My sister just put her 16 yr old Bischon down and was told that she had to continue the one year pet insurance contract. Unfortunately there are still 9 months left. Does this seem fair? Ethical? They told her it was in the contract. This is a big chain vet practice.
Sounds to me like she needs to read the fine print of the contract. If the contract states that payment must be made for the duration of the contract (one year, in this case), then it is fair since she agreed to it. Ethical is a different quesiton entirely.
This is standard practice. You buy the policy for a fixed period of time and the contract states you must pay for the duration of the contract. Taking a policy out on a 16 year old pet is a little risky under this type of contract. My daughter had the same situation when her cat died only 4 months into her pet insurance contract.
Yes it is ethical and right.
Insurance companies make money because people pay them and they rarely have to pay out.
When they do pay out they pay out at a loss more often than not.
If people could opt out of paying for a year policy because they don’t need it anymore, the company would lose money because only those that do need it would be using it, effectively bankrupting the company.
It’s business nothing personal.
In that business I wouldn’t call it unethical because their entire business is based on their clients good fortune, and those that don’t have it bring loss to them.
Does our health insurance work that way? Any other insurance policies like selling our car or home?
Never mind. I made an irrelevant point.
Just googled around on line for a bit and could find numerous complaints about pet insurance. Apparently PetPlan has a policy like this. Aslo many people very unhappy with ASPCA Pet Insurance plan.
Most sited state that it is better to just pay out of pocket.
I was very surprised at how much monthly payments for pet insurance are.
Read the policy. Likely there is a set price for one year and they allow you to pay in installments, but the price is the same if you pay all up front or 12 monthly payments.
Whether people pay after death is another story.
@toledo I have seen health insurance policies that require a full year of payment up front or in a monthly payment. That is the only way they would cover, and I have also seen some without it.
I have not seen that with car insurance, but those are different as they are not typically as costly to the company.
I’m guessing this is a Banfield plan. Technically, they are not an insurance but rather a wellness plan where preventive and routine care is discounted and the cost paid monthly for over the term of the plan. The only way out before term end is to pay the difference between the retail treatment costs and discounted amount for services already rendered. We are finishing up the term payments for our dog who passed in December.
Will they transfer the coverage to a new pet? That’s the only thing I can think of that might help.
Yes, it is Banfield. Thanks for all your responses, You’ve given me some new perspectives.