“I just got off of the phone with the insurance company [VPI Pet Insurance] that covers our puppy. They advertise a broad range of protections for pets and make lots of promises about the great coverage that they offer. They were recommended to us by our vet as one of the most reliable in the field. It seems, though, that they are just as shady and unreliable as so many other insurance companies that we hear horror stories about.”
About eight weeks ago, our dog was treated for a stomach bug, a bout of diarrhea. He was treated and we submitted the claim. This one was denied because it fell between the time when we applied for the insurance and when the policy kicked in. No problem. Then, several weeks later, he had some vomiting, we took him to the vet and filed a claim with the insurance company [VPI]. Now that claim is being denied. They are claiming that all stomach-related illnesses fall under the category of “pre-existing conditions” although he has no chronic stomach problems and the two incidents were entirely unrelated to one another. Both incidents occurred after we applied for the policy, but the second one is being denied because we filed the first one during the short window before the policy kicked in. This seems entirely unfair, as we applied for the policy in total good faith, when he was in great health. Now I am told that we cannot get reimbursed for any medical expenses related to stomach issues, because they will all fall under the category of pre-existing illness, although he has no illnesses to speak of. He will have to go for a full year without any stomach problems (almost impossible for many puppies) before we can apply to have the exemption removed.
I’m not sure what to do, other than to write a long letter to the Insurance company and to alert everyone to the unethical practices of VPI Insurance. They don’t care about pets, only about profit.
Yours,
Barry T.
It’s almost like VPI, and said hey, those are some great ideas. Let’s do the same thing, except for pets.
We don’t know, can you file a chargeback against an insurance company? Otherwise, yes, take your own advice and write a letter to the company. But don’t make it long. And don’t make it about how unethical they are. Make it about how you feel there was a misunderstanding and you feel your claim was unfairly denied. Here’s a how to to get you started.
(Photo: Catskills Grrl)
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I didn’t know that there was health insurrance for animals. I’ve really got to move forward with my Dog/Cat marriage service.
@RECTILINEAR PROPAGATION:
EXACTLY what I wanted to say. A-men.
@AlexFromEmbrace:
“To those who believe that saving $20/month is going to help I ask you to calculate the real risks. $240/yr is barely going to cover a teeth cleaning let alone major surgery.”
I could have missed it, but I haven’t seen anyone on this thread say that pet insurance has actually covered major surgery for them.
@MichaelBrazell: lol yeah i agree, i had no idea.
Dear Bloggers and Pet Lovers,
As an employee of VPI, I cannot emphasize enough the veterinary component of Veterinary Pet Insurance. Our company was not founded by, nor is it run by opportunistic insurance professionals. VPI was founded and continues to be supported by veterinarians. The noble hope of these veterinarians was to end “economic euthanasia,” that all pet owners would have the ability to pursue optimal treatment and no one would ever have to put a pet to sleep for financial reasons. This continues to be the goal of our company. Our employees are a dedicated group of pet lovers and veterinary professionals who work here because they believe in this vision.
Many people on this blog have referenced insurance company stereotypes. Stereotypes that do not apply to VPI. To the contrary of Barry T’s original letter and several subsequent statements, we want to pay claims. A well-paid claim means we have a working product and a satisfied customer. Our clearly-stated policy exclusions work to this end by keeping premiums affordable and guarding against insurance fraud. The majority of our more than 445,000 policyholders are thankful for the money they have received in return for everything from routine care to major medical treatment.
Unfortunately, I can’t speak for every pet insurance company. In our 25 years of business, we have seen more than 50 competitors come and go. Many of these competitors have failed due to a lack of customer transparency and a base of support in the veterinary community. Many of these competitors appear to market themselves by criticizing VPI and promising higher claims payouts. We have seen time and time again that these fly-by-night insurance companies fail to deliver, going bankrupt and leaving policyholders no coverage and medical conditions that any other pet insurer has to classify as pre-existing.
We believe that our benefit schedule is an important way we promote customer transparency and distinguish our company from the competitors. After a $50 per incident deductible, policyholders receive 90% of the benefit allowance for the diagnosis. You will find that other pet insurance companies reimburse up to 80% of what they determine are “usual, customary and reasonable” fees. They determine what is “usual, customary and reasonable” by following a published guide of average costs for veterinary services — in other words, a benefit schedule. This hidden benefit schedule surprises a lot of people. We hear complaints from people who didn’t know their company was using the ambiguous “usual, customary and reasonable” clause to veil a benefit schedule that they knew little or nothing about. VPI’s benefit schedule is made clearly available online and sent to all policyholders upon enrollment, so they can know exactly what to expect. We believe that this is good business.
One thing that I can agree with is that all pet owners need to do their research and ask hard questions. VPI has years of experience, thousands of pleased policyholders and a foundation in the veterinary community that will ensure many more years of successfully insuring America’s pets. We are confident in our product and dedicated to our vision of being the trusted choice of America’s pet lovers.
Grant Biniasz
Veterinary Pet Insurance
Corporate Communications Specialist
Grant, have you contacted the original poster to resolve their issues?
No, they haven’t been in touch with me, other than to pass on a form letter stating that I have to file an appeal, even though I already asked for an appeal to go ahead. Mostly, I am getting the run around, which seems to be confirming my belief that they care less about pets than they do profits. One would hope that they at least cared as much about pets as they do profits….. We’ll go ahead an file the appeal, but we have very low expectations, based upon the many horrible reviews we’ve seen about their company. We’ve also gone ahead and filed claims against them with the state insurance board, which will be looking into the matter, plus the BBB, and the state Attorney General’s office.
Again, thanks to everyone for their concern. Keep linking to this page and hopefully the pressure will build to force VPI to live up to its promises to protect pets!
Final update: VPI’s review board refused to drop the exclusion on all stomach issues. We cancelled the policy. The new chant that I plan on repeating until it makes their ears bleed: Hey, hey VPI, how many pets did you cause to die?”
Sorry to hear. I hope this thread gets found when people google VPI to see that the most they can produce in response is an empty PR statement..
The follow-up. We ended up switching Insurance companies to Embrace pet insurance. They were very helpful in getting our dog set up with a good plan. He just had an accident which required a trip to the emergency room, many stitches, and cost about 500$. Embrace paid us back more than 40% of that, without any hassle at all. They really lived up to their mission. [www.embracepetinsurance.com]
Ok so I have a headache from trying to figure out which insurance option to take (will be going with Embrace). I could get $10,000 with a $500 deductible and 20% copay for a total of $391 for BOTH my dogs annually. If I go to the 10% copay it would cost me $440 annually for BOTH. If I go with $5,000 with $500 deductible and 20% copay it would be $352 and with a 10% deductible $390. As I said, these quotes are for both of the dogs, not individually. Hubby says to go with the first one. My recently adopted dog had a $6,000 ER visit while in the rescue’s care and altho I could have forked out the money it would have been a hardship. However, having two dogs to cover and us being senior citizens I am trying to keep the annual premium down. The idea of putting away $200 monthly in a special account for them would be the other option, I do have a CD I could cash if anything happened before I accumulated several thousand but we figured this way we are not putting out too much. I do fear that no matter how good the company they may find reason not to pay up IF either dog gets anything that could be related to an issue each one has healthwise. So please give me the benefit of your wisdom
Thanks