Should we get pet insurance or not? What's your opinion?

[b0chatma]

Hi All,

My wife and I are getting a french bulldog puppy in a couple months and we are contemplating pet insurance.

Do you recommend it for your french bulldog? If so, what company and amount of coverage would you suggest?

Thanks All!

 

[hannah]

I recommend it. We are insured with BCAA. We live in Canada so it depends where you live as to what companies you can purchase insurance through.
We originally were insured with Pets Plus Us and switched to BCAA because they raised the premium by $10 each month on renewal... which is ridiculous.

 

[Jakeyjake]

Frenchies can be expensive, so if you are concerned about vet bills then I would definitely recommend it. I did some research for my sister and went with Healthy Paws because the deductible is annually rather than per incident/accident. The cost will vary depending on what state you are in. She is in Oregon and for a $250 deductible (mixed breed dog) with 90% coverage the cost is $39.00 per month. It will be higher for a Frenchie.

 

[Joeturbo26]

I have the 250 deductible, with 90% on Rico with healthy paws, in NYC I pay right under $60.00 a month

 

[MunasG]

Definitely! its been a lifesaver for me. I am in Canada and with trupanion (also available in the US). it is expensive $100/month with a $450 deductible but they are one of very few pet insurance companies that do not have a limit for claims. So it is definitely worth it for me. I've had Nellie for 4 months only and in that time have made close to $8000 in claims! And only $300 in premiums because the first month was free. Do shop around though. because she came with the insurance (free month) from the breeder, and she got sick a few days after, i could not switch because any future illnesses linked to her parvo will not be covered by a new company. So am stuck with trupanion but i don't mind. They have been more than good to us.

 

[Maui]

Yes, I have Healthy Paws and get 80% coverage after $250 annual deductible. I pay about $50/month. I have been through it before with another dog, and vet bills aren't cheap. Get it now while your Frenchie has a clean bill of health!

 

[Nicole G]

Yes! It really is terrific, and Healthy Paws is a great company. It's a good thing to have when there is nothing going on, and in an emergency, believe me, it's quite helpful!

 

[Cbrugs]

I have VPI and for a $250 deductible I pay $46 a month for the major medical plan AND the wellness plan. I believe they just got rid of the yearly max you can claim. If you do get insurance, just make sure you do it early on as I don't know of any company that covers pre-existing conditions so you will want insurance before any diagnosis is made on anything.

 

[Honeys Owners]

I adopted my 5-6 year old dog just recently and when I first got her I had to get an oral tumour ( epulis ) and a tooth removed. get her spayed, and her ear infection and eye infection treated. I applied for pet insurance and of course they requested my vet's medical file on her. Their letter of acceptance said that all oral and ear health problems wouldn't be covered in the future. They had no problem taking my first 100/month fee with these exclusions before they even issued the policy. I was shocked that she wouldn't be covered for these pre-existing conditions in the future although I had already treated the infections and had the tumour removed, so I cancelled the coverage. They continued to deduct my account for another month but eventually I got my money back since I cancelled within the first 30 days with no claims.
My advice is that you only take out pet insurance if your pet is young and still healthy. Otherwise the exclusions will make the coverage a waste of money. But, you will be potentially paying for healthy years at the beginning before your pet actually needs vet treatment, so you may want to just roll the dice and bank the money you have saved for future care.

 

[b0chatma]

The thing that I'm wrestling with is how much should I expect would come from non wellness expenses?

If I were to do an 80% coverage plan with a $250 deducible and $50 monthly payments I would need to have at least $8500 in vet bills over dog's life (11 years) before the expense of the insurance would break even.

$8,500 seems like a lot. Does $8,500 seem like a lot to you for non wellness expenses?

 

[Cbrugs]

The thing that I'm wrestling with is how much should I expect would come from non wellness expenses?

If I were to do an 80% coverage plan with a $250 deducible and $50 monthly payments I would need to have at least $8500 in vet bills over dog's life (11 years) before the expense of the insurance would break even.

$8,500 seems like a lot. Does $8,500 seem like a lot to you for non wellness expenses?

I have a major medical plan for Jax as well as a wellness plan and I pay about $46 a month for both. While I definitely use the plans, (allergy related issues/allergy test, conjunctivitis to name a couple) I have it more for peace of mind if something major happens.But if you are worried about spending all of the money and getting not enough back, what about just putting money away each month for the purpose of vet bills/expenses?

If you do decide to get insurance, make sure you do it early on as I am unaware of any insurance company that covers pre-existing conditions.

 

[MunasG]

The thing that I'm wrestling with is how much should I expect would come from non wellness expenses?

If I were to do an 80% coverage plan with a $250 deducible and $50 monthly payments I would need to have at least $8500 in vet bills over dog's life (11 years) before the expense of the insurance would break even.

$8,500 seems like a lot. Does $8,500 seem like a lot to you for non wellness expenses?

I've had my Nellie for 6 months and already claimed $12,000 in insurance! While I realize that is not the norm, I have definitely claimed more than my insurance premiums if my pup lives to be 12 yrs. so it's worth if for me. The thing is most minimal surgeries will cost you at least a grand and major surgeries range between $3,000-$6000 so if your pup breaks something or has a major accident out of nowhere you don't want to be left scrambling

 

[MadreDeMorty]

Yes get the insurance and while they are young before they have any issues! Morty (2 years old) just had two herniated discs and became paralyzed over a matter of a few hours. We ended up having to get emergency surgery for him because he would have been permanently paralyzed if we didn't do it within the 12-24 HR window because of how fast everything progressed. It was expensive and we had to first go to the emergency room first and then a Neurologist for the MRI and surgery the next morning. The total for surgery with MRI and hospital stay for 3 days was a little over $6,800 out of pocket. Yesterday I checked my explanation of benefits from our insurance after submitting the claim two weeks ago and they are paying us $4,650! So yes get the insurance! I have VPI (because I'm too cheap to get the better ones) and only pay $49/month and figured that them paying us over 65% of the surgery pays back over 7 years of insurance for Morty. Since we had the insurance for over a year, this problem isn't considered something that isn't covered and will always be covered if it happens again. If this happened before the year waiting period we would have been screwed and had to eat the whole cost. If you get insurance too late there is a chance that they won't cover a lot of problems if they happen to your dog so get it the same day you get your dog like I did.