We consider our homes to be a safe haven for our pets, however many are poisoned each day by substances found in our households. At a turn of an eye, your pet can ingest something unexpectedly and an emergency trip to the vet will be your next destination. Having your pet insured would ease one of your troubles and you can proceed to do what is medically necessary to help your pet instead of worrying about how much treatment you can afford.

Pet insurance claims involving accidental ingestion or poisonings occur each and every day. Just last Monday, we paid four claims relating to poisonings including a $430.86 vet bill to treat a dog for ingestion of gopher bait! Occurrences of accidental poisonings range anywhere from over-the-counter prescriptions, fertilizer and anti-freeze, to rodenticide, household cleaners, and even household plants! All it takes is for one pill to be dropped on the floor, a cleaner to be spilled, or a “harmless” piece of chocolate left on the table. Poisonings and ingestion of harmful substances and materials can range from less than a hundred dollars to several hundred, depending on several factors such as quantity consumed and what the poison was.

You should be cautious of where you store any pharmaceuticals, human food such as chocolate, household cleaners, plants, and other hazardous chemicals. What can you do if you suspect your pet ingested something harmful? Call your vet immediately. Accidents do happen and having your furry pal insured will increase their chances of being treated properly, while you remain worry free of your vet bill.

Many of our pets are mischievous beings by nature; therefore it may be difficult to predict what kind of things they can get in to, unless of course, you are a psychic. Many pet owners like to think that their cat or dog will always be healthy and unlikely to get hurt, but accidents are called accidents for a reason, and they happen unexpectedly.

And, more often than not, this trouble that they get into means pricey veterinary bills. Last week Trupanion paid a claim for the expenses to repair a puppy’s broken leg. Cause of the fracture? The little bulldog was accidentally stepped on, running up a total of $2,906.64 in veterinary costs. Click here to view more Trupanion pet insurance claims and associated costs.

A number of pet owners feel that setting aside a pet emergency fund each month will do the trick, and for many, that may be true. However, take the case above, and assumed Pet Owner is putting $20 aside each month. We’ll also go ahead and assume that Puppy is 6 months old and has been with Pet Owner for 4 months. Leaving Pet Owner with $80 set aside. Maybe this puppy got lucky and only required $100 to treat, but what if the bill had been closer to $500? $1,000?

No one plans on accidents happening, and before you are faced with an unexpected surgery, medications, or veterinarian bills, it may be worth looking into pet insurance.

I’m not quite sure many times I can say this! Many pet owners are often surprised by why their claims are not covered. Unfortunately, and more often than not, the exclusion is outlined in the policy (whether or not it makes logical sense). Every pet insurance company has different policies, so it is very important to read and understand it before selecting which plan and company works best for your pet and your wallet.

Keep in mind that just because a policy is only costing you $10 a month, doesn’t mean that your pet will have adequate coverage. Since every pet owner’s situation is different, it’s important to do some research, and see which healthcare options work best for you.

Reading the policy exclusions and limitations is what I might consider the most crucial. It is important to understand which conditions may or may not be covered, if premiums may increase over time, and how long certain conditions such as diabetes and cancer are covered for. Some insurance companies will cover conditions such as cancer for only a certain amount of time, such as the year it occurred followed by a few more months into the next year, while others may cover the condition for the life of the pet.

Overall, it is important to choose an insurance plan carefully and to fully understand the policy so that the pet owner and pet insurance company can have a good relationship for the life of the pet. No one wants to be slammed with a huge vet bill and then get denied for their claim because they did not fully understand their policy. Take some time prior to enrolling for coverage and read the policy, and call the company and ask questions about anything that you don’t understand, to save yourself a huge headache down the road.

For a clearer visual representation of what companies do and do not cover, check out the pet insurance comparison on Trupanion’s site.

I wrote about hereditary and congenital disorders a while back, but wanted to touch on the subject again. They are, after all, extremely important to our pets’ health. In short, a congenital disorder is one that a pet is born with, whether or not they show signs or symptoms right away. Think of this as a growth abnormality. A hereditary disorder is one that certain breeds may be prone to, usually having to do with how a given pet is built (short and stubby, long and lean, short snout, etc.).

What does this mean when it comes to pet insurance?

It can mean a number of things. But one thing is for certain, if you are concerned about either type of condition please do your homework before buying a policy! Because treatments for things like diabetes or Von Willebrands Disease can run into the thousands of dollars, if you’re looking to have decent coverage you should really do your homework. Some companies simply do not cover both congenital and hereditary disorders, some severely limit the maximum payout for, some will allow you to add on coverage for hereditary or congenital issues for additional premium, others will cover hereditary conditions but consider congenital disorders to be pre-existing, and some will actually cover all!

To learn more about how Trupanion and its competitors handle congenital and hereditary disorders, please visit their site and do a little pet insurance comparison. Or, feel free to post questions and comments here of course!

Many of us with human health insurance, naturally assume that pet health insurance would also cover routine check-ups. This seems like a simple deduction, especially for the uneducated pet owner. See, pet insurance and human health insurance are actually very different things. Just because the word “health” falls in both names, does not mean they work the same.

