Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) review: Read the fine print in their policy! 31

Thanks for your comment. I'll take the easy way on and start the lawsuit next week. I've been paying over ten years and what I've submitted is minuscule. My dog is dead over a year now and have filed a claim for that and they send me back $129. instead of $540. for that time period! Do you happen to know where i can find out the officers of the VPI company names? They are not a public company I'm guessing.

I couldn't agree more. My dog broke her knee and required two surgeries costing over $4,000. VPI will only reimbursed approximately $800 looking for any excuse not to pay. VPI is the lowest rated pet insurance on "Pet Insurance Review" http://www.petinsurancereview.com/dog.asp. I wish I had known before spending all that money on VPI insurance, what a waste.

Totally agree. Policy eff date is 5/07, on Aug 7,07 my dog was diagnosed with Addison’s disease. I submitted 6 claims to them spanning from 6/07 - 8/07. They denied all of them 2X's($2700). First b/c they wanted medical records, which they should have asked for prior to accepting my policy. Then they claimed that the medical records indicate that in 4/07 my dog "may have had” a pre-existing condition of Hepatitis therefore all claims for Addison's are excluded. According to them Addison's can result from Hepatitis. News Flash... My Dog NEVER did not have, nor does he NOW have HEPATITIS. His liver enzymes were slightly elevated b/c he was fighting off an ear infection, WHICH WAS DISCLOSED TO THEM. They changed my vet's diagnosis from Addison’s to Hepatitis. Every time I call customer service they are unhelpful, aggressive and down right nasty! I'm cancelling my policy b/c the next time I send them a claim they'll find a way of linking it to Hepatitis just so they don't have to pay the claim. Tell me, if my dog breaks his leg, did he have a pre-existing condition of playing that caused the leg to break? I'm sorry I ever wasted the time.

We have been waiting 3 months for anything to even look like a check. They keep making excuses, while my 3 dogs have to have follow ups and treatment that keeps coming out of our pocket. Our 1st claim, we were told, was being investigated because it happened near the beginning of our policy. My dog has blood in her urine on cue? First time it ever happened, but we are being investigated. Another joke is they claimed not to be able to read the price and the code the vet sent in and yet on the denial form they state The price and the code being denied. between premiums and vet costs we're out close to $3000.00 It seems they are a scam company, and will be dealt with as such. I am a pitbull and will not let go till they settle or are convicted of fraud.

From the Attorney General's office to the SEC, from the newsrooms and onto every pet blog their story will be exposed.
It's not so much the money at this point, they are playing with the health of my puppies, and NO ONE plays with the health of my puppies.

DW.

I too have recently gone through a similar VPI debacle with my pug.

"Curly" who is 13 was diagnosed with a collapsing trachea in 2001. I have been advised that this condition is not life threatening. However, in June of this year Curly became gravely ill with a respiratory infection and the resulting veterinary bills topped $3,000. On top of that, there is ongoing medication for chronic bronchitis that costs me over $100 per month.

I have had Curly insured for a number of years and VPI rejected the initial claim as well as my appeal. Among the vets I took her too was one Dr. Philip Padrid of Chicago who is a world renowned respiratory expert. His considered opinion was possible aspirational pneumonia. Whatever the case, the anti biotics he prescribed promptly solved the problem. Two additional...though not as serious...flare-ups occurred in August and October. Again, both of these exacerbations were cleared with Dr. Padrid's prescribed anti-biotics. I am happy to report that Curly is just fine at this writing.

VPI contends Curly's problems are related to the collapsing trachea which in turn they consider congenital and therefore not covered. I contend that any dog can have pneumonia/respiratory infections and therefore it is the insurance company's dereliction of contract to reject coverage. The proof of infection lies in the fact that the appropriate antibiotics resolved each occurrence.

I have documentation for each step of this process but in exasperation I gave up further pursuit. At this time. Does anybody know any reasonable lawyers who would handle a lawsuit over this?

