Trupanion

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This year my 2 year old Brussels Griffon Zuzu had to have two MRI's of her head and back to diagnose a painful congenital condition, COMS.  The representatives even called me at home to tell me that they were processing my bill, and to see how Zuzu was doing, and just to talk about the health problem.  I only had to pay 10% of the bill, as when I opened my coverage I requested no deductible.
This year my 5 year old Yorkshire Terrier Caeli had to have a leg surgery that cost $5,000, and thanks to Trupanion all I paid was $500, as I had chosen a coverage with no deductible.
When I get another pet in the future, I will always sign up my pets with Trupanion the next day!

To those who have pets: 
A lengthy read, but worth the time for those considering pet insurance. The words below outline my experience with the Trupanion Pet Insurance company. People have health insurance to help when a health problem or issue occurs. These days, you can get that for your pet as well. My experience with pet insurace has been painful and upsetting. I hope not everyones has been so negative. Thanks for taking the time to read. 
Two years ago I adopted a beautiful deaf french bulldog that I named Wonton. She has given me joy that I didnt think was possible. She has turned from a timid, shy dog that had been abused, mistreated, overbred and neglected to a friendly, loving sweet and devoted companion to me, my family and my colleagues. After adopting her, I was urged to get insurance for her, and I did. I chose to get insurance through Trupanion. She has some typical frenchy issues, bad knees, skin allergies, infections. She also had corneal ulcers here and there. I understood that these issues were fairly common. 
On Christmas day, she woke up paralyzed, having lost the ability to not use her back legs. After taking her to an emergency hospital and consenting to surgery, xrays were taken in prep for the procedure and it was discovered that her chest was riddled with cancer. She is terminally ill and soon I will be saying goodbye to her. After being mistreated for years, and used for breeding, then discarded like some sort of used toy, she was able to find happiness with me and my family for this short time.  
I submitted several claims to Trupanion, to be told that all of her issues are pre existing. All of them. Her paralysis was said to be pre existing since she had back pain before. Back pain can happen from anything. Jumping, playing, and moving - things that all dogs do. I submitted a claim to be reimbursed for her hospital stay, and was denied. I submitted paperwork asking to cover potential cancer treatment and it was said to be pre existing. Denied. She has mammary tumors, which are common in dogs that are spayed later in life. I never submitted claims to Trupanion before. At my vets urging, I did. Every time I have called Trupanion, I was asked to re tell my painful story to justify and explain my claim, only to receive an email saying no, pre existing conditions. I had to explain that she woke up paralyzed, and then was told she had terminal cancer to every person who answered. The young lady I talked to last week, told me that they paid a $52,000 claim for a client. I am not asking for $52000, I am asking for a little compassion and a little less sugar coated script reading and covereage of a few claims totaling less than $3000. What kind of customer service is this? What kind of sensitivity training do they offer their employees? If my dog was a puppy, and not a rescue, would she get her claim covered? If my dog was a different breed not prone to health issues, would they cover it? Rupturing a disc in the spine can happen from any number of things, there is no way of telling what happened with MY dog. Cancer is NOT something that can be detected or predicted. 
My point is this. What is covered? What animal does qualify? All of the things that have happened could have happened to ANY dog. Young or old. Who else is suffering this treatment with Trupanion? I am not the sort of person that writes things like this. I didn't even want this insurance. I don't review every service, restaurant, or experience I have. However in this case I feel compelled to let people know. They deserve to know what they are up against if they have an older, health problem prone dog. If you have a rescue with health issues, prepare to be told no over and over again. In the midst of all the terrible stressful events that are happening to your pet, they will make you discuss it's problems. Repeatedly. Most likely by someone that has your pets history on the screen in front of them. 
All of these issues could happen to any dog out there. I feel terrible as I type this. I feel heartbroken because of what I am facing. I have to say goodbye to one of the sweetest dogs ever. I can't even entertain the idea of calling Trupanion again to tell this story again to have them tell me no. I can't appeal again. I have a sick dog to care for. I wanted to get her cancer treatments in hopes that we could maybe have another 6 months together. I have a dog that I would like to devote all of my time to because she is dying. I need to take care of her, not sit on the phone with some heartless pet insurance company that takes my $ every month. All I can leave those that are reading my story is this- please, beware of this company and their claims to care about your pets. Maybe they care about other peoples pets, but they don't care about mine. They may not care about yours. Beware of their automated "sorry your pet is sick" emails. Beware of their operators that claim to care, and listen to you so intently. Prepare to repeat your experience, heartbreaking or not, over and over.  My experience has been so awful with Trupanion it makes me feel sick. I hope in the future they improve their policies, their scripts, and their treatment of the people and pets that trust them to be their insurance provider. 
Thank you, 
Amanda

It seems there is no exact procedure for filing a claim. Called up and the representative stated she would begin the claim over the phone based on the information I supplied . My wife faxed all bills and vet reports within the next few days.

