As I normally do I want to give you a review of as many pet insurance company websites as I possibly can and today I go through the Banfield Pet Insurance website with you. If you want to visit their website you can do so by clicking here. Before I get started with the review I would like to state that I have no relationship to Banfield and I am not associated with them in any way.
Banfield Pet Hospital
From their website we can see that they have been in business since 1955 which means that they have more than 50 years of experience in the pet industry and without digging any deeper into what they are all about that should at least give them some credibility as nobody stays in business for more than half a century without having a happy customer base. That is an important observation to make as we sometimes see that new business are creating a great buzz and then they disappear in just a year or two. As we generally expect to have our pet for more than a year or two we’ll like the insurance company to stay around for a long time as well. In addition it is almost certain that the Banfield VET staff is also highly educated people.
Main Page Options
From the entry page we’re able to subscribe to their email newsletter. This isn’t something new but what is lacking is an explanation as to what it is that we’re actually subscribing to. It doesn’t say whether it is about keeping your pet healthy or whether it is about the Banfield Pet Insurance business and how their sales numbers are evolving. That could definitely be improved quite a bit. The second thing that I found a bit odd was that you are asked to enter your company name. Does this mean that the newsletters are meant for corporate people that have their own company or at least work for one? If you had asked me I would have assumed that the newsletters were for pet owners but I must be mistaken.
The Banfield Newsletter
I decided to sign up anyway and within a minute or two I received an email to confirm my request. Now that is the way an email newsletter signup should work but even after receiving the mail and having a look at the confirmation page I still don’t know what it is that I can expect to receive.
But let us go back to the main page again. The page’s right side is divided into two categories. One is the three current news articles and the other is the four major sections of their website.
One thing that I can help to notice is that nowhere on the front page is stated anything about Banfield Pet Insurance or even anything about insurance in general for that matter. But from the main four sections we might be able to locate something about it.
The Four Major Sections
The site is divided into sections called “Your Pet’s Health”, “Locations”, “Careers/Practice Ownership” and “About Us”. From the view of a pet owner the sections about careers and about Banfield seem rather irrelevant. Sure it would be nice to know more about them and if that is what we want we can click the about us link but currently we’re trying to locate something about pet insurance options.
I believe that it would be a fair guess to assume that anything about insurance ought to be found in the section called “Your Pet’s Health” as the “Locations” section will merely be a bunch of addresses and phone numbers. It is relevant information but not what we’re currently looking for. In the end it might come in handy because we might have to call them up if we can’t find the information about their pet insurance.
The Pet Health Section
Entering the section about pet health we don’t seem to find that much. It is another page with a newsletter form and then a few paragraphs claiming Banfield veterinarians to provide exceptional pet care. They write about their “Optimal Wellness Plans”, but still nothing about pet insurance. However we would all agree that being well is the preferred options as to being ill and needing insurance coverage.
From the page we are again provided with three options. We can choose between the “Dog Health”, the “Cat Health” and the “Optimal Wellness Plan”. Neither the dog health section nor the cat health section says anything about Banfield pet insurance. The dog section talks a little about the importance of nutrition, vaccinations, parasite control, spraying and neutering and about having routine checkups.
The cat sections talks about exactly the same things and as a matter of fact the two sections look almost identical in nature.
The Optimal Wellness Plans
Since we have only the optimal wellness plan section left I feel comfortable that we’ll find something in here about pet insurance. However I find to be quickly disappointed. The only thing on the page is information about the importance of keeping your pet healthy and how you can increase your pet’s life with 25% by great preventive care.
Don’t get me wrong here. All of this is VERY important and nobody wants to have anything but a healthy and happy pet but we’re still here to try to find information about insurance and not prevention.
Conclusion: No Banfield Pet Insurance
So here we are after surfing their website we still come up empty handed. We have found pages about pet health and why it is important but even though I have surfed through all the other pages of their site I couldn’t find even one place where the Banfield pet insurance was mentioned.