My dog was diagnosed with a Peripheral nerve sheath tumor and to date I have paid almost $3000 out of pocket (and he is not done with treatment yet!) The insurance paid me a total of $350. They said my dog doesnt have a malignant tumor so that is all I am intitled to. The thing is, it is malignant in the form that the return rate is almost a guarantee that it will be back. The part that is not malignant is the fact that is has a low rate of spreading to another part of his body. I enrolled in the insurance as soon as I got him and he is now5 years old. So I have paid over $2000 for the insurance and I am so pissed I dont know what else to do. Even the vet has called them to tell them how important all his treatment is to him and that they dont really have the diagnose proper. The insurance is just saying he had a large mass.

The only advice I would give to anyone looking to enroll in any pet insurance is to open a savings account instead! If I would have done that, then I would only be out of pocket around $1000 instead of $5000. (the insurance cost + the vet bill) Just put the same amount that it would cost you for the insurance on a monthly basis into the account. Plus the money in the account will gain some interest.

My chihuahua had to have two hips done total cost 5, 000. They paid for the first hip. The doctor submitted the second leg and they told me that it was not covered because it was not trauma related and that it was a mistake that they paid some for the first hip. I asked what was considered trauma related and they said if the dog was attacked by another dog or it was hit by a car that they would pay. My dog was running and playing and broke the hip that was not a trauma...I cancelled my policy which did not say anything about trauma when I looked up the procedure...Policy said it would pay...

VPI is a scam company. I agree that you are better off putting money away in a savings account. My dog was diagnosed with an auto immune disorder and they tried to tell us we were committing fruad. After sending them all the the paperwork they requested and waiting 3 months, after spending $4000 we received $1500. I sent a complaint prior to the refund to the BBB and you can imagine VPI's annoyance with that! We can make no more claims because this is now a "pre-existing" condition and they pay once and that's it. Not worth it.

Agreed, I never had a major thing with my dogs, but I've insured them with VPI for some time now and they have promptly (within 2 weeks of filing) paid. I have the lowest possible insurance and so far I have been happy.

I wish I had found this three years ago. VPI has been ripping me off and now I think I have proof. My dog was diagnosed with a plasma cell tumor (cancerous) in his mouth. After $2200 worth of tests and $3200 in surgery, he is cured but VPI only paid me about $1800. When I called, twice, to contest the reimbursement, I got the same run around and no good explanation for what they paid and why. In one case, I was veiwing the total eligible amount from their web site, I was logged into my account, and told them what I was seeing was not what they were supposed to reimburse. She said fax it to me and then called me back and said those numbers (from the Web site) were wrong. I am in process of adding it up and I would like to take action against them. If anyone has an ideas on what to do, please email me. thank you.

Please post your complaints to the Better Business Bureau. I have been having many issues with VPI (after 3 years of a good experience) and am now realizing how terrible their customer service is when something does happen. When I went to the Better Business Bureau to complain, I was really surprised to see an A+ rating - especially reading about people's bad experiences elsewhere on the internet. The BBB explained that the A+ rating is because they have not received any complaints so please, while posting here is helpful for people who are considering purchasing policies from the company, it does not actually force the company to change anything. the Better Business Bureau is an organization that actually has the ability to pressure a company into improving because it is well recognized and while it can't force a company to do anything, a bad BBB rating is terrible for any company and most companies are desperate to avoid a bad BBB rating so they will actually care and try to change things if you complain to the BBB whereas they don't care how many complaints are on sites like this.

I used to work there, ask to speak to General Counsel, Phil Grevin, Esq., they are a low-life company that uses the company's profits to give "raises to all the Officers of the company" for no reason, and the Board of Directors approves it! Just like AIG in the news. Call the 800 number and ask to speak with Phil Grevin, then ask specifically for "Dennis" CEO the last resort is to file a small claims action, they have plenty coming in and almost always loses.

Readingthe fine print won't help - stay away from this company. They're worthless, bordering on fraud. We had policies for three years on two dogs and two cats, and never filed a claim. When our Flat Coated Retriever got cancer, they paid less than $500 of an more than $10, 000 bill. They interpret their exclsions so they cover nothing. And the amount of what they do say they cover doesn't come close to 80% of what it actually costs. And, as others have pointed out, their customer servie is horrendous. Save your money and heartache - don't do business with this company.

