VPI Warning: Read This Before You Decide
Written: Sep 09 '00
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Pros: Routine care paid for with highest-cost plans
Cons: Difficulties meeting their "requirements," long-delayed payments, extremely rude and pushy reps on the phone.
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| tondelayo's Full Review: Veterinary Pet Insurance |
I bought pet insurance from Veterinary Pet Insurance [VPI] for my current Beagle after a previous Beagle had medical problems that cost me over $2,500 before he passed away from his conditions [lupus and diabetes] at the age of only four years . It has always been a problem to do what you're supposed to do for VPI's requirements... they won't accept the normal detailed Vet bills, they always want something special before they'll consider payment. And although their literature and reps say they process claims within a week, it typically takes *two to three months* to get payments from them. These are small inconveniences. Their service has cost about $320 per year for my 3-year old male Beagle, and I have gotten about $100 total back in payments over the years after my deductibles [$40 per incident deductible]. I have their "best" plan, the Advantage Plus Plan. I also have had the "hard sell" and high pressure tactics applied by customer reps when at renewal time I wanted to switch from their most expensive plan to the next plan down. The pressure on the phone was unrelenting and worse than a car salesman's whining and dire warnings. I eventually caved in and kept the higher-priced service. My most recent experience [Saturday, September 9, 2000]: I recently got a female Beagle from a rescue organization to be a companion to my male. To make a long story short, almost immediately they got into a real fight and before I could separate them, two of the female's lower front teeth were almost pulled out. I rushed her to an emergency Vet clinic [not my normal Vet, who was closed, after 6PM] and they did surgery on her mouth to try to save the teeth, although they made no guarantees that the teeth would "take." It cost me $423, and I hadn't had her but a few days, so I hadn't yet applied for pet insurance through VPI. I just called Veterinary Pet Insurance and went through their voicemail system and finally got to talk to a representative. Here's how the conversation went: Me: "Hi, my little female Beagle just had to have surgery to try to save two of her front teeth after a dog fight and the charges were $423. I'd like to find out how much your insurance would have reimbursed me for her care." VPI Insurance Rep: "I'm sorry, we don't do that. We'd have to see the bill and all the charges..." Me: "I can fax it to you, I have a fax machine." VPI Rep [snappishly]: "We don't have time for that. We don't *waste our time* on that." Me: "[long pause] ...Well, I guess if you don't have time to help me, I don't have time to buy your insurance. Thank you." And I hung up. These are just my experiences, but I have to say that consistently, their customer service is extremely poor, rude, and pushy. Take this into account when deciding which company to buy pet insurance from.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
tondelayo
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Member: Saverio
Location: La-La Land, Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Just one Hell of a guy.
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