Read the fine print!!

We have VPI Insurance, which we pay over $400 per year in premiums. Zoe got an ecoli infection and the treatments which included an X-ray to make sure she didn't have stones has so far cost about $1000. We have a $250 deductible, but VPI is only reimbursing us $400 because for this illness that's the max amount they will pay. So essentially every illnes has a max dollar amount for reimbursement. Maybe I'm naive but I had no idea.

Last week she got bit by another dog that was on the loose (unfortunately we don't know the owner and couldn't catch the dog) and so far her medical bills for that are $1200. Hoping VPI pays it all or I'm cancelling insurance. In the long run it's better just to pay your bills than to pay all those premiums for partial coverage.

Yes, VPI has a reputation for not paying out. I actually did read their fine print when researching them, and it tells you their max pay out for things, most of which are incredibly low. I also know someone who just had a terrible experience with them trying to file claims, sorry you had a bad one too.

Can anyone recommend a better company?

I am surprised that you've had a problem with VPI. I've had them for years and they were awesome when my first Rottweiler suffered from Cushings Disease in his final years. Cushings regular testing and the meds to control it are really expensive. The meds alone were $100 a month. And they reimbursed us a good chunk of it without any real issues at all. Then he had some other related issues due to the Cushings and they covered that stuff too. We had hit our cap for the Cushings treatments about 1.5 years into it...and Sam lived another couple of months after that. But at that point, we had stopped with the regular tests and our mission was to just keep him comfortable.

I've been more than happy with VPI but, I don't expect them to pay for the entire bill I get from the vet. I have a $50 deductible and figure that anything they pay is better than the entire bill. I use VPI for those OMG emergency moments...and thankfully, I haven't had any of those with my dogs. They helped out a lot with the Cushings and I am very happy for that. I don't use it for routine care.

My own health insurance doesn't pay for my entire medical bills and I have a co pay and have to pay bills in full before we hit our deductible for the year. I have to pay a percentage of the amount the insurance company agrees on with the medical provider. The only time we don't have to contribute to a medical bill is when we have hit our catastrophic cap of $3,000 for a year...and we have done that twice with a couple of spinal fusions for my husband over the past 10 years.

I think I would expect them to not cover the entire $1,200 for the bite incident. I strongly doubt you will find an pet insurance company that will cover 100% of a vet bill you get. If you're that disappointed with pet insurance, I would maybe look into getting a credit card and keep it for just pet emergency vet bills only. I have a friend who does that and it seems to work for her...but she has 5 dogs and 3 cats.

I know several people that have been really happy with Embrace.

I'm looking into insurance myself and I've heard good things about Trupanion as well.

We sign up a lot of people for Trupanion's free 30 day trial of pet insurance...I think they're the only company we really work with. From all I've read about them and heard about them, they seem like they're pretty good. Big BUT: if you switch to them now, any previously diagnosed issues (such as the Cushings) will NOT be covered. They do NOT cover preexisting conditions: aka, anything that has been documented by a vet before the sign up date.

ETA: I, personally, would prefer to save money in a rainy day fund and dup into that for large vet bills than pay an insurance company monthly. But that's just me, and I have a credit card whose only use is for vet bills. So there is that. I've also never had a dog with a major illness that requires expensive meds. A friend of mine has a uric acid Dalmatian and he's still alive because of the insurance she has for him...His treatment would be WAY to pricey otherwise.

I've heard of some people having issues with VPI but getting a higher reimbursement by resubmitting a totally itemized bill as sometimes they can reimburse more for single items than one single bill for a condition.

I have PetPlan because I still can't find a cheaper option for accident/illness/injury ($200 ded., $8000 annually, $12-18/mo/dog). Haven't had to use it yet thankfully, but a friend has had great experiences with them.

I do the bank account as well and use that for emergency care, my bank can never deny my claim.

