PetPlan Pet Insurance, the world’s oldest veterinary insurance provider, covers both cats and dogs. Over 1 million pet owners have Petplan policies. They provide guaranteed life-time coverage, offer treatment for alternative therapies like acupuncture, and cover hereditary conditions, which most other plans exclude. Additionally, PetPlan does not impose dollar or time limits per condition—meaning your limits are fully reinstated each year, regardless of previous claims. Choose from $50, $100, or $200 deductible (the higher the deductible, the lower your monthly payment).

Petplan Review

Rating: 10

Our review process starts with calling each of the insurance providers over the telephone and then, we gather quotes for these three pet profiles:

• A 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier named Jax
• A 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel named Max
• An 8-year old female mixed breed cat named Fluffy

After the pre-recorded message picked up, I waited for a pet insurance adviser for six minutes. The recording repeatedly suggested I leave a message instead of waiting. I finally got a representative on the phone, but my call was disconnected. After waiting again for eight minutes, Fabrice took my call. It was well worth the wait.

He informed me that Petplan is the number one rated pet insurance company in the United States, and the world’s largest pet insurance company, covering over a million pets. It got a lot more interesting when he explained why they do not cover routine care: as offered by other pet insurance companies, it’s a scam. Most of them consider the pet’s breed and size and then charge what the average annual veterinary bills cost for the first year of a pet’s life. Since the first year is the most expensive, people generally break even, and possibly come out ahead after meeting the annual deductible on year one. When the policy renews, however, policy holders often pay more in premiums than they’ll use on their pet’s health care. According to Fabrice, you’d be better served to put the money in a savings account—at least then, it will accrue interest.

Although this may have been a well-oiled sales pitch, I must admit I was impressed with his knowledge, as well as the time he took in explaining the industry.

THE PLANS/QUOTES

Fabrice told me you get a 5% discount when you order your policy online and an additional 10% multi-pet discount on each one after the most expensive (reflected in the quotes below). You can choose from three deductible options—$50, $100, or $200—and three levels of reimbursement—80%, 90%, or 100%. I chose a $100 deductible and 90% coverage.

For the 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier:

• Bronze $8,000 annual coverage: $391 annually or $33/month
• Silver $12,000 annual coverage: $438 annually or $37/month
• Gold $20,000 annual coverage: $489 annually or $41/month

For the 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel:

• Bronze $8,000 annual coverage: $824 annually or $69/month
• Silver $12,000 annual coverage: $922 annually or $77/month
• Gold $20,000 annual coverage: $1,029 annually or $86/month

For the 8-year old female mixed breed:

• Bronze $8,000 annual coverage: $276 annually or $27/month
• Silver $12,000 annual coverage: $294 annually or $25/month
• Gold $20,000 annual coverage: $312 annually or $26/month

I asked what the difference would be if I wanted 100% reimbursement just to get an idea. For Fluffy, it brought the rates up about $30 more on every level.

THE DETAILS

Fabrice said they are working on their own version of routine care—something more ethical than the current industry standard—that they will roll out in the next few months. All plans cover hereditary and congenital conditions and illnesses for the pet’s entire life. Pre-existing conditions are not covered. The only difference with the plan levels is how much coverage your pet gets annually. There are not caps for injury, illness, or for the plan’s lifetime. With Petplan there are no hidden ceilings, like with other companies. Rates increase based on veterinary inflationary costs, and there are sometimes age adjustments. However, they never go up based solely on claim activity. File as many claims as you need to; you won’t be penalized. You can pay your premiums monthly, quarterly, or annually.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite my first impression after the long hold time, I was very satisfied with both the customer service and the information provided. In making my choice, I will consider the following:

Pros:

• Petplan has been around for 30 years and is the world’s largest pet insurance provider.
• With three options for deductibles, coverage, and plan level, the policies are highly flexible.
• Hereditary conditions are covered with no dollar or time limits.
• Petplan covers chronic conditions for life as long as you keep renewing the plan with no break in coverage.
• Alternative therapies are covered.
• The multi-pet discount is 10%—and you can get that on top of the 5% online discount.
• Customer reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

Cons:

• Petplan does not currently cover routine care (but that should soon change).
• Other customer reviews indicate specialist care requires a 30% co-pay regardless of how you customize your plan.

To purchase a Petplan policy, visit them online or call 1-866-467-3875.

Tags: PetPlan Pet Insurance