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What do you think about Pet Insurance? Do you have it? |
What do you think about Pet Insurance? Do you have it? Hi Chocolate_Krys First, a disclaimer: I work for Embrace Pet Insurance in Cleveland, Ohio. I read through the answers posted in response to your questions and, to me at least, it seems that there is a question mark over whether pet insurance is a good idea or not. It makes sense to begin by asking a question: What is insurance for? Insurance is designed to cover you for unexpected, undesirable, and expensive events. You cannot plan for the things that insurance covers. By defining insurance like this it makes it easier for you to decide whether it makes sense for you. For example, your auto insurance protects you from expensive liability claims in the event that your car damages someone else's property or person. It doesn't cover you for oil changes though because this sort of thing isn't undesirable, it isn't expensive, and it isn't unexpected. As soon as insurance is forced to cover small, inexpensive things that you can budget for it gets expensive because you're giving $1 to the insurance company to get back $0.50 worth of benefit. For example, some pet insurance companies offer routine care coverage. You pay $99 per year for a basket of things worth $200 on paper. But you will almost never get the value out of it. You can only spay & neuter your pet once and, with new vaccination protocols, you only need vaccinate once every three years. Why would you want a company to charge you $99 per year to reimburse you $10 for flea medication? So insurance works best when it protects you from the unknown, the unforeseeable, the undesirable. For pets this means accidents & illnesses, not wellness care. The best insurance has a high deductible (one that you can afford though) and over the long run you should not pay out more in premiums than you average in claims. Insurance is NOT a savings plan and anyone who looks at pet insurance that way is buying the wrong product. For example, if you have a pet insurance plan that costs $20/month with a $500 deductible that offers $10,000 in coverage every year, you will pay on average $240/yr and, excluding the effects of inflation and age-related premium increases, you may pay out a couple thousand in premium over the period of a decade BUT in any given year you could be reimbursed up to $10,000. This insurance makes sense. One of the people who answered mentioned putting $50 per month aside in a savings plan. For those who are disciplined this is a great idea but, unfortunately, your pet is not going to wait around until you've got enough saved up before he gets sick. But I wouldn't just assume that pet insurance should cost $50/month per pet either, that's expensive. I have a policy for my 3 month old kitten that has a $500 deductible and a $10,000 limit. It costs $26/month (based on where I live) and cover prescription pet meds, accidents, illnesses, genetic illnesses, and recurring conditions that happen over many years. One thing worth mentioning is the issue of pre-existing conditions. No insurance company of any type will ever cover a pre-exsiting condition (group health insurance is the exception). No pet insurance plan will cover anything that's pre-existing. As the old saying goes, insurance is the one product you can't buy when you need it the most. When/if you decide to look at pet insurance, ask these questions: 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? 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 loaded with coverages that you'll pay for but probably never use, like "Lost & Found" or "Accidental Death"? 5. What is and is not covered? Is it clearly stated on their website or over the phone? If you've got at least $5,000 in the bank and you can afford to spend it all on your pet should something bad happen tomorrow then I would advise you not to buy pet insurance. Insurance - any insurance - is only a good idea if it protects you from a significant financial expense that you haven't planned for. Hope this helps. Alex Embrace Pet Insurance http://www.embracepetinsurance.com... I think it is a good idea especially for someone who's pet is like a child to them. However, I don't have it because I have 2 children. When I get old and my kids are gone, I may look into it for whatever pet I have then. We recieved 3 months of it free when we got one of our shelter dogs and it saved us about 500 because he got kennel cough. It depends on the dog. I would only get it if your dog is proned to being sick. This dog had Demodex which affect his immune system for the rest of his life so we got it only for that dog and it has saved us a good amount. Other than that I would not recommend it. I don't have it. But i'm starting to think that i should. My cat's medical bill can reach to hundreds sometimes. and what would happen if somebody stole her (mine's a persian, and it happens alot around here, you just never know). it may not help with the pain, but at least if i've got insurance, it could help me to buy a new pet? i think it depends on what kind of dog, if its a high mantanence dog, then i say yes you can get insurance thru petsmart.Our friend just got a pup and he payed 250 and then just 20 a month. Can't beat that! If you are talking about VPI, the nice thing is that it works at ANY pet hospital in the country, you don't have to look, or settle for someone on your plan. Other than that, it's just like regular insurance, if you never needed it, it was a complete waste of money, if you do need it, it's priceless. |
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