Is pet insurance worth the money?

I’am going to be getting a pure bred Ragdoll cat, who will be strictly an indoor cat. Should I get pet insurance? I know some insurance’s start at less than 10 dollars a month, but at that cheap will they be worth it if I need them?

Answer: Any kind of insurance, whether it be home, auto, or some other type, is designed to protect you from an expensive, unexpected event that you do not want to happen. Some people look at pet insurance though as a form of plan where they pay premiums and expect to get some benefit from it.
But that’s not what insurance is about – you get pet insurance because you love your pet and, heaven forbid, if something were to happen you don’t want to be up all night with a sick pet worrying about how to pay for it all. Pet insurance buys you peace of mind.
All pet insurance plans let you visit any vet you like. You pay the vet’s bill, you send in your receipts to the pet insurance company, and you’ll get a reimbursement check back in a week or two most of the time.
Most pet insurance plans are roughly $15 – 30 per month. Cats are usually a little cheaper to insure than dogs. Watch out for plans that don’t cover chronic illnesses, genetic conditions, or that have per-incident limits. Also be wary of pet insurance plans with benefit schedules, these can leave you with a big hole in your pocket because they don’t reimburse as much as other types of plan.
To your question about whether it’s worth getting pet insurance for indoor cats. Well, even indoor cats can benefit from pet insurance for a couple of reasons.
Indoor cats are at risk of becoming overweight or obese due to lack of regular exercise. They are also not as “street smart” as an outdoor cat if they do occasionally venture outdoors. Indoor cats can also ingest plants, poisons, and cleaning products that are often stored indoors – sometimes boredom breeds this, other times just plain old curiosity!

I hope this helps, enjoy your Ragdoll!

What is the best pet insurance for cats/kittnes?

I have a 4 month old kitten. I went to this fair and was introduced to VPI pet insurance but just read that it was no good. Can someone please tell me a good pet insurance place and please only answer if you have personal experience. Also tell me all I need to know about this whole pet insurance thing. I’m new to this. Thanks. I only want the best for my baby!

Answer: I’m glad you’re asking questions about pet insurance for your kitten. There is so much information floating around about it and not all of it is correct.
What makes a good pet health insurance policy? My opinion is straightforward: insurance is a promise to reimburse you so one of the main elements of a good policy is full and open disclosure of *everything* that is and is not covered. If you look just at price you are not getting the whole picture.
I encourage you to look at major medical pet insurance (yes, it exists, our company offers it). The idea behind it is you get a plan with a higher deductible and this can dramatically lower your premium, in some cases by 30 to 50%. You can get a major medical pet insurance plan for around $20 to 25 per month per dog (cheaper for cats) and still have coverage for most everything (except routine stuff of course).
Pet insurance buys you peace of mind so that if something bad, expensive, and unexpected happens then your pet is protected.
You should buy pet insurance because you want to be *prepared* in case something bad happens. Remember, insurance is the one thing you can’t buy when you need it the most so plan accordingly.
You’re very lucky in that nowadays here in the US you have a choice of at least half a dozen different pet insurance companies, just go to Google and type in “pet insurance.”
Here are some questions you should ask yourself as you navigate the different plans on the market:

1. Does the pet insurance company give you a choice of deductibles, maximums, and copays to design a plan to suit your budget?

2. Does the plan cover genetic conditions? Make sure their answer is unambiguous because some claim they cover them but there can be “gotchas.”

3. Does the plan cover chronic or recurring conditions? So if your pet gets sick in year 1, does it cover the same illness again in year 2?

4. Does the plan come with coverages that you’ll pay for but probably never use, like “Lost & Found” or “Accidental Death”? These can end up costing you more over the long run than they’re worth.

5. What is and is not covered? Is it clearly stated on their website or over the phone?

6. Does the plan pay claims based on a restrictive benefit schedule or the actual vet bill? You want to avoid benefit schedule plans because they have a high probability of leaving you substantially out of pocket when you make a claim.

7. Are there per-incident or per-body system limits that effectively cap the amount you could receive back? For example, some plans have a $3,000 per-incident limit. If you had a claim for $5,000 with one of these plans then the most you would get back would be $3,000 – ever.

8. How long does the company take to pay claims?

9. What are the rules around pre-existing conditions? Are they excluded permanently or temporarily?

10. Will my premium go up if I make a claim?

11. Will the company increase your co-pay or deductible if you visit a specialist or emergency veterinarian? Some plans do this, make sure you know in advance as not only do emergency & specialists veterinarians cost a lot more but now you’re being asked to foot a larger portion of the bill even though you didn’t sign up for that.

For reviews of the different pet insurance plans in the US check out http://www.PetInsuranceReview.com

Buying a pet insurance plan requires a little bit of homework upfront. Go with the company that you trust and the plan that you think fits your budget and your needs.

Good luck!

Dog insurance, is it a good idea or a bad idea?

