Update on Pet Insurance Options

[Adina P]

Initially I contacted VPI pet insurance upon suggestion of one of our members in case they'd be able to offer DoodleKisses.com members a discount (since there are a lot of us).  I learned the discount is pretty small and decided to contact a few other pet insurance carriers: Pet Plan, Embrace, and Trupanion.

 

I have heard back from 2 of the 3 so far.  Essentially our options are:

 

1) Offer members a 5% discount for insurance carrier A.

2) Offer members a 10% discount for monthly plans or a 15% discount for yearly plans for insurance carrier B.

3)  Earn a commission ourselves on accepted applications from insurance carrier B.

4) Offer members $10 sign-up discount for insurance carrier C

5) Earn a commission ourselves on accepted applications from insurance carrier C.

 

Since the whole point in looking into this was to offer something cool for our members, I really wanted to check with you again on what you want.  I know most of you who are interested have already either chosen an insurance carrier or have considered the various options.  So it's not just about the biggest discount but also whether the insurance carrier offers what you most want/need in a pet insurance plan.  It would be COOL if we could earn a commission AND offer you a discount but that combo is not an option with those we've heard from, so we're going with a discount for you. 

 

Someone mentioned that saying "Doodle" when you sign up for Pet Plan (who has not gotten back to us yet) gets you a 10% discount.  This is due to the Doodle Messenger's partnership with them...I think they may even make a donation/commission back from this. 

 

Now, how should we proceed?  What do you say?  Should we take a formal poll on which carrier is MOST desired?  THIS IS NOT THAT FORMAL poll...but more of a quest for suggestions on what members want out of this. 

[Julie and Maggie]

I have been looking into Trupanion and Pet Plan. It is hard to compare apples to apples. In order to have a similar plan with a similar per incident deductible, Trupanion would cost me $60 a month versus the just under $30 for PP. But if I had a similar monthly premium of $30, the Trupanion per incident deductible would be $1000. That is way too much. I did a lot of math, crunched numbers, and to the best of my knowledge, even with the increase in premiums, Pet Plan was more affordable in the long run. This would be assuming you don't have bills that are over $20,000 in a single year.

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

You're right Julie. I just switched back to Pet Plan. Trupanion increased their premium to almost doubled in California area. I also did more research and called both companies for questions. Pet Plan is my final choice after all.

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

I just called PP and asked them to quote the rate for me assuming Mochi is older now.

Here's what we're paying now for Mochi, $100 deductible, 90% coverage

2yro (now): 323.59

3yro: 345.16

5yro: 427.85

10yro: 571.67

11yro+: 575.27

 

Mochi also has Trupanion now (I added it few weeks ago and hasn't cancelled Pet Plan so he has double insurance).

100 deductible. 90% coverage.

$444.24

Trupanion just raised their premium in our area to almost doubled of what we've paid, (in Mochi's case it'd be $721.8 a year! ). It's very likely they'll raise our premium next year. 

 

It's still so hard to decide if I should keep using Pet Plan or not :( They've been great and I have no complains so far.

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

I'm going to cancel our Trupanion. Keep Mochi his Pet Plan, and add Latte to Pet Plan as well.

- Office exam fees: Pet Plan pay you this for your claims, Trupanion doesn't. Office visit in our area is expensive so that's important to us ($70 regular visit and $100~$130 emergency visit)

-Trupanion just raised their premium to almost doubled in our area so I'm sure we'll have to pay the new price next year. which will be almost $1000 per dog in our case, and we have two dogs.

-Trupanion doesn't cover Mochi's hip dysphasia because he's 2yro after he joined.

-Pet Plan increases premium after your dog is 3 yro. We had a raise when Mochi was 2yro because they had a new underwriter (just found out about it). Even though they increase premium, it's still cheaper than Trupanion overall.

[Eva Markiewicz]

Hi,

I currently don't have pet insurance, but considered pretty seriously when we first got Ollie.  I looked at VPI, Trupanion, and ASPCA.  I also read a bunch of discussions on quora:

http://www.quora.com/Pet-Insurance

 

The main thing that turned me away is that whereas human health insurance companies are required to re-invest a minimum of 80% of the money collected from their clients back into the system to serve their clients, pet insurance companies are not regulated like this.  I found a few articles online that said most decent pet insurance companies re-invest on average 65% of the money that they collect from clients.  I called VPI and verified this through one of their representatives.  The reasoning they gave is that pets are classified as property - much as automobiles are classified as property and therefore they aren't regulated as seriously.  Of course, if you ask me or I bet anyone else on this site - their pets are their family...you don't exactly mourn the loss of a car the way you do a living, breathing, loving animal.

 

I also asked my close friends if they had pet insurance for their pets and what they thought about it - a few of them did have pet insurance and almost all of them had a bad experience with the insurance company refusing to payout.

 

I eventually concluded that the best thing that I can do for Ollie now that he is young is feed him the best quality food I can afford, give him plenty of love/attention, give him lots of exercise, and save up for a rainy day.

 

However, after reading the glowing reviews of PetPlan, I think that I may take a second look pet insurance companies.  

 

Also, I would be curious to see a poll by all the user on doodle kisses of whether or not they have pet insurance for their pet, how much their monthly payment is, and which insurance carrier they selected.

 

[Lynne B]

petplan doesn't give 'double' discounts, they will give you the online discount, or the multiple dog discount, or any one of a number of others, but they won't stack the discounts.  After 2 years my rates went up a tiny bit, but it wasn't very much. In contrast, my health insurance has gone up 10% a year for the last 5 years =/

 

[Nikki Milonas]

I looked into pet insurance before getting my Doodle.  I am not impressed with VPI as I have heard horror stories from people who get very little coverage.  Because they only pay what they think the vet "should" charge, you can get stuck with a large bill. 

 

I decided to go with Trupanion.  I can not say enough good things about them.  My Doodle had cronic bladder infections until she was 9 mo old.  They paid 90% of everything except the cost of the office visit.  I have a 0 deductible and all for $37 a month.  I get reimbursed no longer than a week after filing my claim.  Their customer service is excellent.

 

 

[Julie and Maggie]

See that's annoying. I'm getting quoted just shy of $60 for zero deductible. Stupid overpriced Bay Area. We get no breaks out here.

[The Dude and his person, Kristi]

I chose Healthy Paws for my puppy, Dude.  I haven't made any claims yet.  I chose them because there is no $ limit to coverage.  As long as a pre-existing condition was not present before your intitial enrollment or during the 15 day initial waiting period, you should be covered as it reads.  I also like that they invest in animal shelters etc.  Their mission is admirable.  Does anyone know differently about this company?

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

I know!! I got Mochi Trupanion just a few weeks ago for $40.22 a month but now they've just raised the price to $73.76!!!

Their customer service lady said it's likely I will have to pay this new rate starting from next year.

Bay area you suck, everything is overpriced but I love the weather here and so are my dogs. I guess I'll just deal with it, sigh.

[Kim Davis]

Here are my Pet Plan Gold Policy details.

 

Veterinary Fees Up to $20K

Boarding Kennel and Cattery Fees		$500
Advertising and Reward		$500
Loss due to Theft or Straying		$500
Death from Illness or Injury		$1,000
Vacation Cancellation		$1,000
Monthly Premium		$35.65
Annual Premium		$404.31
Deductible		$50
Reimbursement Level		100%

 

[Jennifer and Jack]

This is the exact plan I have.. I have made money off of it already...