Things to look for when comparing pet insurance plans
Written by: Mia B.
Since I was a child, I’ve known I wanted to get a pet when I could afford one after college. Many of you reading may even relate to the feeling. But did you know that there is such a thing as pet insurance? Don’t worry, I got you. Pet insurance is like health insurance, where it covers some or all of the cost of medical bills, but for pets. Like with health insurance for humans, not all veterinary procedures are covered by insurance and there is an out of pocket deductible to pay before coverage starts. Pet insurance is a good idea to get for your pet as a vet emergency is always around the corner. The following are things to keep in mind when comparing pet insurance plans.
ENROLLMENT RULES:
When enrolling for pet insurance make sure to check the enrollment rules regarding your pet. Some insurance plans will not let senior pets enroll, and may require a vet visit within a year of enrollment. For example, if you are enrolling a puppy, very few things limit them from being covered and are more than likely to be covered for the rest of your pet’s life. However those who have an older dog from a shelter, may have to shop around to identify plans that don’t block older dogs.
COVERAGE DETAILS:
When you pick an insurance plan, obviously you need an idea of what will actually be covered and what will be coming from your pocket. Refer to the policies to see what kind of incidents are covered by insurance and which ones were not. Ideally if Fido slipped down the stairs and broke a leg, you’d like some financial assistance. So make sure the plan you’re looking at would cover that. And also see what treatments aren’t covered. It’d be nice to not have to pay for the fees associated with a routine exam, but alas some insurance plans don’t do that. Not to mention some pre-existing conditions your pet may have may not be covered, as well as other exclusions. So yes, do read the policies very carefully.
PRICING AND DEDUCTIBLES:
Obviously when looking for an insurance plan you want to compare prices. How much you spend on insurance is based on how much gets covered on the insurance, the pet’s age and breed, and the costs of vet services where you live. So ideally when comparing plans you would look at the average cost you would spend on a plan, and find a happy medium of what gets covered and what you would pay. To get an idea of how different plans can cost you here is an image below based off of a labrador retriever with no pre-existing conditions from valuepenguin.com.
As can be seen, monthly payments can average around $42.45. Each plan differs in what they do and do not cover and that coverage does affect the price. Some of these plans cover bigger treatments, but not as many of the basic treatments which affect how much you pay. The Embrace insurance as you are able to see covers a lot of basic treatments in comparison to Figo that has much more specific treatments plans explained which helps to explain the difference in cost. Jeep in mind that individual companies do influence the pricing outside of the previously stated reasons. In addition to paying for coverage, you do have to pay deductibles, which is the amount you pay before the insurance kicks in. Some companies have you pay the deductible with each visit, and others do an annual deductible that resets when you renew the policy. Annual deductibles are honestly the better deal, so look for plans with annual deductibles.
When comes the time you get a pet, it's important you really consider getting pet insurance and you actively compare the different plans and everything they promise to cover and ask you to pay for. Taking the time to do this research will not only help your pet stay healthy but make you feel better about potential medical emergencies.
Works Cited
“The Best Pet Insurance Is Designed by Real Pet Parents.” Embrace Pet Insurance, https://www.embracepetinsurance.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search-Brand&utm_term=embrace%2520pet%2520insurance&utm_content=expanded-text-ad&gclid=CjwKCAjwkN6EBhBNEiwADVfya3oAfKT7TYD9ZF9cnG7oB4cWdRA3NZceaecB-k4HYCWqlqwMLmEUaxoCh4kQAvD_BwE.
“Figo: Premium Health Insurance Plans for Cats and Dogs.” Figo Pet Insurance, figopetinsurance.com/?intent=brand&gclid=CjwKCAjwkN6EBhBNEiwADVfya5peIvDFf9Aditjcs71VBLVrIwLv7LXF7mkTWPj-Ll-qHyMI86ozrxoCLSQQAvD_BwE.
Marquand, Barbara. “Understanding Pet Insurance: 10 Things to Know Before You Buy.” NerdWallet, 29 Mar. 2016, www.nerdwallet.com/blog/insurance/understanding-pet-insurance/.
Wamala, Yowana. “Average Cost of Pet Insurance: 2021 Facts and Figures.” ValuePenguin, ValuePenguin, 5 Mar. 2021, www.valuepenguin.com/pet-insurance/average-cost-of-pet-insurance.
Mia, wow! I'm actually kind of blown away. I never knew that pet insurance was a thing. This is crazy! You gave a lot of good information about what it was and the specific details. When I get a pet when I'm older, I'll definitely look into this and see if it's a good idea for me.
ReplyDeleteYeah I didn't know about Pet Insurance either I had randomly happened upon it one day. But I'm glad you feel more informed about it. Your future pet will thank you!
DeleteI had no idea that pet insurance was a thing. After reading this piece, and the more I think about it, having pet insurance seems like something that pet owners should seriously consider and should ultimately get. I think that being protected from their injuries, that can be very unpredictable due their erratic behavior at times, is playing it safe and when it comes to your money, you don't want to be risky and chance having to pay for a multi thousand dollar surgery or repair of some sort that you weren't planning for whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteFor sure. People often forget that pet surgeries can cost an arm and a leg just like surgeries for yourself. So pet insurance is a great idea to avoid that cost.
Deletei Always knew that there was such thing as pet insurcne but i never really thought about it before. I learned alot of good information from your blog post and helped me learn. thanks
ReplyDeleteI hadn't even considered the fact that my pet might need insurance, but now that I'm thinking about it, yes, it'd be very important to have insurance for them! Though I get why financially, I am sad to hear that older pets may not get insurance as easily, so I'll be keeping an eye out for that. This blog is very helpful for getting a starting idea of what to look for in insurance policies. However, should it be assumed that the names in the image above are specific insurance companies? As I knew nothing of pet insurance previously, these names would be really helpful in doing research in my free time.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know pet insurance was a thing. I think it seems enticing if you're able to afford it.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this I had absolutely no clue that pet insurance even existed so first of all thank you for that! This was a super informative piece and left me with the question, does pet insurance cover any sort of pet? The whole concept of insurance is confusing to me with all the rules and regulations that come with it, so I tend to avoid it and thankfully I now know that I can get insurance for my dog.
ReplyDeleteWow! There was so much I didn't know! I had no clue that pet insurance existed. But it makes sense to insure ypour pets as they also tend to have health conditions and need to see doctors.
ReplyDeleteI honestly did not know pets have insurance... kinda weird but I guess it makes sense. Thanks for informing me on this new information! Im currently getting my dog get right with gieco! thanks!
ReplyDeletePet insurance is super interesting to me! My family has a dog and I don't know if we have insurance for it. I'm sure we do but it's interesting to hear about the ins and outs of pet insurance coverage, it's crazy how expensive a surgery for you pet could cost without insurance. I love my dog but wow that's expensive so I think having pet insurance is definitely important for the future.
ReplyDeleteYeah I never thought the reason for instate tuition was because of taxes. i thought it was just and incentive to stay instate for collage. I wounder how much of the tuition cost could be reduced to try and reduce student debt. posture trainer
ReplyDeleteI've always known pet insurance existed, but I was never sure it's exact purpose. This really helped me learn and understand how to pick a good insurance plan when I get a pet someday. Are the insurance companies mentioned specifically pet insurance companies, or maybe there is a way to use one insurance for multiple. Something to consider in my free time.
ReplyDeleteThe article is very nice, thank you for sharing it! registered iso of wells fargo bank
ReplyDelete