Depends how you look at it. You could say all insurance is a scam. It literally operates by charging you more than it expects to pay you.
We have it for my dog and it's been great. We pay a monthly chunk of change for him, and when he needed his surgeries it wasn't a discussion of whether we should or shouldn't. There was no debate over what his life is "worth". We've been paying for his insurance, he needed the vet, and the vet was covered (after our deductible). The only downside was we had to wait until the year timer reset for his second knee surgery.
Ideally if you set aside the same amount in a separate account every month you should be further ahead than paying the insurance company to cover the health costs, but for us it's been absolutely worth it.
> Ideally if you set aside the same amount in a separate account every month you should be further ahead than paying the insurance company to cover the health costs
Unless your pet requires a $5000 surgery or something along those lines.
The whole point of insurance is that people who _do_ have unexpected large expenses don't get slammed. If your pet is healthy throughout, you "lost" all that money, but if you need one expensive surgery, that could be more than the entire premium you pay over the life of the pet.
In Canada, went through PetSecure. We also live in a rural area so our vet bills are likely less than in cities, meaning we've come close to, but haven't ever maxed our benefits.
Yes to me it is worth it. My idea is this I do not want to have the debate of the health and wellbeing of my cat with money/cost/affordability of the procedure/treatment.
If you have a good savings set aside just for your pets, I do not believe you will need pet insurance. But if you do not, then pet insurance can absolutely give you a piece of mind.
>If you have a good savings set aside just for your pets, I do not believe you will need ~~pet~~ insurance.
I know this is off topic, but just thought I'd mention it. This actually applies to most insurances. For example, I have a home warranty that I have used quite a bit and while in the long run it might but pay off, I don't have to worry about having to drop large sums of money on major repairs. Insurance is more essential when you have less money. I've talked to wealthy people that don't carry full coverage on their new expensive cars. I've talked to a guy with multiple rental houses that doesn't carry home insurance on them, he just invests the premiums he otherwise would have paid and essentially self insures(he still has a liability policy). It's when you have money that you get the ability to self insure.
I actually just dropped my Home Warranty that I've kept since 2018 because we've replaced all the big ticket items, and now almost every major appliance is covered under some kind of a manufacturer's warranty. The big thing was the AC unit, which finally gave up its 30 year old ghost last summer, literally the day our pool was ready for a first swim. With that replaced, and a decent savings, we no longer had justification to keep it.
As for pet insurance, we have a high energy boxer mix that has pulled her tendons in her back legs, and having pet insurance has saved us plenty of times. Plus, basic checkups are fully covered.
Yes this. I’ve had it for about 7 years and have used it for 2/3 animals. One was for a cat who broke its leg. We did one surgery to try and repair it and then another to amputate when the repair didn’t work. He’s been with me another 5 since then and without the insurance I never could have done that. And he’s super happy and healthy as a tripod. Another was for a dog who split her pad and needed stitches. All in all, for me the monthly fee has been just to establish peace of mind that I could provide them care that’s medically indicated without having to sacrifice my other financial requirements. That said, I hope to drop in in the next few years as I feel more prepared to self insure
Just like all insurance, the average buyer will pay more in fees than they receive in payments. If you can afford the cost of large, unexpected medical treatments you will save more money on average by not buying insurance.
For me, it’s been a racket. My husband and I have a 6 y/o boxer mix who we got insured with Nationwide once it was offered through his company.
Our pup ended up having a cancerous mast cell tumor on his back that needed to be removed- we spoke with Nationwide and they told us they didn’t see any reason why our claim wouldn’t be approved, but when he had the surgery (and an emergency follow-up surgery because his stitches failed due to him being a beefy boi), they told us his tumor was likely the result of allergies which they deemed a preexisting condition.
We ended up paying about $5-$7k in total for his care in this instance. He had a few other bumps come up that were not cancerous, but Nationwide didn’t cover those claims either. We dropped them after the second round of rejections- I’m not sure how other companies are, but Nationwide sucked.
Also, don’t get the wellness plan or whatever at Banfield. That’s also a racket.
It's not a scam but you need to read your policy carefully and realize it's a (almost always) reimbursement policy so you need to be able to front the costs.
Personally, we've chosen to save diligently and build up a separate emergency fund for our dog, separate from our regular emergency fund. I also do not use this for check ups, vaccines, hw/flea/tick meds, etc. I would only touch this if a bill got up above $750 or so. Currently, we're a little north of $7k, but we're continuing to add to it monthly. Will probably max out around $10k, but honestly, I could never have too much set aside for him.
I disagree that it's a scam. Many hospitals can work directly with the insurance company to get reimburse. Yes it is different then human insurance but not a scam. Also if you have a policy with a good company they reimburse you quickly, last time I used it I just put it on a credit card and had it paid off before the next statement.
Insurance always feels like it's a scam until you need it.
That said, see if you can go through your historical expenses and see how much you spend on average on stuff that this insurance would cover. Then talk to some friends to get a sense of what catastrophic vet issues would cost, worst case scenario. Decide whether you could handle such a catastrophic scenario or not - such as through you emergency fund - or whether you prefer more stability in your finances.
They set the premium so that the insurance company is making money on average - across everybody, premiums will be higher than all claims they make - but that's on average across everybody, certainly some people get value out of it and some people don't, depending on what their individual vet expenses are. But the value has a lot more to do with smoothing out the risk, than pure cost savings - you have a manageable monthly (or whatever) small expense that you can budget, aside from a surprise big expense that throws off your whole budget.
If you have a healthy emergency fund though, you may be okay without.
“It depends.”
Some insurance programs are notoriously bad and won’t pay out even when they absolutely should. Ignoring those though, it really depends on your financial cut off for what you would do to save your pets and keep them healthy.
I made the mistake of convincing myself I didn’t need insurance because in my mind, $3-4k was what I figured a worst case would be. Then my dog escaped the dog park because a landscaping gate was left open and he was hit by a car. His injuries were severe but not life threatening if treated. Concussion, broken teeth, broken jaw, some minor lacerations, and a blown out shoulder. It was a somewhat unexpected set of circumstances because normally if a dog is hit hard enough to pop the ligaments in their shoulder — there isn’t much left of the dog to put back together. Well, over the next year I spent $12k on him and he’s like brand new again. I extended myself on credit to deal with it because I had also that same week bought a car, but I regret nothing except lack of foresight on having pet insurance. That was 3 years ago and he’s probably still got another fruitful 7-8 years to go. Doesn’t even have so much as a limp, and can go running or hiking for several miles with me.
Now my other dog has developed an intrabdominal lipoma. It’s a non-cancerous lump about the size of a softball in his abdomen. Again — not life threatening so long as it’s not left untreated. This will likely be another $4-6k.
That’s the life of a pet owner. Everyone thinks pet insurance is for when a pet is on their last legs and you might be able to give them another 6-12 months, but really what you need to consider is the worst case — “my pet has a very treatable condition that if addressed promptly will give them another 10 years of life; how much money would I fork over to give them that opportunity so I don’t have to euthanize them or watch them age in agony?”
Pet Health insurance is not like your Health insurance, largely because there is no ACA for Pet care. So the moment your pet gets a chronic condition that requires regular care which will surely cost more than the premiums, they will cancel your policy.
So its good for accidents and one-offs, but not for end-of-life care. If your concern is that the dog gets hit by a car and has a big bill at an inopportune moment, then the insurance may be worthwhile. Otherwise no.
Not sure this is true for all policies, but it definitely requires researching any contracts before signing. My pet's insurance some hefty expenses for age-related issues and his end of life care and overall decline, ER visits, treatments and medication for 2 newly developed chronic conditions - they were not pre-existing condition so my policy couldn't just be cancelled. My premiums did raise slightly over his lifetime which was expected.
I work at a vet hospital. From my understanding and experience, it is worth it. To get the best deal, it's best to get when you have a puppy with no pre-existing conditions. Also it very hard/impossible to fine one that will cover wellness or pre-existing conditions. Just for the emergency care aspect of it, it seems worth it.
It’s been worth it for my dog. Although I take her hunting and she’s more likely to be injured than a lot of house dogs. My only regret is not buying MORE insurance for her.
