PetPlan Insurance has changed ;-(

[Leslie J]

I just received a pre-renewal letter from PetPlan. It seems they have new underwriters and have made changes that their I am very unhappy with. For five years I have had a plan with a $200 deductible, 80% coverage and $10,000 annual allowance. I haven't complained as my payment went from $200 a year to over $500 a year.

The proposed change to my plan is a $500 deduct, 70% coverage and $15,000 maximum annual allowance for $600 per year. This coverage is in not comparable! As an example, if I had a $1,200 expense the old plan would cover $800 and the new would cover $490.I tried different amounts, and according to my calculations I would need a vet bill of $15,000 or more for the insurance payout to be better with the new coverage.

They claimed in the letter I could "Build My Own Plan". I tried and set up the same coverage level I've had for the last 5 years. It would cost over $1,300 per year!!!!!

I have always been a big advocate for PetPlan, but I will no longer recommend PetPlan.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Late to chime in..... because I just received my renewal notices for both Roo and Tigger.  I wish I were a lawyer, because I think what they are doing might be illegal.  The underwriter would have to bid I believe to cover all pets currently covered with a maximum allowable increase initially and then per year.

Pet Plan has paid promptly and properly on Roo.  I have never needed to claim on Tigger, thank dog.  I was looking for sort of a major medical policy when I got Pet Plan.  I cannot complain about their past service, although the amount to cover each dog increase dramatically from year to year.

Now I am trying to get a reasonable plan for Tigger from them, since he has never claimed anything.  Still negotiating.  They have basically made Roo uninsurable as with both Addison's and Congestive heart failure they have never paid  me in one year (sometimes multiple years) more than $2500.  His yearly premium for what I consider major medical, no Addison's coverage, would be $3700.   With his preexisting conditions no other insurance will take him.

I am disappointed, aggravated,  and just plan frustrated.  Why is it okay to do this.  In my case it would have been better to

start a savings account for the dogs and put money in it for their health needs.  I wish I were a lawyer or knew of a group that advocates for pet medical insurance.  Nuts!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Since all of this discussion back in July, I have decided to cancel Pet Plan and put away $5000.00 in an emergency fund for my dogs.  I just can not contribute to the outlandish whims of these insurance companies and would rather take charge of their Vet bills myself.

Having said that, they are 6 and 8 and have always been healthy. If either of them had a life-long chronic condition, I would certainly keep the insurance if i felt the yearly amount was justified by the claims they paid out.

I feel $5000 will cover most emergencies and we both feel that if there was ever a life threatening, terminal diagnosis, that we would not try to prolong their lives anyway with expensive or invasive procedures.  I usually don't take chances in life, but I just am not going to be a victim to this type of exploitation, which I feel it is.  Many will not agree, some may do the same. But I can live with the consequences more than I can live with that monthly outrageous charge. BTW, after 8 years, I have only had 1-2 claims with PetPlan both under $300.00 for ear infections.  They have made a LOT of money off of us as I'm sure they have for many of you. 

[Debbie and Toby]

Have not received anything in the mail, but checked our PetPlan policy online today, renewal info was there with the option to choose their recommended plan or build my own. With the max coverage on the new plan we were still $100 cheaper...so for us this worked out. We have gone up quite a bit in the past, maybe around the 7 year mark is when people are seeing the bigger increase. Toby will be 9 in March so I wonder if that has to do with a lower rate. The new plan doesn't have the same coverage, but close. We currently have $50 deductible per condition with 100% reimbursement coverage. The coverage on the new plan  will have $100 deductible per condition with 90% reimbursement. Still a good coverage considering the cost is going down a bit, so for that we are happy!  I was really quite surprised because I thought we also would suffer a big increase!

[Janet & Jaxson]

In one of the previous pet insurance discussions, I said I would report back when I got my renewal from Petplan.

Well, I finally got my renewal letter for Jaxson's Petplan policy.  It increased from $358 to $427.  We moved from California to Hawaii in May.  I had called Petplan at that time to tell them but apparently nothing was noted.  When I called them last week, they recalculated my renewal and said that it was $384 but with a $350 deductible, 90% reimbursement and $15,000 annual limit.  I asked if Jaxson was eligible for an annual deductible.  They said if he was, it would be $422 with a $350 deductible but they would have check and let me know if he qualified.  Well, a few days later they advised me that he was not eligible.  It was because he had giardia within the last year.  

So I decided to call Healthy Paws.  They said his premium was $384 with a $250 deductible, 80% reimbursement and no annual limit.  So for the same $384 I could get an annual deductible.  Seems like a better deal to me!  Jaxson is 2 years old.  He has only had a few minor issues - dermatitis, upper respiratory infection, giardia and an ear infection.  All issues were resolved and nothing is a chronic condition.  After much agonizing, I decided to take a chance and switch to Healthy Paws because it seems to be a better deal.

Hope I made the right decision!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Good luck. Hope it all works out. Thanks for the update.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Janet --- did you ask Healthy Paws what all conditions would be considered pre-existing based on what was in his records.  I would be interested to know.

[Janet & Jaxson]

Yes, I talked to Healthy Paws and told them about the conditions Jaxson has been treated for. They said that as long as the issues were resolved and he was only seen once for these things and the conditions were not chronic, Healthy Paws would PROBABLY cover. He also needed to have a vet exam within the last 12 months or be taken for an exam within a couple weeks.

So I decided to take a chance and change. Having an annual deductible rather than per condition is a plus. Hope it works out! Are you with Petplan?

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Yes, we are with PetPlan ... we renew inoip March so will have to decide what to do with AnnaBelle at that point.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Janet, we switched Tara to Healthy Paws too for basically the same reason.  I'm a little nervous about that first claim, whenever it may be...keeping fingers and paws crossed that we made the right decision too.

[Janet & Jaxson]

Well, keep us posted on what happens and I'll do the same. Yes, I'm a little nervous too. Happy Holidays!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Thank you! Happy Holidays to you too! We'll keep you posted but hopefully it will not be any time soon! :)

[Janet & Jaxson]

I agree! Hopefully not anytime soon!