Comments on: ASPCA Pet Insurance Reviews

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:11:41 +0000

In reply to:
Victoria,
I am very sorry to hear about your case with ASPCA as I am in a VERY similar situation. What steps did you take to contest their decision in order for them to pay on the first surgery??
Thanks for any advice you can provide.
Mark

Mark,
The first thing I did was to appeal ASPCA’s denial–of course, this got me nowhere. The next thing that I did was to file a complaint with my state’s Office of Commissioner of Insurance (OCI). They were the ones to finally get them to pay as per what was promised in my original phone conversation. (It was they who asked me to request a copy of the tape of my original conversation. I hadn’t thought they’d actually give it to me.) The problem was that the entire thing took six months and my dog needed surgery within that time. I had to get an inferior procedure because it was all that I could afford. Unfortunately this procedure (although it is standard for most breeds) did not hold for my jumbo breed dog and so the more expensive procedure was also necessary (the one originally recommended). That’s when I had to take them to court, because the two procedures exceeded my incident limit and my point was that I wouldn’t have needed both procedures if ASPCA had agreed to pay from the beginning as promised.
So my advice is to first file a complaint with your state’s OCI before taking legal action, cuz they might fix everything for you.
Good luck!
Victoria

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:34:06 +0000

Dear Victoria,
Actually, my bill was close to $2,000, so after my deductible, ASPCA paid about half.
Recently, my cat developed thyroid disease,so we’ll see how they reimburse for ongoing blood work and meds. I’ll let you know.
I also have a new pup now, and after hearing all the stories about ASPCA, will be looking into Trupanion or PetPlan USA for her.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:01:05 +0000

Victoria,

I am very sorry to hear about your case with ASPCA as I am in a VERY similar situation. What steps did you take to contest their decision in order for them to pay on the first surgery??

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Mark

By: Victoria

Victoria — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:20:40 +0000

Diane,
I’m sorry, I just now noticed your letter. ASPCA does now have options for continued care (they only offered this on the most expensive plan when I had joined them and never explained that it was not just for long-term/chronic care, but rather for anything that occurred while covered by them), but look at what is being offered very carefully. Please compare other insurance company’s policies. Most do not consider an illness or accident that occurred while covered by them to be pre-existing the following policy period. Your annual incident limit for that continued care with ASPCA is very minimal unless you pay for their most expansive plan. So take how much you’ll be paying for ASPCA’s plan + their continued care and compare it to what other companies charge for their plan alone, which usually includes continued care (make sure to ask about it). Then compare the annual total incident limits for each. If I’m not mistaken, both Trupanion and PetPlan USA have a reasonably large LIFETIME incident limit, which is nice if your pet just has one bad injury-prone year, but otherwise is in good health.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:02:37 +0000

Karen,
Your expenses must not have been more than a few hundred dollars, right? They were good about paying their portion of my dog’s annual physicals and shots, too. These are amounts that most of us, when pressed, can afford. These are not the unforeseen expenses we paid several hundreds of dollars to insure ourselves against. When my dog needed a procedure that required $3,500., up front, ASPCA Pet Health refused to pay any portion of it (even though my policy incident limit was $3,500). THOSE are the sorts of expenses for which one buys insurance.
So it doesn’t impress me that they were willing to pay for…what?…having your dog’s stomach pumped or given charcoal, or whatever. Let’s hope your dog never has any serious problem that will then be considered pre-existing once ASPCA Pet Health drops you because you’re costing them too much (as they did my dog). Heck, unless you took out their ADDITIONAL long term care policy, it will be considered pre-existing to ASPCA your very next policy period!
Try Trupanion or PetPlan USA. I’ve heard the best reviews on both of these. I cannot tell you from personal experience, though, as my dog’s only problem is still the same leg that is now considered pre-existing by her new insurance company (though had we been able to stay with ASPCA it would ALSO have been considered pre-existing with them, even though the problem first arose while covered by them).
I’m sorry if it sounds as though I’m minimizing your pet’s incident, I’m not. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to induce vomiting because my dog ate things she wasn’t supposed to eat (she’s very tall and can grab thing off my counter without standing on her hind legs). Either I’ve learned to be much more careful this past year, or we’ve just been very lucky.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:20:50 +0000

I’ve had only good experience with ASPCA insurance. My dog ate a bunch of Chunky Bars, and wound up at the emergency vet to avoid raisin toxicity.
I was reimbursed 80% of “reasonable” costs (like any health insurance company). Their customer service people were great.
However, if somebody knows of a better plan, I’m all ears.

By: Lorrie

Lorrie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:14:40 +0000

Any of you feel frustrated and want an attorney to write ASPCA a letter on your behalf, please check out my website, for less than $1.2 a day, you can sign up w/ a monthly service, no commitment.

I was recently dropped by VPI after one of my 4 dogs and cat fallen ill, they decided not to allow me to renew, and now the rest of my dogs are too old to get covered under their policy.

I think if more of us take a stance, the insurance co will have to change the policy to accommodate us. Unfortunately, you have no rights in this country if you don’t have legal representation.

By: Diane

Diane — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:03:21 +0000

I’m shopping around for pet insurance and on the ASPCA site I noticed that you have the option of “continuing care”–for an extra $5-6/mo you can get diabetes and other long-term illnesses covered, and it also negates the 180-day waiting period. To the Letter-writers above: did you have this and would they still not honor the claims? Or is this a new thing that they wouldn’t let you buy yet? Would the ASPCA insurance be worthwhile if the continuing care works as it’s described in the brochure, in your opinion? I’ve been looking at VPI and Banfield, too, and I’d appreciate other thoughts or other options.

By: Dr. Jan

Dr. Jan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:39:11 +0000

For those of you who have experienced egregious acts of ,”bad faith” re. ASPCA Pet Health Ins., please phone the CEO of ASPCA (the org. in NY, not the ins. co., complain to him, (Edwin Sayres) about your problems and follow up with appropriate complaints in writing. Sayres’ info is; 212-876-7700, Edwin Sayres, CEO,ASPCA, 424 E. 92nd St., NY, NY

By: Patty

Patty — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:19:16 +0000

Your story is heartbreaking. I’ve been with ASPCA since 2007 and have had on edissappointment after another. One of my Vizsals was diagnosed with Doabetes 2 months before our policy was to renew so now it’s considered preexisting and they cover nothing. They have also managed to tie any other treatments or diagnosis back to teh diabetes and will not cover as they are a secondary manifestation of the Diabetes. I’m so disgusted with them. Not to mention out thousands. I like you am in the exact situation I was trying to prevent by going with what I thought was a reputable company with a legacy of advocacy for all animals. I hate to place blame on the ASPCA because they don’t run the company but in a disjointed way I see them as cause for a lot of heartache for so many animal lovers trying to care for their companions.