Your Pet Insurance Guide

Watch Out For This When Getting A Pet Insurance Quote

I get a lot of quotes as part of doing research for my blog, books, and podcast. I've noticed that companies don't always present all the options available on their quote page. Why wouldn't they want potential policyholders to know all they have to offer them? I'll explain what I think is going on, but first let's look at some examples of what I'm referring to. Nationwide: Here is a quote on a puppy: What they initially showed me was their Major Medical policies with and without wellness care benefits. These policies reimburse according to a defined benefit schedule rather... Read more →

Nationwide Pet Insurance For Exotics Gets Better

I will have to be honest. I had very limited experience treating exotic pets when I was in practice. Nationwide is the only company that offers pet insurance for exotic pets in the U.S. I have read that exotic pet owners, while grateful for pet insurance availability, have complained that it was limited compared to coverage offered for dogs and cats. I got an email today from Nationwide saying they are now offering comparable coverage for exotic pets now. You can read about it here. Read more →

Nationwide Pet Insurance Offers Whole Pet Policy To Puppies Again After Temporary Pause

In the spring of 2018, I wrote an article letting readers know that Nationwide no longer offered their best policy, Whole Pet, to puppies less than 1 year old. You can read that post here. When checking their website today to get a quote for their current offerings, I noticed that they are offering the Whole Pet policy to puppies again with some obvious adjustments in premium. I talked with Dr. Carol McConnell, Chief Veterinary Officer at Nationwide, for details. When the Whole Pet policy was introduced in 2015, the premiums were determined by an outside actuarial firm rather than... Read more →

Nationwide No Longer Offers Whole Pet Policy for Puppies

I learned last week that Nationwide no longer offers their newest policy offering - Whole Pet with Wellness to puppies under a year of age. I called the company to learn more and couldn't get specific reasons for the change, but was told the company hopes this is temporary. Interestingly, the policy is still available for kittens. Their Medical and Major Medical policies are available for puppies. I was told once a puppy reaches 1 year of age, the owner has the option to apply for coverage with the Whole Pet policy. However, the pet's medical history is subject to... Read more →

VPI (Nationwide) Launches New Innovative Pet Insurance Policy

Ever since the founding of Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) in 1982, the company has reimbursed it's policyholders according to a benefit schedule based on specific diagnoses. On October 22, 2015, the company launched a new policy called "Whole Pet with Wellness" that reimburses policyholders 90% of the veterinary invoice after an annual deductible of $100 or $250 is paid. The goal was to create a policy that is "simple to understand" for not only consumers and veterinarians, but also Nationwide insurance agents who may not be familiar with the intricacies of pet insurance, but want to offer it to their... Read more →

My Visit To Veterinary Pet Insurance And What I Learned That May Help You

Dr. Carol McConnell, Chief Veterinary Medical Officer / Vice President and Scott Liles, President Although I've corresponded with Dr. Carol McConnell via email numerous times and had her as a guest on a podcast episode, I finally got to meet her in person last year at the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) meeting in Nashville, TN. We had lunch together and she invited me to visit Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI). Earlier this month, my wife and I visited our daughter who lives in Los Angeles and I took advantage of being in the area and visited VPI which is located... Read more →

Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) Will Become Nationwide Pet Insurance

Nationwide, one of the country's largest insurance and financial services companies, has been the underwriter for Veterinary Pet Insurance since it began in 1982. In the next few months, VPI will be rebranded as Nationwide Pet Insurance. I talked with Dr. Carol McConnell last week about this and other exciting changes that will be unveiled in the next year or so. I will let you know about these changes when they happen. Here is a blog post Dr. McConnell wrote recently about the changes. Read more →

Cancer Treatment Often Successful And Expensive: Pet Insurance Can Help

Cancer is a common problem not only in people, but in our pets as well. If diagnosed early, treatment can either cure or achieve remission giving the pet a longer and good quality of life. The mainstays of treatment aren't much different from those recommended for people - surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. While the costs of such treatments are nowhere near the cost in human medicine, it can still run into the thousands of dollars. Most pet insurance companies cover cancer treatments as long as the condition wasn't pre-existing. Some pet owners have reservations about treating their pets for... Read more →

Top 10 Most Expensive Pet Health Conditions

I received this information in an e-mail today. I appreciate the fact that pet insurance companies have a database of information that allows them to search for statistics such as this. This information can be helpful to pet owners who are contemplating whether to get pet insurance. Nation’s Largest Pet Insurer Reveals Most Common $1,000+ Claims Brea, Calif. (June 28, 2011) — Few pet owners imagine they will ever have to spend more than $1,000 for treatment of a single pet health incident or condition. Unfortunately, data from Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of... Read more →

Reassurance For Superstitious Pet Owners

When I saw this article, I was reminded of something that happened my senior year in vet school when I was on the large animal rotation. Isn't it weird how you never forget some things? Anyway, the large animal clinician took several of us out to a farm in Alabama on a call to castrate a pig. When we arrived and informed the farmer why we were there, his reply was, "You'll have to come back some other time; it's a full moon." Really? VPI analyzed their claims records and came up with the 10 most dangerous days for a... Read more →

VPI's New Policies Gain Approval

I just heard this week from a veterinarian on VPI's staff that their new policies are operational in about half the states in the U.S. and have received approval in all states except Alaska. They are hopeful that the policies will be operational in all states in the next couple of months. Depending on the state you live in, the new policies may or may not be operational just yet. Look at the names of their old and new policies below so that when you go to their website to obtain a quote, you'll know which plans are available in... Read more →

Hambone Award Winner - 2010

I have written about VPI's Hambone Award and the 2010 winner was recently announced. Nominations for the 2011 winner are underway! Read more →

2010 VPI Hambone Award

Last year, I encouraged readers to vote for the pet of their choice to receive the annual VPI Hambone Award. I must say that the pet I voted for won last years award. Each month, a pet is nominated by employees of VPI -- selected from the thousands of claims that they receive. It is usually a pet that found itself in an unusual and sometime humorous situation requiring a visit to the veterinarian for treatment. For example, the award is named after a dog that was trapped inside the refrigerator and ate a ham leaving just the hambone. The... Read more →

VPI Hambone Award

Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) is offering its first annual Hambone Award to the pet whose owner submitted a claim for the most bizarre accident or illness during 2008. The award is named after a dog who got stuck in the refrigerator and ate the Thanksgiving turkey before being found. I went to the website and read the stories of the nominees and then voted myself. You may vote until September 14. I urge you to read these stories to realize why pet insurance can come in handy and while you are there, be sure to vote! Read more →