In case you’re new to this blog and don’t already know, pet health insurance works more like property insurance where the pet owner pays the veterinary bill upfront and submits the claim to the insurance company for reimbursement. Unlike human health insurance, the pet owner has to do a good portion of the work to recoup money. Pet health insurance also does not (because it cannot) dictate what a vet can be charging. This is simply done using the reimbursement model.

With that said, does it make sense to have routine care covered? A while back I touched on the subject, Wellness Plans: Do they make financial sense?. With pet insurance, the process is pretty straightforward and logical (imagine that! insurance being logical!).

Pet insurance companies are businesses, who no matter what need to make a profit to stay afloat. For planned expenses (i.e. routine care), the pet insurance company knows how much those procedures will cost, about how often you would need all of them, and will need to charge the cost of the procedure plus an additional amount so that the company is making money on top of covering administration costs.

Still following?

Say, you need to get your heartworm medicine for the year. It’s going to cost, say, $100 and the pet insurance company knows this. They must either choose to only partially reimburse you, or they would essentially charge you, say, $120 to reimburse you for this medication.

If you’re still not following, let’s take auto insurance. There are a million things you can have covered for your car: collision, injury, hit and run, chip in the windshield, etc. But would you pay more so that the company also covered your oil changes? Imagine what your premiums would be then?

On the flip side, many people are aware that pet insurance companies charge extra to cover routine care but don’t mind, because they feel like that rush of satisfaction when they get their $20 check in the mail from the insurance company.

What do you think? Do you like paying almost double your premium to have routine care covered? Or is it worth it to have ‘everything’ covered, and you not having to worry about what is and isn’t covered?

With the recent Southern California fires and hurricane season looming, I thought it might be important to touch on how pet insurance works in the case of a natural disaster. As you might expect, when a natural disaster hits, hundreds to thousands of pets get hurt, go missing for days, or…ok, I’m not even going to say it.

While there are tons of animal welfare organizations who quickly respond to these events, they’re all still limited on funds, resources, etc.

On top of worrying about your own (people) family’s health and wellbeing, you are, no doubt, also worried about your (pets) family’s health and wellbeing. It’s no surprise that injuries and illnesses (to pets and people alike) increase during a natural disaster. On top of harm from the disaster itself, comes along stress, anxiety and often depression (again, to both pets and people).

You would naturally assume that your own human health insurance would get you taken care of (and you’re most likely right). But, what about your pets? You walk into your vet and see that it’s overloaded with sick and injured pets. Yikes. So then maybe you travel a ways to visit and stay with your favorite aunt, who is far from harm’s way.

There you take your sick or injured pet to the nearest vet and breathe a sigh of relief when they tell you they can take care of and fix up your favorite furry friend. After diagnosis, they tell you that the bill will reach somewhere around $2,000. Again, you breathe a sigh of relief because you have pet insurance.

But should you really be so relaxed?

What many people fail to do is read their policy to its entirety. Unfortunately, many companies DO NOT cover pets in the event of a natural disaster! Doesn’t seem fair, does it? And sadly, most people don’t figure this out until it’s way too late; when they’ve just been uprooted from their home, are trying to hold their family together, and just want to fix their pup or kitty!

If you’re curious, this exclusion clause is usually hidden way deep down in the section about nuclear attack or war (where most pet insurance companies also will not cover any loss). Of course most of us assume (hope) that neither of those things will ever happen. But natural disasters do!

So I would recommend that if you’re concerned about such a clause, check with your pet insurance provider to ensure that you would be covered. As an FYI, for those of you covered with Trupanion we DO cover pets in the case of natural disasters

Excuse me?

I recently came across a post online regarding pet insurance and why it (pet insurance as an industry) is so terrible. This person went on to explain (as if they were an employee at the local department of insurance) that all pet insurance companies charge huge rates, place small caps on payouts, and are just in it to take your money (so that we can take over the world of course…muah ha ha ha).

Seriously!?

I can assure you, as a representative of one of these alleged life-sucking pet insurance companies, that we are NOT just in it to make money. Sure, we all need money to prosper and live and I definitely need money to feed my own four-legged companion, but we are not looking to simply steal your hard-earned cash.

…(Why do some people have such a negative outlook on life? Sheesh …)

Ok, so really, the point of this post is to point out the ridiculousness of a blanket statement that says “all pet insurance is bad” with no actual proof to back that up. Has this person had experience with all 20ish pet insurance companies in North America? I doubt it. Has this person worked for any one of these companies? I doubt it.

I wanted to just enlighten you all that us pet insurance companies actually do care about the well-being of pets. We are real people with our own real pets who take our dogs on walks just like you, take our dogs to the park, play with laser lights with our cats when we get home at night, who let our pets sleep in bed with us and come on car rides with us, and who even volunteer at local animal shelters.

So please, take these blanket comments very lightly and do the research for yourself. I’m not saying pet insurance is right for everyone, but make your decision based on facts and not opinion.

Oh, “but Melissa, why are you in the pet insurance industry?” you ask.