Therefore I must come to the conclusion that what might be referred to as the “Banfield Pet Insurance” isn’t really an insurance but rather a “Wellness Plan”. Banfield is committed to giving you the best possible tools and options for keeping your pet as healthy as possible and in the case of illness and injury… well, you have to find your insurance coverage elsewhere.
14 responses so far ↓
1 Must Love Dogs // Apr 24, 2008 at 11:11 am
Hey Mike,
In all my research about pet insurance companies, including going through 10lb reports on pet insurance, I have never seen Banfield listed as a traditional pet insurance company. I think you nailed it, that they have the wellness option that some people might confuse with insurance. Here is an article that explains things a little better http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/la-fi-lazarus16jan16,1,354216.column
2 Mikael // Apr 24, 2008 at 11:40 am
Hi Melissa,
The reason I decided to do this review is that I saw how many people were actually looking for a Banfield Pet Insurance and even though I couldn’t find it I felt that I had to investigate it further before commenting on it.
Even though I am a strong advocate for pet insurance coverage I do fully support the idea of trying to keep your pet as healthy as humanly possible as the best pet insurance there is, is the one that isn’t needed
Therefore I feel that it is a great idea that the Banfield people are focusing on “supporting health” rather than “treating illness”.
Thank you for the link to the article.
3 Kia // Apr 30, 2008 at 11:11 am
Hi,
I have a 5 year old dog with swollen lymph nodes that is more than likely cancer. I have researched for a week now looking for a company that will cover her, since her issues are pre-existing. Is there a company(s) that you can recommend who can help or any method I could use to get her covered?
I am very, very desperate at this point.
Thank You
4 Mikael // Apr 30, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi Kia,
I’m so sorry to hear that and I know why just must feel desperate. Unfortunately I’m not able to guide you in any direction that will solve your problem. Pre-existing conditions are always a problem when it comes to pet insurance and since cancer treatment is very expensive I think you’ll find a hard time finding a company that will cover it.
The best thing you can do is to look for a reason for the insurance company to help you out. Don’t think that they’ll do it because they are good hearted people. They run a company and not a charity business. But it you can show they why they should cover your dog (why = make money from it), then I think you’ll have the best chance of getting it.
However since this solution will most likely be even more costly to you I suggest that you talk to a bank instead and see if they’ll lend you the money to cover the treatment.
I’m sorry that I don’t have any other advice but I really don’t….
5 Sarah // Dec 21, 2008 at 4:11 pm
http://www.banfield.net/optimum-wellness-plans/
This is actually the link that shows you all about the Banfield “pet insurance.” It seems as if Banfield refers to insurance as an optimum wellness plan, because even in reference to our human insurance, its still a plan designed to keep us well. Just like “insurance” this plan is designed to help us live longer, give us recommended comprehensive care at an affordable price, savings on prescription medicines, and the ability to use our insurance at many different providers.
And if the brief explanation of benefits wasn’t good enough, there is an 800 number to call for further information.
So, overall, this introduction to benefits is the same as any other insurance website you may visit.
And yes, I do have this insurance for my dog, and I feel very comfortable knowing that I have a place to go that has such kind trained professionals at my diposal for free, that are there to truly help my loved pet.
6 Mikael // Dec 22, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Hi Sarah, I like that you put the term “pet insurance” in quotes because that shows me that we agree even though some of your comments seems like we don’t.
There is no doubt that what Banfield offers is great but it has nothing to do with insurance. Yes you might argue that with the Banfield plan you pet might not need medical care because it’ll stay healthy forever but we both know that there is no guarantee of that.
You’ll find a great many accident that good nutrition and wellness can help you with. If your cat or dog gets hit by a car, they bite or scratch someone etc. then the Banfield solution will do you know good because it is not an insurance. It’s a wellness plan.
The optimal solution would be to get both the wellness plan and an insurance coverage. But that might be over the top for most pet owners.