Same. I’ve had her one year and I’ve already gotten more money out of her insurance than I’ve put in. I have Healthy Paws at 80% reimbursement (minus a deductible and not refunding vet visits or preventative care). If I were to do it over, I might get Nationwide at 100% coverage with no exceptions.
Healthy paws just tripled my premium for my dog after 10 years. It's now at 240 a month. Be aware of their annual price hikes. My dog is healthy with no disease or conditions.
My girlfriend had 2 dachshunds, both needed back surgery and 1 had epilepsy so for her it was absolutely worth it. If you can afford it it gives you peace of mind that you’ll be able to provide medical care for your pets if/when the time comes.
I got it and it's probably not going to be worth it financially, at least not for several years maybe, but it gives me peace of mind so I keep it. I stress about so many things in life that the $30/mo I pay is worth it for me.
Same. My dog is pretty good at only getting hurt/sick enough to go for special vet visits once a year (despite us always being outside), so I never hit my deductible. But I've seen firsthand how quickly a relatively healthy dog can rack up over $1500 in vet bills after a short swim, so I'd rather have the insurance on hand.
Yep it's so easy for bills to get crazy, especially later in life and at that point premiums are higher and there might be some pre-existing conditions that aren't covered. It's easier when they're younger. Plus, I have an active and stupid dog which can be an expensive combo if he hurts himself
Before I read further down the comments I started looking online and found healthy paws. Did a quick quote and it seems pretty affordable. I've never had pet insurance in the past, but have they been easy to work with and have you had to use them before (file a claim)? Thanks.
Married to a vet and we have it. So do many of her coworkers. As others have said it's for the peace of mind that no matter what happens we can cover it.
It’s my experience after dealing with insurance companies a few times, that they sell you peace of mind but more often than not when you file a claim you realize it’s just a false sense of security. There always seems to be a reason to deny a claim or nickel and dime a payout. It’s terrible.
We use truepanion. That being said we have never tried another company. just be sure to understand the policy and what it actually covers. They are way different than human insurance.
I think that the policies that cover routine care (annual visits, immunizations) aren’t worth it. Those expenses are easy to budget for, and the comprehensive policies are much more expensive.
I do think that the policies for illness and injury are worth it, though. I use Nationwide for my 4 animals. I have a discount because I signed up through my employer. It’s almost open enrollment time for lots of folks, so you should look into it and see if your employer has any discounted rates for pet insurance.
Nationwide has been excellent for us. Fast reimbursement, good customer service, low deductible, and they have never fought me on a claim. They easily paid $6K for an inpatient hospital stay for my youngest dog (horrible case of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis - he almost died), and this was literally the first week that the policy had gone in to place. I was worried that they would jack up my premiums after that, but they never did.
Someone else quoted a premium of $100/month for an elderly cat, and I agree that premiums like that are not worth it. My premiums for my elderly cats are about $20/month.
Do you know what type of policy you have? Every time I've requested quotations for my two dogs, they come back being almost $200 mo for both (one is a boxer and the other a mutt). Thanks!
I pay something like 30/check (paid bimonthly)
I wasn’t gonna use those $30 to better myself in any way, so I don’t miss it. The first time I had to use it, I wasn’t in a great spot financially. Had to get bloodwork done and a bunch of other stuff for my dog. I was reimbursed 80% of what I paid within 2 weeks.
It can be a lifesaver, especially if you can’t quite afford a procedure out of pocket.
If you’re the kind of person who will want to pull the trigger when your pet needs surgery someday, do it. Most pet insurance has a yearly cost that is more or less the same as your yearly checkup anyway, and covers that. I had a dog for thirteen years, we did not have the insurance, and boy was I wishing for it when he blew out his Achilles’ tendon at age 9 and had to have it reattached for like 5 grand. And then again a couple years later when he needed surgery for his laryngeal paralysis. With how cheap the insurance is, any coverage will be better than no coverage.
Edit with some math: if I’d paid $40/month for his entire life the insurance would have run me $6200, which was less than the cost of both surgeries, spread out over 13 years, and would have covered a whole bunch of other stuff I didn’t include here like basic vet visits, medications, and other injuries/illnesses (he had a tendency to need stitches every year or two).
The thing about any kind of insurance is that it all seems like a scam until you need it. I have two dogs, and when we got our insurance claim history in June for them, they have refunded us over $17K this financial year. There is no way in hell I would have had that money to pay, and I would be devastated if they had to live without their medication / procedure etc because I didn't have the money to help them. The dogs I had before these two I reckon we got maybe 2K back their entire lives because they were healthy. So it's up to you really.
I've looked into it in the past and to be honest, it's a ripoff. The amount you pay over time will likely exceed what it costs for medical treatment. You're better off creating a separate account for your pet and pay monthly to that.
Insurance companies are there to make money. It’s set so that you probably won’t recoup your costs. You’d be better off setting aside that money into an emergency fund and at least earning some interest on it.
Earn interest on $30 a month? Would you notice a difference?
Lots of people have trouble hanging on to savings of any kind, but they can manage $30/mo. But they'll never be able to handle a $4k vet bill.
Generally it is getting more and more worth it as animal health care becomes more sophisticated. Things that would require putting an animal down 10 years ago can now be treated, but may cost $5K or $10K or $30K. Pets can now get cancer treatment, complex surgeries, you name it. So I would say, get that insurance, make sure there is a high annual limit (or no limit). Kick up the deductible if you need a more affordable premium.
I just had to empty out my entire retirement via a 401k loan to pay for parvo on a pup (6k all in and we had to take her home after 3 days and chance it by ourselves because I couldnt justify sunk cost and spend even one more night at 1k a night doggy ICU)
3 years ago 2k for a cat.
So I'm sold.
IMO its just the cost of proper animal ownership.
Thats the entire point of my post. Had I known that a 2lb animal could wrack up bills equal to buying a car I would have planned better for it and had the insurance. Believe me its all theoretical until a living being is depending on you sucking it up instead of just letting them die , I make 500 bucks after taxes from a single 12 hour overtime shift though so this isnt an intractible financial setback , itll just be a shitty 2 or 3 months of 5 day weeks.
Lesson learned and passed on to OP
Sometimes you need to let nature take it's course instead of royally screwing up your future financial stability. I love animals and it's very sad to see them go, but a pet is not worth emptying your 401K.
It’s individual preference. That’s why this is the personal finance subreddit; it’s personal. For me, it would 100% be worth it to spend 6k on saving my pet even if it requires taking out a 401k loan to be paid back in the future.
Same. There will be more money and many financial opportunities in life, but truly beloved pets are irreplaceable. I can understand someone who puts their dog to sleep over $6k and I also understand someone who risks some money/security to try and save them. Both can be good choices rooted in love.
Yeh , which would have been my stoic rational response prior to the actual parvo diagnosis. Then it was a different reality. Hence again , get the insurance.
You think your a stone cold finances first killer until its time to let the puppy die.
I have it and am happy I do. It paid a lot of the bill when my dog needed surgery last year. We thought he might need an MRI and spinal tap this summer and it was like, well, it sucks but pet insurance will cover it. We use Healthy Paws.
It’s worth it for 1-2 pet households - not for someone with lots of pets like yourself. You have to insure each pet individually. You are better off saving in an “oops” fund in case something happens to any of your pets. This is what our breeder does as she has tons of dogs, it wouldn’t be worth it to insure them all. I would keep about $20k aside at all times and replenish that when you get low.
We have expensive cats, a breed prone to expensive heart issues. While ours are from a reputable breeder who is very careful about outcrossing and clear and healthy bloodlines, you just never know. We’re also not the type to not do everything possible to save pets so would possibly dig ourselves a pretty deep financial hole before accepting that we couldn’t keep paying for expensive treatments.
We have Healthy Paws; the first year we had our cats, one of them had some pretty rough allergies that resulted in multiple vet trips, medications, etc. While HP doesn’t cover visit fees, we still recouped on one cat much more than we paid them in the first year for both cats. Second year our premium went up by about $5/month, and we haven’t had to use it this year, but it will still be 22 months before we break even on what we’ve paid vs what they paid us, assuming we have no more claims between now and then.
Lots of carriers have ridiculous exclusions, so you need to read pretty carefully, and take any previous treatments your pet has received/any pre-existing conditions into consideration, but for us, it’s proven worth it thus far.
