does anyone have insurance on their cats? I am thinking of going thru petinsurance.com because of my experience with Twinkie (paid over 1200 in vet bills) and am wondering if this (or others) are worthwhile. Please share experiences. thank you!
well paying $20 a month in premiums is rather different to paying $4000 in one go! I can afford premiums as it's a monthly amount I can budget for alongside my other bills, but I can't afford to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in one go. S'pose it depends on whether your vet will allow you to pay installments, whether you have savings or ways of earning extra money to pay off credit cards etc. as much as anything else.Well if I can afford to pay the premium then I don't need the insurance do I...
If you can afford premiums then you can afford to put the money into a savings rather than buying the insurance and taking a chance that it may not pay for something specific. That way your not waiting for them to process your claim either. The money is right there.Originally Posted by urbantigers
I have pet insurance and wouldn't be without it, but I think policies are a bit different here in the UK than in the US (if that's where you are). I insured mine as kittens so they have no pre-existing conditions. I would have struggled big time when Magpie (bridge baby) died last year if I hadn't had it as vet bills were nearly $4000. Insurance paid it all minus deductable of $100.
well paying $20 a month in premiums is rather different to paying $4000 in one go! I can afford premiums as it's a monthly amount I can budget for alongside my other bills, but I can't afford to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in one go. S'pose it depends on whether your vet will allow you to pay installments, whether you have savings or ways of earning extra money to pay off credit cards etc. as much as anything else.
Scully's vet bills were over $8000 earlier this year, for the $12 a month I pay in insurance for him I would have been a long time saving yo cover that cost, as it was I paid $800 (there was several visits with deductables, would have been cheaper had everything been billed at once)Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild
If you can afford premiums then you can afford to put the money into a savings rather than buying the insurance and taking a chance that it may not pay for something specific. That way your not waiting for them to process your claim either. The money is right there.
Indeed. We have our pet insurance with Marks and Spencer, pay no deductible and insurance on both kittens is about £15 a month.Originally Posted by urbantigers
I have pet insurance and wouldn't be without it, but I think policies are a bit different here in the UK than in the US (if that's where you are). I insured mine as kittens so they have no pre-existing conditions. I would have struggled big time when Magpie (bridge baby) died last year if I hadn't had it as vet bills were nearly $4000. Insurance paid it all minus deductable of $100.
well paying $20 a month in premiums is rather different to paying $4000 in one go! I can afford premiums as it's a monthly amount I can budget for alongside my other bills, but I can't afford to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in one go. S'pose it depends on whether your vet will allow you to pay installments, whether you have savings or ways of earning extra money to pay off credit cards etc. as much as anything else.
It would take rather a long time to build up $4000 from $20 a month though! That's the problem. If you can guarantee a cat will hold off being ill until you've saved up enough money, fine - but unfortunately it doesn't always work like that! I received from my insurance company more money than I'd paid in over the years for Magpie - a lot more. The risk you take with any kind of insurance is that you may never claim and the premiums paid are therefore lost money. For me I'm buying peace of mind and the knowledge that if either of my cats are ill I can pay for their treatment. That's worth $20 a month.Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild
If you can afford premiums then you can afford to put the money into a savings rather than buying the insurance and taking a chance that it may not pay for something specific. That way your not waiting for them to process your claim either. The money is right there.
I am just curious..........what was wrong with Scully that would possibly cost $8,000 last yearOriginally Posted by icklemiss21
Scully's vet bills were over $8000 earlier this year, for the $12 a month I pay in insurance for him I would have been a long time saving yo cover that cost, as it was I paid $800 (there was several visits with deductables, would have been cheaper had everything been billed at once)
Is pet insurance not a very big thing in America? I've read a lot of people's posts where they mention having to pay loads for treatment. Over here pretty much every major insurer also offers pet insurance and they even have ads for it on the telly.Originally Posted by gizmocat
you insured your cats when they were kittens so add up the costs after ten or fifteen years--it's a gamble that the companies are willing to take.
I wish we could get marks and sparks policies here.
When we got him he weighed 33lbs so he has very regular vet visits concerning his diet (for health reasons he needed to lose more then the recommended per month so regular vet checks were needed)Originally Posted by Slave2_Ragdolls
I am just curious..........what was wrong with Scully that would possibly cost $8,000 last yearI can't even imagine.
There does seem to be a big difference, doesn't there? Like you say, insurance is very popular over here and I'd recommend anyone in the UK get it. But it does depend on getting a good policy and even over here people can be lured by low initial premiums into taking out policies that have lots of exclusions. It's also important to take it out when they are little so that insurers can't pull the pre-exisiting condition card (difficult with rescue cats obviously). When Magpie was ill the vet suggested giving him a new drug to disperse his blood clot which would have cost £400 a time and he would need several - so that would have been another £2000 there if he hadn't deteriorated before they could do that. That made me very relieved I have insurance as up until then I suppose I'd always assumed I'd just manage and that the chances of them being seriously ill were quite low. It made me realise that a cat can become seriously ill and need expensive emergency care at any time. I guess the bottom line is not so much whether you have insurance but thinking about how you would pay for treatment if that kind of thing happened. So long as you have an adequate savings plan then that is a viable alternative. I just know I'm hopeless at saving and would end up dipping into such a savings fund when I needed money for my car etc.Originally Posted by Wickedkitten
Is pet insurance not a very big thing in America? I've read a lot of people's posts where they mention having to pay loads for treatment. Over here pretty much every major insurer also offers pet insurance and they even have ads for it on the telly.