Pet Insurance

[allie181]

My baby boy (an 11 week old Cavalier King Charles) comes home in 1 week and I'm busy getting everything ready. The last thing on my list is pet insurance.

I've narrowed down my pet insurance (sickness & accident, 100% cover) options to the following:

1. Bow Wow - $25p/m, $250 excess, $8000 annual limit

2. Pet Secure - $24.60p/m, $300 excess, $11,000 annual limit [although once the dog is 5, this policy only covers 80% of illness costs]

3. 1300Insurance, $29.55p/m, $250 excess, $15,000 annual limit

I'm leaning towards the Bow Wow cover but am concerned the $8000 limit seems low when compared to the other policies. Would $8000 cover be enough? Also, has anyone had any bad experiences with Bow Wow?

Thanks in advance

[dee lee]

I dont know about BoW Wow, but I just signed up with PIA (Pet Insurance Australia)- its been recommended a lot on DOL.

It cost me $17 pm with a $500 excess and it has a $14,000 limit.

I was pretty happy with that.

Have you done a search for topics re insurance?

That's what I did to come up with my choice- people regularly ask about insurance in here.

[allie181]

I dont know about BoW Wow, but I just signed up with PIA (Pet Insurance Australia)- its been recommended a lot on DOL.

It cost me $17 pm with a $500 excess and it has a $14,000 limit.

I was pretty happy with that.

Have you done a search for topics re insurance?

That's what I did to come up with my choice- people regularly ask about insurance in here.

Thanks Deelee. Yes, I did a search. That's how I've narrowed down my options. I wanted one that offered 100% cover and many of them only offer 80%. I also wanted about a $250 excess because if (god forbid) he gets struck down with 2 or more unrelated illnesses in one year, I didn't want to have to pay $1000+ in excesses.

I guess my only question is whether an $8000pa limit is enough, and previous posts didn't really seem to cover that. (I was lucky with my rottie, she never had any expensive medical problems so I have no idea what it can cost if things do go wrong).

Edited September 13, 2010 by allie181

[waffle]

I always wondered how costs could reach $9000 in one year so i got the budget dog plan with petplan. Anyway i realise now that it really is possible to go over that but i think its uncommon? Not really sure since this is only the second dog i've had. Anyway he was diagnosed with cancer and the surgery and vet bills have come to around $3000 and the chemotherapy will cost about $6000 all up. So i was starting to think that paying something like an extra hundred per year is probably worth it for the higher cover since its not really that noticeable paying that little bit more, but having to pay a couple of thousand at once is really difficult.

ETA: should probably mention I live in the city and vet prices here are much higher than anywhere else, so maybe $8000 would be sufficient if your vet doesn't charge exorbitant prices

Edited September 13, 2010 by waffle

[allie181]

I always wondered how costs could reach $9000 in one year so i got the budget dog plan with petplan. Anyway i realise now that it really is possible to go over that but i think its uncommon? Not really sure since this is only the second dog i've had. Anyway he was diagnosed with cancer and the surgery and vet bills have come to around $3000 and the chemotherapy will cost about $6000 all up. So i was starting to think that paying something like an extra hundred per year is probably worth it for the higher cover since its not really that noticeable paying that little bit more, but having to pay a couple of thousand at once is really difficult.

ETA: should probably mention I live in the city and vet prices here are much higher than anywhere else, so maybe $8000 would be sufficient if your vet doesn't charge exorbitant prices

Thanks Waffle, I appreciate the insight. Although I am sorry to hear about your dog's troubles. I hope he gets the all clear after treatment.

[Red Fox]

Highly recommend PIA: http://www.petinsuranceaustralia.com.au/ht...are-covers.html

Choice of $100, $250 or $500 excess, 100% cover (-excess), $15,000 Annual limit.

Make sure you request and read a copy of the policy booklet before signing up with any insurance company.

[OSoSwift]

I have Petplan, $100 excess and $9000 per year. I personally would be unlikely to give my dog Chemo, I may it would depend on the situation. Generally I am covered for snake bite, stitch up broken bones. If my dog was that badly brokewn it would need $9000 worth of surgery I probably wouldn't do it. Once again case by case. But I think it would cover most things and I could afford a certain amount over the $9000 so I could pay the difference if I exceeded my cap.

