The Latest From Petplan

[F, Calla & Luca]

Dear F...

Thank you for being a loyal member of the Petplan family.

As part of our continued efforts to offer the most comprehensive coverage for our policyholders and their pets, we are delighted to announce that we are increasing the coverage limits on our bronze, silver and gold policies. On average, the annual coverage limit will increase by 15% at your next renewal. This means that as a policyholder, you can have even greater peace of mind when it comes to Calla and Luca's unexpected vet bills.

We are introducing these increased policy coverage limits to ensure that your pet's protection is in line with advances in veterinary medicine, and the increasing amount spent on veterinary care. According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2011-2012 National Pet Owners Survey, pet parents will spend $12.2 billion on veterinary care this year alone, up from $11.0 billion last year and $8.2 billion five years ago.

Not only do costs within the veterinary market as a whole change from year to year, but as veterinary technology advances, treatment options become more advanced and thus more expensive. As a company, we, along with our underwriter - AGCS Marine Insurance Company - must adjust premiums to accommodate the ongoing changes in veterinary medicine, and the associated costs for our pets.

This email is to provide notice as required pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:27EE-51 that AGCS Marine Insurance Company filed on 17th December, 2012 with the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance a request for a rate increase in the amount 26.6% for pet health insurance. Under the proposed filing, the average policy will see a rate change of no more than 25%. The impact of the filing on your rates may vary substantially, depending on the terms of your policy and your individual circumstances.

The request for a rate increase is subject to review and approval by the Department of Banking and Insurance pursuant to law, and the request ultimately may not be approved or may not be approved for the full amount requested. If approved in whole or in part, the rate change will not affect existing policies until they come up for renewal.

As always, we're here to help. If you would like to know more about veterinary advancements and how they can help you seek and provide the best care for Calla and Luca, follow along with our team of veterinary experts on our Vets for Pets blog. If you have any questions about this letter, or our proposed policy changes, please contact us.

Warmest regards,

Your friends at Petplan

This worth some thought! Guess I' ll have some thinking to do.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I got that letter too! I will still pay it though..jack has pre existing conditions so I can't switch.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I really think if any of you are thinking of changing Insurance Companies or are signing up for the first time you should at least check into Embrace.  When I was researching it was between them, Pet Plan and VIP.  I made phone calls to all of them and had a list of questions in front of me to ask...lots of "what ifs".  All said and done Embrace was IMO the best and didn't have areas that were easy to misinterpret.  Understanding how the deductible gets satisfied and for how long, etc. was the big seller.  At the time Pet Plan and VIP were per incident.  Then if a new thing popped up a month or later you had to pay the deductible again!  You design your own plan and I have a $500 deductible.  My policy comes due every November so I just renewed.  With Gracie's problems I satisfied my $500 in the first month and now everything is 80% covered until renewal next November.  My policy only went up about $2.00 a month this year.  It is worth calling each company and really get into asking all the right questions and understanding exactly how the deductible works and also pre-existing conditions.  These companies are all in competition with each other so there is a good chance after you discuss your Doodle's problem they might consider waiving the pre-existing conditions.  What have you got to lose???

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks for the good information Nancie. I will look into it.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I could not afford a $500.00 deductible. I have zero co-pay and a $50.00 deductible.....per illness/incident and 80 percent coverage for specialist,

Otherwise I would lower Jacks coverage ..I can't afford to..I would cut my cable before I cut his insurance .

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

It will be interesting to see what Jane finds out. 

One of the most serous issues with insurance is a false sense of security. Many are under insured in all types of policies: home, health, auto, but I am truly wondering if any of us are under insured with pet insurance.

I find that hard to believe with inflation being low across the board.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Here are a few things I was able to find online...

-This appears to be a standard renewal increase notice, and the Insurance Department has not yet approved this filing.  If you want the full details of the rate increase you can call the Insurance Department and they should provide it to you.  The overall impact is the 26.6%....your increase could be more or less depending on the ratable factors for your individual policy.

-15% of the overall 26% of this increase is due to the coverage limit increases.  If you don't want your individual coverage to increase you can talk to the company about staying where you are which probably means backing down one plan...e.g. from gold to silver.  Companies will do this when they are finding that customers are tending to be under insured and they are not able to pay total claims because of policy limits....it also obviously gives them an opportunity to veil a rate increase with a "positive message".

-it appears the annual rate of inflation for Vet care is about 6%.  This does not reflect the advances in treatment options.  As "the medicine" advances so do overall costs....just a couple of years ago things like acupuncture and laser therapy were not widely used the way they are today.  Ultrasounds are now commonplace, and my Vet orders blood work for just about everything.  All this is new and is impacting overall cost.  Of course, this varies by location, but I'm guessing New Jersey would be close to the top of the list.

-Companies appear to be increasing rates almost every year as the dog ages, beyond the age of 3.  For example, VPI states that their "age" increase is 15% annually as the dog ages which enables them to continue to cover "older dogs".  I think we are going to have to expect that our premiums will rise as our dogs age. 

From my perspective I would rather see a company take the needed rate and coverage increases to remain stable.  Both of my dogs have preexisting conditions are are probably would be declined or any digestive conditions would be excluded, so I need Pet Plan to remain solvent.  To me the stability of the company is just as important as the premium comparison with competitors.  I'm off to take a look at AGCS Marine Insurance Company which is the filing company for New Jersey.  Hopefully they published their last annual report.

Based on my prior experience in dealing with the New Jersey Insurance Department on auto pricing, they are tough and companies are required to provide full justification before rate increases are approved.  That experience is a few years old, but I'm guessing things haven't changed much.  That's a good thing for you as a NJ consumer.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

AGCS Marine Insurance is a filing company for Allianz which is a top rated and very stable company.  It has an A+ (Superior) AM Best Rating with a stable outlook.  It is in the greater than $2 Billion financial size category. 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks for all this information, Jane!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Great information Jane. Thanks. Is AGCS the parent company for Petplan? I wasn't sure what you meant.The NY metropolitan area is high for everything as I'm sure you know. My dogs have never had blood work to date. I am not inclined to get any while they are healthy.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Yes, AGCS is owned by Allianz and it is the underwriter for Pet Plan.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Not even pre op blood work before being neutered/spayed?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Spaying and neutering was done at the breeders, so they may have had blood work done.