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I’ve never taken it out as I’ve always had dogs from pounds and older dogs, but the veterinary clinic I have been going to for over 12 years has sold out to a pet insurance company :eek:  :eek:   :eek:

 

Edited to say that this company says it is not an insurance company, rather it is a club and you pay an annual membership.  :lollipop::lollipop:

Edited by Loving my Oldies
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Reading further, I’ve come across two quotes from the CE of Choice, Alan Kirkland, that are totally damning of this industry.  

 

“Pet insurance is the insurance a business sells when it wants to make money without providing any service at all."

 

“Pet insurance is one of this country’s worst value insurance products.  It relies on emotionally manipulating your love of your pet to sell worthless insurance.”  

 

Not holding back !!!

 

 

Edited by Loving my Oldies
typos
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I wanted to look at choices comparisons of the insurance company plans to see where mine go but... choice wants me to pay a membership fee to access. 

 

Um I think not. 

 

I went borderline bankrupt last year in the cancer scare and thymes eye. Never again. I’m going to stick with having insurance 

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22 hours ago, Loving my Oldies said:

I’ve never taken it out as I’ve always had dogs from pounds and older dogs, but the veterinary clinic I have been going to for over 12 years has sold out to a pet insurance company :eek:  :eek:   :eek:

 

Edited to say that this company says it is not an insurance company, rather it is a club and you pay an annual membership.  :lollipop::lollipop:

Is it Best for Pet?  If so, it's worth it for pups/kittens and oldies.  My oldest cat got an eye ulcer at the end of last year when my preferred mobile vet was overseas.  So I took my cat to the clinic where she used to work as they had her records.  I foresaw that this was going to be a tough year for her, fortunately, and I put her in the Best for Pet program which was $100 upfront I think and $37 a month.  She gets all consults free, free annual vacc (not that I am doing that now she is nearly 12), $250 off her dental, 10% off medications and other services etc.  She's had over 20 consults this year I think so I have already got more than my money's worth!  

For a pup or kitten there is a big discount on desexing.  

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On 11/10/2019 at 10:00 AM, Loving my Oldies said:

 

On every invoice from from my vet there is a large box at the bottom saying how much I would have saved had I been a Best For Pet member.  The amount is always $0.00 :laugh: :laugh:

But all consults are free so you would have saved that!  Maybe it is an error and it should say:  This is what you saved as a Best for Pet member!

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On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 9:40 AM, jemappelle said:

Is it Best for Pet?  If so, it's worth it for pups/kittens and oldies.  My oldest cat got an eye ulcer at the end of last year when my preferred mobile vet was overseas.  So I took my cat to the clinic where she used to work as they had her records.  I foresaw that this was going to be a tough year for her, fortunately, and I put her in the Best for Pet program which was $100 upfront I think and $37 a month.  She gets all consults free, free annual vacc (not that I am doing that now she is nearly 12), $250 off her dental, 10% off medications and other services etc.  She's had over 20 consults this year I think so I have already got more than my money's worth!  

For a pup or kitten there is a big discount on desexing.  

We have Best for Pet for our 2 dogs and 1 cat. Our cat is 14 years old. Every 6 months they check her bloods, kidney function etc all for free. So far they have checked her every 6 months for about 5 or 6 years and each time they say she is doing well and we walk out paying nothing. No vaccination fee, no consult fee, no testing fee. And it means that we dont need to worry about the $$ amount.

Its designed as preventative care. So a lot of the routine year to year things are covered. If your pet gets sick, you get 10% of meds but the rest is on you.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all

I just got my renewal.  It was up from last year 20% to about $950 for my 11 yo cattle dog mix.   It has gone up between 20% and 30% every year whether I had a claim or not.

This renewal also had the co-payment go up 20% and the cover reduced from 80% to 60%  and the payout limits have not changed since I first took out the insurance nearly 11 years ago. 

It has increased over 400% since I took out the policy and the cover has been steadily reduced. 

So today I ring up the number to cancel it.  I wait on hold about 2 minutes to talk to a human and have to poke some details off the policy into the phone along the way. 

I get a human - I say I want to cancel the policy
I say that the policy cover has dropped from 80% to 60% - he says I still have 80%, I insist on my form it says 60% (this could be something they automatically do when a dog gets to a certain age).  He puts me on hold for 10 minutes to discuss the 60% with someone else. ?

He comes back and says it's a mistake and I still have 80% cover (really?)

I say I still want to cancel.  He says he has to transfer me to the cancellation team. 

I go on hold for another 2 minutes or so.  He comes back and says they are all busy and would I like to leave my number so they can ring me back to discuss other options.

I say very firmly - like explaining to a dog that is a bit slow - I would like to talk to someone who will cancel the policy.

He says - Ok I will cancel the policy 
WTF!!!!!!

And he goes through the motions of cancelling, gives me a reference number and promises to send an email confirming.   Which I don't have yet.  Half an hour later.   Emails don't usually take that long,  I will have to look in my spam folder I suppose.   Nope - nothing there either. 

Now I will phone the bank and revoke permission for the direct debit. 

That will be equally fun. 

Not happy, Marlin or Pet Insurance Australia. 

So anyone who sees their cover drop from 80% to 60% - please check your renewal details... phone and complain - see if they will put it back up.  But I think I'm going to find it's way cheaper to keep my money and pay cash.  Wish I'd done that from puppy.  I thought it would be good to have snake bite cover and etc... sigh.  It's Effing expensive and there's no guarantee you get paid anything and if it happens twice - they don't pay the second time. 







 

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Hi Animal House  / Caz

I've got something to add.   Evil hound is doing well, except these days she HATES all Poodle Crosses and I have a scar on my leg that looks like a vampire got me from when I got between her snappy self and a rather old and decrepid poodle cross who had done zero to deserve her "special" attention.  She spends a lot of time on lead now. 

And today I got another email from the insurance company saying they had made a mistake in the policy they emailed out to me - and I will "shortly receive an updated and correct version" of my insurance policy details.   

So I sent them back an email with the reference I got the first time saying "cancel means cancel" and if they take money from me again I am going to the ombudsman.  Actually I might do that anyway - they deserve it. 
 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi All, 

 

I do work for an Australian pet insurance company. (one not reviewed by Choice)

 

So I can answer from an inside view on whatever concerns or criticisms you have. Not here to promote, just to understand.

 

Admittedly pet insurance is not perfect, and the industry has some ways to go, interested to hear any feedback that can be passed through to make things better.

 

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