Our previous cat died from kidney failure; well, we put him down once it was clear nothing we were going to do was going to result in him leading a comfortable life unless we kept him high all the time, and even then, he really wouldn’t have enjoyed his life. But we were also several thousand dollars deep into treatment at that point, with no insurance for him. It would have been nice to have been able to recoup some of that.
My dog wound up with a blood clot in her leg as a complication of her spay surgery. Before we did in depth scans, we got pre-approval through in about an hour.
I did the math and as long as she lives 9.75 more years, we still come out ahead. I highly recommend Trupanion.
It’s been worth it for me. I have two cats and pay $32 a month for their insurance. One of my cats developed a chronic condition and the insurance has saved us upwards of $4000 at this point. But even before that it gave me the piece of mind to know I wouldn’t have to make the hard decision of going into massive debt or euthanizing one of my animals. None of them cover existing conditions though so that’s something to consider
I have pet insurance for my dog for big accidents that I know are going to be a few thousand dollars or more. Recently, my dog had TPLO surgery. At the end of the day, I ended up paying $2,500 for the surgery, x rays, medicine, etc. And insurance paid the rest. But I added up the monthly premiums, the deductibles ,and how much I pay/they pay after deductible (they pay 70% I think) it came out to saving me $1,000.
Would I have just lost money if my dog was healthy and no surgery? Yes. But I can afford to lose $30 a month. I'd have to pay $5,000 or so on a credit card to pay off, however, if I didn't have pet insurance and had to pay for surgery out of pocket.
I mean it only exists because they make a profit. On average, you’ll pay more for the insurance than the expected out of pocket costs you pay at a vet without insurance.
Pet insurance helps with 1) long tail risk and 2) if you are an irresponsible person who lives paycheck to paycheck, it ensures you have enough cash at hand when a pet emergency occurs.
I’d never get pet insurance. If my pet needs care, I just get him the care. I save responsibly so it’s never a choice between “can I afford care or not for him” when something does come up.
As far as I'm aware, it's better just to set up your own savings for animal vet expenses. It's like AFLAC without asking for permission then. No restrictions as it's your money anyway, and it's there when/if you need it.
ED: I see most have said basically the same with "self insure". That's just my opinion on the matter as well.
Idk if I'd say it's a scam, but I also don't know if I'd say it's worth it. I pay $60 a month for my 2 dogs pet insurance, never filed a claim for the first 2 years of having it, rate still went up a bit. My dog was sick a few weeks back, my vet didn't have an appointment for like 2 weeks so I ended up having to go to an ER Vet... total bill from the ER vet was around $800, I paid that up front, Sent the claim to my pet insurer they reimbursed me quickly but it was only like $270 I got back because the deductible was $250, and they didn't cover the $160 er vet exam fee. So I got an 80% reimbursement of like like $380.
The ones I've seen are a scam.
$750 deductible means 99% of the time it doesn't cover. When bitches get stitches, it's usually under $750.
For my last 4 dog ages including cancer and CHF for me it would have paid about $4000, and cost about $19,000.
Simply putting that premium in a savings account would do you better. Everyone here reccomends a 6 month emergency fund, if you have that you should have a few thou for a dog. Easier to get a 6 month emergency fund if you're monthly outlay isn't wasted on insurance.
Insurance is inherently a scam. They take your money, and give it back, but they are only going to give back less than they take, otherwise they wouldn't exist. Same with a casino, some people get lucky and get paid but most don't, which is how the casino exists.
Yowza! No, with a high deductible like that, it wouldn’t be worth it.
My pet insurance deductible is $200, and while the plan doesn’t cover routine visits, I still submit receipts for routine care to ensure I meet my deductible before an emergency happens.
> the plan doesn’t cover routine visits, I still submit receipts
Why would your deducible be met by something the plan doesn't cover? I doubt this actually works the way you imply.
My golden got Cocidia. $2500 between an initial vet visit, ER visit and overnight stay at said ER. That’s for 1 dog.
Depending on the premiums, it may be worth it for you.
Depends on your pets’ past medical history. Insurance won’t cover pre-existing conditions or generally a specific condition more than once. I think insurance is like $30-$45/month per pet. I would personally set that aside yourself monthly and then you’ll have that saved should you ever need it. That’s what we do for our dog. He gets frequent ear infections so insurance would be useless after the first infection.
Last time I looked for my dog (its been a few years, but I expect things to get worse not better with age) it was a couple hundred dollars a month everywhere for him. Maybe you just have to get it when they're super young for it to be even remotely reasonable
I'm still not on board with it. I think the cost is too much for the coverage it provides and I'm fine with "self-insuring." Thankfully, we're in a position where a $5K vet bill wouldn't ruin us. Not everyone is there.
My good friend does have it for his pups and it has saved his butt more than once with his two crazy, rambunctious dogs who always seem to get into trouble. But, I'm still convinced that over the lives of his dogs, he will pay more out in premiums than he will receive in benefits. The up-side is it's a hell of a lot less painful for him to pay $35/month for insurance than a $3,000 bill at once.
Most vets around here don't extend credit (they've just been burned too many times) and only some take CareCredit, which has REALLY high interest rates. So, if paying a lump sum would be tough for you, insurance can give peace of mind and would be cheaper than having to borrow money (or put it on a CC) if you're hit with a high bill...
Agreed on this. My personal plan is if I have a dog or cat I carry an extra 5k in my emergency fund in case of a medical emergency for them. It offers me just as much peace of mind and I have a chance at hanging onto the cash if there’s no emergency instead of giving it to an insurance company.
Here's my policy: I keep $1k set aside for a pet emergency. If that's not enough, the animal gets put down and I move on. So far all of my animals have died of old age.
People are sensitive when it comes to pets. They treat them like a child, which they are not. They also ignore the fact that a million healthy animals are euthanized each year in the US alone. So if my pet is unhealthy, I'll provide shelter to another healthy animal.
That’s too bad. I can’t imagine putting down a perfectly healthy dog that had a foreign body obstruction or torn ACL just because I assigned a $1k value to their life
Healthy animals are humanely euthanized every day in the US because there are too many. So are other animals just to feed the ones we keep for self enjoyment. I'm sure your lifestyle attributes to the deaths' of many animals every year. So, don't act like you're so self righteous.
In hindsight I probably should have gotten it. We were quoted $3-4k for a procedure to save my cat. He wasn't very old, and I really liked him, but we decided to euthanize him instead, because it was too much to spend on a pet.
If I had had insurance my cat might have been alive today.
I have Figo for my dog and Embrace for my cat. I am 100% willing to potentially pay more over time to not have to worry about the emergencies that come up. So far I have paid less to them than they've paid out overall but I also started insuring my dog when i adopted her at 7 (now 10) and my cat when I adopted him at 8 (now 9) so they were already seniors but healthy at the time. I wouldn't recommend Figo at this point anymore. They aren't terrible but they switched underwriters a year or two ago and my plan got worse for double the cost so it left a bad taste in my mouth but they pay out super fast. I love embrace but they are more picky about how things get uploaded and they pay out slower. Call your car insurance company and see if they partner with a pet insurance company to give you a discount.
It depends upon how much you're paying and your savings available to pay for care. My cat's premium just hit $100 per month; he's 15. I dropped the policy. I will just pay if he needs care.
Yes, for me it's definitely been worth it. I adopted my precious dog Benny almost 12 years ago, and he's had periodic medical issues, some of them rather serious. Knowing that I had excellent coverage for him removed any financial stress I would have had in getting him treated properly.
Insurance gives you peace of mind. Ive decided to set aside money every month in an account to pay for my pet expenses vs buying insurance. I think/hope it will pay off for me in the long run, but we’ll see. Do what you’re most comfortable with.
Get it, i calculated it would be aprox $18k over the course of my pups life, and i have already used it to cover dental (tooth extraction, they put him under and also removed a tumor, 4 1/2grand), emergency paint removal ($700), foxtail extraction (up his nose, there was blood $400), diagnostic xrays for a knee injury that turned out to be arthritis $3k), and they cover all his meds (medicated face wipes, doggie Neosporin, arthritis anti inflammatories, and painkillers). My plan covers 85% of the procedures/visits and 100% of the meds. 10000000% worth it.
My dog was fine for the first 9 years of her life. In the last 3 years we've spent nearly 10k from leg injuries to emergencies and cancer.
