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Recommendations for cat insurance in the USA and elsewhere? (self.cat)

submitted 10 months ago by nowwhatnapster to c/cat

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Polling the community here. Please share your experience with pet insurance providers in the USA. The good, the bad and the in-between. If not from the USA, please list the country.

Do they accept older cats? Recently adopted cats from a shelter? Preexisting conditions? How much is the premium? Etc.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

This is kind of long, but hopefully it'll help you out.

I've used Healthy Paws, and I currently have Embrace.

I was very happy with Healthy Paws. I did a ton of research before going with it. I adopted a 6-month-old kitten, and it turned out he had a congenital heart defect. I got him the best care from the best local cardiologists. He lived a relatively long, happy, pain-free life. And I got back MANY thousands of dollars over the years. Not once did they ever give me any hassle. The app was great. The customer service was excellent, and everyone I talked to on the phone was very knowledgeable. Plus, they were all animal people, so they always seemed happy I was getting him good care.

Unlike most pet insurances, Healthy Paws has no annual maximum. Because of that, over the years, as he got older, premiums started to go up significantly. I still got back way more than I paid into it.

Now, I have a different cat. I got him when he was tiny, and I went with Embrace. I'd heard great things about Embrace, and because it has a $1500/year cap, premiums don't increase quite as much as with Healthy Paws. (And in the past, I'd never come close to spending that much in over year.)

And my cat has an autoimmune condition. (What're the odds I'd have two on a row with big medical bills?)

Embrace is good, but it's not AS good as Healthy Paws was.

The Embrace app is just okay, though it works most of the time. Customer service is just a little less knowledgeable. I had trouble with one of his early claims - but only with that one claim. For example, he just had a $5000 set of biopsies, and I expect to get 90% of it back.

If I had to do it again, would I have stuck with Healthy Paws? I don't know, honestly. I miss their customer service, but I know it would've cost more over time.

I used to work for a major insurance company, so I understand how insurance works. I'm a fringe case, most folks won't make as many expensive claims as I have. And I happily pay to insure my other cat, too, even though I've never had to file one claim for her.

Happy to answer more specifics about the plans, too, if it'd help you.