I did think about going up the next cover, but at the end of the day this seemed like an affordable amount for me to pay out and a reasonable yearly limit

[Red Fox]

Also, when looking at pet insurance you should consider what your average vet bill might be before deciding on your excess. Do you want to cover most unexpected out of pocket expenses or just the big things?

You will find that most vet visits for common ailments (like tummy bugs, blood tests, etc) are going to be around the $150-$300 mark. If your excess is $250 you will not be able to claim much for things like this. A $100 excess will be more suitable here.

However an accident, emergency (eg snakebite) or severe illness could run into the thousands so a $500 excess is fine if that is all you are concerned about and can cover any smaller vet bills along the way.

I personally dont consider the $250/$300 excess to be viable when you consider what you pay per month vs what you may need to claim for in the case of a vet visit for a common illness.

Either go for the lowest excess you can find and know you are covered for everything or choose a higher excess for the big expenses and put the difference into an account for the unexpected little things.

[allie181]

Also, when looking at pet insurance you should consider what your average vet bill might be before deciding on your excess. Do you want to cover most unexpected out of pocket expenses or just the big things?

You will find that most vet visits for common ailments (like tummy bugs, blood tests, etc) are going to be around the $150-$300 mark. If your excess is $250 you will not be able to claim much for things like this. A $100 excess will be more suitable here.

However an accident, emergency (eg snakebite) or severe illness could run into the thousands so a $500 excess is fine if that is all you are concerned about and can cover any smaller vet bills along the way.

I personally dont consider the $250/$300 excess to be viable when you consider what you pay per month vs what you may need to claim for in the case of a vet visit for a common illness.

Either go for the lowest excess you can find and know you are covered for everything or choose a higher excess for the big expenses and put the difference into an account for the unexpected little things.

Thanks SecretKei, that's good advice. I hadn't thought of that.

Edited September 13, 2010 by allie181

[FrodofromAus]

I have personally had experience with Bow Wow Meow. I am now looking for a better policy. The reason is as follows.

I have three dogs under the policy and one of them got cancer twelve months ago. I just got the renewal policy. The policy has blown right out now due to the claim. Two of my dogs had no claims whatsoever. Their policies went from $125 a year each up to nearly $300 each. Then there is the dog that I had the claim with. His policy went up to around $330 previously around $135 . The best bit is now they will only cover him for that type of cancer and related illness for 40 percent of further costs less the excess. I will be responsible for the other 60 percent. This is now a new condition of insurance. The policy booklet although not clear seems to indicate that once the $8000 for this illness is reached as they have not paid out that amount as yet, he will never be able to be insured for any sort of cancer again as it appears cancer is cancer and even if it is a different type they wont touch him.

I was aware there was a max per year of $8000 per illness. Thats fine and I knew that. I didnt realise that if at any point in his life he ever suffered cancer again I would get nothing. I also didnt understand that other pets who I had not claimed against would go through the roof in terms of cost. You really have to check the wording of these policies as it is likely other companies have wording which indicates one event for a lifetime to the value of ? I also note with them that if a dog had an ongoing condition for instance epilepsy that needs a lifetime of treatment that once $8000 had been reached that was the end of it for the rest of the dogs life.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has checked the wording of their policy or has had an experience with pet insurance where this limit for life is not the case. If I change company I would like one that goes up to say $15 000 so that is a better amount ifr it has to last a lifetime.

Bow Wow were very slow in paying but apart from the agreed excess they did pay for everything.

By the way my boy with the cancer is still going along well with no signs of it returning

Edited October 4, 2010 by smiley4444

[Sankari]

I dont know about BoW Wow, but I just signed up with PIA (Pet Insurance Australia)- its been recommended a lot on DOL.

It cost me $17 pm with a $500 excess and it has a $14,000 limit.

I was pretty happy with that.

Have you done a search for topics re insurance?

That's what I did to come up with my choice- people regularly ask about insurance in here.

I too have gone with PIA. I've heard some not so good stories about Bow Wow.

So far no claims yet. She will not be covered for any further Cruciate Ligament ailments should they occur as I hadnt joined before that, so it's a pre-existing illness upon joining. This isnt a big deal because I am more concerned about any other ailments that may happen (god forbid).