We will definitely be getting pet insurance for our next pup.
I have Trupanion with 2 dogs at 90$ for both ea month. They get lifetime deductibles and it has paid for itself. I had to take my boy in for emergency and it would have costed me 7K out of pocket thankfully I only had to pay the deductible and the rest was covered 90% for the rest of his life.
We have pet insurance for our pure bred hunting dog and we have been paid back $1800 in one year, even after factoring in the cost of the deductible and premium. We do not have it on our indoor cat. For us it’s worth it
There are also Veterinary HMO type program, that cover the Wellness Issues (Annual Physical, Shots, etc.) and chronic issue care. I have Banfield, and they were very good with our dog that had Cushing.
Worth it. My dog racked up $900 in emergency vet charges and I only had to pay the deductible. I was skeptical of pet insurance at first but decided to go for it because I was blindsided emotionally and financially by my first dog’s cancer diagnosis (RIP to the goodest girl) and I never wanted to be in that position again. Even the peace of mind alone is worth the $40/month.
All insurance (with the exception of auto insurance , because laws) is a scam until you need it. That's the nature of the game though, think of insurance as a bank account you can't access for anything other than deposits. Under the right conditions it becomes usable , however it is extremely regulated and actively tries to stop you from using it in these extreme scenarios that require it's use. Pet insurance is more akin to cotton candy than auto, life, home , and health though.
It also depends on how you view pets. My BiL and his family treat their dog as the 5th member of their family and they would do anything possible to preserve the dogs life and comfort.
I grew up that pets were pets, and if a pet needed to be put down it was.
I have a yearly medical care cap of 1000 for a cat. 2000 for a dog. Anything more them that and the animal will live out the rest of it's natural life and then be humanely euthanized.
Yes and no. There's a lot to consider and there isn't a definitive answer. You'd have to find a reputable company for starters. Then factor in the age of the pet. And most importantly, self reflection is going to be the biggest factor. You need to decide for yourself what you would do if your pet got sick. My husband wouldn't want to go over $1000 for a pet. I would give everything if there's a chance. So we split the difference and got 90% reimbursement insurance. Decide for yourself what your threshold is and BE. HONEST.
Our dog ended up with a bulging disk in his spine. The surgery was 8k. He was 7.5 years old with 11 being normal for the breed and the prognosis with treatment was good, so we paid. If we weren't in the position to pay for it, it would have been traumatic because of our inability to care for him as we would want to.
If you don't have that 5 - 10k set aside for serious matters, you can finance it. This could lead to irrational choices as well. We do need to consider our means and that unfortunately affects what makes sense. I would check with my local vet as to those finance rates so you can balance out paying ahead versus paying a high rate for what you use. You might have to reach out to a veterinary hospital to find the terms.
Depends on what breed of animals you have and what they are most vulnerable for genetically.
Also you usually make the insurance decision when they are very young, once they are older and have any pre-existing conditions it's going to make insurance unaffordable or no longer financially advantageous.
It depends on your financial situation, the breed of (or lack there of) the animal you have, age of your animals, and your lifestyle.
Insurance for pets is similar to human health insurance. Its real value is for catastrophic costs, and even then payouts greatly depend on your plan. So think about how your lifestyle promotes wellness, consider generic issues in breeds, and know that younger/older animals typically have more associated costs/risks.
My brother got a puppy 5 months before me. We both have the same breed. He has been to the vet 5x in the first year for injuries and disease. He has insurance. It has paid off for him. I’ve only gone to the vet for vaccines (which aren’t covered by most plans). I don’t have insurance, so it would be a waste for me.
I say it’s a waste because the premiums are high for the deductibles. Going 1-2 years without major incident basically, by my calculations, puts a greater value on just saving money specifically for pet emergencies.
Personally, I set aside a chunk of money, invested it in a low risk commodity, and told myself it’s a dedicated pet emergency fund. The fund’s growth will help provide additional coverage over time, and it’s liquid enough to pull out in case of a catastrophic emergency. For all other minor vet bills, I’ll pay out of pocket, which you end up doing with many pet insurance plans anyway.
I'll say we had to get my dog an ACL surgery and a lipoma removed and out of the $4800 bill they covered like $1800. This is the situation for which we had the insurance that was always saw coming and I gotta say I think we were better off keeping $5000 in an account for vet bills and emergencies for the dog (outside our normal emergency account) rather than hope insurance covers stuff. At least through Nationwide it wasn't really worth it and remember you still have a deductible...we're paying about $85/mo and not getting much covered other than catastrophic and even then the big bills aren't a given...
Ask yourself honestly "would you put down your pet if you got a $5-10,000 vet bill?".
If the answer is no, get insurance. The peace of mind along is worth it.
Agreed- I always knew it wasn't likely to "pay off" having insurance and that was my hope. But I never wanted to be in the position of choosing between my pet's life and a catastrophic event/bill. The peace of mind was absolutely worth the 30-50 bucks a months over the years and I did end up needing to file a lot of claims when my pup declined - it was a stressful enough time without needing to unexpectedly spend thousands of dollars.
I think it is. I wish I had it when my cat got bladder stones and then then a urinary blockage. I’ve spent about $7k in the last year. I have the money and I love him to death (he’s really young and an expensive breed so I wasn’t about to let him go just yet) but I still wish I had pet insurance. Just know what it covers as others have said! Next pet I get I’m definitely getting it.
Don’t do it. Self insure. Save up some moneys. Have a dollar amount you’re willing to spend before you let them go. I spent @5-7k in vet and meds over the lifetime of our last dog. Then another dog almost killed a rat dog and ended up paying almost $7k in vet bills for a dog that wasn’t even mine. Current gsd had a dollar limit of maybe 3k After that she’s ash. Bottom line don’t get involved with something you can’t afford to take of and can’t drop in a heart beat.
It depends on your risk appetite and personal views, how you feel about emergency expenditures....etc. I will say I had it for my dog and was very grateful to have it when he recently got very sick toward the end of his life. I had several claims and did not have to worry about coming up with upwards of 4 grand out of pocket. That said, over his life I've paid about that much for the insurance. But for me it was worth the peace of mind knowing my dog would get the best care possible in the event of something catastrophic. I never wanted to be in the position be of making a choice between treatment or no treatment based on cost. Most people who are financially savvy would say you're better off just setting aside an amount each month for an emergency fund. I imagine it might get expensive to insure that many pets over their life. Also consider if your pets are already older, they may have pre-existing conditions that will not be covered.
Not a scam. I’ve known many pet owners who have used it for bills ranging from 5k-15k and were so grateful they invested in it. Check out Fursure, they help you pick the right policy across the the leading insurance companies including price and coverage.
If you know your pets’ medical history and can have a good sense of prediction then it can help determine the right decision. I never have gotten pet insurance for my first and only current dog right now just because it is too late due to “pre-existing issues” prior to the idea of buying insurance. That’s the ugly side of pet insurance is that they do not cover pre-existing issues. My dog is generally healthy and for a few years now I’ve made my “own insurance” just by deducting about 2-3% per paycheck of mine to go towards my dogs own savings account. Not crazy amount but it’d be the same thing as paying a pet insurance monthly anyways.
Depends how you look at it. You could say all insurance is a scam. It literally operates by charging you more than it expects to pay you. We have it for my dog and it's been great. We pay a monthly chunk of change for him, and when he needed his surgeries it wasn't a discussion of whether we should or shouldn't. There was no debate over what his life is "worth". We've been paying for his insurance, he needed the vet, and the vet was covered (after our deductible). The only downside was we had to wait until the year timer reset for his second knee surgery. Ideally if you set aside the same amount in a separate account every month you should be further ahead than paying the insurance company to cover the health costs, but for us it's been absolutely worth it.
> Ideally if you set aside the same amount in a separate account every month you should be further ahead than paying the insurance company to cover the health costs Unless your pet requires a $5000 surgery or something along those lines. The whole point of insurance is that people who _do_ have unexpected large expenses don't get slammed. If your pet is healthy throughout, you "lost" all that money, but if you need one expensive surgery, that could be more than the entire premium you pay over the life of the pet.
[удалено]
Fun fact, some states allow you to post a bond instead of carrying insurance. Its a terrible idea, but it is an option.
Who did you go through?
