Pet Insurance....is It Worth It?

[jeddica]

What are your thoughts on Pet insurance?

is it worth it?

do you have it?

how do the different insurers compare?

does any on have any stories in regards to pet insurance and their fluffy friends?

:rolleyes:

[Danois]

Hey!

Personally I think it is worth it.

If you do a search (button top right) for insurance there will be a heap of threads!

[CliftonPark]

I looked at a number of policies and went with Manchester Unity. I'm insuring in case of some very expensive disaster happening. They offer flexability by choosing a higher excess to reduce premium and IMO had best coverage including cover for genetically inherited problems if you take out the higher cover.

[indigirl]

As someome who has paid thousands of dollars out for surgery on my dogs I should definitly get myself some pet insurance! I know i looked into it a while ago and one company offered cover for accident and illness for about $10 per week per dog.

Edited June 3, 2008 by indigirl

[IncrediJack]

What are your thoughts on Pet insurance?

is it worth it?

do you have it?

how do the different insurers compare?

does any on have any stories in regards to pet insurance and their fluffy friends?

;)

Your dog would have to need surgery within the first couple of years in his life to make insurance worthwhile. My last dog didn't need any major medical attention until he was seven. Surgery cost over $2,000, but we would have already spent double that on insurance by that time. Most dogs don't need any major surgery until later in life- if at all. Of course, something could happen to a younger dog, or an older dog could need multiple surgeries . . . But (and definitely if you have the savings to cover a medical expense), it's not likely to save you money in the long run.

[WalandLibby]

Most of the policies don't provide very much for what you pay. And most of them have sublimits, which I think limits their usefulness. I was considering insuring my guys, but my dog was sick last yr, and his bills were about twice what I could have claimed if I had the policy I was thinking of getting, so now I don't regret not getting it. I think keeping a special credit card for your animals is a better idea, personally.

(I have been told though that if you get insurance then they won't get sick, might be worth it if that was the case ;-))

Edited June 6, 2008 by WalandLibby

[outatime]

(I have been told though that if you get insurance then they won't get sick, might be worth it if that was the case ;-))

I'd be more than happy to pay for the insurance if that were the case!!

However having gone through thousands of $$$ in medical bills in the last couple of years, I will be getting insurance for my new puppy!!

[badboyz]

If I had one or two pet dogs, and could afford it, I think I would definately have insurance. However as a breeder, it is just too expensive for multiple dogs, and I doubt it would cover the things I would need for my dogs. I do sell my pups with the 6weeks pet health cover though, to get them off safely. It is then up to the owners whether or not to continue. I did have one pup (boy in my avatar) I bought with the 6week puppy cover and did make a claim when he cut his foot pad on fencing about a week before it expired. I had no trouble with the claim, though it was minimal as I still had to pay the first $100. That is the only dog I have had with insurance, and I did not continue it after.

Edited June 7, 2008 by badboyz

[Danois]

Most of the policies don't provide very much for what you pay. And most of them have sublimits, which I think limits their usefulness. I was considering insuring my guys, but my dog was sick last yr, and his bills were about twice what I could have claimed if I had the policy I was thinking of getting, so now I don't regret not getting it. I think keeping a special credit card for your animals is a better idea, personally.

(I have been told though that if you get insurance then they won't get sick, might be worth it if that was the case ;-))

Not sure what sublimits you mean?

I pay $45 a month for mine. I get back 80% of my bills.

I could not have forseen necrotic issue in the tongue ($1200 surgery) or that my dog would develop an immune mediated condition at less than 12 months of ages (over $2500 spent on bills and medication).

I just figure that I insure my health, my car, my assets, my income etc - why is it any different for an animal?

[WalandLibby]

Not sure what sublimits you mean?

Most of the policies only pay out a proportion of the total that they can pay in a yr on any one thing.

I pay $45 a month for mine. I get back 80% of my bills.

I could not have forseen necrotic issue in the tongue ($1200 surgery) or that my dog would develop an immune mediated condition at less than 12 months of ages (over $2500 spent on bills and medication).

I just figure that I insure my health, my car, my assets, my income etc - why is it any different for an animal?

I suspect that the policy you have is the one I was considering, precisely because it doesn't have sublimits. In any case, I'd left it too long to get the policy, my dog was too old.

But as I said, I would not have been able to claim the whole amount of the treatment he needed last yr, as the total amount they would pay in a yr was only 1/2 what his treatment actually cost. If I had only recently insured him I guess that would have been lucky on my part, but if I'd been paying for the insurance since he was a puppy, it would have cost over the yrs far more than what I could have claimed.

I pay about the same amount for my car insurance as I would for insurance of one of my animals and can make much larger claims.

[Danois]

Sorry - was not clear what I meant when I asked about sublimits (I know the insurance industry well) - question was more aimed at what ones were in place on the polices as I had not come across them.

The only limit on my policy (other than specified exclusions) is $6,000 per each illness for the life of the dog.

