IMO, that is their Holy Grail, to get blood samples from everyone (you can't get disability insurance unless you give one). They will then run DNA tests and probably start to refuse coverage to many, many people, tho obviously they can't take it too far or they will go out of business.

"Grovery Store."

Tee hee hee!

What a story! That'll teach to you be "honest," huh?

Hey, have you heard about insurance companies buying grovery store card databases and basing your premiums on what you buy?

So you buy fattening foods and cartons of cigarrettes, you are adjusted accordingly? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for that since I try to buy healthy food and don't smoke, but SHEESH! Obviously you can just NOT use the card (and consequently not save as much money!) but what if you use the card to buy a carton of cigarrettes for an old man who can't get out?

Anyway, that was horribly off-topic I know, but we've been chatting about it at work with the new HIPAA privacy policies that we're so affected by. ARGH!

Julia

I had considered getting pet insurance for Rosie at one point but I have heard similar stories from other people and decided against it. I would definitely cancel your policy - $37/month is quite a bit considering that you get virtually nothing out of the deal!!! Make sure you write them a long nasty letter when you cancel your policy!

And set up a Grover fund.

Julia

From everything I've read (and suspected all along), they charge you the premiums, then find any excuse under the sun NOT to pay a claim.

2 THUMBS DOWN to the money-mongers that came up with this gimmick to prey on devoted pet owners.

i think they are a waste of money. i would rather put away that 37 bucks a month, then give it to an insurance...who probably wouldn't cover anything with my bulldog anyway.
i have a credit card that i don't use, specifically for dog emergencies thankfully, it's still sitting in the drawer. most vet's will accept a credit card, and if not...it has a cash advance

liz

I had a friend that had insurance on her poodle for years...and it got hit by a car needed about 600.00 worth of care...and the insurance company deterimned it was the owners fault for having a screen door with out an extra hook on the screen (just had the normal door lock...)and wouldn't pay a dime...she was livid...ce

Before going to law school, I was a tennis nut who played 5 or 6 nights a week, 2 to 3 hours per night. If nothing else, it kept me in pretty good shape (ah, the good old days, lol). But I worked a full time day job and went to law school at night for my first two years. Weekends were all for studying, so no tennis for those two years or my last year of law school, when i just flip flopped and attended school in the day while working at night. A few months after I graduated, a friend called and said let's play. So we went to the court one night and I played for about 3 hours after not having played at all for three years. About one in the morning, I woke up with this strange pain in my chest that scared the hell out of me. It kept me up for a couple of hours. All the next day, the pain kept coming back and going away. When I got up Sunday morning, it was worse than ever.

I finally panicked and went to the ER. While I was laying on the table, a doctor comes in, sort of smiles, then jabs four finger tips into my chest and asks if it hurts. I nearly flew off the table, and said damn right it does. He started laughing and said the pain had nothing to do with my heart other than that it was over the area of the heart. Instead it was a condition called chostochondritis (sp?), or inflammation of the tendons that connect the pectoral muscles to the chest bone. In other words, "too much forehand," he laughed. [that won't make sense unless you've played tennis]

Well, about a month or two later, I started a new job and had to fill in an application form to get disability insurance. One of the questions was whether I had ever had chest pains. I stupidly told the truth. They used the incident to "rate" me as a high cardiac risk (this was about 17 years ago), and used that excuse to charge outrageous premiums. Even after my personal physician wrote them a letter explaining that my visit to the ER had nothing to do with a heart problem, they refused to budge. That whole incident has haunted me to this day. I learned then that insurance companies only want to collect hefty premiums from healthy people for whom they will never have to pay out anything. It's almost a big con game they are running. They will either exclude coverage for anything they can get away with, or raise premiums so high you can't afford the coverage.

Two neighbors had a similar experience with auto insurance. They had been with their insurance company for 20 years. We lived in a fairly nice apt. complex that was the target of a very sophisticated auto theft ring that hit all the nice complexes along I-10 from Houston to Jacksonville, Florida. This couple's car was stolen one week, their truck was vandalized the next week. Their insurance company canceled them three weeks later.

So I'm not surprised at all by the notice you got on Grover's policy. Trust me, if you get a lump in your breast or any other major condition, you will likely have a similar experience with your own personal coverage. Not saying all insurers are bad, but a heck of a lot of them are.

Pet insurance sounded so good and our vet recommended it so I thought it was the responsible thing to do. However, there are soo many exceptions.... And they kept trying to say things were pre-existing. She had a rash on her chin when we got her from the breeder, 6 months later she had bumps on her back - they denied our claim and said it was a pre-existing condition. Ridiculous! So I had to go to the vet and have them write a letter explaining that they were 2 different kinds of irritation. Of course, at that point we had already made 6 claims and found out that after 6 claims they can at their discretion choose to drop you.
I chose to drop them.
I like the suggestion of starting a bulldoggy-trustfund for emergencies. I would much rather get interest on my $37/mo.

With Grover being so healthy you'd have extra for Grover's sister

I'm too cranky about this "snafu" to go into detail about this particular policy. That www.urbanhound.com site doesn't have my company on it though... it's what I mentioned in my first post. "PetCare" thru Avalon Risk Management.

Wouldn't recommend them! They are definitely "by breed" not state mandated.

Julia

You (and Anna!) are very right. We'll probably end up doing that. After all, we paid for Grover's palate/nare surgery out of pocket with no help from insurance anyway. If something were to ever exceed our Grover fund, that's what our balance-free credit cards are for, right? (Thank goodness we have no BAD debt!)

Julia

Can you tell me what company your insurance is with? I was told that the prices/policies are "state mandated", not by breed. Also, there are different types of policies you can buy which cover certain procedures., ie. first year puppies, cancer, etc., but there is also a big "exemption" clause for certain procedures.

Actually this was I believe Anna's thought. You'd be better putting that 37.00 per month into a Grover savings fund. Then you would atleast have something to fall back on if he needs surgery.
In my case I never had insurance on Norbert and he did have to have surgery last year. He was almost 7, the only previous expenses where the normal yearly checkup and shots. Now if the 37 per month was saved for 7 yrs @ 5% I'd have saved approx 3700.00, plenty to cover his surgery.
Just food for thought

I was looking into pet insurance. First of all, with more than one dog, it is pretty expensive. Secondly, there are more exceptions than payments. So, I well understand your frustration with your pet insurance, and the dumb things they put in their exclusions.
I also love your posts with all of the little folks in there! What a pleasant way to express yourself!!
Jane

I tried to lighten it up so that it wouldn't irritate the HECK out of me.

I don't know if it worked or not yet.

Julia

your posts with all your tiny people....It makes my day:) sounds like my policy.