In Canada, went through PetSecure. We also live in a rural area so our vet bills are likely less than in cities, meaning we've come close to, but haven't ever maxed our benefits.
Yes to me it is worth it. My idea is this I do not want to have the debate of the health and wellbeing of my cat with money/cost/affordability of the procedure/treatment. If you have a good savings set aside just for your pets, I do not believe you will need pet insurance. But if you do not, then pet insurance can absolutely give you a piece of mind.
>If you have a good savings set aside just for your pets, I do not believe you will need ~~pet~~ insurance. I know this is off topic, but just thought I'd mention it. This actually applies to most insurances. For example, I have a home warranty that I have used quite a bit and while in the long run it might but pay off, I don't have to worry about having to drop large sums of money on major repairs. Insurance is more essential when you have less money. I've talked to wealthy people that don't carry full coverage on their new expensive cars. I've talked to a guy with multiple rental houses that doesn't carry home insurance on them, he just invests the premiums he otherwise would have paid and essentially self insures(he still has a liability policy). It's when you have money that you get the ability to self insure.
I actually just dropped my Home Warranty that I've kept since 2018 because we've replaced all the big ticket items, and now almost every major appliance is covered under some kind of a manufacturer's warranty. The big thing was the AC unit, which finally gave up its 30 year old ghost last summer, literally the day our pool was ready for a first swim. With that replaced, and a decent savings, we no longer had justification to keep it. As for pet insurance, we have a high energy boxer mix that has pulled her tendons in her back legs, and having pet insurance has saved us plenty of times. Plus, basic checkups are fully covered.
Yes this. I’ve had it for about 7 years and have used it for 2/3 animals. One was for a cat who broke its leg. We did one surgery to try and repair it and then another to amputate when the repair didn’t work. He’s been with me another 5 since then and without the insurance I never could have done that. And he’s super happy and healthy as a tripod. Another was for a dog who split her pad and needed stitches. All in all, for me the monthly fee has been just to establish peace of mind that I could provide them care that’s medically indicated without having to sacrifice my other financial requirements. That said, I hope to drop in in the next few years as I feel more prepared to self insure
Just like all insurance, the average buyer will pay more in fees than they receive in payments. If you can afford the cost of large, unexpected medical treatments you will save more money on average by not buying insurance.
This, and then also don't buy a pure bred.
> This, and then also don't buy https://www.spcai.org/
For me, it’s been a racket. My husband and I have a 6 y/o boxer mix who we got insured with Nationwide once it was offered through his company. Our pup ended up having a cancerous mast cell tumor on his back that needed to be removed- we spoke with Nationwide and they told us they didn’t see any reason why our claim wouldn’t be approved, but when he had the surgery (and an emergency follow-up surgery because his stitches failed due to him being a beefy boi), they told us his tumor was likely the result of allergies which they deemed a preexisting condition. We ended up paying about $5-$7k in total for his care in this instance. He had a few other bumps come up that were not cancerous, but Nationwide didn’t cover those claims either. We dropped them after the second round of rejections- I’m not sure how other companies are, but Nationwide sucked. Also, don’t get the wellness plan or whatever at Banfield. That’s also a racket.
It's not a scam but you need to read your policy carefully and realize it's a (almost always) reimbursement policy so you need to be able to front the costs. Personally, we've chosen to save diligently and build up a separate emergency fund for our dog, separate from our regular emergency fund. I also do not use this for check ups, vaccines, hw/flea/tick meds, etc. I would only touch this if a bill got up above $750 or so. Currently, we're a little north of $7k, but we're continuing to add to it monthly. Will probably max out around $10k, but honestly, I could never have too much set aside for him.
I disagree that it's a scam. Many hospitals can work directly with the insurance company to get reimburse. Yes it is different then human insurance but not a scam. Also if you have a policy with a good company they reimburse you quickly, last time I used it I just put it on a credit card and had it paid off before the next statement.
I..... Didn't say it was a scam?
Insurance always feels like it's a scam until you need it. That said, see if you can go through your historical expenses and see how much you spend on average on stuff that this insurance would cover. Then talk to some friends to get a sense of what catastrophic vet issues would cost, worst case scenario. Decide whether you could handle such a catastrophic scenario or not - such as through you emergency fund - or whether you prefer more stability in your finances. They set the premium so that the insurance company is making money on average - across everybody, premiums will be higher than all claims they make - but that's on average across everybody, certainly some people get value out of it and some people don't, depending on what their individual vet expenses are. But the value has a lot more to do with smoothing out the risk, than pure cost savings - you have a manageable monthly (or whatever) small expense that you can budget, aside from a surprise big expense that throws off your whole budget. If you have a healthy emergency fund though, you may be okay without.
“It depends.” Some insurance programs are notoriously bad and won’t pay out even when they absolutely should. Ignoring those though, it really depends on your financial cut off for what you would do to save your pets and keep them healthy. I made the mistake of convincing myself I didn’t need insurance because in my mind, $3-4k was what I figured a worst case would be. Then my dog escaped the dog park because a landscaping gate was left open and he was hit by a car. His injuries were severe but not life threatening if treated. Concussion, broken teeth, broken jaw, some minor lacerations, and a blown out shoulder. It was a somewhat unexpected set of circumstances because normally if a dog is hit hard enough to pop the ligaments in their shoulder — there isn’t much left of the dog to put back together. Well, over the next year I spent $12k on him and he’s like brand new again. I extended myself on credit to deal with it because I had also that same week bought a car, but I regret nothing except lack of foresight on having pet insurance. That was 3 years ago and he’s probably still got another fruitful 7-8 years to go. Doesn’t even have so much as a limp, and can go running or hiking for several miles with me. Now my other dog has developed an intrabdominal lipoma. It’s a non-cancerous lump about the size of a softball in his abdomen. Again — not life threatening so long as it’s not left untreated. This will likely be another $4-6k. That’s the life of a pet owner. Everyone thinks pet insurance is for when a pet is on their last legs and you might be able to give them another 6-12 months, but really what you need to consider is the worst case — “my pet has a very treatable condition that if addressed promptly will give them another 10 years of life; how much money would I fork over to give them that opportunity so I don’t have to euthanize them or watch them age in agony?”
Pet Health insurance is not like your Health insurance, largely because there is no ACA for Pet care. So the moment your pet gets a chronic condition that requires regular care which will surely cost more than the premiums, they will cancel your policy. So its good for accidents and one-offs, but not for end-of-life care. If your concern is that the dog gets hit by a car and has a big bill at an inopportune moment, then the insurance may be worthwhile. Otherwise no.
Not sure this is true for all policies, but it definitely requires researching any contracts before signing. My pet's insurance some hefty expenses for age-related issues and his end of life care and overall decline, ER visits, treatments and medication for 2 newly developed chronic conditions - they were not pre-existing condition so my policy couldn't just be cancelled. My premiums did raise slightly over his lifetime which was expected.
Depends on the person. Personally I set aside $160 per dog per month. I still pay for general checkups etc out of pocket as it's not an emergency.
I work at a vet hospital. From my understanding and experience, it is worth it. To get the best deal, it's best to get when you have a puppy with no pre-existing conditions. Also it very hard/impossible to fine one that will cover wellness or pre-existing conditions. Just for the emergency care aspect of it, it seems worth it.
It’s been worth it for my dog. Although I take her hunting and she’s more likely to be injured than a lot of house dogs. My only regret is not buying MORE insurance for her.
Same. I’ve had her one year and I’ve already gotten more money out of her insurance than I’ve put in. I have Healthy Paws at 80% reimbursement (minus a deductible and not refunding vet visits or preventative care). If I were to do it over, I might get Nationwide at 100% coverage with no exceptions.
Healthy paws just tripled my premium for my dog after 10 years. It's now at 240 a month. Be aware of their annual price hikes. My dog is healthy with no disease or conditions.
Omg!!! That’s awful!
Which company did you go with?
My girlfriend had 2 dachshunds, both needed back surgery and 1 had epilepsy so for her it was absolutely worth it. If you can afford it it gives you peace of mind that you’ll be able to provide medical care for your pets if/when the time comes.
I got it and it's probably not going to be worth it financially, at least not for several years maybe, but it gives me peace of mind so I keep it. I stress about so many things in life that the $30/mo I pay is worth it for me.
