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4 Tips for Finding the Best Pet Insurance for Your Dog

The American Kennel Club did a comprehensive study that showed a range of between $23,000-$40,000 in rearing costs for a pet in its lifetime. That’s a lot of money excluding the cost of the pet itself. The most common things that are part of the high cost usually include pet food, pet toys, vet visits, and shots. Then there are optional costs as well. Things like more toys, the climbing thing, clothes, and then the big optional cost of pet insurance, which most people forego. When you take your pets to the vet studies show that costs can range anywhere from a few hundred up to a thousand dollars per visit. By getting insurance cover you are in a position of protecting your furry little friend without breaking the bank.

Before settling for any insurance company, there are a couple of pieces of advice in terms of finding the right policy and company for you. 

Ask a Vet

The first piece of advice is simply to ask your vet what they recommend. There are lots of options out there. It’s similar to picking your insurance cover. There are lots of companies, lots of plans, and lots of choices to pick from. Ask your vet what they recommend based on their experience, what a lot of other people are using, and what they might think is best based on your pet. In some cases, vets and insurance companies work closely to make it easy for new pet owners to get coverage.

Do Your Research 

The actual best piece of advice is to do your research and hopefully by accessing websites like sfgate.com you get several options that can be of help. When you’re doing your research, the main thing you want to be thinking about is balancing coverage versus cost. You need to be thinking about any problems your pet has had in the past or any potential problems that your pet is prone to due to its breed or age. This is just going to come down to personal preference and a little bit of research and knowledge about your dog, the age, the breed, the history, and trying to project out any health issues that might happen in the future. There are a lot of unknowns there but it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Check on Company Policy 

One major way that pet insurance is different from regular human health insurance is that with pet insurance, in most cases, you are going to be responsible for covering the charges out of pocket. Then you submit your claims and you’re going to get reimbursed. After that, you don’t expect to get that money right away. It takes anywhere from roughly seven days up to two months. Also, speaking of timing, you cannot sign up and start using that insurance the same day. 

There is sort of a waiting period of two to three weeks that is used to prevent people from signing up just because they noticed that their dog might be sick or injured. When submitting the claim, in almost all cases, you are not going to get 100% of the cost back. You get on average anywhere from 70 to 90% back and that’s because you’re going to be responsible for what is termed as a copay. This is the percentage that you’re going to have to cover. The insurance is not going to reimburse each time you are claiming in almost all cases. You are still going to have to cover a tiny percent of that issue. That means you’re going to owe both the premium monthly charges and an annual deductible.

Check on Cost

The average monthly premium can range from forty-seven dollars a month for dogs and roughly thirty dollars a month for cats. The best way to get started in terms of determining costs and getting comparisons is to start applying for free quotes. All you have to do is hand over your email address on insurance companies’ websites and get that free quote. And in terms of how much it covers you need to remember it’s not going to be 100% of the cost. But the main reason you are advised to have health insurance is so that you never have to make a life and death decision when it comes to your dog with money being a strong factor on the line. The choice has to be made for you because you’re covered.

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