ASPCA | Pet Insurance Review

We recently discovered that my dog Teddy has a collapsing trachea. If it wasn't for ASPCA pet insurance, I would have been worried about the bills on top of worry about my best friend. Handing over my credit card was easy not only because I would do anything to help Teddy, but i knew that shortly I would receive at least half (depending on your plan) back from ASPCA pet insurance. I would recommend anyone with a pet to get ASPCA pet insurance.

I have had the Hartville Group since it was Healthy Bark and Purr. They have helped me through my late dog Woofie and Smoochie knee and bone cancer surgery to my new dog's cancer diagnosis. They have even called me to ask how my pets were, It is easy to fill out the form and email, fax, or mail it in. Payment is quick. And the explanations make sense. If I were a pet I would want the Hartville Group. Actually if they did human insurance I would want it.

I bought this insurance years ago. I wanted to try out the idea of pet insurance since someone suggested it. They went with ASPCA so I decided to go with it too. I soon found out that their customer service was horrible. I called on the phone waiting to get a rep on the line and I'd wait a LONG time on the phone before someone would finally get to it. I believe it was more than 15 minutes and even longer on the second trial. This happened twice so I decided I'd better not go with this insurance company and decided to cancel it having it less than 1 month. They did not refund me my amount they took. They billed me for the whole month even though I had the insurance less than 1 month. I talked to them and they said this was the way it worked. Point being was I felt like this company was greedy and didn't think the about customers and their pets.

I just signed up for health insurance this past summer since my beloved cat is getting quite elderly. A month or so ago, he was attacked and had to be taken to the emergency vet. I forgot all about my ASPCA coverage since I was so worried about him. My husband reminded me and I filled out the simply and short claim form. I was notified via email when they received the form and when it was processed. My check was mailed very fast. I was so please with my experience that I am adding other pets to the policy. My only problem was that ASPCA excluded portions of the price of some of the services (and all of the price for the Feline AIDS test) based on local prices. This is normal for human insurance as well but it always irks me.

Be wary when selecting any pet insurance provider, read all the fine print. We had the insurance for a couple of years when our poodle developed a growth on her anal gland, the vet monitored it for some months then at the vets advice we opted to have it removed as it was growing. Because the growth was discovered during one year of insurance and removed during the next insurance year (which could be over a period of only a day, depending upon when your insurance year starts and ends), the claim was considered a "Previous Condition" and denied.If human insurance companies did this, it would cause a bit of an uproar, but pet insurance companies, in my opinion, have found and use to the fullest extent, the ultimate legal rip off.