Some Thoughts on Pet Insurance

We have had all our cats insured, our last four were rescue cats and they ended up with various issues. Our current two are pedigree cats and their insurance is a little more than it would be than if they were 'just' moggies. But I would not be without it  because you just never know what's round the corner .

Yes I got insurance with my cat in 2006 and it was a smart move. I am sure I have made all of the premiums back. Now, if he has some major illness I will be covered. My premium is only about $30 per month.

I got pet insurance for both of my cats- $20 a month for both. I forget the deductable. I used it once when my cat had ringworms. It saved me a bit of money there. I got it for more of a peace of mind knowing it will help me out- God forbid- if I need it for major claims.

In addition- there's a credit card that's used just for medical and doctors. A lot of vets accept it too. Depends on how much you owe, it's interest free for 6 months to a year. The card is Care Credit. Something else to consider

I think the companies charge according to what region you live in. I checked them out earlier this year and didn't find anything as low as $600. I am going to look again. In the past 18 months I have lost 2 cats and 1 dog. Spent a fortune trying to save them. I have 1 FIV cat and I know he will not be covered. Now I have a couple of 2 year olds I would like insurance. I had read that most of the companies will not insure cats on a raw diet. I hope that isn't so as they are healthier than heck and I have no intention of taking them off raw.It makes no sense. I think they should consider the numerous pitfalls for a cat on a dry diet.

I have two cats and only one is insured. The insured one was from a breeder and had the policy from the beginning so he didn't have any pre-existing illnesses. The second cat was a rescue and obviously she came with a medical history, including cat flu which is of course likely to be the thing she visits the vet about most often over the course of her life. So for her it wasn't worth it to pay exactly the same premium for a product that is essentially much less useful to us. I'm all for insurance if you have a very young animal with no medical history but I think more pressure needs to be put on the insurance companies with regards to how they deal with pre-existing conditions, as it is I really don't think its a great idea for everyone's circumstances or the answer to the troubles of vet affordability (charging someone the same amount of money and not covering them for the most likely and thus potentially most  overall costly conditions because the cat had them pre-policy, as most rescue cats do, is not going to make good veterinary care available to all). Some companies do have "accident only" type policies, which at this stage is the only one I'd consider for my  rescue kitty, but in many cases it is the chronic conditions, those that would not be covered for any cat with a medical history, that add up and make veterinary care unaffordable in the end. What about the rescue cats with FIV or diabetes? Saying things like "pet insurance is the answer, it makes vet care affordable and should be a requirement for all pet owners" isn't very helpful there. I also dislike how, once you've made any claims at all, you essentially can't switch insurance companies because anything your cat has had in the past will be considered pre-existing by other companies. This makes it difficult to shop around and ensure you get the best policy - essentially you're stuck with whatever you had at the beginning. Ironically, it is my company's competitors, not  the company itself, keeping me loyal to  it. Doesn't give them much pressure to offer the best service or coverage and keep their customers loyal haha. With health insurance for people, pre-existing conditions (where  I live at least) are often covered following a waiting period which may be up to 12 months or so - but even that is acceptable in my opinion. I'd foot the bill for a year to move to a better company for the long term, but I'm really not interested in paying exactly the same premium for a lesser product, especially when the exclusion is what I'd be most likely to need over the lifetime of my pet.

Pebble the insurance has to be reasonably profitable and that means it has to be underwritten properly.  And while I don't think anyone said it should be mandatory, I do know that the larger the pool of insured pets, the lower and more stable the premiums will be.   My experiences have been great thus far, better than my human insurance company.  And while  you want to eliminate pre-existing condition clauses, you need to come up with a way to prevent people from waiting until their pets have a diagnosis to purchase insurance.  As I said before, you're not trying to get your premiums back with any insurance, your purchasing the right to limit your financial risk when it comes to veterinary care. 

Annyway, the company I use is the only one i found that issues high deductible policies, but they will not insure pets over 6 years old (if you purchase the policy before that they are covered for life).  This to me makes it more likely that the underwriting is sound and the company is not in danger of going out of the pet insurance business. 

Draco that's a great idea about care credit.  The one thing about pet insurance is that you have to pay upfront for the treatment (though you can get a predetermination with my policy so you know for sure the treatment will be covered.)  At any rate, I had my reimbursement within two weeks of submitting the documentation so that 6 months would be no problem. 

Embrace is an insurance that will cover pre-existing onditions after 1 year of coverage. Ive been researching pet insurance and they seem to be the best and also don't stop covering your animal once they reach a certain age. After the new year, I willbe covering both my fur babies through them.

