Insurance for a dog

[deltadukman]

Just had a customer of mine call and he purchased a high dollar dog, not specifically a gun dog, and he wants to know if there is such a thing as insurance policy for a dog? I know I've seen it, but cant for the life of me remember where. Any help?

[rboudet]

http://www.petinsurancereview.com/

Make sure he looks at the exclusions for each company. There are plenty.

[ScottyLee]

aspca has a policy, and progressive has a company they write through also.

[deltadukman]

aspca has a policy, and progressive has a company they write through also.

They have an endorsement on thier auto policy, but I haven't heard of them offering a monoline pet policy.

[ScottyLee]

are they wanting a health insurance plan for the dog? or are they looking for something like AD for the dog?

[deltadukman]

Im sure just AD.

[MudHog]

I would think the dog is AKC registered and there are policies through AKC: http://www.akcpethealthcare.com/

[ScottyLee]

i know PCI has a policy that covers certain medical issues and then it pays some for AD but i'm not sure of the amount. i have never written anything through them, just researched the policy many moons ago. sorry i don't remember all the details

[Jrh215]

anybody ever purchased a health policy for their dog? I get plenty of e-mails from akc about it and looked into it but haven't done anything. thoughts?

[rboudet]

anybody ever purchased a health policy for their dog? I get plenty of e-mails from akc about it and looked into it but haven't done anything. thoughts?

Yes, I looked at them all. I went with Pet Plan. My next choice was VPI however, they have a 1 year waiting period for Cruciate tears. Which is my biggest concern. I went with the Bronze plan. Covers accidents and illnesses. Make sure you check all exclusions. And pre-existing. Some will not cover a CCL tear on the other side.

[rsfavor]

I went with Petplan. Had torn ACL and they paid as the plan promised.

[GulfCoast]

The trick with exclusions is how your vet words the claim, especially for knees. "My dog was running a field trial and came up lame" may be excluded by some under the "competition event exclusion." However, "my dog was out running in a big open field and came up lame" is probably covered. I am just providing food for thought.

[rboudet]

Yes I would never tell them how it happened. It just happened. But the pre-existing conditions is where some of them get you. One of them, I forget which one, considers a torn CCL on the right knee a pre-existing condition on the left knee. Just make sure you look at all exclusions and pre-existing conditions. Also the waiting period for coverage on certian injuries.

Pet Plan - 6 months waiting period for CCL tears. (you can get this waived with a vet exam stating knees and elbows "look" fine)

VPI - 12 month waiting period for the same thing. (no info on vet exam waiver)