Iv heard really good about Trupanion as well. i dont really understand how human or dog health care works and nobody has been able to explain it to me well enough for me to pick something, but it would be handy to have, as poor as i am

My friend has vpi for both of her dogs. They have both gone thru lots of health issues, ultrasounds, etc.... and vpi has paid for everything. No matter what the cost, she gets reimbursed. I know there are different levels of coverage. She takes the one with a $100 deductible.

I found out there are several VPI Pet Insurances being offered. This one was the best for reimbursements.


Pet Health Insurance for a Dog or Cat, Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI)

I did a ton more research on this last night and I think Healthy Paws has the best coverage overall. Apparently Trupanion is flaky on their coverage with intact animals or sport dogs when it comes to what they cover..Healthy Paws is similar to PetPlan except the deductible is annual and not per incident. Still much cheaper than any other I've looked into as well.

Trupanion will not cover dogs that are hit by cars or attacked by other dogs if they are over a year and still intact. I don't think they're flaky about it, because it is clearly stated if you read your policy. Stupid? Yes. Flaky? I don't think so?

They also have different classifications for working or breeder dogs. So you pay way more, but they will still be covered. Again, if you have dogs that will be bred or working dogs, they shouldn't be classified as a pet. Again, probably stupid. But it's not like they are hiding it...

Most of our clients who have insurance go through trupanion, and I have yet to see them not reimburse according to the policy that you sign up for.

I consider that flaky, yes. Didn't realize that my choice of descriptive wording would be critiqued here, but if they choose to cover intact animals for some things and not for others, then I find it flaky...My opinion.

And these are not "working" dogs that I am referring to. It's really up to that company's interpretation of the word "working". These are sport dogs, not ones on a police force or search and rescue team.

Just like human insurance companies, it's all about probabilities. Some of the longevity studies have correlated being intact with accidents like being hit by cars. Insurance companies are not out to be your friend and they don't really care about you or your dogs... they are out to make money. If something is likely to lead to them paying out, they're not going to cover it. Seems flaky to you, seems like good business sense to them.


ETA: And really anyone who has drawn any conclusion from the same or similar studies about the relative health risks to intact vs altered animals is following the exact same logic, just without any monetary effects on other people's pets. Why one conclusion is an educated choice and the other is flaky is a question for people with more patience for philosophical debates than I have, but just sayin'. Being mad at an insurance company for playing the odds is like being mad at the dog for eating the delicious burger you left unattended on the floor.

I'm definitely not mad about it...I'm just not going to go with that provider. Problem solved

Pets Best is the favorite for our clients. From what I've been told they reimburse a good amount and complete claims quickly. They also cover some pre-existing and genetic conditions. On my end working for the vet, the reps have been very friendly, knowledgeable about their company, and canine health. And pets best doesn't call us trying to bicker about the services that we provided; like doing an x-ray for a dog the was hit by a car, or demanding to speak with the doctor about why he didn't list kidney failure as a prexisting genetic condition on a 13 yr old dog that the company has provided insurance for since puppy hood.

Pet Plan reps have called us many times bickering about services like the examples above and we very rude on the phone. They also give owners a limited amount of time that they have to submit their claim or it's automatically denied.

Trupanion claims to cover more than any other company, but when we compared them side by side it was clear that other companies covered more. When we had their sales rep come in to explain their company and the 30 free trail she was a complete idiot. She knew nothing about canine health, refused to give us brochures about the insurance plans, and said that we have to sign up every patient with the 30 day free trial as soon as they enter the door because pet owners are not capable of researching which company and plan is best for them and their budget.

Pet insurance is not for everyone and for many people its better to take the money they would be paying to an insurance company and just put it in the bank for a rainy day.

I meant general you, not YOU you. Apologies for the wording.

The problem we found is they have low caps. I wonder if they base these costs on areas of the country that are less expensive in general. We live in an expensive area in California. Their cap for a dog bite was $325 and our bill was over $1200. It doesnt make sense to me, but we are definitely not getting our moneys worth from them.