Do You Have Pet Insurance for Your Bichon? Could you share experiences with it?

[Rawfed (Ella)]

Good or bad, could you give short examples of what you've experienced with Pet Insurance, if you have it or had it before, or will get it?
Thanks!! 

I just enrolled Sky in an insurance policy which I heard was very very good and pays out well. The plan costs me only $23/month but that's because I chose a $1000 deductible 

[Rawfed (Ella)]

oops I used the wrong icon. Hahaha. I am new here.. forgive me.    Yeah, $1000 deductible, scary     but that keeps the premium wayyy down.

[Annie36]

I have never used it because here in the states pet insurance is a joke. I have only heard horror stories about it.

[Rawfed (Ella)]

Lol. Oh no. A joke?    I have heard Vet Insurance/Trupanion is a good one.

[Alison]

I'm in the UK and with Virgin,so not sure if that will help.
I pay about £16 with £60 excess and £6000 cover per condition.It doesn't have a time limit.I think the thing to avoid is where has a limit of a year to claim from diagnosis then the condition is no longer covered.
I had insurance for Abby and was about to cancel it and save up the preiums when she was diagnosed with luxating patella so I didn't.Just over  a year later it needed surgery and cost £4000 so I was delighted we had it.I suspect my premiums will go up next year,but it was so lovely to be able to have the best surgeon without worrying.Alison

[Rawfed (Ella)]

@Alison, thanks Alison.  Did your Vet bill the insurance company or did you have to pay all that at first and then get reimbursed. That's what I wonder about... even with insurance, how would I come up with thousands of dollars at first?

[Alison]

They would have paid him direct,but they have had had such problems with the companies paying out that they make a claim for the initial consultation and then do the surgery when they've been pain by the company and know they'll get it.I didn't want to delay surgery as it was painful for her and I was stressed.It was just before Christmas so my credit card got bashed.
This was an orthapeadic vet so only does expensive stuff and mostly via insurance so maybe it would be diffeerent with a usual vet.I'd check with your vet .Usually the charges wouldn't come all in one go so you wouldn't need to lay out all the costs in one go and my company paid out in about 2 weeks.Big bills like that would be likely to build up over time as treatment progresses I'd say.
Even with Abby its been just under £ 2000 and the same to come in a few weeks.Alison

[Rawfed (Ella)]

Oh okay, thanks.  I do wonder what would happen if Sky needed some kind of expensive surgery and I didn't have upfront money to pay for it. I wonder if the Vet would check with the Insurer and then see if it was covered and then bill them directly. Not sure how it works here. 

[Alison]

I know my vet would wait as he's lovely,but you'd have to check with yours .It would be worth finding out beforehand when you have the option to find a new one if needs be.Alison

[Rawfed (Ella)]

Yeah.. all the Vets here have a sign that says payment must be made the same day... but then sometimes they still ask if you have insurance.

[Alison]

If the worst came to the worst I'd just let them do their stuff then tell them afterwards they have to wait.They could hardly undo everything!!! Alison

[MattiesMom (MaryEllen)]

I have strong feelings about this topic due to what I have witnessed neighbors doing with their pets.  (I have 2 neighbors who use pets in a very disposable way! One even said, "Oh, it's cheaper just to put them to sleep and get another one!")  I have insurance for my girls.  I like it, but you must be organized and keep copies of all records.  You must be willing to fill in the forms and send them out.  I do get reimbursed fairly well (VPI Ins, superior plan).  Recently I've been thinking of cancelling it and just keeping a special account for my girls.  I'm going to start it with my tax refunds this year.  Then I will add to it with my longevity pay in June.  My goal is to get the account up to 5,000 dollars and then let it sit there for emergencies.  I settled on that amount based on my costs for my last dog, Missy during the last few years of her life.  Most certainly, if you don't have insurance, you should have an account ready for emergencies!  Not paying a vet for service will not endear you to them.  The next time you need them, you could be told no.  It is not like care for humans where they are required to provide service at an ER!!!  Protect your fluff by providing for medical care in one way or another.  It is your RESPONSIBILITY!  MaryEllen

[Alison]

I was in no way suggesting not paying the vet.I simply meant not having the means to pay until the insurance money came in would not make me delay emergency treatment.
The vets I've come across would be happy to work something out if a responsible owner had difficulties in an emergency rather than let the pet suffer.
I had planned on getting a loan if Abby's insurance hadn't covered her costs.
Alison

[Annie36]

Ken can tell you his story about Schnoppy when he comes online. But his pet insurance paid nothing.

I have money set aside every pay day for Jake's medical care if needed. Around here, they don't even ask if you have it. I know that some surgeries can cost upwards of 10,000 dollars and that means I would have to come up with thousands of dollars anyway because of cap offs. My theory is, save your premiums and add a little to it and you are no worse off. Most of the companies say you have to wait so long before everything is covered anyway. so say 6 months of premiums are just blown on nothing. Some say a year. My vet would work with me on some things but the big ticket items would be a specialist and I doubt they would work with me unless they had all of their money up front. You have to remember that I live 50 miles from anywhere to....specialists are hundreds of miles from me.


If you feel better having it, then you should have it. All I am saying is make sure you have a back up plan ready.

[Schnoppy]

Hi Annie,  

You have such a wonderful memory and Schnoppy thanks you for thinking of him.    

In short - here in the United States Pet Insurance may beneficial in limited cases.  However, there are so many caveats built into the policy that it behooves the pet owner to really go through the details with a fine comb.  Consumer Reports which is a not-for-profit agency has a writeup on it here:

http://www.consumerreports.org/pets/0307vet2.html

What made Pet Insurance useless to us were the clauses related to genetic predispositions. In short, if there is any hint of some genetic factor involved  - your pet is excluded.  This is akin to saying no compensation for me because my Cro Magnon ancestor had heart attack from eating a Bronto burger during the Paleolithic era.     It's a clause you can drive a Semi (lorry) through.   At the end of Schnoppy's cataract ordeal we felt like total chumps for having paid premiums which returned - 000.00.    

As Annie says - just set some money aside for the times when our fluff will inevitably need some form of major care.

Cheers,

Ken - The Human