Pet insurance

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heavenlywild

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#864053 23-Jul-2013 08:14

BTR: Have just insured a dog with Ellenco, have had to make a claim yet and hopefully won't ever have to. We have two cats as well but they aren't insured as being indoor cats mostly they are less likely to be injured IMHO.

The top reason for cat insurance claims is that they often get involved in fights.

Did you get a 10% discount with Ellenco? I googled and found this page but have no idea what the promo code is:
http://www.ellenco.co.nz/healthypetsconditions

tripp

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#864071 23-Jul-2013 08:37

Best thing i did for my cat was get insurance.
I have the Jade plan from ellenco.co.nz

So it cost me around $23 a month, I pay for the first $100.

Had it for about 5 years so about $1400 I have paid to them.

So far I have had to put in 2 claims, 1 for around $800 - $900 (paid out and this was about 8 months after i got the insurance) and another for $500 (paid out earlier this year).
Both from when i had to take him to after hours vet (and they cost a lot)

It's nice being able to go to the vets and not worry about how much it will cost, Just put it on the credit card and know it will only cost me $100, does take them a few weeks to pay you back however (between 4 and 6 weeks).

When I first got the insurance I had a bit of debt so there would have been no way I could have spent $900 on him.

heavenlywild

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#864072 23-Jul-2013 08:42

mrtoken: Best thing i did for my cat was get insurance.
I have the Jade plan from ellenco.co.nz

So it cost me around $23 a month, I pay for the first $100.

Had it for about 5 years so about $1400 I have paid to them.

So far I have had to put in 2 claims, 1 for around $800 - $900 (paid out and this was about 8 months after i got the insurance) and another for $500 (paid out earlier this year).
Both from when i had to take him to after hours vet (and they cost a lot)

It's nice being able to go to the vets and not worry about how much it will cost, Just put it on the credit card and know it will only cost me $100, does take them a few weeks to pay you back however (between 4 and 6 weeks).

When I first got the insurance I had a bit of debt so there would have been no way I could have spent $900 on him.

Thanks for your feedback. Paying back between 4-6 weeks is quite a long time. I guess the important thing is that the claims process is easy, and that they don't make it too hard to get your money back.

tripp

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#864073 23-Jul-2013 08:50

heavenlywild:
mrtoken: Best thing i did for my cat was get insurance.
I have the Jade plan from ellenco.co.nz

So it cost me around $23 a month, I pay for the first $100.

Had it for about 5 years so about $1400 I have paid to them.

So far I have had to put in 2 claims, 1 for around $800 - $900 (paid out and this was about 8 months after i got the insurance) and another for $500 (paid out earlier this year).
Both from when i had to take him to after hours vet (and they cost a lot)

It's nice being able to go to the vets and not worry about how much it will cost, Just put it on the credit card and know it will only cost me $100, does take them a few weeks to pay you back however (between 4 and 6 weeks).

When I first got the insurance I had a bit of debt so there would have been no way I could have spent $900 on him.

Thanks for your feedback. Paying back between 4-6 weeks is quite a long time. I guess the important thing is that the claims process is easy, and that they don't make it too hard to get your money back.

I think the long pay out time was because they were changing systems as they had just been purchased by a big insurance company.
Claim process is easy, full in a form, attached the work done and invoice (work done shows on the invoice normally) and sent it off. I called them about 2 weeks later to see that they got everything and they told me the payment would be made in a couple of weeks (I think they might just have a monthly payment run or something).

Was not to worried as I just put on the credit card and as no interest is charged for a month or so then it was all good :)

JamesL

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#864081 23-Jul-2013 09:15

Might look into Ellenc. I see they're underwritten by Southern Cross who I've had no problem with my own medical insurance claims, not that the two are correlated but anyway.

We have 3 indoor cats, whilst the likelihood if injury is slim sickness is the main one for me

heavenlywild

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#864084 23-Jul-2013 09:25

JamesL: Might look into Ellenc. I see they're underwritten by Southern Cross who I've had no problem with my own medical insurance claims, not that the two are correlated but anyway.

We have 3 indoor cats, whilst the likelihood if injury is slim sickness is the main one for me

Yeah, it's cheap as chips really for cats. I've just signed up to Ellenco's Base Plan.

