Pet Insurance - What Do You Look For?

[Val (Zebedee)]

Replying to a topic regarding which insurance company would you go with, it got me thinking, looking at the replies also, of what do you look for with your pet insurance? What are the "must have's" and what is not so significant for you? What would be a "nice if I can get it" too?

 

My "nice if I can get it" is a good deal for having 3 dogs insured with them

 

My "must have's" are - lifetime of the problem insurance (as really got stung with a 12 month policy previously) - deal directly between vet & insurance company - a company you can call & talk to, not spend 50 mins in a queue!

 

So what are the deciding factors for you when choosing your insurers?

[Elyse]

Must haves:

• Lifetime illness coverage with no limit.
• All if not most illness/problems/injuries covered, first insurance company screwed us over and since then Suka's joint problems haven't been covered underneath any insurance.
• Good value for money. We've found a yearly $400 deductible, for example, saves us more $ than a $150 deductible per claim because its not very often our vet charges over $150 unless its for something more serious.
• Good customer service.
• Premium can't rise as they age - amount that is covered cannot decrease as they age, and deductible cannot increase as they age.
• The payout is decent - atleast 80-90% on any claim.

 

Things that don't matter as much:

• The price/premium. We've agreed that Suka, because he's getting older, would benefit much more with an expensive and all-inclusive plan than with a cheaper one. He had eye surgery last year to remove a tumour (almost $2000).
• Payment time/process - never had any problems with the 3 companies we've went with with payment times.
• Coverage of annuals - the one he's on now covers annuals as well as dental and other 'non traditional' types of treatment.

 

Things that would be really nice but we've never found:

• If your dog has a pre-existing condition, but it hasn't experienced any symptoms in atleast 12 months, then that condition is covered again.

[HuskyGuerl]

Great topic!!

[Chula]

I just signed Chula up for Pet Plan. The level I chose is 80 percent reimbursement, $200 deductible per incident and a $12,000 annual limit. The reason I chose this insurer is because they don't consider one foreign body extraction a "pre-existing condition". If she had two, then she'd have a 24 month wait before she'd have coverage for that type of injury again.