Re: Dog Insurance


"FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:nJOdndWkJIKZv6TbnZ2dnUVZ_u-unZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
pfoley wrote:

I have VIP insurance for my dog. I have the superior plan. I just feel
more comfortable having it in case something happens to my dog. I had
no
insurance on my my previous dog, and when she became ill, I had to pay a
couple of thousand dollars for tests to try to find out what was wrong
with
her,. and I didn't want to have to go through that again. Rottweilers
are
susceptible to cancer and rupture of the cruicate ligaments and I wanted
to
make sure if anything like that happened to this dog, I would be able to
afford the necessary treatments. So far, I have had no health problems
with
this dog.

I don't know anything about VIP, but here's what Consumer Reports
says about pet insurance:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/personal-finance/what-if-fido-or-fluffy-gets-sick-206/overview/index.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=pet%20insurance
or http://preview.tinyurl.com/2elq9k

"Unless you can't resist a breed with chronic problems, pet
insurance will probably cost you more money than it will save
you. As with human health insurance, you'll pay deductibles,
co-pays, and premiums, and you may bump up against lifetime
payment ceilings if you own a chronically ill pet. In addition,
you might find some needed treatments are excluded from coverage.
Some policies also limit the amount they will pay per incident
and may make you pay higher co-pays as your pet ages. For
example, with PetCare's QuickCare Gold policy for dogs, you could
pay $36 monthly premiums for coverage for a 3-month-old bearded
collie. If that pooch needs $3,000 pacemaker surgery next year,
you'll have to pay a $50 deductible, after which the plan pays
100 percent (up to a limit of $3,000) of your costs. Not a bad
deal, because you will have paid just more than $430 in premiums.
***But if the surgery occurs after that dog turns 8 years old,
the plan will only pay 80 percent of your costs*** and you'll be
out about $3,500 in premiums. If you want to set aside money for
future medical bills, you might do better by putting the amount
you'd pay in premiums into a savings account."

The *** is the kicker - most pets have few problems when they are
young - there's a reason that the coverage goes down at age 8.

Not having really looked into pet insurance, I'd like to have a
better idea of what exclusions the insurance companies impose,
how many of these are disclosed before you sign up and start
paying, and if they are as willing to cancel your policy just
because you USE it as other types of insurance. I'd really like
to see a comprehensive study of the pet insurance companies and
the experience of their customers.

FurPaw
--
My family values don't involve depleted uranium.

To reply, unleash the dog.
============
Correction: I have VPI insurance; not VIP.
http://www.petinsurance.com/genLanding.cfm?a=4F6363EC-802A-228E-6E5BA0CA65DC2274&b=4F6363FC-802A-228E-6E3BD176623B1FCF&c=4F63640B-802A-228E-66B860F82CEF4260


.

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