Pet Insurance Companies

[Ker]

My mum has her Shar pei and her Amstaff covered by Medibank. Amstaff is healthy and has had no claims. Pei on the other hand, has had entropian - both eyes, at separate times. Then she did her knee. She needed that operated on. So, in a year, she cost the insurance company $11,000. Mum has paid $200. She's lucky she had it.

[Danois]

You insure your car, contents, health, income - why not insure your pets?

I paid around $800 in premiums for my last dog and got about $6k back in around 15 months. Never had one claim questioned.

First thing I did when I got my current dog (from day 1) was insure.

I have a policy where I get 80% back - majority of my vet bills are around $100 so $100 excess does not really work for me.

I know if I put the premium ($45 from memory) in an account - there is no way I'd have enough there to cover a large vet bill. Large dog = large bills.

I also find I am more inclined to go to the vet over smaller things knowing the insurancre is there.

[minxy]

I couldn't imagine not having it. I've been quoted $25 a month for when I one day get my puppy. That's $300 a year, which even includes some general vet bills etc. If I were to put money aside instead in case anything went wrong, there's NO way that $300 a year would even remotely cover any emergency vet bills.

[Golden Rules]

I also find I am more inclined to go to the vet over smaller things knowing the insurancre is there.

From memory, you are insured with the same insurer as me and I feel the same, never hesitate to consult a vet if concerned about the slightest thing.

CavNRott, that is one expensive year for you!!!! I would need to take out credit if something like that happened to me!!

In 4 years of having an insured dog, I have claimed about $8000. No savings plan would have covered that. Prior to that, I had spent thousands on a rescue dog (no insurance) and he taught me well, bless him.

I have a puppy coming shortly, and he will be insured before he even gets home.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Golden Rules

[Mas1981]

I also find I am more inclined to go to the vet over smaller things knowing the insurancre is there.

From memory, you are insured with the same insurer as me and I feel the same, never hesitate to consult a vet if concerned about the slightest thing.

CavNRott, that is one expensive year for you!!!! I would need to take out credit if something like that happened to me!!

In 4 years of having an insured dog, I have claimed about $8000. No savings plan would have covered that. Prior to that, I had spent thousands on a rescue dog (no insurance) and he taught me well, bless him.

I have a puppy coming shortly, and he will be insured before he even gets home.

Yeah, when we get dog number 2 he will also be insured before he comes home with us BTW GR's any more puppy pics???

[OSoSwift]

I picked Lewis up off the plane on the Thursday night, He was insured by 10am the next day.

What was even worse was I had the dogs out in a little yard toileting etc, brought them in fairly early as it was hot, looked out the window less than half an hour later and there was a large dugite in the yard where they had been. Helped to get my bum into gear I can tell you!

Four days after that he was doing zoomies and ran into my agility table at full speed. He screamed sommersaulting through the air and stood there with his leg out screaming while I bolted thinking he had smashed his shoulder. He hadn't he was fine, no limp or anything after 15 minutes but I figured in a really short amount of time this one really needed to be insured. Interestingly he has only had one other incident of no look when running, but no injuries thank goodness.

[cavNrott]

From memory, you are insured with the same insurer as me and I feel the same, never hesitate to consult a vet if concerned about the slightest thing.

CavNRott, that is one expensive year for you!!!! I would need to take out credit if something like that happened to me!!

In 4 years of having an insured dog, I have claimed about $8000. No savings plan would have covered that. Prior to that, I had spent thousands on a rescue dog (no insurance) and he taught me well, bless him.

In the last 9 months the vet costs have been pricey. In comparison to just over 2 years ago when my Sophie Rottweiler had cancer and saw an oncologist every couple of weeks this last year hasn't been too bad. Sophie wasn't insured so the cost of her treatment was on me and her meds were sooo expensive.

I hope we don't have a repeat performance of exy vets costs for the next couple of years, it'll send me broke. The insurance company has reimbursed me about $9000 in the last 8 months for my Cav boy. I bet they're sorry they took him on but at least my Cav girl has never had a claim.

Faith Rottweiler is a rescue and has cancer so her costs are ongoing. She's about 13-14yo so her time is limited. I couldn't insure her, she was too old when she came to me. The only fees for this lovely girl will be consults and pain meds. Further surgery can't help her.

I keep a credit card just for vet costs so the $$ is always available. I also go straight to the vet if I think things are not right with one of the dogs. If they're not acting normally something's wrong and the sooner we figure it out, the better.

When Bronson ruptured his disk it was early in the morning. I put him straight into the car and went to the vet in my pyjamas and a light jacket....very classy

[RubyStar]

I have a puppy coming shortly, and he will be insured before he even gets home.