Well, dear reader, that’s easy: Because I get to bring my dog to work

If you’ve ever had human health insurance or car insurance, you most likely know what a deductible is. Well, pet insurance typically has deductibles as well.

However, the type can vary quite dramatically. Pet insurance can have annual deductibles, per incident deductibles, per illness category deductibles, or per condition deductibles.

But what does it all mean?! And how do you know which is best for you?

Let’s start by briefly explaining what each type is.

Annual deductible: Pretty self explanatory, each policy year you are required to satisfy a given dollar amount before the insurance company will pay out anything.

Per incident deductible: Every time you have to take your pet in to see the veterinarian you are required to satisfy a given dollar amount before the insurance company will pay out anything.

Per illness category deductible: This one is a little more tricky. Some companies can break conditions down by illness category. For example, all conditions related to the respiratory system, or the skin would only have one deductible.

Per condition deductible: This is somewhat different than a per incident deductible in that you only have to satisfy one deductible per condition. Say, for example, your pet develops diabetes at age 4 and you are bringing him or her in to the veterinarian to get meds every few months. You would only have to satisfy the deductible once in the pet’s lifetime.

Which one would be best for you? Well, I can’t answer that. But what you should be aware of is that different companies may offer different deductible amounts.

Some important questions to consider might be: how does changing the deductible change the premium? Can you change the deductible after the fact?

Trupanion offers a sliding per condition deductible, where the pet owner can select any deductible from $0 to $1000. This allows pet owners to tailor their monthly premiums to fit their budget. You can get a pet insurance quote and see how the sliding deductible tool works.

I wanted to bring up an important topic, and one that most of you fellow pet owners probably aren’t aware of – or you are, but don’t realize it. What?! Let me explain…

HMO. Managed care. Human healthcare system (US). Sound familiar?

As most of you are aware of, human health insurance companies in the US like to dictate to doctors/hospitals/clinics what they are allowed to charge and subsequently, what the insurance company will pay out.

For example, if you go see a shrink through your healthcare provider, and that shrink usually charges $250 an hour (hmm maybe I’m in the wrong line of business…nevermind.) but the health insurance company says “to get our clients, join our network, but we will only pay you $75 an hour”. The same goes for regular doctor check-ups, emergency room visits, hospital stays, etc.

Ok now that you know what I’m talking about; let’s touch on our veterinary healthcare system. Oh wait, there’s isn’t one…yet.

As pet insurance becomes more popular in the US, many veterinarians are becoming worried that pet insurance will start dictating their prices. That is, the more that people buy into pet insurance to cover their pets, then their pet insurance company says “we will only reimburse you up to $200 for that knee surgery because that is a ‘reasonable cost’”. Well, when you get your veterinary bill for $1,000, what would you do in that situation? I know what I would do “hey veterinarian, why are you overcharging me?” It turns into a debate over who should you trust, veterinarian or pet insurance company? Well, as a representative of a pet insurance company, let me give you what I think is the correct answer: YOUR VETERINARIAN.

There is a reason why they went to school for many years and decided to go into veterinary medicine. They truly like pets. They want to make them healthy. They want to take care of their clients (your pets) and their owners (you).

I’ve seen many comments over the past few months on this blog about benefit fee schedules and people getting upset that their pet insurance didn’t pay out enough, or didn’t pay as much as they were expecting.

By now you’re probably thinking “ok, Melissa, get to the point already”.

Here it is: make sure you understand what your pet insurance company is paying out on. Most pet insurance companies do have some sort of reimbursement schedule or fee guide, whether or not they clearly market it. If you’re okay with getting about 50% of your claim reimbursed, then maybe that’s ok with you. But for most of us, we’re expecting to get the advertised “90% of your costs” or “80% of your veterinary bill” back.

Be wary of things like “usual and customary fees” or “reasonable costs”. Ask the question “Do you pay out based on what my veterinarian actually charges?”

Now, for those readers who haven’t yet gotten pet insurance or ran into the problem above, could the rest of you please share your horror stories? Did you think you would get $700 back but actually ended up only getting $300?

While pet insurance is still in the process of “catching on” I hear way too many stories from pet owners all ending in “I shoulda, woulda, coulda gotten pet insurance before I was slapped with this [insert exorbitant amount of money here] bill!”

We all hear stories through the grapevine about how so and so had to spend $5,000 on their cat’s hit by car injury, or $7,000 on their dog’s cancer treatment. And what do (most of us) think in return?

“It will never happen to me!”

“Well,” I say back to those people, “please teach me your psychic ways so that I can know how to best predict the future and so that I know whether or not I will be slapped with a large vet bill and determine if I should get pet insurance or not…”

…wait…

The sad truth is that it DOES happen. And for so many people out there, it happens when it’s “too late”. If you care about your pet like a child (and I know most of us do) pet insurance should really be something you look into so that you don’t have to get a second mortgage on your house or max out your credit cards just to make sure your furry friend stays alive.

I would really like those of you who have had similar stories to share. Do you wish you would have gotten pet insurance ahead of time? Let’s try to save other pet owners from hefty vet bills!

In the meantime, check out some actual claims and associated veterinary costs.