On line status reported the claim was opened and Trupanion was reviewing the claim.

3 weeks passed and the status remained the same. Trupanion claimed it was waiting for my vet records. I had already got all of the records and faxed them in with the original paperwork.

I was the squeaky wheel and continued to call them. Hold times at Trupanion ranged from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. I hear the hold talk and music in my sleep.

At week 4, I called and spoke with a representative. I advised them I was going on a cruise and I wanted to make sure they had everything. She explained by the time you get back, the claim and quot;shouldand quot; be completed and I should het my vet bills paid.

Returned from the cruise 8 days later and called again, as there was no money paid for the claim. The representative stated the same thing, still be reviewed and I screamed. The representative named and quot;Crystaland quot; was fabulous (one of the only bright areas of this entire story). I explained I am completely DISSATISFIED, as this is approx. week 6 and they still have not paid the claim.

Crystal personally went and checked and stated she would call me back. I also insisted on speaking with a supervisor, and as usual, as I had asked many times in the previous 6 weeks to speak with a supervisor, there was no supervisor available and they are very busy. A supervisor would call me back within 48 Hours.

Crystal called back an hour later and explained she got the claim pushed through and I should have the money in my bank account within 3 to 5 days, depending on my bank. Then I stated and quot;Greatand quot;, he much am I getting back for my claim?

Crystal hesitated as if she did not hear my question....... She explained approx. $750.00. I responded excuse me! The claim was for approx. $3250.00 and after my $250.00 deductible, Trupanion pays 90%.

Well then she explained all the FINE PRINT. Remember 1 dog and 1 surgery, all recommended by the Vet. Specialist.

My policy has a $250.00 deductible and quot;PER CONDITIONand quot;, and after looking at the biopsy, Trupanion realized each of the dogs 6 bumps were EACH a separate and quot;CONDITIONand quot;, therefore they charged me (6) $250.00 deductibles, Totaling $1500.00 in deductibles!

My response was and quot;ARE YOU CRAZYand quot;, this can't be happening. Even though the Vet. stated 2 of the 6 bumps were skin tags (THE SAME CONDITION), they were on different area's of the body, so they consider them 2 Separate Conditions.

I am currently about to begin my appeal!

BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should anyone ever use Trupanion. They are a Legal Scam! When they sell you the insurance they do not tell you about the CRAZY Deductibles. It is Not until the make a claim - Then You Get Wacked!

$180.00 per month for 16 Months. Then I make a claim for $3250.00 (approx.) and they Pay $750.00 (Approx.) Horrible Company - Long Holds Times - Claims Take forever.

Then they mailed me a letter breaking down the payment. Inside the letter was 2 other letters (of course Denial Letters) to some totally other customer is Colorado who has nothing to do with me. Just a SCREWED UP COMPANY!

This company has been outstanding since I contracted with them. My last contact with them was a claim for ongoing prescriptions for one of my two dogs. However, I have encountered significant and unexpected expense for both of my dogs since taking out my policy, and this insurance has been of tremendous help. While they do not cover routine care (i.e. vaccinations, etc.), their coverage is truly the best I have seen, and the cost is very reasonable for what is provided. They are a pleasure to deal with and extremely efficient in processing claims. I highly recommend them for pet owners!

They are awesome. I have been with them for over a year and a half. I think my monthly premium is 45 dollars per month. They have paid out over 5000 dollars in claims. I got the dog since he was eight weeks old. My premium has not gone up since I made any claims. They have been really nice.

They are great. When my dog got sick, they were responsive. There was no argument. Whenever bill came, they paid it. When talking with them, they really care about animals. They really care about their service and there are no hassles. The price seems comparable with everything else.

They are an excellent, easy company to deal with. I started using them in 2010 and I started filing claims with them about once per year, on average. They primarily cover dogs and cats for injuries and illnesses. The benefit to this company is that they will cover hip dysplasia in dogs, which most other pet insurance companies do not. I think it is the best value for pet insurance that I can get. I liked at comparable insurance through other companies and I would be spending two to three times as much per month in my premiums. The premium price depends on how old the pet is. I signed my dog up when he was a puppy and my premium is about $100 per month. That is for the insurance plus additional coverage for hip dysplasia; this is with a zero deductible. It has been really nice; they pay 90-percent of the cost so I pay the remaining 10-percent plus the exam fee. They are wonderful and it is so easy to make the claim. They are quick getting the money to me. Their headquarters are in Seattle but I believe you can use them across the U.S. They calculate the premiums based on the area in which you live.