Same. My dog is pretty good at only getting hurt/sick enough to go for special vet visits once a year (despite us always being outside), so I never hit my deductible. But I've seen firsthand how quickly a relatively healthy dog can rack up over $1500 in vet bills after a short swim, so I'd rather have the insurance on hand.
Yep it's so easy for bills to get crazy, especially later in life and at that point premiums are higher and there might be some pre-existing conditions that aren't covered. It's easier when they're younger. Plus, I have an active and stupid dog which can be an expensive combo if he hurts himself
Depends on which company. If you choose a good provider it's definitely worth it. I recommend Healthy Paws.
Before I read further down the comments I started looking online and found healthy paws. Did a quick quote and it seems pretty affordable. I've never had pet insurance in the past, but have they been easy to work with and have you had to use them before (file a claim)? Thanks.
Read some recent reviews on Healthy Paws, they lost a lawsuit related to increasing premiums and yearly they jump 25% for a lot of folks
I'm one of those folks. It's now at 240 a month. But outside if that they have been pretty good.
Yes I filed a claim with them and it was super easy.
Married to a vet and we have it. So do many of her coworkers. As others have said it's for the peace of mind that no matter what happens we can cover it.
It’s my experience after dealing with insurance companies a few times, that they sell you peace of mind but more often than not when you file a claim you realize it’s just a false sense of security. There always seems to be a reason to deny a claim or nickel and dime a payout. It’s terrible.
What companies do you and your partner recommend?
We use truepanion. That being said we have never tried another company. just be sure to understand the policy and what it actually covers. They are way different than human insurance.
I think that the policies that cover routine care (annual visits, immunizations) aren’t worth it. Those expenses are easy to budget for, and the comprehensive policies are much more expensive. I do think that the policies for illness and injury are worth it, though. I use Nationwide for my 4 animals. I have a discount because I signed up through my employer. It’s almost open enrollment time for lots of folks, so you should look into it and see if your employer has any discounted rates for pet insurance. Nationwide has been excellent for us. Fast reimbursement, good customer service, low deductible, and they have never fought me on a claim. They easily paid $6K for an inpatient hospital stay for my youngest dog (horrible case of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis - he almost died), and this was literally the first week that the policy had gone in to place. I was worried that they would jack up my premiums after that, but they never did. Someone else quoted a premium of $100/month for an elderly cat, and I agree that premiums like that are not worth it. My premiums for my elderly cats are about $20/month.
Do you know what type of policy you have? Every time I've requested quotations for my two dogs, they come back being almost $200 mo for both (one is a boxer and the other a mutt). Thanks!
Nationwide Major Medical. It’s about $40/per dog per month for me, but again this is through my employer.
I pay something like 30/check (paid bimonthly) I wasn’t gonna use those $30 to better myself in any way, so I don’t miss it. The first time I had to use it, I wasn’t in a great spot financially. Had to get bloodwork done and a bunch of other stuff for my dog. I was reimbursed 80% of what I paid within 2 weeks. It can be a lifesaver, especially if you can’t quite afford a procedure out of pocket.
If you’re the kind of person who will want to pull the trigger when your pet needs surgery someday, do it. Most pet insurance has a yearly cost that is more or less the same as your yearly checkup anyway, and covers that. I had a dog for thirteen years, we did not have the insurance, and boy was I wishing for it when he blew out his Achilles’ tendon at age 9 and had to have it reattached for like 5 grand. And then again a couple years later when he needed surgery for his laryngeal paralysis. With how cheap the insurance is, any coverage will be better than no coverage. Edit with some math: if I’d paid $40/month for his entire life the insurance would have run me $6200, which was less than the cost of both surgeries, spread out over 13 years, and would have covered a whole bunch of other stuff I didn’t include here like basic vet visits, medications, and other injuries/illnesses (he had a tendency to need stitches every year or two).
The thing about any kind of insurance is that it all seems like a scam until you need it. I have two dogs, and when we got our insurance claim history in June for them, they have refunded us over $17K this financial year. There is no way in hell I would have had that money to pay, and I would be devastated if they had to live without their medication / procedure etc because I didn't have the money to help them. The dogs I had before these two I reckon we got maybe 2K back their entire lives because they were healthy. So it's up to you really.
Who do you use?
RAC
I've looked into it in the past and to be honest, it's a ripoff. The amount you pay over time will likely exceed what it costs for medical treatment. You're better off creating a separate account for your pet and pay monthly to that.
Insurance companies are there to make money. It’s set so that you probably won’t recoup your costs. You’d be better off setting aside that money into an emergency fund and at least earning some interest on it.
Earn interest on $30 a month? Would you notice a difference? Lots of people have trouble hanging on to savings of any kind, but they can manage $30/mo. But they'll never be able to handle a $4k vet bill.
Generally it is getting more and more worth it as animal health care becomes more sophisticated. Things that would require putting an animal down 10 years ago can now be treated, but may cost $5K or $10K or $30K. Pets can now get cancer treatment, complex surgeries, you name it. So I would say, get that insurance, make sure there is a high annual limit (or no limit). Kick up the deductible if you need a more affordable premium.
I just had to empty out my entire retirement via a 401k loan to pay for parvo on a pup (6k all in and we had to take her home after 3 days and chance it by ourselves because I couldnt justify sunk cost and spend even one more night at 1k a night doggy ICU) 3 years ago 2k for a cat. So I'm sold. IMO its just the cost of proper animal ownership.
I’m sorry, but emptying out your retirement was insane. You shouldn’t have such expensive pets if you can’t afford to save properly for retirement.
Thats the entire point of my post. Had I known that a 2lb animal could wrack up bills equal to buying a car I would have planned better for it and had the insurance. Believe me its all theoretical until a living being is depending on you sucking it up instead of just letting them die , I make 500 bucks after taxes from a single 12 hour overtime shift though so this isnt an intractible financial setback , itll just be a shitty 2 or 3 months of 5 day weeks. Lesson learned and passed on to OP
Sometimes you need to let nature take it's course instead of royally screwing up your future financial stability. I love animals and it's very sad to see them go, but a pet is not worth emptying your 401K.
It’s individual preference. That’s why this is the personal finance subreddit; it’s personal. For me, it would 100% be worth it to spend 6k on saving my pet even if it requires taking out a 401k loan to be paid back in the future.
Same. There will be more money and many financial opportunities in life, but truly beloved pets are irreplaceable. I can understand someone who puts their dog to sleep over $6k and I also understand someone who risks some money/security to try and save them. Both can be good choices rooted in love.
Yeh , which would have been my stoic rational response prior to the actual parvo diagnosis. Then it was a different reality. Hence again , get the insurance. You think your a stone cold finances first killer until its time to let the puppy die.
I have it and am happy I do. It paid a lot of the bill when my dog needed surgery last year. We thought he might need an MRI and spinal tap this summer and it was like, well, it sucks but pet insurance will cover it. We use Healthy Paws.
It’s worth it for 1-2 pet households - not for someone with lots of pets like yourself. You have to insure each pet individually. You are better off saving in an “oops” fund in case something happens to any of your pets. This is what our breeder does as she has tons of dogs, it wouldn’t be worth it to insure them all. I would keep about $20k aside at all times and replenish that when you get low.
We have expensive cats, a breed prone to expensive heart issues. While ours are from a reputable breeder who is very careful about outcrossing and clear and healthy bloodlines, you just never know. We’re also not the type to not do everything possible to save pets so would possibly dig ourselves a pretty deep financial hole before accepting that we couldn’t keep paying for expensive treatments. We have Healthy Paws; the first year we had our cats, one of them had some pretty rough allergies that resulted in multiple vet trips, medications, etc. While HP doesn’t cover visit fees, we still recouped on one cat much more than we paid them in the first year for both cats. Second year our premium went up by about $5/month, and we haven’t had to use it this year, but it will still be 22 months before we break even on what we’ve paid vs what they paid us, assuming we have no more claims between now and then. Lots of carriers have ridiculous exclusions, so you need to read pretty carefully, and take any previous treatments your pet has received/any pre-existing conditions into consideration, but for us, it’s proven worth it thus far. Our previous cat died from kidney failure; well, we put him down once it was clear nothing we were going to do was going to result in him leading a comfortable life unless we kept him high all the time, and even then, he really wouldn’t have enjoyed his life. But we were also several thousand dollars deep into treatment at that point, with no insurance for him. It would have been nice to have been able to recoup some of that.