Use the promo code "SC Healthy Pets" for a 10% discount - valid until 1 August 2013.

JamesL

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#864111 23-Jul-2013 10:22

Sweet, thanks

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Klipspringer

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#864120 23-Jul-2013 10:36

Have a friend with a dog that has just had a hip replacement.

I'm not sure if the pet insurance covered the whole lot, but it did cover a considerable amount.
My mate says that if it was not for the pet insurance they would have had to put their dog down. So obviously now they swear by it.

TechSol

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#864123 23-Jul-2013 10:41

My cat has been insured with Ellenco since 2009.... had one claim to date for about 800 bucks.... no issues with them paying out from what I remember

dpw

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#864234 23-Jul-2013 13:15

We have 2 (3?) cats and 3 dogs insured with Ellenco - no problems with payouts at all.

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mattwnz

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#864238 23-Jul-2013 13:23

heavenlywild:
mattwnz:
heavenlywild:
mattwnz: Why not self insure, by putting aside the money into a bank account? The only thing I have had to take cats to the vet for are bad abyss, where they got into a fight with the neighbors cat.

Hey mate, how much did your vet charge to remove the abscess?

Depends if they just give it antibiotics, or install a drain. Can be 200-300 for an abscess removal and drain.

We were charged $350 for two fairly large abscesses, an overnight stay, and minor surgery to remove the dead skin, and the installation of a drain.

Reasonable?

This is the reason why I am thinking about pet insurance so if this happens again I would be covered.

You are unlikely to be covered with insurance I was told by my vet, because it would be a known problem. We used to have one cat that kept biting our other one, and it kept getting them, so we thought it would be a good idea too, but the vet said that the insurance company would quickly pick that up, and either premiums would increase or it would get excluded as a known problem. If you catch a bite quickly enough, you can often stop them turning into one using special cream, or antibiotics, which is less than $100. The other thing is you probably need to look into why they are fighting. In our case it was too dominent males. We have since now just got a male and female and they don't do it. And in case you are wondering, the biter was given to a family member to live by itself. It was also biting electrical cables, and eatting anything fabric, so it was an expensive cat.

pctek

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#864803 24-Jul-2013 08:33

Scam....geez, what's she the anti-sales dept?

I had pet insurance for years with my cats.
Never had a problem with claims ever.

There are usually a choice of plans, how much cover you want etc.

They normally stop covering your cat when it's a bout 14 years old - check that, different companies have different ages.

They also don't normally cover dental.

Other than that, it's a great idea.

BTR

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#864918 24-Jul-2013 11:05

heavenlywild:
BTR: Have just insured a dog with Ellenco, have had to make a claim yet and hopefully won't ever have to. We have two cats as well but they aren't insured as being indoor cats mostly they are less likely to be injured IMHO.

The top reason for cat insurance claims is that they often get involved in fights.

Did you get a 10% discount with Ellenco? I googled and found this page but have no idea what the promo code is:
http://www.ellenco.co.nz/healthypetsconditions

After learning this the hard way with one of ours multiple times they are both locked inside at night now. Yes it means you have a have a litter box inside but thats no big issue.

Elpie

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#865479 25-Jul-2013 02:07

I signed up with Pet n Sure after they gave a free 30-day cover when we first got our dog. We were within that 30 days when we had the first claim and they settled promptly. I didn't bother to shop around at that point.

I wanted my dog to get to full bone growth before she was spayed but fate had other ideas. Her first heat was a split heat and she developed pyometra during the second stage, necessitating emergency surgery & spaying. That payout covered the first year's premium three times over. Now in the second year we have again had an emergency situation, necessitating six days in intensive care. We haven't had the payout for that yet but it is likely to be substantial. Pet n Sure gives us back 80% of covered costs.

This is the first time I've taken out pet insurance and its certainly paying for itself. Taking it out as soon as you get a new pet means that there are no conditions imposed for pre-existing health issues (unless the baby pet has congenital issues). I wish I'd had it for my last dog as she ended up costing thousands.

AppleJackXD

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#868471 30-Jul-2013 13:09

Cool i might get my cat insured than she will become "SUPER SPECIAL" :D

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