Switching Pet Insurance (Rant)

[shellyk]

I have just about had it with our Pet insurance. They were bought out after we got it and they promised the same service/quality. They are not living up to their promise. We fill out a claim, get a Vet Declaration and a copy of the receipt. After sending initial medical records the monthly claims for routine medications were working fine. Now they want complete medical records from the Vet for each claim. I called Customer Service and said this claim is for routine heartworm and flea prevention - the dog didn't see the Vet and there will be no change to her medical records. The answer was that it was their new policy. I would need to get an additional statement from the Vet that the prescription was a routine monthly prescription. Give me a break! Sorry for the long rant!

My question is that if we switch insurances will the new insurance try to treat all issues as pre-existing issues? I feel like a hostage to our insurance company! We have 24 Pet Watch Insurance.

 

[Darwinsnewfie@1855]

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I do believe that if you switch insurances, they will treat all previous claims as pre-existing conditions. I have Healthy Paws insurance and I can't say enough great things about them. I have processed several claims with out issues. I simply file my claim online and submit my vet receipt. I always got a reimbursement check with in a week. Healthy Paws is a non-profit organization that pays out the highest percentage of claims. It is a little more expensive, but worth every cent. I pay 77.00 a month for Ella, who was 3 months old when I got the insurance. I opted to get the maximum coverage and lowest deductible. So, Healthy Paws pays 90% and I only had a 100.00 deductible. They do not have pay out limits, and pay for everything that is not a pre-existing condition. Check out this consumer review on pet insurance.

http://www.consumersadvocate.org/pe...subid=google&gclid=COX41cG-tMwCFQIfhgodwOYHNQ

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

Yeah, if you switch, any chronic conditions will be pre-exising and not covered. Some places have a policy of coverage on things like ear infections or UTI if they have only happened once and were shown to be cleared, that they will cover again after a certain time period (like a year or 2).

I've never heard of that company but that sounds strange. However, most companies don't cover any routine preventatives like heart worm and flea/tick meds. When we had Petplan, we would send in the new parts of the medical record when her thyroid meds were prescribed, then send the pharmacy receipt each time we purchased.

We now have healthy paws with Ruby and I haven't had to use them yet, so can't say exactly what the process is. They don't cover preventatives either.

So I guess your options are to stay and put up with it, or weigh your odds of switching. You can always call a company like Healthy Paws and ask.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Try Embrace. They are great. Any issues you are having now will become pre existing but it might be worth the change long term.