What Does Pet Insurance Cover?

To get an insurance policy sounds attractive to any pet owner as it is the way to make the care about his pet much cheaper.

What Does Pet Insurance Cover?

Every newfound pet owner has at least one occasion to be content – he has a small little creature, that meets him every time, he returns home. And he has at least one occasion for sorrow – from now he spends at least $100 more every month to care about that little creature.

To get an insurance policy sounds attractive to any pet owner as it is the way to make the care about his pet much cheaper. But before calling to the office of some famous pet insurance company, it is better to study in advance, what they cover and what they don’t cover!

Levels of Coverage

Insurance service providers offer different variants of coverage. But still there’s something in common, which all pet insurance companies have. Thus, these three levels of coverage will be offered to you in any insurance office.

1. The first level of coverage presumes the payments in case of an accident. Thus your cat or dog may become the victim of a car hit, it may be poisoned or eat some foreign particle. In this case you can apply for compensation from your insurance company, but all the other cases are not paid out.

2. The second level of coverage presumes payments for some illnesses your pet may get. But inherit and genetic illnesses are not included, if you purchase this variant of coverage.

3. The third level of coverage presumes the payments for any kind of disease.

Before you will get the policy, you should understand, how exactly the payments are made. First of all you have to sign the contract with your insurance company. It will be defined by the contract, if you can choose the vet yourself or your insurance company will choose the health care provider for your pet. The vet will give your pet the necessary care and then you will get the bill for the treatment and medications. After that you will write a claim to your insurance company, add that bill to your claim and ask for reimbursement. The company will study your claim (it is usually made within 30 days) and then some part of that amount will be reimbursed. Unfortunately, you will never get 100% of that amount. As usual it is paid 70%-90% of that amount, excluding the deductible.

The exact sum of the coverage can hardly be calculated in advance. The sum of the coverage is influenced by some principles.

What Influences the Coverage?

Every insurance company is unique, that’s why it is very hard to define the average coverage of your pet insurance policy. But whatever company you choose, for sure, its agent will pay attention to the following points before he will make the final decision as for your insurance premiums and coverage.

1. Is your animal mature or not?

The pets after 8 years old are considered as senior and the rates for them are much higher. As human beings are more probable to become ill, when they are older, cats and dogs meet the same consistent pattern. So don’t get surprised, if your insurance bills will leap high one day, it means, that your cat or dog became older!

2. The breed of the pet

In fact some breeds of cats and dogs have illnesses, peculiar for the species of their kind. Thus, greyhounds usually get problems with joints etc. There are some breeds of cats and dogs that are considered unhealthy, so insurance companies will rate them as higher risks.

3. Place of residence

The place of your residence is also an important factor, which influences the monthly price of your policy. The pet owners, who live in a small town, will pay for vet visits less than those, who resident in a huge megalopolis. Thus, if you live in New York or Washington, be ready to pay more!

These are the basic levels of coverage. Of course, any insurance company will offer you additional options that may include almost everything. Thus, you can get the policy that presumes payments in case of death of your pet. In this case you will get the amount of its market value (defined in its documents). Then you can include in your policy such options as cremation, funeral expenses, euthanasia (if your pet becomes seriously ill and there’s no hope for recovery). Some pet owners include in the policy care about their pets in case of an illness of the owner. So, the client can add different kinds of optional coverage in his policy, according to his way of life and situation. But not everything can be insured. Still there are kinds of events, that can’t be covered.

What is not Covered?

Before you will make the final decision and choose the insurance company for your pet, study exactly, what the company doesn’t care. Some types of coverage are not made by certain companies, but the others will provide you with this kind of service. But there are illnesses that are not covered by any company.

For example, you can hardly find the pet insurance that covers pre existing conditions. If your pet has some diagnoses before you have paid your visit to an office of an insurance company or even if it had no diagnosis, but some symptoms of an illness were noticed, you won’t get the coverage for that illness. As usual every insurance policy has some period, when it is paid, but still not valid. Thus, if you sign the policy and start your payments, you can apply for the coverage not earlier than in 10 days after you have signed the deal. And it must be proved, that an illness your pet has got, is unexpected and you couldn’t predict, it had been ill before making the insurance deal.
Companies are different, but there’s the point, when they are equal. There’s no pet insurance that covers pre existing conditions – keep it in mind!

Every pet needs some routine care – thus you should take it to the vet several times per year, even if it has no symptoms of an illness and the vet will examine it. Any pet needs dental care, vaccinations, recommendations as for its nutrition.

It is almost impossible to find the pet insurance that covers routine care. As usual, these planned visits to the vet are paid by the pet owner. But some insurance companies offer a rider for $300 per year or more that includes expanses for everyday care about the pet health. Thus, if the client demands this service, before he will make the deal, he should ask, if they have pet insurance that covers routine care.

To come to the conclusion, there are three basic levels of coverage and many additional options. Before you sign the insurance deal, it is necessary to study what is covered and what is not covered by your pet insurance company. Get the policy and protect your pet!