Learning to compare pet insurance providers with each other is relatively simple. The fun part (or annoying part, depending on what type of person you are) is that there are dozens of pet health insurance companies vying for your attention and money. How will you know which ones are the best? Hopefully this brief guide will be of service to you.
Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) is probably the best pet insurance company out there right now. It is certainly one of the oldest, having been established in the early 1980s. VPI offers an amazing variety of coverage options to tickle your animal insurance fancy. Whether you own a dog, cat, horse or exotic pet, VPI can cover your animal. Over a million pets have already been insured through VPI, which should give you even more confidence in them.
The next pet insurance company to compare rates with VPI is PetCare, which offers complete protection for pets in the U.S. and Canada. (VPI only covers pets in the U.S.) While VPI covers many kinds of pets, PetCare only does dogs and cats. Your PetCare policy may cost as little as $11 per month, depending on your pet's medical history and your own personal tastes. The company's website lets you obtain a free coverage quote to help you decide whether you want your pet insured by PetCare.
If neither of those companies appeals to you, another possible insurance option is Pet Assure. Well, to be perfectly honest, Pet Assure provides a savings plan rather than actual insurance. With this program, you can receive a 25% discount on veterinary visits and up to 50% off pet products nationwide. Unfortunately, you can only get these discounts at certain stores and veterinary office, as opposed to the VPI or PetCare plans, which let you insure your pet with any licensed vet.
If you're still hungry for information, MSN.com has an interesting feature article that discusses the reasons for and against getting pet insurance. According to the article, the primary concern you should have is whether you would prefer to spend hundreds of dollars a year on pet insurance or risk having to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a pet health problem.