7 Debbie Duran // Dec 25, 2008 at 9:22 am
Hi Mikael,
Thanks for that review, I just purchased insurance for my dogs yesterday from VPI Insurance. We took my dogs to Banfield hospital back in November to get their vaccines. This was the first time to go there, i heard it they don’t charge for a doctors visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-4, so i thought well its just vaccines lets do it. My husband took them and when he got back he told me that those people didn’t know what they were doing. When they injected one of my dogs, they pinched the back of the neck to give the shot and she stuck the needle in and it came out the other side and was squirting the medicine out the other end. My husband thought to himself this woman doesn’t know what she is doing. Unfortunately, when she gave our other dog her vaccines she must of hit the spinal cord or something. When we got her home she didn’t want to do anything, but we just thought well she’s probably sore and wants to rest. The next morning she was lying halfway in her kennel and halfway out and couldn’t move anymore. By 10am that morning my husband took her back to Banfield where they said it was a neurological problem. By this time her head was contoured all the way to her back and she was bearing her teeth and also she was seizing by this time. We took her to our regular vet and they said it was neurological and they needed to do a CT scan before they could give us medicine. It was going to cost us about 2500.00 for the hospital stay and the CT scan. Well we spent 1000.00 that day. We didn’t take her to the hospital and we lost her that night. It was very hard to see her suffer. I think Banfield is not a place I will ever take my dogs again. Thanks, Debbie
8 Mikael // Dec 25, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Hi Debbie, I’m so sorry to hear that. Unfortunately I’ve also heard some rather sad stories about VPI as well (see this the comments here: http://www.petinsurancepro.com/vpi-pet-insurance/) but I hope that you’ll have more luck with them.
9 Marie // Jan 2, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Hi, It seems like there are alot of complaints about Banfield on the web, but as you said there must be enough happy pet owners to keep it going 50 years. I take my 5 puppies to the Banfield in Braintree, Ma. and LOVE it!! They have 2 vets that are excellent and caring and all the other staff is GREAT too! They explained in the beginning that it wasn’t an insurance but a Wellness Plan. It saved me a fortune, I had all 5 neutered and it covered all vaccinations ( no charge). I am very happy and recommend it to everyone. Of course, it is obvious that all Banfields aren’t lucky enough to have such wonderful staff. thanks, Marie
10 Mikael // Jan 3, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hi Marie,
It is great to hear that it is not only bad news that people have but that there are also people having great experiences with Banfield. Thanks for sharing.
11 Mary // Jan 5, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I haven’t signed up for Banfield insurance (yes, insurance; so what if it’s named Wellness Plan) yet but have been recommended by people that said it’s amazing…I just got online five minutes ago and had no trouble at all finding what I was looking for. Might it be suggested that you’re a little too critical? There were options for a Puppy plan, a Kitten plan, and an Adult Pet plan. Puppies have a $99.95 starting fee and you pay $18.00 per month for a year; this includes all vaccinations and necessary appointments, though I’m excluding neutering for my puppy. No problem. I’ll let you know if I have troubles once I’ve visited the vet.
12 Mikael // Jan 5, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Hi Mary, it’s always a matter of opinion but I didn’t feel like I were too critical though. But please let us know if you have any good or bad experiences with Banfield.
13 Diane // Jan 7, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I have used Banfield’s WELLNESS PLAN for 13 years. First it was one dog, then I added a cat, then another dog. Then the first dog left for Rainbow Bridge. A little while later I got another dog and put her on the plan. It was NEVER represented as anything more than a WELLNESS PLAN. There are several levels to choose from, from puppy (to include spaying/neutering), to senior dogs. You can get coverage for annual dental cleanings, full blood work up once a year, or twice a year. I have been able to change my plan as my pets age and their needs increase. I HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH THIS COVERAGE. Every vet I have ever had there has been WONDERFUL. It’s disappointing when a vet leaves because they are being transferred “back home,” or something like that, but that can happen anywhere. I love this WELLNESS PLAN because it has helped me manage my veterinary expenses AND get the care for my pets how and when I have needed it. I have saved THOUSANDS of dollars as a result of having these plans!!!
14 Mikael // Jan 8, 2009 at 12:06 am
Welcome Diane. Thank you for leaving your comments about Banfield. It is great to hear what your experiences have been. Thanks for sharing.
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