Pet Insurance

[Archer]

I have Trupanion for all five Dobermans. I used to think Pet Insurance was a bit of a scam, but then I found a company that I agreed with the way it was actually done. Trupanion pays 90% out after meeting deductible. They contract through my Veterinarian so what I pay when I leave the Vet after an appointment is only what my percentage of the bill is. We also have a savings account for emergencies as other than our home and cars we don't do credit

I pay $160 a month for 5 Dobes. Each has a $250 deductible. They don't cover preexisting conditions or routine care, but do cover hereditary breed specific issues and alternative medicine.

 

[MeadowCat]

I have Trupanion for all five Dobermans. I used to think it Pet Insurance was a bit of a scam, but then I found a company that I agreed with the way it was actually done. Trupanion pays 90% out after meeting deductible. They contract through my Veterinarian so what I pay when I leave the Vet after an appointment is only what my percentage of the bill is. We also have a savings account for emergencies as other than our home and cars we don't do credit

I pay $160 a month for 5 Dobes. Each has a $250 deductible. They don't cover preexisting conditions or routine care, but do cover hereditary breed specific issues and alternative medicine.

I also like Trupanion - Richter used to be on Trupanion, but our rates went up so much I switched him to Embrace. But I was nothing but pleased with their service and reimbursement...they covered every claim we ever had. If it hadn't gotten too expensive to keep the level of coverage I wanted I would have kept him on it (but our rate for just him went up to over $100 a month!).

 

[Archer]

I also like Trupanion - Richter used to be on Trupanion, but our rates went up so much I switched him to Embrace. But I was nothing but pleased with their service and reimbursement...they covered every claim we ever had. If it hadn't gotten too expensive to keep the level of coverage I wanted I would have kept him on it (but our rate for just him went up to over $100 a month!).

Geesh!!! Did that happen when you went to renew?

 

[MeadowCat]

Geesh!!! Did that happen when you went to renew?

It's gone up the past couple of years, but especially the last two years. This year was nearly $20 a month, and that was just too much, even for the coverage I chose (90% reimbursement, $100 deductible, with the complimentary medicine/rehab rider). I know costs are based on the cost of care in your area, but it was still a huge increase. And Richter is only 4 1/2, so it's not like it's age... Anyway, like I said, we were really pleased with reimbursement - they covered a TON of stuff, never declined anything, and I always had a check within about a week. Just got too expensive. Embrace is now covering him for less, nothing is considered pre-existing (we did a chart review when we switched) and I've been very pleased with their coverage for Sypha.

 

[GennyB]

I can't recall what company we have for Drake. We have been very lucky with him.
We did some research right before Rumor came home and went with healthy paws.
I think this link could be helpful 10 Best Pet Insurance of 2016 | Trusted by 3,947,000 | ConsumersAdvocate.org

It has the top company's right there to compare.
With Greta we couldn't get insurance for her. The big reason was the near death experience she had before coming home. Her former owners gave her a serious overdose of ibuprofen that put her in liver and kidney failure so everything would be considered pre existing.
We set up a doggie savings account and contributed to it to pay for her. That account is still open and we still fund it. Hopefully that money will now be used for things like training vs vet bills.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Thought I would update this!

Our policy will renew in March and I'm faaaairly certain Rubie's rates will go up (isn't that how insurance works??) but thought this was worth putting on here.

This hopefully will not be a typical year. We had the expense of the spay and gastropexy and several induced vomiting and x-ray sessions but I guess that's why we buy insurance.

Claims so far for this policy year (since April) with Nationwide Whole Pet with Wellness:


Total for Vet Costs: -$2178
Total cost of Plan: -$900/year (we pay $75/month)
Total out of pocket: -$3078
Total reimbursed: +$1650.60
Actual out of pocket: -$1427.40

This plan is effective until we renew in March so numbers could change by then (but hopefully not!!).

Some additional info:
- Deductible is $250/year (that's what is reflected in the bottom two claims)
- The tag for Rabies isn't covered toward the deductible or reimbursed and was $90
- After the deductible, we are reimbursed 90% for pretty much anything
- As you can see, payouts are super fast and now they do electronic payments which are even better
- Without the plan, we'd be at $2178 total out of pocket so we're right-side-up, this year (+$751)

I think I will be keeping this plan. With all the things that can plague this breed, I'd rather have years where I'm paying the premium for an insurance plan we don't use and know it's there when we do.

