Top 10 Questions to Ask When Buying Insurance for Your Pet

Discount Insurance Plans:

A Discount Insurance Plan for your pets is not like a typical health insurance plan. Many people wanting a discount plan are looking for discounted rates on "normal" or "routine" veterinary services. These might include: routine check ups, teeth cleaning, nail trimming, etc.

Most Discount Insurance Plans are paid in a small annual fee paid in full each year.

Comprehensive Insurance Plans:

A Comprehensive Insurance Plan for your pets is much like your typical health insurance policy. Many of the premiums are charged on a monthly or quarterly basis. Premiums will differ depending on the amount of coverage you need for your pets and if you add an extra programs.

A Comprehensive Insurance Plan will most likely have a deductible (the amount you will have to pay before the insurance start paying), possible co-pays, caps of certain treatments, and possible exclusions.

A Comprehensive Insurance Plan will offer coverages for: prescriptions, Emergency services, surgery, possible routine maintenance, and much more.

This is one of the most important questions you can ask when deciding about purchasing an insurance policy for your pet. Our animals are just like us! They don't like to much change. So not being able to see their normal veterinarian would be just like not being able to go to your regular Doctor for a check up.

Since a pet health insurance plan is very similar to health insurance plans for ourselves, they have certain rules that need to be followed. When looking for a policy for our pet, ASK THEM ABOUT BEING ABLE TO USE YOUR OWN VETERINARIAN.

Remember it is always better to as question before, rather than after the fact!

In many cases, you will be able to continue to take your pet to your regular veterinarian. However, there might be certain cases where this isn't an option with company you are looking at for pet insurance.

If this is the case, you have a decision to make. You need to ask yourself these questions?

1. How important is it that I take my pet to me regular veterinarian?
2. Where is the nearest veterinary office that is cover by this policy?
3. Are there other insurance companies that offer a "choice" in choosing your veterinarian?
4. What are the cost associated with these choices? Travel time? Gas? Insurance premium price differences?

These are just a few question that might be able to help you make a decision.

If you are wanting your pets "routine wellness" care to be covered, you will need to look for a comprehensive plan which includes wellness care. I have found that some insurance companies that offer policies for pets have a cap on the amount they will cover under routine care. This is very similar to many human policies, where the insurance company will cover anything up to a certain dollar amount. One that dollar amount has been reached, they you will be required to pay for any additional services.

Make sure to ask the insurance agent or company if routine wellness care is included in their insurance package.

Some companies offer routine wellness care within their current packages. There are a few companies that do not offer this coverage in their policies. They consider routine wellness a necessary or normal expense (an expense almost all pet owners pay if they don't have insurance). These companies will usually provide "catastrophic coverages" for severe illness and emergency services if something ever happened to you pet.

The dreaded "D' word: Deductible!

It goes without saying that you are most likely going to have to pay a deductible on your pets insurance policy. What is a deductible? A deductible is a set amount of money (ex: $250) that you will be responsible for paying before are insurance services are rendered.

Deductibles are found in almost every types of insurance imaginable: Homeowners Policies, Auto Policies, Motorcycle Polices, and more.

Could you find an insurance plan for your pet that doesn't have a deductible? YES, but it is very rare. Even if you did, it is pretty safe to say that you are going to have much higher insurance premiums than someone who has a deductible.

The most important thing to remember about a deductible is the lower the deductible the higher the insurance premium. Make sure you choose a deductible that you can afford that will offer you the best premium price, so you pet insurance will be a good investment.

Why should your pets insurance plan include prescription coverage?

Veterinary science has evolved over the years, and more recently, treatments and operations or procedures that were normally reserved for humans are now available for your pets.

It is very likely that at some point in your pets lifetime, they are going to need a prescription. This could be for a simple infection or a necessary medication to regulate an irregular heartbeat.

It is better to be safe than sorry. If you are fortunate to have a pet that might only need something prescribed once ever few years, feel lucky. Some pet owners have pets that require monthly prescriptions. These prescriptions can cost a significant amount of money at a single time or over the course of your pets life.

Prescription coverage is important so make sure to check to see if this is included with the insurance policy.

Caps or the limits on the amount of coverages for certain illnesses or procedures are very possible. This is one area you are going to want to look over very carefully before purchasing an insurance policy for your pets.

These "CAPS" will vary from procedure to procedure and from policy to policy. So how do you figure out what is best for your pet? Talk to the insurance agent or company. Most insurance agents will have copies of the policies and what their caps are. If you are purchasing insurance for your pet online, many of the websites will have email or tech support to help answer your questions.

You need to read over the policy and decide what you are most comfortable with. Take a look at the individual CAPS and decide how important each CAP is to you. take into account the type of animal you are insuring and any possible scenarios when a specific injury to you pet might occur where you might need more insurance coverage that is already offered under the CAP.

If you find some you think are totally unacceptable, then you should look for another insurance company (preferably one with better coverage).

Just like Bob barker used to say: "Help control the pet population; have your pet spayed or neutered."

Do you know what is more expensive than spaying or neutering your pets? Litters of kittens or puppies! It is important to control the pet population and a pet owners responsibility to help control that population.

The actual cost of spaying or neutering your pets isn't that expensive. The cost to spay or neuter a dog is around $50.00. Cats can be a little more expensive costing just about $100.00. This doesn't include associated cost like anesthesia, recovery time, and room and board.

When choosing a health insurance policy for your pets, ask if spaying and neutering are covered in the policy.

When ever you are purchasing insurance policy, whether it is for yourself or your pet, don't assume that everything is going to be covered.

There are likely going to be some exclusions to what the insurance company will cover for your pet. It is most likely these exclusions possible could include any pre-existing conditions your pet might already have or any genetic defects. There are certain breeds of dogs that have very common genetic defects.

In many cases, most insurance companies for an additional cost will cover more common exclusions for a high insurance premium.

Be sure to read over this part of the insurance policy carefully, and ask any questions before you decide to buy. What you do not want is to buy the insurance policy and later find out that you dog's genetic liver disease isn't going to be covered.

One of the few pet insurance companies that will cover pre-existing and genetic conditions is Embrace Pet Insurance.

The waiting period is the time between when you first sign up for cat or dog insurance and when your full coverage kicks in. For example, if you sign up and begin coverage on March 1st then your waiting period for accidents may be two or three days after, say March 3rd, and for illnesses as long as 4 weeks later, say March 31st.

Most pet insurance companies have a waiting period of between 2 and 14 days for accidents and between 14 and 30 days for illnesses. The waiting period is there so that no one takes out insurance immediately after an accident or illness.

The waiting period only applies in your first policy year, after that there is no waiting period on your pet insurance.