Is getting a pet insurance worth it?
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 at
7:08 pm
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it would hav bin for my one dog, she was all fine at that age and then got a ton of problems but my other dog it would have bin a waste of money. once you need to use the insurance it goes up a lot. i wouldn’t get it.
I know people who feel they totally wasted their money on these insurance plans but..also know some who made out big time. They are all different and typically priced based on the species and age.]
You do need to read the fine print though.
Check ups and inoculations are not covered. There is usually a deductible maybe $25-$50 per incidence. Any pre-existing health issues are not covered. You really need to do the math.
A broken bone can run into a few grand and serious illness can be several hundred to several thousand. It is a gamble but that is what insurance of any kind is. You don’t expect your house to burn but you pay every year for the insurance.
It’s worth getting pet insurance, just in case something happens. Pet insurance can someday save your dog’s life like it did mine!
Having pet insurance means you can be at least partially protected financially in the event of expensive veterinary emergencies. And that can be a good thing to know – many a pet has been euthanized because the owner hasn’t been able to afford the available treatment options.
Pet insurance is good for unexpected accidents and illnesses. They can get expensive quickly, so it’s nice to have insurance to cover the costs. Pet insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions, so if your pet is already sick or injured, it is unlikely that pet insurance will cover the costs to treat it.
For other costs like regular exams and vaccines, it’s best to self-budget since these costs are expected. Some pet insurance companies offer coverage, but it is typically not cost-effective. (Imagine paying an extra $200 per year on your premiums for $200 worth of routine coverage…)
A few good questions to ask when researching pet insurance are:
1. Does the policy cover everything? Hereditary and congenital issues?
2. What are the payout limits? Will it be enough money for my worst case scenario?
3. How much does it cover for each condition?
4. What are the pricing and deductible options?
5. Is it an ongoing policy? If my pet has an illness during my first policy year, will it be covered the next policy year?
Be sure to do thorough research – Some plans don’t pay based on your actual bill, but have lists of predetermined dollar amounts that they will pay for each condition which can be shockingly low in many cases. I would recommend getting an actual insurance plan that covers based on your bill so that you are never faced with a difficult and expensive situation when you *thought* you were covered.
We cover 90% of the actual bill for diagnostic testing, treatments, surgeries and medications including emergency and specialist visits. Trupanion is also the only provider to offer a $0 deductible option.
Feel free to give customer service a call and get a no-obligation quote to ask all the necessary questions and find out what’s best for you.
If you always have a couple of thousand dollars free, then you don’t need pet insurance, since you can just pay the vet yourself.
If you don’t always have this amount of money free, then pet insurance is well worth it. Most emergency clinics will not wait to be paid, since too many people just don’t pay. If you don’t have cash or insurance, and your dog is suffering, they will not treat it, but they will have to put the dog to sleep.
When picking an insurance policy, read the small print. Some don’t cover certain conditions, or only give a small amount of money for certain conditions, these are not worth it.