AKC | Pet Insurance Review

We have had the AKC policy on both of our dogs for about a year now. We have had no problem submitting claims or receiving payment in a timely fashion. They have paid all claims appropriatly. Our only disappointment was to find that they did not cover congenital diseases such as hip displaysia. We may look into another plan that does cover ALL congenital conditions. Other than that, I would say this is an excellent plan.

I called asking for a list of "congenital" disorders for a border collie and was told there was no way to tell until I bought the insurance, my dog got sick and I turned in the claim for their review. I asked about "hereditary" diseases for a dog of unknown parentage (I adopted a border collie rescue dog). They said the same applies: buy the insurance, wait for your dog to get sick, and we may or may not pay the claim. I decided not to buy the insurance. I found the same disclaimer on all the other policies out there. I suggest putting money away in a savings account every month and call it your pet emergency fund. Hopefully you won't need it, but you can then decide how much to pay yourself back per incident.

We have 2 English bulldogs who are now 16 months old. At the age of 4 months we purchased AKC healthcare for both of them. Our male had a cavity above his screwtail so surgery was performed in 8/2007. This was not covered because they said it was congenital but our vet, who had checked him since the age of 7 weeks, had never discovered it before. Our female started limping on her left hind leg in October of 2007 so our vet referred to a specialist. The specialist suggested inserting pins in her knee since it was very weak. We had this surgery performed in January of 2008 and, of course, this surgery was not reimbursed either. This insurance is a scam - DO NOT PURCHASE SINCE THEY COVER NOTHING!

I've had this Pet Insurance since March when my new puppy came to me as my forever partner to replace my 12-yr-old SD; I've had several visits to the vet and need to process my puppy's claims; it seems impossible to download claim forms from their web sight, and this is bothersome; in responding to the comment whether claims should be processed if more than 90 days go by, to me they should be processed up to six months following treatment; unless the company has some compelling reason to require the 90-day rule, and I can't think of what it would be--if there is such a rule, there ought to be reasonable exceptions to it--on a case-by-case basis. Incidentally, the Dog Law books should be on our shelves for quick reference when needed!

We've had this insurance since 2003. Claims processing has been exhausting, requiring escalation to their president. Now, they have a fairly new rule -- claims must be submitted within 90 days -- and a new form has to be completed each time, even for same illness -- and filled out by vet. This seems like bad faith to me. Does anyone know if it is legal to deny a claim if it's submitted after 90 days. If the coverage is in place at the time of treatment, then they should pay, yes?