| To get or not get pet insurance?
Posted: 11/6/2009 2:39:14 PM | | Has anyone had any dealings with Petsecure. The Wpg Humane Society endorces them in the pamphlets (sp?) they hand out once you adopt. So I am wondering if its a good idea that I get insured? I mean why not? | |
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| To get or not get pet insurance?
Posted: 11/6/2009 3:34:15 PM | I think if you have the extra dough sitting around and it's not a financial issue then i agree, why not. Most i looked into don't cover annual vet check-ups unless u get the most expensive package. I also couldn't find any, except maybe one premium package that covered teeth cleaning. Those are the two things I'd really want. Someone told me it's not worth it really. If your cat gets a UTI, the most common thing, whats it gonna be, like $120 for a test and check up and $60 or 80 for meds.
Animal cancers and stuff are just kinda rare.
I personally dont have the extra cash for it and wouldnèt get it but Ièm not concerned in the least. But if I could really easily afford it I would, just in case. | |
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| To get or not get pet insurance?
Posted: 11/6/2009 4:44:56 PM | | A lot of it depends on your dog and where you live. As seen a couple of years ago,a member's dog ate part of a rattan mat and needed surgery. Pretty pricey. If you're in the city your dog might get out and get hit by a car. Again,the surgery could be expensive. Personally I wouldn't bother. It may sound hard hearted,but I'm not so attached to my dog that I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars to get her fixed up after being in an accident. I have a cheaper solution. | |
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| To get or not get pet insurance?
Posted: 11/8/2009 9:19:55 AM | | It may be a good idea, especially if you own a cat. Then when your cat catches fire ( well, people ARE always saying they have to put the cat out...), you have the insurance $$ to get a new one. | |
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| To get or not get pet insurance?
Posted: 11/8/2009 10:14:18 AM | Strange, as I was once going to make this product something I was going to sell but I forget nearly everything I read about it.....
Probably at the time I felt similar to our above poster who has a cheaper solution.
However, now with a pet that has become part of the family I would be far more inclined to consider it.
I know one couple who have spent $5000 on their dog on operations to fix their leg and here only about 3 years later facing having another operation on one of the other legs but now the dog is over 10 years old.....and it must be considered whether it truly worth it....it becomes a real crap shoot of how much longer the dog will live if not very healthy. Maybe I have become more sentimental in my old age but my heart bleeds for them and the pup.
Insurance would make these decisions a little easier, however:
Having sold health insurance for humans let me emphasize: READ THE SMALL PRINT.
These types of coverages are stacked with exclusions and exceptions....they have to be or the insurance company would soon go broke. On the other hand, the company that pioneered this coverage(from Winnipeg) I am told makes alot of money from this coverage...so it is likely positioned very much in the company's favor. | |
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| To get or not get pet insurance?
Posted: 11/8/2009 1:42:13 PM | yep its always buyer beware by looking at the fine print. I am personally going to go the office myself this week.
speaking of accidents within the 2nd I had him nearly caused a fire in my apartement while I was gone. I have one of those old stoves that have buttons ontop and well as you might have guessed he jumped on it ... long story short I had something plastic on my cast iron pan that smoked my apartement and the whole floor. No major fire damage occured. From now on I call him call smokey instead of shadow lol. | |
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| To get or not get pet insurance?
Posted: 11/21/2009 10:35:17 PM | I know nothing about pet insurance, but know a little bit about insurance in general.
The function of insurance, generally, is to spread the risk of catestrophic loss amongst as wide a group of people as possible to thereby make the loss affordable. For example, the odds of someone's house burning down are quite small. If several million people all pay yearly insurance premiums, they can pay a relatively modest amount (which they can afford) to ensure that when faced with a catestrophic event, the loss of their house and all its contents (for example), they can call upon their insurer to pay out under the policy to replace their house and contents (asuming they have replacement insurance); a sum they would otherwise not likely be able to come up with. In this type of case, insurance is a very very good thing to have. The same principles hold true for life and diasability insurance.
That being said, Insurance companies are, usually, quite profitable companies. They have expenses and still generate a profit. This profit is the difference between what they collect and what they are called upon to pay out. That is why it is always cheaper, if possible, to self-insure.
Whether or not you should be self insuring with respect to pet medical expenses may depend upon whether a 3 or 5 thousand dollar vet bill would be "catestrophic" for your finances (assuming you would be willing to pay that much to keep your pet alive). Also one has to consider the effect of whatever the premiums are on your monthly or yearly budget.
Finally, as has already been mentioned, it is very important to read the fine print. There is no point geting pet insurance if anything your pet might actually get is excluded under the terms of the policy. You should look carefully at the amount of the premium as well as what, exactly, the policy covers. Then do some simple math. Cost out the premium over the life of a pet and compare that to the chance of any of the events (called perils in insurance lingo) covered by the policy taking place.
If you do all that, you should have a pretty good idea as to whether the insurance is a good fit for you and your budget. | |
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