Wish I had! I insured Ruby at 9 weeks old, which wasn't sufficient time for me to claim the little accident she had and I had to fork out for! She swallowed glad wrap out of the bin so she had x-rays and stuff to see if it caused a blockage. A few hundred dollars later, she naturally passed it that night the little minx ;) Glad it passed though of course, cos there was talks of cutting her open to retrieve it if it wasn't out by the next day :D I think it took 2 or 3 days to pass, can't remember.

[Bonnie Pup]

I have a puppy coming shortly, and he will be insured before he even gets home.

Wish I had! I insured Ruby at 9 weeks old, which wasn't sufficient time for me to claim the little accident she had and I had to fork out for! She swallowed glad wrap out of the bin so she had x-rays and stuff to see if it caused a blockage. A few hundred dollars later, she naturally passed it that night the little minx ;) Glad it passed though of course, cos there was talks of cutting her open to retrieve it if it wasn't out by the next day :D I think it took 2 or 3 days to pass, can't remember.

Why couldn't you claim for it? Did they classify it as an illness rather than accident? Or did it happen before you insured her?

Glad she was ok!

[RubyStar]

I have a puppy coming shortly, and he will be insured before he even gets home.

Wish I had! I insured Ruby at 9 weeks old, which wasn't sufficient time for me to claim the little accident she had and I had to fork out for! She swallowed glad wrap out of the bin so she had x-rays and stuff to see if it caused a blockage. A few hundred dollars later, she naturally passed it that night the little minx ;) Glad it passed though of course, cos there was talks of cutting her open to retrieve it if it wasn't out by the next day :D I think it took 2 or 3 days to pass, can't remember.

Why couldn't you claim for it? Did they classify it as an illness rather than accident? Or did it happen before you insured her?

Glad she was ok!

There was a 10 day waiting period or something for it for accidents I believe.. I even rang up and asked, knowing I wouldn't be entitled, and they confirmed for me that unfortunately I couldn't claim.

[Bonnie Pup]

Still trying to decide what to do.

Does anyone know if they have to list extra exclusions (eg for a pre existing condition) on the policy document?

If they haven't listed a pre existing condition on the policy document (even though you told them about it when you applied for insurance) does that mean they're not putting exclusions for it on your policy?

Edited August 21, 2010 by Bonnie Pup

[Staff'n'Toller]

Still trying to decide what to do.

Does anyone know if they have to list extra exclusions (eg for a pre existing condition) on the policy document?

If they haven't listed a pre existing condition on the policy document (even though you told them about it when you applied for insurance) does that mean they're not putting exclusions for it on your policy?

When you do your first claim they will ask for the dog's full history so they can refer back to it for future reference.

[Bonnie Pup]

Does that mean they can exclude things listed in the dog's history (and that you fully disclosed to them when signing up for insurance) even if they haven't listed those things as conditions/exclusions on the policy certificate?

I thought all extra exclusions (from the dog's history) should have been on the policy certificate. But this is all new to me and I might be wrong.

[RubyStar]

Does that mean they can exclude things listed in the dog's history (and that you fully disclosed to them when signing up for insurance) even if they haven't listed those things as conditions/exclusions on the policy certificate?

I thought all extra exclusions (from the dog's history) should have been on the policy certificate. But this is all new to me and I might be wrong.

If you're concerned about a particular pre-existing condition being covered whether or not it is written on the policy as being excluded, best thing is to be calling them and speaking direct to clarify as it would be awful to think you're covered then find out when you make a claim that they won't pay up cos it's in the medical history.

I'm pretty sure Mas1981 had a pre-existing condition when she signed up for pet insurance, and they agreed to cover it after a waiting period of like 6 months or a year (I think it was his tear duct problem?) Hopefully she will see this and clarify.

[Winterpaws]

Does that mean they can exclude things listed in the dog's history (and that you fully disclosed to them when signing up for insurance) even if they haven't listed those things as conditions/exclusions on the policy certificate?

I thought all extra exclusions (from the dog's history) should have been on the policy certificate. But this is all new to me and I might be wrong.

No it has to be either in the wording or on the policy document. They can't just to decide to exclude something without telling you.

[OSoSwift]

Rommi had had Kennel cough before I took out insurance for here. Her first year excluded any treatment for kennel cough or complications from it for 12 months. The next year they ask for a copy of her history for the previous 12 months and then the exclusion was lifted.

Ring them they are more than happy to talk to you about what you can and cannot claim.

[Bonnie Pup]

Thanks for the help with understanding it!