Everyone wants to know secrets and with a title like Banfield Pet Insurance Secrets Revealed you’re bound to take a look right? I know I would be and especially if you’re either looking to find a new insurance plan for your puppy or if you’re already a customer with the Banfield company.
Before I dive into this article I would like to make it absolutely clear that I am in no way associated with the Banfield pet hospital and I have nothing against the as a company.
What I would want to talk about in this article is that fact that Banfield is not a pet insurance company like the many you probably already know the names of such as Tesco, ASPCA and VPI. All of these are regular insurance companies which mean that they live from providing you as a pet owner some level of security to that when your pet gets sick or has an accident then you’ll be able to pay for the bills from the vet or from the pet hospital.
The Banfield pet insurance is a totally different thing as it has nothing to do with what we know of as a normal insurance. What they do is provide you with a wellness plan for you (and your pet) to follow in order to keep your pet as healthy as possible. As you probably already know a good health will give you a good immune system which can fight off illnesses and your pet will most likely not get sick that often.
Besides keeping your pet from getting sick as often you will also find that a good health with good bone structure and a healthy muscle mass will have your pet recover faster if it is in an injury than it would otherwise.
So can your call the Banfield pet insurance for an “insurance”? Well I guess it depends on how you look at it. You’ll not be a 100% certain that your pet won’t get ill or that it won’t have a hard time recovering from both an illness and an injury but if that was the criteria then would “insurance” even exist? From the many comments on this blog you can see that a lot of pet owners that have signed with regular pet insurance companies hasn’t received what they expected from their pet insurance companies so I guess that we can say that even though it is a little different, the Banfield pet insurance options will probably provide an equal end result.
14 responses so far ↓
1 Catherine // Aug 25, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I am currently doing research on insurance options for my new dog and am torn between a wellness plan versus a policy for accidents and injuries. These “pets” are so much a part of our life why can’t they/we expect more??
From: Catherine, Boss, Gibbs, Drain-O, Cephra and Snuggles
2 Cynthia // Aug 29, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Hi,
I had two dogs on a wellness plan with Banfield. From my experience, a wellness plan is similar to financing medical expeneses for your pet. I don’t know much about pet insurance but I lost both dogs, one because the Banfield wellness plan would not cover the dog’s leg amputation and I could not afford the thousands of dollars out of pocket. My other dog was hit by a car and died. The dilemna I am having with Banfield is that I am still paying a monthly fee for two dogs that I no longer have for another 8 months! I just got another dog! I tried to talk to Banfiled about working with me in transferring at least one of the wellness plans to the new dog, and the would not listen.They said the plans are not transferrable. At least cut me some kind of deal! So I will not be getting anymore wellness plans with Banfield! So I hope this is of any help to anyone.
3 JoAnn // Sep 4, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Banfield covers standard shots and dental cleaning (with the plus plan). When I take my dog in for his annual shots, it’s like taking my car to the dealer for an oil change … you’ll end up with a laundry list of items that they want you to fix! I’ve learned to ask the vet for a prescription and buy the medication online for MUCH CHEAPER. Banfield sucks but at least my dog is healthy.
4 doglover2b // Sep 14, 2009 at 5:43 pm
cynthia i feel your pain. i had a situation like that with banfield, where i had to continue paying for a cat i didn’t have.
5 Becks // Sep 16, 2009 at 7:35 pm
We had the wellness plan for out last dog. It did cover his visit when he ingested rat poison, and the out of pocket was only $40 at the time for his meds. However, when he got sick a few years later nothing was covered. There was even a cost for them to check him because his illness was not covered. Fortunately we were able to cancel the plan immediately after he died. I am currently looking into other plans for my new puppy and I will not be going with Banfield.
6 Martha // Sep 21, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I had a plan with Banfield, which worked well (shots and regular check ups) until I really needed it. My dog got cancer and they didn’t cover it. I ended up paying to an independent pet hospital more than $10K for my dog’s treatment. My little one died and some months after I still was paying Banfield for the nothing at all,
7 Angelique // Sep 23, 2009 at 10:35 am
My dog has had the bansfield wellness plan that I have paid for 12 years, but now that the dog is sick nothing is covered. Don’t waste your money on the plan.
8 wendy // Sep 23, 2009 at 2:50 pm
You are not buying insurance, it is a WELLNESS plan. You are buying a package of services that are greatly discounted; vaccines, visits, etc… You also have the benefit of paying for these services monthly therefore, helping a lot of families pay for essential preventative care. You have to look into pet insurance companies to cover illness, not the wellness plan. Check a private practice price for preventative care, add it all up and compare the difference. You will think different of the wellness plan if you understand it.