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I got pet insurance australia with the $500 excess.

I'm looking for cover for big things like road trauma, busted ACL, snake bite, eating foreign objects that don't come out safely... And those can easily go from $1500 to $15000.

Some insurance policies have max limits on a particular disease/trauma. Some have max annual limits. Some have max lifetime (of insured dog) limits. None are unlimited cover. I guess that's because it is possible to spend infinite amounts of money trying to fix up an animal (or human).

I think I liked PIA because it didn't expire after the first claim for something like cancer or diabetes which can be ongoing. But it pays to read the fine print. Or maybe look up the review of Pet Insurance at Choice.com.au

[FrodofromAus]

I got pet insurance australia with the $500 excess.

I think I liked PIA because it didn't expire after the first claim for something like cancer or diabetes which can be ongoing. But it pays to read the fine print. Or maybe look up the review of Pet Insurance at Choice.com.au

I just checked the PDS for PIA and from what I am reading it would mean that there is a maximum lifetime claim for things that could be ongoing or re occuring such as cancer.

Part B Section 1 Definitions

• The maximum We will pay for a single Condition, a Recurring Condition

or a Chronic Condition suffered by Your Pet is the maximum amount

that was current in the Policy Period when the Condition first manifested.

Once this maximum amount has been paid, We will not pay for any

further Treatment of that Condition during the remainder of the Policy

Period or any future Policy Period.

To me this would also apply to a dog that had say lifetime costs that may be associated with something like diabetes once the original maximum amount at the time of getting the policy was claimed

[shelby-001]

We went with Medibank Private (as our pvt health is with them) and took the Gold Paws option which gives me a $100 excess and a $15000 limit per year for each dog. On top of that I get a total of $165 per dog per year to go towards routine care, ie: heartworm, flea control, teeth cleans etc.

The reason we went with the $100n excess is because given the amount of the premium I didn't want to elliminate a large number of vet visits from claiming. ie: If the bill was only $300 I wouldn't claim if I had chosen the $500 excess. Also when working out the cost, the silver paws option dropped back to $12000 per year and no routine care, the difference was $9.50 per month which was only $114 per year, so by claiming the routine care stuff which I have to pay for anyway, I'm in front $51 and I get an extra $3000 per dog per year.

It was interesting to note in all my research that Bow Wow Meow, PIA, 1300Insurance, RSPCA, Pet Plan and even our Medibank Pvt our all underwritten by the same company Petsure. Their products differ slightly to suit the differences people want. The only thing that was notably different was the cost of each (medibank was the cheapest for what you got) but either pet plan or bow wow (I can't remember) had a public liability component. None of the others had that.

[pinky11]

i also just signed with Pet insurance Australia.

[OSoSwift]

Petplan is one that does not have a maximum per condition. Part of the reason I went with them.

[FrodofromAus]

We went with Medibank Private (as our pvt health is with them) and took the Gold Paws option which gives me a $100 excess and a $15000 limit per year for each dog. On top of that I get a total of $165 per dog per year to go towards routine care, ie: heartworm, flea control, teeth cleans etc.

Would you knoe if the $15000 linmit per year for each dog is per type of claim? ie cancer $15000 per year Also once you have reached say $15000 for ongoing cancer treatment over a few years does it get capped at that amount if it was to cost more over a number of years.

[MsKatie]

We have PIA and are about to make our first claim - it was great peace of mind to be able to say to the vet "Go ahead and do what you need to " when Earl got a stone stuck in his intestines on the Sunday of the long weekend without going at the quoted price.

We were with Petplan but I changed as they tried to say Bloodhounds were in their restricted breed list when I had checked several times and they weren't - it had an impact on the ammount they covered after a certain age

[Mas1981]

I am with Petplan, have been for just over a year now, my dog has terrible allergies and they have been very good, paying for all his tests, immunotherapy etc. No hassles so far. I pay $40 a month on the standard cover, my premium never went up even though I claimed around $5000 the year before. I think I have around $14000 a year as a max.

[RL1]

I have personally had experience with Bow Wow Meow. I am now looking for a better policy.

Bow Wow suck IMO. Both my dogs have insurance with them and i'm not happy.