Your Pet Insurance Guide

The Pet Insurance Toolkit

If you are considering the purchase of pet insurance or wondering which company and policy is the best one to insure your pet, I've put together a "toolkit" to help answer those and other questions you may have. This toolkit contains the Ebook, Your Guide To Understanding Pet Health Insurance, with all the latest policies of every company that insures pets in the United States. It also contains a Company Comparison Worksheet and Policy Selection Worksheet to help you gather the information you'll need to compare companies and policies with each other.

You can download the Pet Insurance Toolkit absolutely free. If you have any questions or comments after reading the book and/or using the worksheets, leave a comment or contact me via email.

 

The Best Way To Obtain A Quote For Pet Insurance

After answering the question, “Should I purchase pet insurance,” the next question pet owners wrestle with is, “Which company and which policy is the best one for my pet?” I frequently see this question asked on pet forums. Some of the answers given are good advice and some are bad advice. The better question would be, “How do I go about determining which company and policy is best for my pet?”

The first step in answering this question is to obtain a quote from every company that sells pet insurance in the U.S. There are about a dozen companies that sell pet insurance in the U.S. Your best chance at making a wise selection will come only if you have thoroughly evaluated what each and every company has to offer. 

Let’s look at several ways pet owners are first introduced to pet insurance and how it can influence your choice of company and policy for your pet:

Switching Pet Insurance Companies In Midstream

This is the second installment of guest posts by readers of this blog detailing their journey of researching and finding a pet insurance company and policy for their pet. In this story, Merrick decided to switch companies when his dog was 10 years old. This can present some challenges especially when considering the presence of pre-existing conditions. I greatly appreciated his willingness to share his thoughts during the research process and even now. The opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author. Every pet owner's situation is different and may have differing opinions and/or reach different conclusions. However, this story can provide valuable insight into the process of researching pet insurance companies and policies.

 Here is what he wrote:

You and I have been conversing back and forth via e-mail for several months now, so I think it's time to tell my "pet health insurance story."

It's also an appropriate time to do so given that just last month I cancelled my 10yo Lab/Chow mix's policy I had with another company (one that uses a rate schedule) that we had since 2004 -- a full seven years!  She hasn't had any major problems since then, thank heavens, because I obviously want her to be as healthy as possible throughout her life.

But let's jump back to last fall (2010) when I was carrying our old policy, knowing it wasn't the greatest, but giving me at least a sliver of peace of mind, given that I was not aware of any other pet health insurance plans.

Pet Insurance Comes In Handy

I came across a video blog that summarizes many of the points you should consider when deciding whether to get pet insurance for your pet and also how to decide on a company and and policy for your pet.

I don't think the intent of this video was necessarily to recommend Trupanion because they didn't look at all the companies that offer pet insurance in the U.S. I think the main take away from this video is to show the importance of getting unrestricted coverage for hereditary conditions. Getting this coverage didn't cost any more in monthly premiums, and paid off big time when a claim was filed. As many of you know, getting coverage for hereditary conditions is one of the 4 factors I consider most important when selecting a policy for your pet. Some companies don't offer coverage at all for hereditary conditions. Some offer restricted coverage like VPI and Pets Best in this video. Then, there are several that offer unrestricted coverage up to the maximums of the policy.

Some of the total costs given in the video (based on per-incident or annual maximums, deductible and copay) are inaccurate because Trupanion also doesn't cover veterinary examination fees which would add to the out-of-pocket costs somewhat. But, the overall message of the video is very well presented. 

Another lesson from the video that I'd like to point out to pet owners is that good coverage can be found for an affordable and competitive price, but it will require you to thoroughly research all the companies, not just these four companies, to pick which one is best for you and your pet.

Perspectives On Pet Insurance

I just read the first chapter of a new book by Andy Andrews entitled "The Noticer." It is a book about an old man who finds people going through hard times and offers them advice. He "notices" things about their plot that they can't see and offers them a perspective that changes their attitude and ultimately their destiny.

You ask, "What does this have to do with pet insurance?" Well, nothing really except a line jumped out at me that is the inspiration of this post.

"Experience isn't the best teacher. Other people's experience is the best teacher."

If you are like me, before you buy almost anything of significance, you look at as many customer reviews as you can. Here you will read about the experiences of people who have actually purchased the product and/or dealt with the company. You will learn things by doing this that you won’t learn on the company’s website or even reading my book. I would advise you to not purchase a health insurance policy for your pet without looking at some reviews. Also, be sure to read the comments that follow the reviews. I found an excellent website to do this. Watch this short video.

When choosing a p et health insurance company, you are starting a relationship that you need to be comfortable with. Sometimes the service you receive and the trust factor is more important than the cost factor. Because pre-existing conditions are not covered by any insurance company, it is best if you make the right choice the first time rather than being dissatisfied and switching later to another company after you’ve filed several claims and your pet then has one or more conditions that won’t be covered.

Use Discernment When Visiting Pet Insurance Company Websites

There is a wealth of information to teach you about pet health insurance on company websites. However, when a company starts comparing itself to other companies - be careful. Remember, each company is trying to put its best foot forward to the pet owner via their website. 

Because companies tend to tweak their policies from time to time (several have already in 2009) and even raise or lower premiums slightly, some of the information used in comparisons may be outdated. This can lead to inaccuracies that can mislead pet owners. Always verify what one company claims about another company by visiting the other company's website and even talking with a company representative. This is one thing you will see me say over and over - do your own research.

For example, I found a chart on one company website this week that compared their company to several of their competitors. They compared the premium for their policy with a $500 deductible to another company's premium for a $75 deductible policy. Of course, the policy with the higher deductible will almost always have the lower premium. When this chart was originally published on their website, the competing company didn't offer a policy with a $500 deductible, but it recently started offering a policy that has a $500 deductible which would be the better comparison. 

Just make sure when a company starts comparing itself to the competition that they are comparing apples to apples and what they are saying is up-to-date. Have a discerning eye and be wise. Proverbs 18:17 says:

"The person who tells one side of a story seems right, until someone else comes and asks questions."