Oh I agree with you, Reba, and I did suggest a potential solution - waiting periods for pre-existing illnesses. If I were to take out a policy for my uninsured kitty with a 12 month waiting period for cat flu (which I think is a bit excessive but would still probably agree to it haha) then they'd get 12 months of premiums from me before I could start claiming for that condition and they would make more money off me than my insurance company for my other cat, who got sick within weeks of taking out the policy. As far as I know, no companies in Australia do this, but it's a pretty standard thing for human medical insurance. I just don't think pet insurance is as well regulated as human insurance (here  in Australia at least, can't comment for anywhere else) and if they were more similar, companies would have to be a bit more competitive to keep their customers loyal etc and I think this would translate to more/better options for a bigger range of pet owners. The company  that Haze n Blaze describes sounds like the sort of thing I would like to see more of.

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Haze n Blaze said:

Embrace is an insurance that will cover pre-existing onditions after 1 year of coverage. Ive been researching pet insurance and they seem to be the best and also don't stop covering your animal once they reach a certain age. After the new year, I willbe covering both my fur babies through them.

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I use Embrace. I purchased the wellness insurance as well as the accident and illness insurance. My experience has been great so far. They paid quickly and the process was easy.

Haze that's who I have.  While they won't stop covering your pets after 6 years of age, you do have to purchase the policy before your pet reaches that age.  This is good underwriting as far as I'm concerned and means the company will be more fiscally sound going forward. 

The author of one article on pet insurance  rejected Embrace company in favor of a company that only had been in business since 2010 and had fewer restrictions.  Great, but that doesn't mean her company is going to be around in 5 years.   In other words, the little bit she saves on premiums will be worthless if she has to switch companies and now, when she purchases a new policy, everything her cat has been treated becomes a pre-existing condition.  That's why I spent some time looking at the financials of whomever was underwriting the pet insurance carrier.  Just because you sell pet insurance doesn't mean you have to keep selling it. 

And if you wait to purchase it the premiums will necessarily be higher, and probably high enough that it will significantly reduce any money you saved by waiting.   And then you'll have to worry about anything the cat has been treated for not being covered.    I'll do without a couple of cups of Starbucks a month, or a few lunches out, or a few movie rentals for the piece of mind that goes with having my pets insured. 

After losing my dog Wilbur a couple of years ago and spending close to $10,000 over the last seven years of his life for multiple health issues, I insure all of my cats and dogs now. I love my insurance company, Pets Best. They do not require what others stated about needing vaccinations nor do they require that your pet get a wellness check each year to maintain your policies. They also include office visits and allow them to go towards your one time yearly deductible. I have the lowest deductible on each of my pets. It is a one time yearly deductible and is not limited to each incident. Another words, you only pay the deductible once for the whole year no matter how many differing incidents your pet incurs. It costs me a little more for the dogs - around $300.00 each per year and the cats are much less about $150.00.00 each per year (depending on that deductible, of course) but with Pipsqueak and his FIC, IBD and pancreatitis, Perla with her consistent herpetic eye and Wendall with his asthma - I have been very happy that I have the insurance. Am I spending more on my insurance premiums each year than if did not have it at all - not last year! But, possibly yes, some years. Overall, when they get sick, it can seriously break the bank so to me it is well worth it and I can rest assured that no matter what disease or illness falls upon them, I can pursue treatment no matter what the cost. So, it is a great peace of mind for us.

You do have to pay your bills up front with the vet and then submit the bills to the insurance company. They (Pets Best) are extremely fast in getting your payment. In under a week's time, I receive my payback check. There is no age limit on insuring your pet either. Of course, the premiums do go up as they age - little by little for obvious reasons. Like Wilbur, he was extremely healthy until he reached age 7 and then the bottom dropped out and he was in need of many, major medical procedures. It was then and during those years that I had wished I had insured my pets. One can go into serious debt when their beloved pet becomes ill with disease/illness or even a serious accident. Anyway - that is my :2cts: worth on pet insurance!

This topic has been discussed before and I think it just comes back to the same thing:

It is cheaper to put money aside--after all if it was cheaper to purchase insurance, they would not be in business! But that doesn't mean purchasing insurance isn't worthwhile. It buys peace of mind and can work if you can't save fast enough to cover a big bill.

Insurance is also different than it was when I adopted 10 years ago. Back then I looked at a few policies and found there were so many exclusions all it was worth was the vaccines. If I were to adopt today I think I'd purchase, but I'd also spend a lot of time researching the company.