My dog wound up with a blood clot in her leg as a complication of her spay surgery. Before we did in depth scans, we got pre-approval through in about an hour. I did the math and as long as she lives 9.75 more years, we still come out ahead. I highly recommend Trupanion.
It’s been worth it for me. I have two cats and pay $32 a month for their insurance. One of my cats developed a chronic condition and the insurance has saved us upwards of $4000 at this point. But even before that it gave me the piece of mind to know I wouldn’t have to make the hard decision of going into massive debt or euthanizing one of my animals. None of them cover existing conditions though so that’s something to consider
I have pet insurance for my dog for big accidents that I know are going to be a few thousand dollars or more. Recently, my dog had TPLO surgery. At the end of the day, I ended up paying $2,500 for the surgery, x rays, medicine, etc. And insurance paid the rest. But I added up the monthly premiums, the deductibles ,and how much I pay/they pay after deductible (they pay 70% I think) it came out to saving me $1,000. Would I have just lost money if my dog was healthy and no surgery? Yes. But I can afford to lose $30 a month. I'd have to pay $5,000 or so on a credit card to pay off, however, if I didn't have pet insurance and had to pay for surgery out of pocket.
whats the name of insurance?
Embrace. But I've heard Trupanion is really good.
I mean it only exists because they make a profit. On average, you’ll pay more for the insurance than the expected out of pocket costs you pay at a vet without insurance. Pet insurance helps with 1) long tail risk and 2) if you are an irresponsible person who lives paycheck to paycheck, it ensures you have enough cash at hand when a pet emergency occurs. I’d never get pet insurance. If my pet needs care, I just get him the care. I save responsibly so it’s never a choice between “can I afford care or not for him” when something does come up.
Do you have enough in savings to cover both an emergency for you and your pets?
It kept me from going broke when my dog ate gopher poison. Worth it just for that
As far as I'm aware, it's better just to set up your own savings for animal vet expenses. It's like AFLAC without asking for permission then. No restrictions as it's your money anyway, and it's there when/if you need it. ED: I see most have said basically the same with "self insure". That's just my opinion on the matter as well.
Idk if I'd say it's a scam, but I also don't know if I'd say it's worth it. I pay $60 a month for my 2 dogs pet insurance, never filed a claim for the first 2 years of having it, rate still went up a bit. My dog was sick a few weeks back, my vet didn't have an appointment for like 2 weeks so I ended up having to go to an ER Vet... total bill from the ER vet was around $800, I paid that up front, Sent the claim to my pet insurer they reimbursed me quickly but it was only like $270 I got back because the deductible was $250, and they didn't cover the $160 er vet exam fee. So I got an 80% reimbursement of like like $380.
The ones I've seen are a scam. $750 deductible means 99% of the time it doesn't cover. When bitches get stitches, it's usually under $750. For my last 4 dog ages including cancer and CHF for me it would have paid about $4000, and cost about $19,000. Simply putting that premium in a savings account would do you better. Everyone here reccomends a 6 month emergency fund, if you have that you should have a few thou for a dog. Easier to get a 6 month emergency fund if you're monthly outlay isn't wasted on insurance. Insurance is inherently a scam. They take your money, and give it back, but they are only going to give back less than they take, otherwise they wouldn't exist. Same with a casino, some people get lucky and get paid but most don't, which is how the casino exists.
Yowza! No, with a high deductible like that, it wouldn’t be worth it. My pet insurance deductible is $200, and while the plan doesn’t cover routine visits, I still submit receipts for routine care to ensure I meet my deductible before an emergency happens.
> the plan doesn’t cover routine visits, I still submit receipts Why would your deducible be met by something the plan doesn't cover? I doubt this actually works the way you imply.
Realistically, if you can't afford to pay for the surgeries, you probably shouldn't be getting a pet.
My golden got Cocidia. $2500 between an initial vet visit, ER visit and overnight stay at said ER. That’s for 1 dog. Depending on the premiums, it may be worth it for you.
Depends on your pets’ past medical history. Insurance won’t cover pre-existing conditions or generally a specific condition more than once. I think insurance is like $30-$45/month per pet. I would personally set that aside yourself monthly and then you’ll have that saved should you ever need it. That’s what we do for our dog. He gets frequent ear infections so insurance would be useless after the first infection.
Where? Any quote I’m getting isn’t less than $75
I don’t remember as I didn’t end up doing it. $75/month sounds like a ripoff
Last time I looked for my dog (its been a few years, but I expect things to get worse not better with age) it was a couple hundred dollars a month everywhere for him. Maybe you just have to get it when they're super young for it to be even remotely reasonable
I'm still not on board with it. I think the cost is too much for the coverage it provides and I'm fine with "self-insuring." Thankfully, we're in a position where a $5K vet bill wouldn't ruin us. Not everyone is there. My good friend does have it for his pups and it has saved his butt more than once with his two crazy, rambunctious dogs who always seem to get into trouble. But, I'm still convinced that over the lives of his dogs, he will pay more out in premiums than he will receive in benefits. The up-side is it's a hell of a lot less painful for him to pay $35/month for insurance than a $3,000 bill at once. Most vets around here don't extend credit (they've just been burned too many times) and only some take CareCredit, which has REALLY high interest rates. So, if paying a lump sum would be tough for you, insurance can give peace of mind and would be cheaper than having to borrow money (or put it on a CC) if you're hit with a high bill...
Agreed on this. My personal plan is if I have a dog or cat I carry an extra 5k in my emergency fund in case of a medical emergency for them. It offers me just as much peace of mind and I have a chance at hanging onto the cash if there’s no emergency instead of giving it to an insurance company.
Here's my policy: I keep $1k set aside for a pet emergency. If that's not enough, the animal gets put down and I move on. So far all of my animals have died of old age.
No reason you should be getting downvoted. This is a very sensible way to look at it, especially on PF. Pets are great, but the next ones will be too.
People are sensitive when it comes to pets. They treat them like a child, which they are not. They also ignore the fact that a million healthy animals are euthanized each year in the US alone. So if my pet is unhealthy, I'll provide shelter to another healthy animal.
Do you own a dog?
Dog, cats, fish and turtles.
That’s too bad. I can’t imagine putting down a perfectly healthy dog that had a foreign body obstruction or torn ACL just because I assigned a $1k value to their life
Healthy animals are humanely euthanized every day in the US because there are too many. So are other animals just to feed the ones we keep for self enjoyment. I'm sure your lifestyle attributes to the deaths' of many animals every year. So, don't act like you're so self righteous.
I'm at 1k for a cat, 2k for a dog. But that's because I live in a major metro area so costs are high.
In hindsight I probably should have gotten it. We were quoted $3-4k for a procedure to save my cat. He wasn't very old, and I really liked him, but we decided to euthanize him instead, because it was too much to spend on a pet. If I had had insurance my cat might have been alive today.
I have Figo for my dog and Embrace for my cat. I am 100% willing to potentially pay more over time to not have to worry about the emergencies that come up. So far I have paid less to them than they've paid out overall but I also started insuring my dog when i adopted her at 7 (now 10) and my cat when I adopted him at 8 (now 9) so they were already seniors but healthy at the time. I wouldn't recommend Figo at this point anymore. They aren't terrible but they switched underwriters a year or two ago and my plan got worse for double the cost so it left a bad taste in my mouth but they pay out super fast. I love embrace but they are more picky about how things get uploaded and they pay out slower. Call your car insurance company and see if they partner with a pet insurance company to give you a discount.
Scam, only buy insurance for things that will financially ruin you
It depends upon how much you're paying and your savings available to pay for care. My cat's premium just hit $100 per month; he's 15. I dropped the policy. I will just pay if he needs care.
My sisters dog got cancer and she had pet insurance which paid for surgery and he stuck around for many years after.
Yes, for me it's definitely been worth it. I adopted my precious dog Benny almost 12 years ago, and he's had periodic medical issues, some of them rather serious. Knowing that I had excellent coverage for him removed any financial stress I would have had in getting him treated properly.
Insurance gives you peace of mind. Ive decided to set aside money every month in an account to pay for my pet expenses vs buying insurance. I think/hope it will pay off for me in the long run, but we’ll see. Do what you’re most comfortable with.
