| Date Submitted: | October 16, 2009 |
| Pet Insurer: | Veterinary Pet Insurance |
| Coverage: | 1 out of 10 |
| Claims: | 1 out of 10 |
| Customer Service: | 1 out of 10 |
| Cost: | 1 out of 10 |
| Recommend: | No |
| Review: | BUYER BEWARE---JUST SAY NO TO VPI!!!! Buyer Beware---Stay Away!!!! It is hard to even give this company 1 star. Is there one less? Before you purchase Insurance with VPI Pet Ins, check reviews and complaints on the Internet Complaint Boards, your state's Insurance Commissioner, Attorney General, and or the California Better Business Bureau, for which they are currently members. In the least, be sure you read ALL the exclusions, limitations and terms in their policy. They have an extremely broad "pre-existing" clause that favors the Company against the Insured in the policy which excludes any condition for which symptoms "manifest" prior to effective date, (even if it is during the waiting period and after you have applied for the coverage) I am not a competitor. I am a victim. These are the facts. Our family incurred an unexpected catastrophic loss, thousands and thousands of dollars when we acquired a brand new 9 week old puppy that became ill. They paid a few hundred dollars, and then found exclusions, on top of exclusions and pre-existing denials to deny the remaining thousands of dollars. You should also know that their benefits reimburse on a fee schedule--this means every medical condition (if it is not already excluded in the policy) has a cap, that are very low in comparison to the cost of our veterinary care. In other words, you could incur $2,000.00 for just one condition, and be reimbursed $200.00 because that is the limit in policy for that condition. It does not matter that that hospital charged you $2,000.00. Did I mention deductibles yet? They apply too. In these difficult economic times, be sure you spend your insurance premium dollars wisely. You usually only will get one chance do choose the best Insurer for your beloved pet, just like people. Because if your pet gets sick under the coverage of their policy, they do not pay, and then you try to get new Insurance, your pet will most likely be denied coverage for preexisting conditions or worse, not accepted at all for coverage by a new carrier. Best Advice: Get a good referral from friends, neighbors, someone you trust. And see what other people and governing agencies have to say about them, especially VPI insurance. History repeats itself. Don't be fooled by a nice customer service sales person, or the fact they have been in business a long time. The questions that matters most is "Will you be abandoned when you need them most---at claim time, when an unexpected illness or injury befalls your beloved pet?" "Will you be given the benefit of the doubt if there is one?" I am not trying to retaliate against VPI, nor am I disgruntled. I blame myself for avoiding taking the time to do these things. And now I am wholeheartedly trying to help others. Do yourself this favor--read reviews, and do your research. It's all out there plain and simple. I hope the same thing does not happen to you, that happened to our family. Yes, it takes time and work to do the research and choose prudently. But the thousands of dollars we had to scrape together from life savings in these hard economic times, were more devastating, than taking a few minutes of our time to research VPI before we purchased the policy. If you still decide to purchase VPI pet insurance despite this fair warning, and after you have done your research I wish you, your family and your beloved pet, and your savings account the best of luck. |
| Submitted by: | Edward 42 year-old :: Male Reviewer :: L.A. CA. |
2 comments for this review
| Comment by: Mark Logan From: Brooklyn, New York January 18th, 2010 |
You are so right. Pet insurance can be such a scam. If I were you I would look into 'Pet Assure.'WWW.PetAssure.com Its a company that helps you out financially with your pet with out being an insurance! |
| Comment by: Greg Trinkle From: Atlanta, GA April 27th, 2010 |
I completely agree with you. I had the same issue. VPI tells you have all this coverage but the Reimbursement fees are realistically (Based on my policy) about 10% to 50% of the true cost you will get reimbursed. I was lucky, I found the Fee Structure VPI uses the hard way, but was for a small amount. But I feel I was taken advantage of for the year+ I was on this. I did not realize that my $9,500 in coverage was bogus. You see many complaints of people who get $4,000 type bills but only get a small percentage back due to the VPI Fee schedule. There are many who won’t find out about this if/until their pet has a situation. They don’t know that there coverage up to limit is bogus. I wonder if there is any sort of movement to get a class action suit going. Not that I expect my money back. I would volunteer my time to make calls, due surveys of vet fees. I want justice. |
|
|
Related Sites & Information |
|