 

[GennyB]

So it's time to look at insurance again. Rumor's first year is up. I know it's not uncommon for rates to go up, I'm just disappointed hers went up as much as they did without a single claim.
I guess I should be happy I still have choices for her. With Drake we have no choice, we have to stay with Trupanion. Leaning towards them because they have been wonderful with the expenses we now have.

 

[My2Girls]

Thought I would update this!

Our policy will renew in March and I'm faaaairly certain Rubie's rates will go up (isn't that how insurance works??) but thought this was worth putting on here.

This hopefully will not be a typical year. We had the expense of the spay and gastropexy and several induced vomiting and x-ray sessions but I guess that's why we buy insurance.

Claims so far for this policy year (since April) with Nationwide Whole Pet with Wellness:
View attachment 78890

Total for Vet Costs: -$2178
Total cost of Plan: -$900/year (we pay $75/month)
Total out of pocket: -$3078
Total reimbursed: +$1650.60
Actual out of pocket: -$1427.40

This plan is effective until we renew in March so numbers could change by then (but hopefully not!!).

Some additional info:
- Deductible is $250/year (that's what is reflected in the bottom two claims)
- The tag for Rabies isn't covered toward the deductible or reimbursed and was $90
- After the deductible, we are reimbursed 90% for pretty much anything
- As you can see, payouts are super fast and now they do electronic payments which are even better
- Without the plan, we'd be at $2178 total out of pocket so we're right-side-up, this year (+$751)

I think I will be keeping this plan. With all the things that can plague this breed, I'd rather have years where I'm paying the premium for an insurance plan we don't use and know it's there when we do.

We have Nationwide as well we tried the whole wellness and major medical but we weren’t right side up so now we only have major medical. Our annual premium is $380 with a $250 deductible. Do you have a Costco membership or AAA? They offer a 5% discount if you do.

 

[Kaiser2016]

We have Nationwide as well we tried the whole wellness and major medical but we weren’t right side up so now we only have major medical. Our annual premium is $380 with a $250 deductible. Do you have a Costco membership or AAA? They offer a 5% discount if you do.

Anything involving a Costco membership

 

[Kaiser2016]

So Costco does have pet insurance, but only in the UK...so far.

Welcome - Costco Pet

 

[My2Girls]

Oh and if you have multiple pets on the policy you get and additional 5%. So we receive 5% for Costco and an additional 5% for multi pet.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Oh and if you have multiple pets on the policy you get and additional 5%. So we receive 5% for Costco and an additional 5% for multi pet.

I will definitely benefit from this with the next pooch!

We do not have Costco or AAA memberships. I would probably get the AAA over Costco because 1. it's just two of us and we don't needs Costco sized ANYTHING and 2. with AAA, you can get travel discounts and stuff, too, right? Maybe we'll look into it once the house dust has settled. Than you for the information!!

 

[My2Girls]

I will definitely benefit from this with the next pooch!

We do not have Costco or AAA memberships. I would probably get the AAA over Costco because 1. it's just two of us and we don't needs Costco sized ANYTHING and 2. with AAA, you can get travel discounts and stuff, too, right? Maybe we'll look into it once the house dust has settled. Than you for the information!!

Yes, with AAA they have travel discounts and a whole bunch of other discounts too. We dropped AAA a few yrs back so I don’t know their current stuff.

 

[Kaiser2016]

We do not have Costco or AAA memberships. I would probably get the AAA over Costco because 1. it's just two of us and we don't needs Costco sized ANYTHING and 2. with AAA, you can get travel discounts and stuff, too, right? Maybe we'll look into it once the house dust has settled. Than you for the information!!

We are two ppl as well and we make fantastic use of Costco. The gas station alone gives awesome savings. They are totally into organics as well. And they have an entire aisle for pet stuff lol. The pharmacy has the lowest dispensing fee. The travel discounts are great. Rental car quotes and coverages are fabulous. Their tire center is superb. Propane for BBQ tanks is cheap too.

 

[Kaiser2016]

Speaking of propane, are you guys getting a gas line put in to the outside of the house? A dedicated gas line for the BBQ is something I would what for the next house.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Speaking of propane, are you guys getting a gas line put in to the outside of the house? A dedicated gas line for the BBQ is something I would what for the next house.