[WalandLibby]

I have a print out with comparison of several policies (somewhere, not sure where). And it's not new - when I actually looked at some of the policies online the prices were out of date. Can't remember details exactly, but there were limits on how much could be spent on radiography, medication, hospitalisation etc. I think most limited to $1500 on cruciate work, I've been told that's enough to cover that though.

With the limits on how much will be paid for a particular condition or in single yr, with a diagnosis of cancer for eg, an owner could still end up with many thousands to pay over and above what the insurance will pay. And I think vet costs are likely to continue to increase as we become able to treat more things.

Edited June 8, 2008 by WalandLibby

[Boxerbaby]

I kept toying with the idea of pet insurance but kept putting it off thinking I'll never need it, Thursday night saw me rushing my girl to the Pet ER for an emergency c section and $2000.00 dollars later, ouch. If I had of had pet insurance at least I could recoup some of the money. In saying that though I wouldn't think twice on paying the money to make my babies better. One of the ladies I work with her husband couldn't believe i would spend that sort of money for a dog and was very quick to say it would have been cheaper to just put the whole lot of them down. yes I was very quick to put him in his place and leave their house. Luckily we had the money, but my whole family was offering to put in money for her as she is loved by everyone. I am definately getting pet insurance now.

[WalandLibby]

I kept toying with the idea of pet insurance but kept putting it off thinking I'll never need it, Thursday night saw me rushing my girl to the Pet ER for an emergency c section and $2000.00 dollars later, ouch. If I had of had pet insurance at least I could recoup some of the money. In saying that though I wouldn't think twice on paying the money to make my babies better. One of the ladies I work with her husband couldn't believe i would spend that sort of money for a dog and was very quick to say it would have been cheaper to just put the whole lot of them down. yes I was very quick to put him in his place and leave their house. Luckily we had the money, but my whole family was offering to put in money for her as she is loved by everyone. I am definately getting pet insurance now.

I don't think any of the normal policies cover expenses to do with reproduction, do they? I'm pretty sure the ones I looked at didn't.

The interest rate is pretty awful if you let it go beyond the interest free period, but at the specialist centre that I use, you can get a GE carecredit card as emergency credit. They're much too generous with credit, tend to give much more than you ask for, but they can really reduce the stress of wondering how you're going to pay for something.

I hope your girl and babes are ok?

Edited June 8, 2008 by WalandLibby

[Pippa]

I kept toying with the idea of pet insurance but kept putting it off thinking I'll never need it, Thursday night saw me rushing my girl to the Pet ER for an emergency c section and $2000.00 dollars later, ouch. If I had of had pet insurance at least I could recoup some of the money.

Nup. Breeding costs are in NO way covered by pet insurance.

[Rysup]

Just too costly with multiple dogs, so I have never considered it. If there was a generic cover, which didnt worry which dog I used it on, then I might, but they dont exist as far as I am aware.

[Luke GSP]

My male has a deep rooted love of Snakes and so I thought it wise to get pet insurance for him and Molly before his luck runs out and one bites him before he bites it! Thankfully I haven't needed to claim yet and in all honesty I hope I don't have to!

[NoodleNut]

Hi 'jeddica'

Yes, we took out insurance for our pup this time around .. I have memories of my dog growing up costing my parents a heap with a perforated bowel and his back legs went.

Like others I printed out all the insurance policies I could find and went through them in great detail. We have chosen to pay a higher excess ($200) to keep the monthly costs down but then get 80% back from the claim. I didn't go the 'well being' extras as it just did not seem to work out based on the monthly payments. I ended up going with 'Petsecure'.

Have not had to use it ..... touch wood ....

[Gracie Monsta]

I pay $36 p/m for $15k per year, my excess is a $100 per accident/illness, lifetime cover for the illness/accident so I never pay any excess again and no exclusions for a select breed, which is what I own.

A small price to pay when you consider that a fracture repair cost $4,800, the plate snapped and had to be re-repaired by a specialist using both pins and a plate costing a further $4,600. Is it worth it? for me yes. There's no way I could have forked out $9,000 in less than 2wks.

I ummed and ahhed over continuing the insurance because I knew I could cover the basics, thank Dog I followed my breeders advice ;)

[valby]

I pay $36 p/m for $15k per year, my excess is a $100 per accident/illness, lifetime cover for the illness/accident so I never pay any excess again and no exclusions for a select breed, which is what I own.

A small price to pay when you consider that a fracture repair cost $4,800, the plate snapped and had to be re-repaired by a specialist using both pins and a plate costing a further $4,600. Is it worth it? for me yes. There's no way I could have forked out $9,000 in less than 2wks.

I ummed and ahhed over continuing the insurance because I knew I could cover the basics, thank Dog I followed my breeders advice :D

Wow Gracie that really has got me thinking. Who did you go with?

Does anyone give a 3 dog discount? Do they cover for tick paralysis?