I just took my dog to the vet for the first time today and it was expensive. And she still has a few shots to go if I heard correctly. I can’t keep paying so much. So is pet insurance like Veterinary Pet Insurance a good idea?

Answer: Veterinary care is expensive. But the things that veterinarians can do today are simply amazing.
One thing I wanted to talk about was the different ways you can look at pet insurance. Some pet parents look at pet insurance as a way of paying for vaccinations, office visits, spaying/neutering, and other everyday things. Other pet parents though look at pet insurance as a way of protecting against high veterinary bills and “economic euthanasia.”
The second group – those who look at pet insurance as more like “catastrophic” coverage – are going to get better value out of pet insurance than the first group. To understand why you have to go back to first principles: what is insurance for?

Insurance is for the unexpected, expensive things that can happen. Routine care is neither unexpected nor, in most cases, is it expensive. Insurance doesn’t work properly when applied to routine care, the economics get out of whack and you – the pet parent – end up paying for this in the form of higher premiums than necessary.
Another common thing we find is that pet parents think of pet insurance as a form of savings. No insurance product is a form of savings really. Insurance is just a transfer of risk from you to the insurance company. Looked at in this way you can see that pet insurance is not going to save you money, you buy it because you want peace of mind and because you want to be able to pursue any course of treatment to help your pet if, God forbid, something should happen.
So what is “good” pet insurance? The answer is a plan that protects your pet against all of the nasty, expensive stuff that you can’t plan for. Many pet insurance plans offer this to one degree or another but there are some ‘gotchas’ that you should be aware of.
For example, I always recommend that pet parents ask the following questions:

1. Does the plan cover congenital and hereditary diseases? You want these covered, even for mixed breeds, because sometimes it’s not clear what is and isn’t hereditary and you want to know when you claim that this sort of thing will be covered. Embrace Pet Insurance and other companies cover congenital conditions provided they are not pre-existing when you sign up.

2. Does the plan cover chronic and recurring illnesses? Some plans consider things that happened in your first year of coverage to be pre-existing in the second year.

3. What is and is not covered? Is it clearly stated on the company’s website or over the phone? The last thing you want is to make a claim and only later find out that the company considers your condition not covered.

4. Are there per-incident limits that effectively cap the amount you could receive back? For example, some plans have a $3,000 per-incident limit. If you had a claim for $5,000 with one of these plans then the most you would get back would be $3,000.

5. What are the rules around pre-existing conditions? Are they excluded permanently or temporarily?

6. How long does the company take to pay claims?

7. Does the plan reimburse claims based on a benefit schedule or the actual veterinary bill? If you choose a plan with a benefit schedule you should understand that you may not get very much money back as the benefit schedule can cap your reimbursement for certain diagnoses at amounts less than you’ll commonly find, especially in metro areas. Try to find a plan that reimburses you based on your actual veterinary bill or a “usual, customary, & reasonable” (UCR) table.

One thing I encourage all pet parents who are interested in pet insurance to do is read reviews and testimonials from real customers at http://www.PetInsuranceReview.com . This is a good website to get the skinny on every plan out there.

So armed with these questions and by doing some homework of your own, you can make an informed choice and get a plan that’s right for you and your pet.

Good luck! 🙂

Any Advice About Pet Insurance for Owners?

Pet insurance? As an owner of three dogs and two cats, I’m constantly in the vets office with unexpected, and sometimes expected, bills. Does anyone have any recommendations on good pet insurance companies to look into? I’m mainly looking for a company that would allow me the ability to have a large percentage of the vet bill paid by them, and the ability for me to make payments on the existing bill that’s left. I know many insurance companies I’ve looked into only accept certain breeds and/or they have extreme limitations on what is covered at the vet. Any advice?

Answer: My wife and I adopted two kittens last December. We were well aware of the costs involved with veterinary services. After looking into several of the options on insurance, we decided that it would be both convenient and cost effective to choose Banfield’s insurance program at Petsmart. To date, after all the shots and other visits (fleas, dewormers, hip problems, etc.) we have saved $1,343 for both cats. That is the amount the insurance has paid. We have spent only $30 a month plus the activation fee of around $100. All said and done, we are very pleased with the peace of mind knowing that our pets are insured. Also knowing that without insurance, we would have already spent over $2,000 in seven months for two kittens makes it that much sweeter. Hope I have been able to help. Good luck!

What is Your Experiances with Pet Insurance for Rabbits?

We have 2 young rabbits and were wondering how VPI pet insurance is, co-pay, customer service, total payout, excetera. Anything you can tell us will be appreciated. Also, do you know of any other pet insurance that insures rabbits? Have any comments on them? Thanks!

Answer: I have had pet insurance on my ferret it basically just covers emergenicies no routine checkups or vaccinations, spay nuetur etc. and there are certin things it dosent cover but it is good to have just in case you would have to call them to find out exactly whats covered on rabbits. Although with this insurance you pay the vet up front then get reimbursed by the insurance company. The best thing to do is get a list of what is covered and what isnt and talk with your vet about it.