9 susan // Sep 26, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Thanks for the info, My neighbor just got the Banfield for his new pup, With all this good info, I wont be using Benfield for my new pup.
10 F. Taylor // Nov 10, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I know your frustration I had my blue-chihuahua on the wellness plan, it sucks,my dog became ill and we payed for x-rays and etc, out of our pockets and they said they did not know what was wrong with him, they knew he had loss weight, stopped eating, diarreah, vomit a little, fever,head shaking when I got back home, they did not even care,finally, he died, sometimes they have even told us this visit is free on the wellness plan and we still ended up coming out of our pockets, sometimes I think they give dogs shots that they don’t really need just want money, all they interested in is getting your dog fixed, I will not get anymore insurance with them.
11 Angelique // Nov 12, 2009 at 11:18 am
I posted a comment while my dog was sick. Took him to Bansfield and got this story of how his anal glands were swollen and he had an eye infection, fever and they had to run all these test,etc for over $500.00. It was so obvious that my dog had something seriously wrong. I dont feel my dog was given the proper care and needless to say he had become so ill that he was suffering and I had to have him put down to sleep. I was told by the animal hospital that put him down that he had cancer. I wonder why Bansfield couldnt tell me that. I cancelled my plan with no problems, but then again I had paid on the plan for 12 years and thousands of dollars later. All in all you will not get the care and attention your pets need there. I have searched other plans for our other dog, but think I just might set up a seperate savings account and put the monthly fee in the account to cover wellness visits and emergencies.
I did find comfort in how All Heavenly Creatures pet crematory handled our baby Chip. I miss my Chip, we had him when he was first born so he was like our child.
12 Mark // Dec 29, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I have been using Banfield for about 15 years. We have saved THOUSANDS on routine visits and the ‘balancing’ monthly payments make shots and visits palatable. However, over this past weekend, our dog went ‘lame’; he lost the use of his hind legs. The Banfield vet is trying to solve this issue medically, but the cost is only partially covered (about $200.00 out of pocket). However, the vet said that there is a strong possibility that this neurological issue will requrie “specialized care” not available through Banfield. The potential cost, upward of $6K, is prohibitive. Although our dog is very special to us, the only option, if he does not improve over the next 48 hours, is to have him put down… and he is only 7-8 years old (he was a rescued dog).
The bottom line is that the basic wellness plan is great (balancing the normal annual costs over the year), a VPI-type supplemental plan is also necessary.
13 Stuart Elliott // Jan 13, 2010 at 7:59 am
I’ve been using Banfield for about 8 years already. They have been nothing but great. When my first dog was diagnosed with a tissue cancer in his mouth (and yes it was a Banfield Vet who diagnosed), our Banfield Vet was there for us throughout the whole ordeal doing everything possible to help us understand. When we decided to put our dog to sleep, it was the humane thing to do and even our Banfield Vet shared our tears. I called the main number to Banfield and they, without any hesitation, canceled our plan and told us when we were ready to get another dog to call them up and we could pick up the plan at the same cost. 5 weeks later we did just that. Banfield has been a cost saving, helpful wellness plan that I recommend to all my friends who have pets.
14 John // Jan 26, 2010 at 1:59 pm
My problem is not with the vets or their staff, my problem is with Banefield itself. I paid cash for their insurance and was told that I could take my pet to any Benfield around the country; I travel a lot so this is why I bought. I paid in full for my “insurance” contract with Benfield in the Mobile store and had my pet looked at by the Vet, no problem, that day. I had my pet see the vet in Jacksonville Fla for some shots and stuff, No problem. Then went back to Mobile, where I bought the contract, and had my dog in for some shots, they said she needed, after the vet and staff saw her and gave the shots they wanted to charge me because I had been out of state? So this store got the Corporate on the phone and they said anytime you go to another Benfield you move the contract to the new store and I now have to pay a renewal fee to the new location to buy another year of the contract. Even though I had 6 months left in my contract, I was being forced to buy another contract for another year after they worked on my pet. I reviewed my contract with Benfield and do not see this anywhere in the contract. So here’s how it is to date, I bought this one year contract in Mobile and now 6 months later, to have them see my pet under the “insurance” contract, I have to buy another year of the contract, sounds like a scam, each time to take your dog in to have something done you have to renew your one year contract even though I have 6 months left on the contract I bought here in Mobile. Ask your store about this scam before you buy the “insurance” contract! To date no one has offered anything to settle this problem just for me to pay for a new year again for the things that are covered in the “contract” that is still in force!
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