Pet Insurance

[Elyse]

We have VPI and have had no problems with them at all. They paid for all the
routine stuff they said they would pay for and pretty timley too.

I think it is a good idea. It is insurance. God forbid, something happens to you baby, you are covered. Nestle is 14 months and we got it as soon as we got her (12 weeks) and I just renewed. I just hope we never need it!!!

We insure our cars, homes, ourselves... It just made sense to us.

http://www.petinsurance.com/

 

[boxers4life2001]

Sorry so Long

I'm glade some people have not experienced the same problems with VPI that all my co-workers and I did. When I started having problems with them in the beginning I started to do a little research on them. Here is the link to the BBB

www.bbbsouthland.org/index.cfm

**Search for Veterinary Pet Insurance and should list the page with them on it**


At first they were kinda nice until I started challenging there "pre-existing conditions." For instance, Chance was treated for vomiting (because of a greenie, which was stated in his records) a year prior to us getting VPI. When he started vomiting very bad in June 2003 and needed an exploratory surgery they REFUSED to pay any of the bill because his vomiting was "pre-existing" from over a year prior:( They decided and diagnosed him on their own that the vomiting he had a year prior was due to "gastritis." The biopsy's that were taken from the 6/2003 diagnosed him with IBD. When I once again questioned them about the "pre-existing condition" they told me that "IBD" is just a new name for "gastritis." NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am lucky enough to work in an animal hospital and I understood the medical terms they would try to trick with me with and then said it is a "new name" for something else. If I had not known any better about the IBD/Gastritis being two separate, unrelated problems I would have thought that VPI was right, they must be the same thing just different names (even though he was never diagnosed with gastritis from his vet, VPI diagnosed him with it.) What about the people who don't know the differences???? One more experience I would like to share is Chance had a tumor removed from his RIGHT front leg by his carpus in 10/2001. It came back as a benign tumor probably induced by trauma. Well, in 2003 Chance stared limping on his LEFT front foot. He ended up having E-Coli in 2 of his toenails. VPI refused to pay that bill also because they said it was pre-existing (keep in mind that they only tell you on their letter they send you that the problem was "pre-existing", they do not give you any type of explanation.) Once again I had to fight and argue with them. They said that his tumor in his RIGHT front leg in 10/2001 caused the E-Coli in his LEFT front toenails two years later. Ahh, I think NOT!!!!!!!!! If you disagree with them then you better be ready to fax your life away because they always say they don't have enough of his records, etc... and need more proof that it's not pre-existing. Keep in mind they were sent Chance's entire life's medical records before they even accepted him. Every time a new claim for him was sent, his entire record was once again sent with it because I was trying make sure they could not once again delay the process. When I would challenge them they would ALWAYS say I had to send his records so they could review it, I would like to know what they did with all his multiple copies that were already sent:(

Like I said before, I am glade those of you who have it and like them have not experienced this type of problem. I saw not only what my co-workers and I went through but I see what our clients at the hospital go through with VPI also. Just my opinion

~Carrie~

 

[Legare29]

Thank you, Carrie, for your opinion . I just want to make the right choice and get best insurance for our boxer. I will appreciate as many opinions as I can get...................

 

[Snork]

I had a very short, but very bad experience with Veterinary Pet insurance and as a result, I did a LOT of research before I chose pet insurance for Geoffy.

When I took Geoffy for his very first vet checkup I got VPI insurance booklet and decided that I needed to insure him. I had gotten clean bill of health from my ex-vet (note the ex) and I sent the application in ... only to hear back from the VPI that my application was denied because dog has "severe pre-existing conditions" HUH??? That was news to me, they told me he was a glowing picture of health, if a bit thin.

Turned out the vet had been incapable of checking the right boxes - you know, one column "normal," one column "abnormal" - not so hard to check the right box right? Turns out, not right. Vet had checked several things as "abnormal" by mistake, which painted pretty grim picture (abnormal skin was one of the complaints - i knew that at least that one was clearly wrong). Her final conclusion, right after the morbid "abnormals" was "the dog appears in excellent health in every aspect." After I straightened this out with the vet and she called VPI and explained, they still said they'd exclude those (non-existant) conditions, and they would also require a written statement from the vet to even insure Geoff at all. They were pretty rude about it too, implying that I had falsified the vet records. It prompted me do some research, and what I found made me very glad that I did not insure with them.

In my personal opinion, VPI just isn't a very good choice for boxers. It might be a good one for other breeds that have different ailments, and it clearly is very useful if your pet ever gets in an accident, however, if you plan to have it as a general medical insurance, not an accident insurance - not a good choice for a boxer, IMO. For example, they do not cover congenital problems ... so count out the heart, the hips, the elbows ... They will try to claim that anything even remotely connected to those areas is also "congenital." Heart and hips are notariously weak "points" in boxers, and that would be an out-of-pocket expense, whether or not you have VPI. Then, for other expensive the conditions they say they do "cover" ... except that there is a fine print stating that you have to be insured by them for a FULL year before they will cover you. Those include such common things as torn ACL, which costs at the very least 1500 to repair, or 3000 if you choose TPLO (often a better choice for larger breeds).

I've also heard one too many complaints about how they try to bully you into accepting their diagnosis that whatever it is you are complaining must have been pre-existing, even if it is obviously wrong - just try to get you to give up. Since then I've met two people personally who had experience with VPI very similar to what Boxers4life2001 describes.

I ended up insuring Geoffy with Pet Care Pet Insurance: http://www.petcareinsurance.com/ Hopefully I won't ever have to make a claim, but if I do, their terms are, in my opinion, much better suited to a dog like a boxer.

-Linda and Geoffy

 

[Legare29]

Thank you, Linda for the infomation. I have heard some "horror" stories about VPI, enough to make me think twice about using them................

 

[YourFriendDeb]

Originally posted by boxers4life2001
I can only speak of Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) because that's the only one I have ever dealt with. DO NOT USE THEM!!!!! Just about everything they promise in there brochure/website is a total joke.

Wow...I've had the completely opposite experience with VPI. I've had insurance on both my dogs for 3 years and have used it twice. Once when Legend sprained his leg at the dog park and another time when we had two bumps removed from Mazzy. For the first bill, which was $137, they paid $78 of it (there is a $50 deductible) and the second time, the bill was $405 and they paid $268 of it. The rest was deductible, plus extras like pain meds, antibiotics, e-collar, heart monitor etc. I have had nothing but pleasant dealings with them. Both times they accepted the claim with no problem and I got a check in the mail within the month.

I guess it just depends on your situation. I DEFINITELY recommend pet insurance, whoever you get it through. You just never know (especially with boxers) what could happen.

 

[Elyse]

I actually just got a check from VPI in the mail yesterday.
I sent in a claim about 1 1/2 weeks ago and had no problems
with them ever. I know several people who use them and no
one has ever had a complaint.

 

[MJTillou]

I have not had any personal experience with pet insurance, but the AKC website has AKC insurance which looked pretty good. They do not cover dogs over 7 years old, I believe, but cover meds, regular exams, spay/neuter, etc.

www.akc.org

 

[Legare29]

Thank you for the information. The AKC might be another option..........

 

[lincan]

WOW! Am I glad that I read this forum. I just purchased a policy for Roxee through VPI, and I'm still in the "waiting" period before the insurance actually goes into affect. You have up to 10 days to cancel it, so I might consider doing just that. I love BW, it has an abundance of useful information!!

Lindsey & Roxee