

[Lukesmom]

I just got Luke's renewal letter for this year from vpi. His rate is about the same, $36.75 per month. I'm not sure what it was last year, but that's not more than a 10% increase. His is major medical.
ETA-current premium is $33.27