Insurance?
- Thread starter unsurepup
- Start date
btwiamazoophile
Citizen of Zooville
Put away monthly savings for animal emergencies. I don't have a recommendation personally for an insurance provider. You don't ever need emergency funding until you do.
I always put away for emergencies, but lately been seeing many ads about them but it seems to cost more than a emergency would likely cost... my oldest is almost 9 and never a issue but cheapest with good coverage I could find was approx 80 per dog... (80x12)x9 is 8640 that just seems really steep
NorthEastEngland
Lurker
At that age it’s probably worth keeping doing what you’re doing. Lifetime policies are a good idea for anything that comes up but starting when they’re past 3 or 4 tends to be more expensive than just covering any bills yourself
Here's a few basic generalities I've noticed.
- Coverage will vary significantly from one policy to another, and prices will vary significantly with age at sign up time, breed and geographical area.
- Premiums are usually adjusted with inflation and number of claims in your area, but submitting claims shouldn't make your premium go up.
- "Deductibles" (the amount you pay before the insurance kicks in) have 2 main types, it's wither a specified amount per year (i.e. you pay the first say 200$ and coverage kicks in for the rest of the year), or per condition (i.e. you pay the first 200$ for diabetes, and coverage for diabetes kicks in for the rest of his life, then if he gets something else, you pay the first 200$ before coverage for that issue kicks in).
- Coverage type varies greatly. some will include only illness or only accidents, some will have a maximum coverage amount. All will have certain exclusions (i.e. won't cover the basic exam cost, won't cover sales taxes if those are a thing where you live, won't cover per-existing conditions i.e. if he's known to have allergies before signing up nothing allergy related will be covered, etc etc). It's really important to understand what's covered so you don't get surprises.
- Some can pay deposits before care is given, others you have to pay up and get reimbursed later. Some pay back faster then others.
If you are looking at the entire population of dogs and pure dollar amount, statistically you'll pay more into insurance then they pay out, otherwise the whole business doesn't work. However, I think insurance companies sell peace of mind more then anything, which is why it's a very personal decision whether it's worth it or not.
Personally, I think it's a no-brainer for very young pets. That's when the premiums are the lowest, the animal is growing and all sorts of growth-related issues can pop up, you're learning to know their personalities (calm, excited, accident-prone, sock-eating monster, etc), there's practically no exclusions, and should you decide to keep the policy you're rates will be lower for life.
Beyond that, it really depends what gets you peace of mind.
For example, maybe you feel like "per condition" policies give more peace of mind towards life-long type problems. And you want unlimited coverage because you will do everything there is available care-wise and you want access to top level care like chemo, specialized surgery, dialysis, etc. And you need them to be able to pay all of that ahead because you might not be able to.
Or, maybe you feel like your pets had a great quality of life all these years and you don't want to put them through surgery or chemo if they get very ill, but you want some help covering less life-threatening events and old-dog stuff and you're fine limiting coverage to reduce the premium.
Or, you want something that just covers everything from annual visits to dental to emergencies because it makes it easier to budget the costs.
There's really not one plan that's better then the other, but you certainly don't want to be paying for stuff you don't use, or worse think you'll be covered for something and when the time comes realize you've been paying for nothing because it's not covered.
Once you figure that out, start to look at companies that offer coverage that's in line with what your needs are. It'll then be easier to compare premiums for similar coverage, and you might find one company's model aligns better with what you want then another's.
At the end of the day, if your dog is already 9, the monthly premiums are going to be high. If you're looking at lifelong costs of insurance, it is probably cheaper to pay 80$/month for the rest of his life then 40$/month since he was a puppy, assuming you wouldn't have used the insurance at all so far. In North America, although many things can be handled by your local vet probably in the few hundred to 2-3k$ range, consider the cost of care at a 24h specialty place can often be 2-3x the cost of your local vet, it seems reasonable to figure 4-6k$ (2-3 days at hospital with diagnostics, or some kind of surgery...) for an emergency at an inconvenient time or something that needs a specialist.
- Coverage will vary significantly from one policy to another, and prices will vary significantly with age at sign up time, breed and geographical area.
- Premiums are usually adjusted with inflation and number of claims in your area, but submitting claims shouldn't make your premium go up.
- "Deductibles" (the amount you pay before the insurance kicks in) have 2 main types, it's wither a specified amount per year (i.e. you pay the first say 200$ and coverage kicks in for the rest of the year), or per condition (i.e. you pay the first 200$ for diabetes, and coverage for diabetes kicks in for the rest of his life, then if he gets something else, you pay the first 200$ before coverage for that issue kicks in).
- Coverage type varies greatly. some will include only illness or only accidents, some will have a maximum coverage amount. All will have certain exclusions (i.e. won't cover the basic exam cost, won't cover sales taxes if those are a thing where you live, won't cover per-existing conditions i.e. if he's known to have allergies before signing up nothing allergy related will be covered, etc etc). It's really important to understand what's covered so you don't get surprises.
- Some can pay deposits before care is given, others you have to pay up and get reimbursed later. Some pay back faster then others.
If you are looking at the entire population of dogs and pure dollar amount, statistically you'll pay more into insurance then they pay out, otherwise the whole business doesn't work. However, I think insurance companies sell peace of mind more then anything, which is why it's a very personal decision whether it's worth it or not.
Personally, I think it's a no-brainer for very young pets. That's when the premiums are the lowest, the animal is growing and all sorts of growth-related issues can pop up, you're learning to know their personalities (calm, excited, accident-prone, sock-eating monster, etc), there's practically no exclusions, and should you decide to keep the policy you're rates will be lower for life.
Beyond that, it really depends what gets you peace of mind.
For example, maybe you feel like "per condition" policies give more peace of mind towards life-long type problems. And you want unlimited coverage because you will do everything there is available care-wise and you want access to top level care like chemo, specialized surgery, dialysis, etc. And you need them to be able to pay all of that ahead because you might not be able to.
Or, maybe you feel like your pets had a great quality of life all these years and you don't want to put them through surgery or chemo if they get very ill, but you want some help covering less life-threatening events and old-dog stuff and you're fine limiting coverage to reduce the premium.
Or, you want something that just covers everything from annual visits to dental to emergencies because it makes it easier to budget the costs.
There's really not one plan that's better then the other, but you certainly don't want to be paying for stuff you don't use, or worse think you'll be covered for something and when the time comes realize you've been paying for nothing because it's not covered.
Once you figure that out, start to look at companies that offer coverage that's in line with what your needs are. It'll then be easier to compare premiums for similar coverage, and you might find one company's model aligns better with what you want then another's.
At the end of the day, if your dog is already 9, the monthly premiums are going to be high. If you're looking at lifelong costs of insurance, it is probably cheaper to pay 80$/month for the rest of his life then 40$/month since he was a puppy, assuming you wouldn't have used the insurance at all so far. In North America, although many things can be handled by your local vet probably in the few hundred to 2-3k$ range, consider the cost of care at a 24h specialty place can often be 2-3x the cost of your local vet, it seems reasonable to figure 4-6k$ (2-3 days at hospital with diagnostics, or some kind of surgery...) for an emergency at an inconvenient time or something that needs a specialist.
E
egoldstein
Guest
I put money aside every month for vet care; I put aside more than my yearly vet expenses so the account builds up. I've been doing it a long time, so it would take a major incident to drain it. It also helps that I don't live hand-to-mouth and have other savings should that be necessary.
Thanks, was using the 9 year old as a example my other dog just turned 3 and he seems to be the one I might have to worry about when he gets older.. it is just mind boggling that you can have 2 dogs with 99% of the same life style but have to completely different needs