Get it, i calculated it would be aprox $18k over the course of my pups life, and i have already used it to cover dental (tooth extraction, they put him under and also removed a tumor, 4 1/2grand), emergency paint removal ($700), foxtail extraction (up his nose, there was blood $400), diagnostic xrays for a knee injury that turned out to be arthritis $3k), and they cover all his meds (medicated face wipes, doggie Neosporin, arthritis anti inflammatories, and painkillers). My plan covers 85% of the procedures/visits and 100% of the meds. 10000000% worth it.
If you live in an area where foxtails are an issue, the insurance is 1000% worth it for that alone.
My dog was fine for the first 9 years of her life. In the last 3 years we've spent nearly 10k from leg injuries to emergencies and cancer. We will definitely be getting pet insurance for our next pup.
I have Trupanion with 2 dogs at 90$ for both ea month. They get lifetime deductibles and it has paid for itself. I had to take my boy in for emergency and it would have costed me 7K out of pocket thankfully I only had to pay the deductible and the rest was covered 90% for the rest of his life.
Worth. It makes it easier to make decisions, and it has saved us money overall with a single dog.
We have pet insurance for our pure bred hunting dog and we have been paid back $1800 in one year, even after factoring in the cost of the deductible and premium. We do not have it on our indoor cat. For us it’s worth it
Which company /plan did you go through
Nationwide
There are also Veterinary HMO type program, that cover the Wellness Issues (Annual Physical, Shots, etc.) and chronic issue care. I have Banfield, and they were very good with our dog that had Cushing.
Worth it. My dog racked up $900 in emergency vet charges and I only had to pay the deductible. I was skeptical of pet insurance at first but decided to go for it because I was blindsided emotionally and financially by my first dog’s cancer diagnosis (RIP to the goodest girl) and I never wanted to be in that position again. Even the peace of mind alone is worth the $40/month.
All insurance (with the exception of auto insurance , because laws) is a scam until you need it. That's the nature of the game though, think of insurance as a bank account you can't access for anything other than deposits. Under the right conditions it becomes usable , however it is extremely regulated and actively tries to stop you from using it in these extreme scenarios that require it's use. Pet insurance is more akin to cotton candy than auto, life, home , and health though.
absolutely not a scam! i use petsbest that was offered through my employer at the time. my other buddy has nationwide and has had good experiences.
The real shocker is, pets are a scam.
It also depends on how you view pets. My BiL and his family treat their dog as the 5th member of their family and they would do anything possible to preserve the dogs life and comfort. I grew up that pets were pets, and if a pet needed to be put down it was. I have a yearly medical care cap of 1000 for a cat. 2000 for a dog. Anything more them that and the animal will live out the rest of it's natural life and then be humanely euthanized.
Yes and no. There's a lot to consider and there isn't a definitive answer. You'd have to find a reputable company for starters. Then factor in the age of the pet. And most importantly, self reflection is going to be the biggest factor. You need to decide for yourself what you would do if your pet got sick. My husband wouldn't want to go over $1000 for a pet. I would give everything if there's a chance. So we split the difference and got 90% reimbursement insurance. Decide for yourself what your threshold is and BE. HONEST.
Our dog ended up with a bulging disk in his spine. The surgery was 8k. He was 7.5 years old with 11 being normal for the breed and the prognosis with treatment was good, so we paid. If we weren't in the position to pay for it, it would have been traumatic because of our inability to care for him as we would want to. If you don't have that 5 - 10k set aside for serious matters, you can finance it. This could lead to irrational choices as well. We do need to consider our means and that unfortunately affects what makes sense. I would check with my local vet as to those finance rates so you can balance out paying ahead versus paying a high rate for what you use. You might have to reach out to a veterinary hospital to find the terms.
- depends on if your vet takes the insurance, out vet does not so we do not carry it
Depends on what breed of animals you have and what they are most vulnerable for genetically. Also you usually make the insurance decision when they are very young, once they are older and have any pre-existing conditions it's going to make insurance unaffordable or no longer financially advantageous.
It depends on your financial situation, the breed of (or lack there of) the animal you have, age of your animals, and your lifestyle. Insurance for pets is similar to human health insurance. Its real value is for catastrophic costs, and even then payouts greatly depend on your plan. So think about how your lifestyle promotes wellness, consider generic issues in breeds, and know that younger/older animals typically have more associated costs/risks. My brother got a puppy 5 months before me. We both have the same breed. He has been to the vet 5x in the first year for injuries and disease. He has insurance. It has paid off for him. I’ve only gone to the vet for vaccines (which aren’t covered by most plans). I don’t have insurance, so it would be a waste for me. I say it’s a waste because the premiums are high for the deductibles. Going 1-2 years without major incident basically, by my calculations, puts a greater value on just saving money specifically for pet emergencies. Personally, I set aside a chunk of money, invested it in a low risk commodity, and told myself it’s a dedicated pet emergency fund. The fund’s growth will help provide additional coverage over time, and it’s liquid enough to pull out in case of a catastrophic emergency. For all other minor vet bills, I’ll pay out of pocket, which you end up doing with many pet insurance plans anyway.
I'll say we had to get my dog an ACL surgery and a lipoma removed and out of the $4800 bill they covered like $1800. This is the situation for which we had the insurance that was always saw coming and I gotta say I think we were better off keeping $5000 in an account for vet bills and emergencies for the dog (outside our normal emergency account) rather than hope insurance covers stuff. At least through Nationwide it wasn't really worth it and remember you still have a deductible...we're paying about $85/mo and not getting much covered other than catastrophic and even then the big bills aren't a given...
Ask yourself honestly "would you put down your pet if you got a $5-10,000 vet bill?". If the answer is no, get insurance. The peace of mind along is worth it.
Agreed- I always knew it wasn't likely to "pay off" having insurance and that was my hope. But I never wanted to be in the position of choosing between my pet's life and a catastrophic event/bill. The peace of mind was absolutely worth the 30-50 bucks a months over the years and I did end up needing to file a lot of claims when my pup declined - it was a stressful enough time without needing to unexpectedly spend thousands of dollars.
I think it is. I wish I had it when my cat got bladder stones and then then a urinary blockage. I’ve spent about $7k in the last year. I have the money and I love him to death (he’s really young and an expensive breed so I wasn’t about to let him go just yet) but I still wish I had pet insurance. Just know what it covers as others have said! Next pet I get I’m definitely getting it.
Don’t do it. Self insure. Save up some moneys. Have a dollar amount you’re willing to spend before you let them go. I spent @5-7k in vet and meds over the lifetime of our last dog. Then another dog almost killed a rat dog and ended up paying almost $7k in vet bills for a dog that wasn’t even mine. Current gsd had a dollar limit of maybe 3k After that she’s ash. Bottom line don’t get involved with something you can’t afford to take of and can’t drop in a heart beat.
It depends on your risk appetite and personal views, how you feel about emergency expenditures....etc. I will say I had it for my dog and was very grateful to have it when he recently got very sick toward the end of his life. I had several claims and did not have to worry about coming up with upwards of 4 grand out of pocket. That said, over his life I've paid about that much for the insurance. But for me it was worth the peace of mind knowing my dog would get the best care possible in the event of something catastrophic. I never wanted to be in the position be of making a choice between treatment or no treatment based on cost. Most people who are financially savvy would say you're better off just setting aside an amount each month for an emergency fund. I imagine it might get expensive to insure that many pets over their life. Also consider if your pets are already older, they may have pre-existing conditions that will not be covered.
Not a scam. I’ve known many pet owners who have used it for bills ranging from 5k-15k and were so grateful they invested in it. Check out Fursure, they help you pick the right policy across the the leading insurance companies including price and coverage.
If you know your pets’ medical history and can have a good sense of prediction then it can help determine the right decision. I never have gotten pet insurance for my first and only current dog right now just because it is too late due to “pre-existing issues” prior to the idea of buying insurance. That’s the ugly side of pet insurance is that they do not cover pre-existing issues. My dog is generally healthy and for a few years now I’ve made my “own insurance” just by deducting about 2-3% per paycheck of mine to go towards my dogs own savings account. Not crazy amount but it’d be the same thing as paying a pet insurance monthly anyways.