Thread: What pet insurance?

I'm in the US and we have Pet Plan. We had a claim when our prior kitten was diagnosed with FIP and had to be put to sleep after appx $1300 worth of tests. Pet Plan paid the entire claim minus the deductible and they reimbursed what I paid for the kitten because I had the gold coverage. They were excellent to deal with and I recommend them. I haven't had to submit any claims for our 2 yr old Birman. We now have a MC kitten and I insured him with Pet Plan too.

These people sound too good to be true: VetsMediCover - VetsMediCover Homepage

Anyone have any real world experience ?

They offer cover for £14/month for any cat, and postcode. Incuding dental care as long as the cat has annual checkups and required treatment is carried out.

I am very tempted, with 3 cats, to set up a saving account and just put a fixed amount into it every month as my own "insurance". Especially, given my current circumstances, I am lucky enough to be able to cover any level of treatment out of savings anyway. They do say insurance is only worth having if you can't afford it.

Reads good & can't see any pitfalls,but....If they pay up prompt could give some of the others a run for their money.Hopefully somenone will know !
Mine have got their own account Peter,couldn't cover my lot every month.I always insure first year because of anything hereditry perhaps kicking out or with their scatty behaviour a broken limb or two after that I put so much a month into a fund although at the moment with hubby on short time that has dried up but their pot is pretty high & would cover a fair few big bills if any of them were unlucky,I know with insurance you perhaps could go the extra mile but I do question what some people put their animals through because "Insurance will cover it",I know there are things they can do out there now that I would never subject mine too,as I have said before,who would want to be one of my animals given the choice.
Luv em really.

The thing that worries me more than having the money to pay is the effect that insurance has on bills. From experience, in both cars and animals, the ubiquity in insurance has allowed garages and vets to raise prices "because insurance will pay" which sadly lets the rest of us down - where a treatment would have cost an affordable amount suddenly it is super inflated to somewhere the vets know the insurance will cover it and the client will not question.

I know that within our surgery the prices don't "inflate"due to insurance,but where I think the inflation comes in is within the "referral clinics" & insurers themselves,same as with car,house etc.People are going for referrals more,their prices are sky high,fair enough within reason because of the equipment they hold but in the last few years a lot of the prices seem to have become very inflated even just to walk in the door because basically if you are walking in there the insurance companies will pay but then,I think this is were we get hit,the insurers have to put up the monthly premium to offset all the extra they are paying out to these type of clinics.I think it is very wrong how a lot of people have been insured for years,never claimed a penny because the companies seem to know at what level to pitch the excess & then suddenly because your animal reaches a certain age bang up goes the excess to some stupid level plus the premiums & all with never having claimed anything,surely having paid faithfully over several years of your animals life they should give you something back,I always think it is robbing Peter to pay Paul,also basic premiums are now so high compared to what they used to be the normal person on a basic wage has no chance of meeting them.Thats another reason why I am happy to have my own pet fund.

I used to have all mine insured with Petplan but they got too expensive although they did payout without any problems when we had to claim. I spent ages looking for a new insurer and decided on Animal Friends. I pay £10.65 per month for each cat which includes multi pet discount. I don't know if they cover dental though.

I went with Direct Line believe it or not. I ran a full comparison on about 10 insurers and PetPlan and Direct Line were the two that ticked the boxes I was looking for. I've got both cats on a joint policy - Advanced cover, which includes insurance on holidays if the cat has life threatening health issues just before you travel; cover for whole life; cover per illness per year, including ongoing conditions that are diagnosed from now on - for £22 per month. PetPlan would have been about £19 per cat for similar cover. Reviews on Direct Line were in line with many other insurance companies. No complaints so far, but mercifully I've not had to use them.

Originally Posted by jckkerrison

I know that within our surgery the prices don't "inflate"due to insurance,but where I think the inflation comes in is within the "referral clinics" & insurers themselves,same as with car,house etc.

No, I know that bit - in fact it would be illegal to charged insured customers differently. My ongoing concern is that price inflation is not checked in the service industries where the majority of income is derived from insurance payouts. Like you say, insurers just lift premiums in the next year to cover rising costs and continue to make their profit and all competition based on price vanishes from the market. And we, the consumer, gets screwed.

I always think it is robbing Peter to pay Paul,

Oi!