Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/07/pet-insurance-approved-my-gian.html
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Good news!
If only people insurance worked smoothly…
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Pet insurance has been a blessing every time I’ve used it. It isn’t necessarily cheaper depending on the age of your critters over the long haul, but it’s not exorbitantly more expensive, and more importantly for me personally, when bad things happen, it completely eliminates the worry over cost.
As a Canadian, the idea that when a loved one is ill, I need to worry about coverage is pretty foreign for humans (and I thusly feel for you southern Mutants), and pet insurance, for me anyway, means I can feel the same about our critters as well. Focus on them, on what they need, and on the right course of action, without worrying about cost.
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I am frustrated beyond belief by how awful my car insurance company has been over someone else hitting my car.
I hope to never have to fight my way through serious care with people insurance.
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Double TPLO for 20k? Zowie, that’s more expensive than any price I’ve heard of for that surgery. Ours just cost $15k, and that’s bay area pricing. Online, I’ve seen $3k quoted as an expected code.
I’ve always found that pet insurance isn’t “insurance” so much as a “savings account”. Which makes sense considering it’s run by actuaries and primarily bought by people who love their pets enough to pay for human levels of care for them.
For example, Trupanion is quoting $80/month with a $200 deductible if bought as a newborn. That’s $15k over the lifetime of the pet, which fits in with a “expect either cancer or other scale of care event”. If the dog’s 5, the per-month charge ramps up to keep the lifetime value at $15k 
, indicating that they expect the charges to be in the future.
I’m able to sell pet insurance, but I’ve never taken it seriously. Maybe I should.
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no joke…2006, 2 days before Christmas…19 yr old girl isn’t paying attention and loses control of her SUV…she hits my car (parked in the break down lane), hits me (a pedestrian as I was out of my vehicle), and the cruiser of the State Trooper who was on scene (also in the breakdown lane with lights on) while she was going 60+ mph.
I spent 3 years fighting with my own insurance company to justify the payout of the amount on our policy for under-insured coverage. In the end, my two kids (who were still inside my car when it was hit) who had no injuries whatsoever got more from our insurance than I did (My knee was wrecked, broke my hand which has left me with constant pain and with a permanent loss of full function, and chronic migraines).
And they are one of the “good” insurance companies too.
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Is your dog a giant breed? Nemo is human sized.
It has been around $8k for the surgery + patellar luxation work and about $2k in pre/testing work, per side. I am hopeful the left side is slightly cheaper as the initial round of x-rays ($900 or so + sedation) were done as part of checking his recovery on the right side.
SF Bay area (Marin) as well.
If you count the other pets and their lifetime pay-in/pay-out I may or may not net out positive, overall – but this would have been crushing otherwise.
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@jlw I hope your doggo has a full and speedy recovery. Sounds like you’ve already done him a lot of good.
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Me too. I’m in the middle of that kind of thing right now… it’s an opaque system set up to deter people from actually using the benefits they pay for. I’m frustrated with that to say the very least…
Sounds like the pet insurance is actual value for the dollar, though! I’m glad your doggo’s med bills aren’t going to be a huge burden on you.
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Argh. That sounds incredibly horrible.
Some guy hit my parked car in January. He did not tell me he hit the car but left his info with the folks who own/run the parking lot it was in. I reported it to my insurance expecting them to manage it for me.
They have been assholes.
The gentleman who hit my car has accepted liability 3x. His insurance company is certainly paying. My insurance company has been worthless and tried several times to get me to go away. I used them because I pay them and it was a sketchy “This dude just left his name and insurance policy” thing and I wanted them to chase it, I didn’t want to be stuck with the other insurance company and no advocate.
My paid advocate is just an asshole. They don’t want to do the work. I made the mistake of asking my insurance company to do their job.
At least I was not in it or hurt. I can not imagine the nightmare you must have had of being HURT and dealing with their fucking bullshit.
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What I found was that as soon as you open any claim…they take the monetary valuation of your policy for that coverage and throw it in escrow immediately. Then drag the process out as long as humanly possible until the money made in escrow matches or possibly surpasses the amount they need to pay out. This way…they never LOSE any money.
That’s great news, Jason. I hope your furry friend recovers well. We had a 4 lb chihuahua that went through the same procedure and it made a world of difference. Unlike your pooch, the vet said our dog was the smallest he’d ever worked on. He said it was like working with chicken bones. Lol.
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I wonder if you insurance victims would be willing to name the companies who fell through on you? Or is there too much fear of retaliation???
My claim is still open, I have a few months left on my policy, insurance folks seem to be bitter and small minded.
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While it may not really save you money in the long run, not having to be out of pocket $5k or whatever when something catastrophic happens makes it totally worth it.
Ah, Bay Area, yep, that’s within the margin of error then.
I’m glad he’s doing well. It was amazing how much better ours is moving now that his second is done.
HI everyone!! I do sell pet insurance and we do not raise the rate as your pet ages. We also do not need to know your pets age, breed or location. Only if you have a dog or a cat and what max annual payout you would like. Our insurance is loaded with extra perks as well Take a look here: https://pinpaws.com/pppetcare_318110
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