Pet Insurance Saga...

[Robin & Bedford]

As of today...Bedford has insurance. This "hunt" is not for the weak of heart. It was quite the process.

There are so many variables it made my head swim.

A spreadsheet was created and we looked at 8+ companies.

Several great tools...

While in doodlekisses forums, I did a search for pet insurance. I printed most of the entries off so it could all be laid out and dissected. This took some time but all that feedback helped put the puzzle together to make a decision.

Got this link from another doodlekisses discussion: http://www.petinsurancereview.com/

Whole Dog Journal had an article in April 2009. It profiled multiple companies. (It's $7.50/subscribers $10/nonsubscribers)

For us...it finally came down to (2) companies...Trupanion & Embrace. Embrace was ultimately chosen.

So for all you new puppy families...if you think pet insurance might be a good idea for you...keep at it...you'll get there.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks for sharing this information. I've been thinking about pet insurance.

[Laura & Chewie]

Me too...been researching...so confusing.

[Karen & Lucy]

What made Embrace come out on top????

[Adina P]

I'd recently heard of Trupanion as being pretty good. What was the clincher for you when deciding between that and Embrace?

[Robin & Bedford]

I'll post tomorrow some of my findings and why Embrace came out on top. But it'll be after I get some Cheerios in my system! My pleasure to pass on the info since it's still fresh in my mind.

I can't tell you how relieved that I am...that I can mark this off my list. I was getting "so over" the confusion.

[Robin & Bedford]

Hey all,

I've attached "the grid". Not all the boxes are filled in. Basically I kept entering info until the company was withdrawn from consideration.

Please remember that all of this info is NOT conclusive. Some of it was confirmed by the companies directly...while some of it came from the resources I previously mentioned. And this info was based on specific policies that I was looking at with each company. But, hopefully it will be a tool to help you sort out your specific hunt.

If you have a gmail email account (the sign up is free & easy)...just send me a message with that email address...and I'll "share" the spreadsheet with you. So you will be able to edit the spreadsheet to your liking & research.

In short, I chose Embrace over Trupanion because Trupanion doesn't cover exam fees, holistic treatments, has a $20K lifetime max & didn't have a direct deposit reimbursement option.

On top of that...Embrace offered:
*5% discount for paying the year in advance
*5% discount that my home/car insurance was State Farm (they didn't require a policy number). Other insurance companies do apply. You also can get this discount if your employer recommends Embrace to all employees.
*(we didn't qualify) but they offer a 5% discount for a microchip number.

Castrophe policies are MUCH less. Also, note there are substancial discounts for multi-pet coverage.

We ended up with comprehensive coverage, paying around $38/month for 90% coverage/$200 annual deductible/$10K annual max. This also included medications & dental. That amount will go down 20% for coverage in ages 1-5. All in all...it's still a hefty amount of money for the lifetime of the dog and is a gamble if we'd spend that much if we self-paid throughout. But in my home...my DH would have an incapacity to second-mortgage the house or use a credit card (at 20+% interest) for a vet bill. It would get quite ugly.

So this was our solution.

When you open the Adobe .pdf file. To view correctly, go to View

I'm no guru on insurance but I'll be happy to answer any other questions.

Remember that Whole Dog Journal article (April '09) gives many questions to ask yourself and to ask of the company that are vital info in discerning what is going to be best for you.

To be continued.... - Robin & Bedford

[Robin & Bedford]

Oops...I haven't found a way to rotate the doc when pulled up. Let me know if you figure it out. Otherwise...it would just need to be printed off to look at.

File is big. May take a little time to open. - Robin

[Natasha]

Left click on the page and you will see a "rotate" option in the menu that pops up.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

it would be interesting to see your comparisons if you could post them for all of us...and Thank's in advance for your advice

[Jacque Reynolds]

One thing that I considered when searching for insurance was whether or not they would cover "congenital" issues. Most insurances will use that as a catch all to avoid payment. They will say that (even when there are no symptoms) that congenital issues are pre-existing and won't cover them.
For me, I felt that the routine exams and the insurance costs equal out, so for my money, I am looking for a plan that will cover large, catestrophic issues, including congenital ones.
To that end, I elected PetPlan. They don't cover routine care, but they have a good policy for the major things.

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

I chose pet plan for the same reason. It covers genetic issues while most of the others did not. Routine care wasn't an issue for us but catastophic care is. I chose the gold plan that tops out at 20k a year with a $200 deductible paying at 90%. I pay $58 quarterly.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Sally ...... I'm just looking at Pet Plan now. Have you had to use it for anything?