I've known the insurance through the vet, they had a 30-day free at the beginning and the vet used them and found them good so I thought was my first dog, I'll just get the insurance. I wasn't happy, I thought it was a little bit higher and that my dog had a congenital heart problem which means she had it when she was born and they called it a pre-existing condition. So whenever you got the insurance, if you got it in the day she was born, it was still free insurance. Anyway she had a $2000 surgery and they wouldn't cover any of it. They didn't say it was because it was congenital, they said she had it before I took out the insurance even though the insurance did not say that they did not cover congenital issues. I said how could I have notified you before I took out your policy and nothing to say because I didn't know she was going to be born that way. To me there was something about a congenital disease that should have been covered, it's just wasn't clear. I took her to the vet for a normal check-up, the vet held her and said there's something in here, it wasn't a diagnosis. That afternoon I went and got the insurance and then 4 days later they did the sonogram which confirmed it so actually she didn't technically have it confirmed until the sonogram which was after the insurance. I thought their prices were reasonable when I got it and the vet said they actually pay out when it's appropriate so I went with it. I'm not going to cancel it or anything but I was a little disappointed. I would tell to other Angie's List members that was interested that when you have a puppy, ask about implications of congenital problems.

Trupanion claims and quot;your premiums won't increase nor will your coverage be restricted due to your pet aging. Your rates will change periodically only as inflation affects the cost of veterinary care.and quot; I bought the insurance when my wheaten terrier was a few months old. The cost was $17.84 a month. Approximately 3 years later, the monthly rate has risen to $24.46, a 37% increase. This is an increase that I believe cannot be attributed to inflation.

Trupanion set everything up pretty easily. It wasn't difficult. They bill me every month, automatically off my credit card. I just have to pay the premium and that's it. I haven't put a claim in yet, so I don't know if their claims paying ability is good or not.

When they signed out they emailed me with all the information quickly.

Trupanion are great. No pet insurance company is any better than them. Their price is very reasonable. We had a cat who passed last November of Renal Failure and this cat had a variety of diseases. In the end Trupanion paid well in excess of $12,000 in medical reimbursement for just this one cat. If this company could be rated way above an A I would. I'd rate them a triple A if I could. They never argued with a claim. From the time I faxed a claim in to when I had the check in my hand was never more than 10 days. Their claim people are very fair. When we had the cat euthanized the vet that I had inappropriately charged $50 fee for a catheter and I ended up disputing the charge with my credit card company. Finally I was able to get the vet's office to reverse that charge. However Trupanion had already paid me for that. I got back with them and said I actually owed them some money, because I didn't have to pay for this and they checked with a manager there and they said and quot;never mind you don't have to pay us back. You are good.and quot; I mean how many insurance companies would do that. They let me keep a reimbursement of 40 some dollars that I didn't actually pay. They said they appreciated my honesty and that I didn't have to tell them, so not to worry about it.

They have been nothing been great. Without them the cat we lost in November would have died 15 months earlier, because the treatments were terribly expensive. Everyone who has pets should know about this insurance company. Their customer service is top notch.

At one time in the past I use to sell human health insurance, so I am familiar with health insurance policies. One thing about their policy is that it is a very clean policy with very, very few exclusions. There are many other pet insurance companies out there who make you jump through hoops to keep your animals insured. They may require periodic exams and blood tests and if you don't do all these things on schedule then the next time you file a claim they will say well sorry you didn't follow the requirements of the policy therefore there is no coverage. Trupanion doesn't have any of these requirements. You just sign your pet up for coverage. They reimburse at 90% of whatever your vet charges. They don't try and limit the payment.

We had lost another cat in 2009 and I had researched all the various pet insurance companies and none of the others came even close. They bend over backwards to find ways to pay legitimate claims. They are a very good company.
There is no need to research the other companies, I have already done it and know from personal experience that they are the best. They paid for our cat to have 15 extra months of life, that he wouldn't have had. Even our brand new cat that we got in December they have already paid almost all of the claims incurred at the vet for it's infection.

They are an A in every category.

I recommend them. They are good. They take money automatically out of my bank account. I used them because I bought a puppy. If anybody is interested they shouldn't wait and when a dog is a puppy, it is time to insure because that is when they are more likely to get into trouble. I haven't had any problem with them.

They offer great coverage at a great price.

I would recommend them.