anyway. i heard that VPI/Nationwide sucks now that Nationwide bought them out. and they find any way out of covering your claim
who does you guys use or recommend?
we have a 5 month old Shiba Inu. but she still has to be spayed and chipped and all that so i would rather get insurance before all that and to cover any other shit that might happen by accident.
My Shiba is going on 4 yrs old in June. Never did get pet insurance. So far he has had some random infections and stomach bugs here and there. Otherwise nothing major. Flea and tick (we use Frontline Plus topical, which he hates the smell of for the first 10 minutes, always take him for a walk immediately) and heartworm pill (Heartgard) are what really add up. I have found that Amazon is the cheapest for Frontline and 1800petmeds is the cheapest for Heardgard. I use Millersport Small Animal Clinic (Dr. Ron Malo), no complaints with them.
We have $13k in three bengals. It kind of sickens me. I looked into one plan (I can’t recall which) but the coverage was pretty limited. A lot of breed specific exclusions. And no pre existing conditions, which is understandable. I guess my only input is read very closely the terms of the coverage.
6k into a ~3 year old dog. Her liver failed due to what we believe to be trifexis, but we bit the bullet and saved her. Her body just reacted poorly to it. Insurance would have probably covered 2-3k worth of it, but at a $60/mo premium or so for a good plan. We opted against it and came across a rare circumstance in which we regretted it, which is precisely the point of any insurance.
every review since like mid 2015 says they dispute or change your claim to another condition to get out or paying it. says its not worth the hassle etc. but there seems to be more bad than good reviews here http://www.yelp.com/biz/vpi-pet-insurance-brea?start=20
Pretty sure I can see why they have so many bad reviews. Their “Major Medical” plan starts at $34/month and is listed as their most popular but the two things I would expect something called “Major Medical” to cover, cancer and hip dysplasia, are barely covered at all under that plan. I’m guessing Walker has their “Whole Pet” plan which starts at $64/month and seems to have really good coverage.
Stay away from Yelp. Get advice and reviews from people that you know aren’t imbeciles and or unreasonable. Like Walker. Walker is level headed, if he says it’s a good deal/company/process - trust him. Assume that if you’re not an idiot on the internet, you will find value in the company. Don’t be like Grace from Portland who starts out her Yelp review with an educated, reasonable and sensible introduction of “I wish yelp has a negative star for me to rate for this scammer and bull shit company.”. Bravo Grace. That’s how you get traction on an issue. Call them scammers and a bullshit company. I’m sure they are more than willing to help. By the way Grace, do you vaccinate your kids?
The reason there are more bad than good reviews is because in today’s entitled society, people use the internet as a mega phone. Unfortunately, a majority of these people are idiots. The vast majority. So what you’re reading is people who feel that by writing a shitty yelp review, they are going to instill harm on the company. Today’s mentality is that if you have a great experience with your insurance company, you continue to do business with them. You may give a recommendation when asked, but otherwise…you keep quiet. However, if your insurance company doesn’t fulfill your wished (your fault or theirs) you put them on blast, what used to be water cooler talk, is now Yelp, Facebook, twitter. I fucked up, but the company makes more than I do…so they should pay. Don’t even get me started on gofundme.
I was wondering why almost every review was negative then I sorted the results by rating and there are a ton of satisfied customers…not just me.
as beck said I wouldn’t put too much stock in some of those reviews. there has got to be more to the stories.
like the review saying they didnt cover a UTI…? My Frenchie had a UTI and they paid out within 3 business days of receiving the invoices.
Ive submitted 4 invoices since I started coverage and after my $100 deductible was reached they paid out on all of them.
The only thing they did not cover was her spay (which is CLEARLY stated in the policy coverage section)
what tier of coverage do you have? major medical? or whole pet with wellness?
and yeah im still optimistic about the company compared to others, hence why i started a thread to see if anyone has any REAL experience, not just internet ranters that think they are entitled to everything. but at first glance, and sifting through it wasn’t standing out as the best to go with hands down
I wish I had purchased insurance for both of my dogs. My great pyr cost us about $5000 in surgeries and treatments due to his digestive issues, and last summer my pit mix tore her acl requiring reconstructive knee surgery for about $2500…
