VPI Insurance?

ccarstens · #1 21st February 2012, 08:31 AM

Hi everyone,

Does anyone here use VPI insurance for their Boxer? We are looking to get insurance for our pup, Lucy, and it seems like a great way to go. Saw great things about PetPlan in this forums, but was curious if anyone has had any positive/negative experiences with VPI.

We appreciate any insight!

Barkley · #2 21st February 2012, 01:05 PM

We have had it on both of ours, for about 8 years now, I guess. Customer service and claims processing/speed has been outstanding. I have nothing to compare them to, but I definitely have nothing but the best to say about them. Let me know if you've any specific questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

tasham · #3 29th February 2012, 06:21 PM

Definitely recommend PetPlan. I had VPI with 2 of my dogs. Decided to go with PetPlan for my newest dog and it's hands down way better than VPI. I cancelled VPI on my other dog and switched him to PetPlan as well. They're super fast at paying and pay MUCH better than VPI. Highly recommend them!

Tuff Love · #4 1st March 2012, 07:20 AM

I also prefer PetPlan to VPI after having VPI for 5 years. PetPlan is more flexible, has no payment caps, AND covers breed specific conditions.

Barkley · #5 1st March 2012, 11:24 AM

Well. Now I feel like I'm missing out, dang it! Though...what do you mean by 'breed specific conditions'? We've never had any trouble getting things covered...were you denied coverage on something? That worries me a bit for the future, so if you can provide some detail, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

chrystel · #6 1st March 2012, 12:57 PM

I've heard from many clients their issues with VPI, about costs caps and breed specific condition not being covered... They all switched to petplan.

I too have petplan for my boys

tasham · #7 1st March 2012, 01:05 PM

VPI doesn't cover a lot of things they consider "breed specific." For example, my Baxter had corneal ulcers that needed treatment, keratotomies, to help him, but they denied those saying that boxers are prone to this condition, so they don't cover it. They also wouldn't cover anything when he was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma of his heart right before he passed. They kept saying since it was in his heart, it was a boxer predisopostion for heart trouble, even though it was cancer, not a heart disease like cardiomyopathy. I got fed up and tired of fighting everything.

One of my favorite things about PetPlan is they pay for ongoing claims. Example, Charlie was diagnosed with mast cell tumors and his oncologist wants, just to be safe, to give him abdominal ultrasounds every 3-4 months just to check for any spreading of the cancer. Because we already met our deductible with the original diagnosis of mast cell tumor, they now pay 90% of every scan from here on out.

When we had Cyrus on VPI, he was diagnosed with a subcutaneous hemangiosarcoma. For the first 2 years after his diagnosis, the oncologist wanted to do scans and xrays on his internal organs to check for metastasis every 3 months for the 1st year and every 6 months for the next year. Each scan costs about $500. VPI has their specific amounts they will cover for certain testing, so they would only pay about $180 once per policy term, meaning once a year we'd only get a reimbursement of $180 and then have to pay all the remaining amounts for all the scans. If we had had him on PetPlan, they would have covered 90% of all his scans from here on out once our decutible was met. Would have saved us a huge amount of money.

We've had Charlie on it since we got him, but Cyrus and Baxter we had on VPI (Charlie is the youngest). Another example of VPIs crappy payments are Charlie got into antifreeze once and needed to be hospitalized with IVs at the ER. The bill came to over $1300. Because we had PetPlan, we paid our $200 deductible and then 10% of the bill, and they covered the rest. We ended up getting reimbursed nearly $1000. Had Charlie been on VPI and had antifreeze poisoning, they would have only reimbursed us like $260 of the total bill.

I had VPI for about 8 years in total. I will never do anything but PetPlan. I wish I would have known about them earlier with my other boys. Baxter is gone now, but we switched Cyrus over to Petplan last fall, so both my boys are on it and I will never have another insurance plan for any of my dogs but PetPlan.

Barkley · #8 1st March 2012, 11:52 PM

Tasham...thanks so much for the detailed reply. I'm going to check into it, though I suspect at ages 8 and 9, it might not be cost-effective to switch? I'll certainly find out. Interesting info about VPI and the specific conditions you mention. Barkley had a corneal ulcer two years in a row, and we didn't have any trouble with reimbursement, but we did stop just shy (thankfully) of that procedure you reference, so maybe if she'd have had to have that, it wouldn't have been covered.

I guess ignorance really is bliss...I thought VPI was great because I didn't know there was something potentially better!!

Thanks again!
Best,
Jenn

Tuff Love · #9 2nd March 2012, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barkley

Well. Now I feel like I'm missing out, dang it! Though...what do you mean by 'breed specific conditions'? We've never had any trouble getting things covered...were you denied coverage on something? That worries me a bit for the future, so if you can provide some detail, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Breed specific means they don't cover things that certain breeds are prone to. We were denied coverage for an xray because they xray showed minor dysplasia in my boy's hip (even though that's not why we had the xrays done). Hip dysplasia is a biggy and VPI doesn't cover it.

Tuff Love · #10 2nd March 2012, 10:27 AM

Woops! That was already answered

But yes- everything tasham said is true with VPI and Petplan. You might be right about the cost effectiveness in switching though. Doesn't hurt to call and get a quote!

RockyCody · #11 2nd March 2012, 01:12 PM

What I was looking into with petplan - you can pick your deductible and % reimbursement....what do you guys choose? I don't quite get it....sounds silly but I'm not too 'in' on this whole insurance stuff.

what do you pay per month?

RockyCody · #12 2nd March 2012, 01:27 PM

I also have another question - with petplan, VPI, or any insurance - some of you may remember reading Rocky has had stomach upset int he past - required subQ, IV fluids and cerenia injections, etc. if this happens again, will they cover it or say its a pre-existing condition?

He hasn't been diagnosed with anything more than simple gastritis, but these 'bouts' cost us 1000-2000 a pop - and happen like 1-2x/year. Would they deny coverage on this because it has happened a handful of times so far in his life or no? I dont want to activate insurance if they won't cover it, what's the point?!

(Sorry to hjiack this thread, but I was reading and realized I should activate some insurance for Rock too now that he is 2.5....a bit older).

Just had some questions.