Best Dog Insurance

Unlike medical insurance for Americans, though, pet insurance does not cover preexisting conditions. That means, if your dog is ill with a certain condition before enrollment, the insurance company will not cover the expenses spent for treating that illness. Actually, most pet insurance firms will not cover that specific condition even after your pet is treated. There are, though, a few exceptions, that make the difference between curable and incurable preexisting conditions, allowing you to insure your dog for that condition if it is cured, after a certain time frame.

Filing a claim with pet insurance companies is more or less complicated, depending on each firm’s procedure. Certain companies request a form to be filled in, while others only require a picture of the invoice from the vet.

After sending the claim, it is approved or denied by the insurance firm’s specialists. Even if your claim is approved, keep in mind that, in most cases, you will have to pay the entire bill to the vet, and afterwards the insurance company will send you its percentage of the reimbursement.

Besides paying your own part of the vet invoice, you will also have to pay the deductibles. It is recommendable you choose an annual deductible rather than a per condition one, so that, if your dog develops several conditions in the same year, you only pay the deductible once.

The costs involving your dog’s insurance vary from less than $10 for an accident-only insurance plan to above $100 for accident and illness plans, depending on your dog’s breed, his or her age, your location, the type of caps you choose and the number of dogs you want to insure.

After receiving a quote for all these factors, there is also to add the expenses of the annual or per-condition, per-lifetime deductible. The bigger the deductible is, the least expensive the monthly premium is going to be.

Then, you must take into consideration the reimbursement rate the insurance company offers you. Most of these firms offer a reimbursement ranging from 70% to 90%, with a few offering even a 100% one. The reimbursement rate is the actual amount of money the insurance company will pay from the vet invoice.

Now, there is also the issue of the annual limit (cap) that a pet insurance company is willing to reimburse. Some pet insurance companies have annual limits, some of them don’t, and some firms have payout caps per-condition, which sets the maximum amount of money the insurance firm is willing to reimburse for a certain condition.

Just like with human insurance, it is paramount that you do your research thoroughly before enrolling your dog, just to make sure that, when things get gloomy for your furry friend, you will be reimbursed.