Petplan woes

[Willow and J]

I have posted about my frustration with Petplan already, and because there are so many DK members who LOVE Petplan, I am a bit hesitant to bring this up again. But I am puzzled if I am particularly unlucky with Petplan every time I send claims or I am less patient then others? For those who love Petplan and have successfully received reimbursements, I'd like to hear your experience. 

I haven't been able to get reimbursement once during 2+ years of Willow being on the Petplan. That's not my main frustration. But it's about how they communicate and handle cases. Last time when Willow's AD was declined for "pre-existing condition", they did not indicate which diagnosis from the past that contributed to their decision. Did they decide AD was genetic and thus pre-existing, or a diagnosis from XX month in 201X has gotten them thinking this is a pre-existing condition? If it's genetic, then I basically know to not to bother with any allergy related illnesses in the future. Yes, they have a # to call if I have questions, but why do I have to spend more time, when they could just write that information on the letter? Why forcing sick animals' parents to dwell longer on this matter? (BTW, it took them more than a month to investigate and finally sent this useless letter.)

Another example: this time, I've submitted two claims, and they keep saying they did not get one part or the other - they have receipt from this one but not the claims for the other, and when the receipt is sent, they say claims form is not there, and they are doing this for each. So, in total, I've sent 4 faxes and still my claim is "incomplete" on their end.

Before someone remembers and asks, I know claims this time won't be accepted by Petplan since they've already declined a claim for AD in Jan. Long story short, I had to goto another clinic for the same illness because of first AD diagnosis was made without a test and I needed a second exam for Willow. Petplan will no doubt call this "pre-existing" condition again. But why did I do this? I've spent over $1000 so far for Willow's AD test and allergen shots, and I wanted them to look at this one more time. What I didn't foresee was how my experience with Petplan will go down the hill every time I try. This time, they can't even keep track of faxes sent to them.

Also, their email is lengthy and seemingly sympathetic, but these stock letters and emails with cut and pasted paragraphs ask this and that makes me mad. Instead of "if you haven't done so already~", why can't they check what they need and specifically ask for from which clinic from which period? They should have multiple copies of Willow's records from several vets office by now from previous claims. It also seems like each agent deals with case differently, and some agent just gets medical records etc. on their own, but this time, this one asks to provide "everything" without telling me what they have already. By now Willow has gone through two out-of-town clinics and three in-town vets. Do I have to provide everything from all of them? What's the point of sticking to one insurance company if they are not keeping records for individual client!?

I still want to believe that so many on DK can't be wrong and I should stick to Petplan, but I also feel like I could save a lot of my time and energy if I didn't have to deal with them over the years (and getting "$0" so far). One accident / illness might prove I'm wrong and it was all worth it, but meanwhile, should I give this company more money? Or, am I the exceptionally unlucky one?

(Apologies for this long post and for venting!) 

 

[Willow and J]

Thank you! 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I did have lots of frustration with them over Luca's tail injury. Some of it was the same sort of thing about not getting this or that piece of information. I needed to get the vet to send information a number of times and fax them myself multiple times. I wrote about my frustration with being charged with a new deductible since his surgery , after several weeks of treatment was after his on going plan renewed. Sadly all this is par for the course I think. I did get a quote from Trupanion after that but it was at least 3 times more expensive. I also wrote an email to the CEO but received no response, which I thought was she by. I keep the insurance for those catastrophic things though. I do think since DK has almost 11,000 members we should be able to have On my way! Influence on better treatment by this company.

[Stella]

Trupanion also doesn't cover other professionals (physio/rehab/chiro etc) unless you pay for extra coverage.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's important to know. JD is getting laser therapy, chiro and acupuncture, and those are ongoing treatments. Currently, he's getting the laser every two weeks and the others every four weeks, for a monthly total of about $175, but when he was first diagnosed, the treatments were much more frequent. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

What is the laser supposed to do for JD?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Reduce inflammation, I think. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh, interesting.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's a link to an article about it: http://www.vetinfo.com/cold-laser-therapy-for-dogs.html#b

[F, Calla & Luca]

That is good to know.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I understand your frustration as I have gone through the same thing, but I suppose it was partially my fault as I didn't get PetPlan the day that I adopted Ollie.  I took him to the vet immediately for an ear infection that was caused by lack of proper grooming (old owners) and then for a hot spot on his paw and this was all before I got the insurance.  The claim that I recently submitted for the expenses associated with his AD diagnosis were denied due to pre-existing conditions.  Basically, because he had been treated for things that could potentially have been symptoms of AD my claim was denied.  I even asked my vet to submit a letter explain that those 2 incidents were totally unrelated as he did not start presenting with the allergy symptoms until almost a year and a half later.  I am taking Ollie to another derm next week for a second round of testing (switching doctors) so I'll be paying out of pocket.

 

I thought about changing my plan and increasing the deductible, but i'm glad that I didn't.  Ollie has been having frequent vomiting for a few months now and I took him to the vet on Saturday for some testing ($220 worth) which probably won't find anything and will mean finding another specialist and more money, but he never really had stomach issues before so hopefully these claims won't be denied too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

OMD, I sure hope it's nothing major and that they do cover the testing. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

They shouldn't be denied, Amy.  Pet Plan has covered all the visits associated with Guinness's & Murph's IBS over the deductible.  I really wondered, since the whole IBS diagnosis is just reached by "ruling out" other things...but they never questioned it.  Here's hoping it's nothing serious.