Pet insurance?

Mommabird

New member
Feb 8, 2018
4
0
Parrots
Female Electus Parrot
Green Cheek Conure
Have you guys tried out Nationwide (VIP) insurance? I've been seriously considering getting it for my GCC and Ekkie and would really appreciate some opinions on it.
 
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SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
Pet Insurance is worthless if your Certified Avian Vet (CAV) does not work with the Insurer you choose!

The best place to start is your Avian Vet's Clinic Manager. Different Clinics will use different titles, but its the individual that handles the money! And, that person will know what 'if any' Insurance companies they work with.

It is well worth your time to talk to that person regarding what in-house Customer Help and/or 'Plans' they offer! Example: Pre-Payment Services Plans.

The fact of life is that Insurance Companies are in business to make a profit and insurance is one of the best profit heavy organizations out there. I am not advising you one way or the other, but over the years, I have found that the Programs and/or Plans provided by 'most' Avian Clinics are far more Customer based then the other options. But, that just my two cents regarding this.
 

Jottlebot

Member
Aug 29, 2012
507
14
Shropshire, UK
Parrots
Orange-winged Amazon - RIP Charlie,
Spock - Common Mynah,
McCoy - Alexandrine
It's amazing how different insurance is in different countries. Are you in the US? In the UK it's you who have the agreement with the insurance company so a vet can't refuse to work with them! They might not accept payment directly from the insurance company so you might have to pay upfront or arrange a payment plan, but this wouldn't make the insurance policy useless.
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
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Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
For most people, it's usually best to start up a savings account for their birds, open up a credit card specifically for vet bills *OR* get Care Credit.

For some, pet insurance is worth it. They can, unfortunately, be very picky about what they do and don't cover when it comes to bird care... it's much easier apparently if you are going for dog or cat insurance.
 

LeslieA

New member
Aug 21, 2018
554
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Parrotian Castle
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Glenn, IRN; Sherman, WCP; JoJo, budgie; Tommy, budgie; Daytona, Sunday; Sir Lancelot, GCC; Duchess, BCC; Chirps, GRP (Green-rumped Parrotlet)
Talk to your AV. There are many options. Pet insurance may not cover what you assume it will. Even better, you're AV isn't obligated to accept it.
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
If you can find a Pet-Insurance in the US that is worthwhile, please let us know, because I know that myself and many others on this forum have looked into all of the major ones available throughout the years (Nationwide is really the only major one still in existence), and none of them have even been close to worth the cost of the premium, at least not for birds or reptiles.

The first step is always verifying that your CAV/Avian Specialist accepts the insurance you're looking into, and if they don't, then ask them if they accept ANY pet insurance, and if so, which ones. And then research each individual insurance plan.

Unfortunately, in the United States, when it comes to pet insurance, what you're going to find is that it's never worth the premium at all, especially when the pet you have is not a dog or a cat. There used to be a lot of different pet insurance companies out there (up until the last few years when they all went out of business), and what I always found with all of them was that they had plans that covered the most common, routine procedures and treatments that would only apply to dogs and cats, such as vaccinations, neuters and spays, etc. When it came to the emergent, expensive things, like surgery, x-rays, blood-work and other lab testing, etc., none of them covered anything, or they wouldn't cover anything until you personally paid-in a certain amount of the bill, which was at least $1-2K, and then at that point they would pick up the rest of the bill...

Now, the only major pet insurance company in the US is the Nationwide one that you're talking about, and again, for birds, reptiles, rodents, primates, marsupials, etc., everyone that I've known that has looked into it has decided that it wasn't worth it at all, as once again, it doesn't cover anything at all that pertains to birds or other "exotic" pets, and the only time that it would become worth the price of the premium is if something very serious were to happen to your bird, and it only kicks-in after you personally pay out of pocket a very large amount...So as a result, I don't know of a single person who has looked into it for their birds or reptiles that has opted to get it. Not one.

Usually what most people do is either use their Vet's in-house payment plans (if they offer them), or their in-house insurance (if they offer it), or they simply take out a credit card that is only for pet health/medical emergencies...You're much, much, much better off taking out a regular old credit card for this, even if it's at 21% or higher, than using Care-Credit, as Care-Credit is actually considered an "unsecured personal loan", which means that there is no cap on the APR, and I think that the typical CareCredit rate, regardless of your credit score, is around 28%! Now CareCredit is great if your credit is bad and you can't get approved for a regular credit card, because they are much more lenient about approving people with bad credit than the credit card companies are. So CareCredit definitely has it's place. But if you have even mediocre to bad credit, you can usually still get approved for a $1,000 credit card at a lower rate than CareCredit is...So that's typically the way to go if you have no cash flow...

Or, the better option, as already mentioned, is to start right now saving up a fund that is not to be touched except for your pet's medical needs. Just throw in either a set amount each paycheck, or even just throwing in whatever you can throw in whenever you can, it really does add-up. Hell, I have a huge change jar thing that I decided last year to take to the bank and put through the change-couting machine, it was the place that I tossed all of my change when I walked in the house (I have it right by the inside of the door), and it had over $500 in it! So there ya go, that paid for all 4 of my guy's wellness exams that year!
 

Karlys

New member
Apr 11, 2018
62
0
For our family, it seems worth it and we just signed up a few days ago. It's going to be $28 a month to cover our cockatiel and two bearded dragons. (It would've only been $11.50 a month for just Skye and it's $8.65 per beardie.)

There's a $50 copay and they cover up to $2,000 per incident and $7,000 a year. Yes, we'd have to pay the vet upfront but getting reimbursed is better than nothing. Another "minor" $200 vet visit for an infection would be trouble on us financially right now, so this is much more manageable.
 

lplummer52

Member
Apr 19, 2016
386
13
Indialantic, FL
Parrots
"Birdie". Sun Conure
It’s fabulous. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You can put in claims online. I have it for both my dogs and Birdie. Great insurance. Saved big bucks with this insurance.
 

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