We talked about that but ended up not because we're not sure where exactly a built-in grill would go but it would be near the kitchen where we have gas line running so it could be added easy enough. Sorry it took me a year to respond to that.. Not sure why I didn't see it

So I've been chatting with some of our Instagram friends and I got a notification from Nationwide that basically all premiums were going up. Rubie's monthly payment went from $100 to $160!!!! Moo was on a lesser plan that just covered wellness (because he's a puppy) but no doubt his would've gone from $50 to well over $100.

I called and ask about this because I'm just one of those people. So they said it goes up a little annually as they age but never because of making claims against it. What was happening though... is people were buying the top plans for their litters of puppies or right before an expensive procedure, getting repaid from the plan, and then cancelling it. There is no penalty for cancelling your Nationwide plan. So, in theory, you can get the best of the best plan, wait until your two week waiting period is up, spend $1000 on your dogs spay surgery or dental work or diagnostics, get reimbursed for 90% of it after your $250 deductible, and then cancel it having only paid one month of premium.

Because SO MANY people were skirting the system, they had a raise their rates across the board. Now I'm not frustrated with the insurance company, I'm pissed at irresponsible people who took advantage of an excellent insurance program and raised rates for everyone else.

But... in chatting with the rep, it turns out that Norris's work has negotiated plan prices for their employees! For $88/month/dog, they are getting the best of the best plan that covers all routine care, emergencies, hereditary, cancers, diagnostics, etc. Even baby Moo has the same coverage now as Rubie. This price will never go up unless the Company negotiates it differently. The ONLY caveat is that there is now a maximum payout of $7500/dog/year whereas we did not have a maximum before.

I had to put the plans under his name and we're currently in our two week waiting period without insurance (of course during which both dogs have puked ), but come Jan 30th, we'll be all covered again and able to save a lot of money on monthly premiums.

Does anyone else get their pet insurance rates through their work? I know we have a lot of amazing people on here who work for themselves and are amazing for it but there's gotta be some perks to spending your days in a cubicle, right?

 

[Kaiser2016]

That's an awesome rate!

Kaiser is covered with Pet Secure for $58 a month.

I can't believe the waiting periods are so short! Here it must be at least 30 days until you can make a claim once your coverage starts.

We have had some awesome human health plan perks from work, but nothing that I've heard of for pets.

Skimmed through the thread and I had mentioned Costco previously - their pet coverage is now available in Canada! Would be interesting to see how their rates compare.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Resurrecting this ole thread!

I like to do a little annual assessment of how pet insurance served us over the year.

We still have a month to go and we all know how quickly things can happen but here's where we stand today.




I did account for the full 12 months in their "Annual Premiums" row.

Ultimately, without insurance, we would've spent $125.93 less this year but, honestly, that's one month of Rubie's premium and so worth the peace of mind. We did also have the skunking incident which, miraculously, didn't cost us anything but that was a visit to the Emergency Vet. If we'd seen a vet that night, it would've been $250 minimum, I think. Probably closer to the that June amount of $1268 if she'd needed stiches. In that case, we would've been right side up by $1000 which is not nothing. You just never know!

Their plan does cover routine wellness so annual vet exams, flea, tick, and heartworm, etc. I promise we're not at the vet as often as the chart makes it seem

 

[JanS]

Great chart! I've personally never wanted to get insurance for our animals since I'd rather keep that money in our pocket until we need it for them. Yes, with Phoebe it cost us a fortune but that was an unusual case and a good share of it probably wouldn't have been covered anyway.

I even dropped our own dental insurance during open season last year since the premium was costing a ton more than the actual coverage.

 

[Rits]

Resurrecting this ole thread!

I like to do a little annual assessment of how pet insurance served us over the year.

We still have a month to go and we all know how quickly things can happen but here's where we stand today.


View attachment 140346

I did account for the full 12 months in their "Annual Premiums" row.

Ultimately, without insurance, we would've spent $125.93 less this year but, honestly, that's one month of Rubie's premium and so worth the peace of mind. We did also have the skunking incident which, miraculously, didn't cost us anything but that was a visit to the Emergency Vet. If we'd seen a vet that night, it would've been $250 minimum, I think. Probably closer to the that June amount of $1268 if she'd needed stiches. In that case, we would've been right side up by $1000 which is not nothing. You just never know!

Their plan does cover routine wellness so annual vet exams, flea, tick, and heartworm, etc. I promise we're not at the vet as often as the chart makes it seem

For me its paying for the peace of mind. No different than using an ecollar or seatbelt. You don't plan for an accident... but if there was one...