this is our experience with VPI
we lost a 5 year old doberman of congestive heart failure.
I wanted to insure our new doberman puppy.
I got the insurance through VPI.
at 11 months old, my pup got sick.
we had just moved to a new city and this was a friday night.
she could not keep food or water down.
we were concerned about bloat, about her ingesting a neighbors moth ball in her garden, but we had no idea what was causing her to to keep throwing up everything she ate or drank.
we took her to an emergency clinic since we had no vet in this new city yet and it was friday.
she spent 3 days at the emergency clinic getting hydrated and they were trying to rule out things...so they did a lot of wait and see tests.
turned out to be gastroenteritis and the cure was a stomach calming medicine. and that's all they would pay for. I was so relieved that we had insurance for my dog and when I submitted the $2, 000 emergency room bill, all they paid was a small fraction of the bill that pertained to her upset stomach and they paid for none of the tests that ruled out something serious and life threatening. I protested often and they refused to reconsider my claim. so pet health insurance doesnt' work the way human health insurance works and I would never recommend VPI to anyone.

VPI is a scam. They deny everything. Why do they even offer a ferret policy? I was shocked to submit a bill for my pet's surgery and then have VPI up and say adrenal tumors aren't covered. How convenient for them. I'd like to know what IS covered.

My 11 year old Shih-Tzu just died on Sept. 2nd from Cancer. I''ve had the cancer policy for almost 10years. They told me in order for the cancer endorsement to kick in I had to prove to them Gabby had cancer. They wouldn't take the word of 2 drs. and and oncologist and the xrays. They said I had to have diffinite lab results from the cancer. So I had to have my vet open her up after she passed, take cultures, and send them in to the lab for the results. Now they wont pay what they said they would AND they wont pay for the lab work or the autopsy. They said my dog was dead when they did it and therefore the policy was cancelled.
My God they wanted me to put my little sweet dog thru that while she was still alive? That the hell is wrong with these people?
i want to sue their butts. Anyone know of a good pro bono attorney that will help me?
sirrells@yahoo.com
Thanks I miss my little girl so much...

Thanks everyone for your posts. They have helped me to stay away from this company. I just called VPI to ask them some questions about their different policies and exclusions before I signed up, and their answers sounded SOOOO fishy in terms of how they would determine whether something was a pre-existing condition or not. I said, in theory, you could decide ANYTHING was a pre-existing condition, right? They went round in circles and I hung up. I am NOT going to waste my money on these scammers!

Everyone should also file a complaint with their state insurance department and ask them to investigate them for fraud. VPI has to be licensed by your state insurance department to conduct business in your state. Hope this helps.

I wish I had known about the experiences others were having with VPI before I took a policy with them almost ten years ago for my dog. I insured my Labrador with them when she was two years old. I got the Superior Plan and added the cancer coverage rider because my goal was to insure against catastrophic incidences. For nine years, my dog was never sick, so I never had any claims to file, but last year, my dog who is now twelve years old, became sick with severe diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, liver enzymes were elevated and then four months later, gross swelling in one of her legs that had a bleeding abscess. Long story short: I filed the first claim in the amount of $590 and I received a check for $94.50.! I was livid. I contacted the company and they reprocessed the claim and sent me an additional $223.20. That's where the somewhat positive experience ends. The last claim I filed was for the gross swelling in one of her legs that had a bleeding abscess which the doctor diagnosed as a deep infection that had abscessed. My total costs to treat this was $1, 065.10. The prescription medication alone was $500. I received a check from VPI for $302.40 - 28% of what I had to spend. My dog's leg is fine now, but dealing with VPI and their ineffective customer service has left a bad taste in my mouth. I paid my premiums every month for nine years and I get reimbursed 28% of my expenses! What a scam! If I had put all of the money I've paid in premiums to VPI into a savings account, I would have been able to cover the cost of these claims and still have a couple of thousand dollars left. When you read the impressive testimonials on their website you would believe that for most claims you would received upwards of 73% reimbursement. The reality is, those testimonials probably represent a very, very small percentage of the types of claims that VPI actually receives. For the types of claims they typically receive, the benefit allowances are a mere pittance. I have told VPI that I believe they are defrauding their policyholders and if I can find a lawyer to file a class action against I will do it.

VPI is not worth the premiums. They engage in false advertising by claiming they seek to help end "econonomic euthanasia" if you can afford these premiums, you can afford to care for your pet without insurance. It borders on being a scam. If you want to send VPI a message, don't give any business to Nationwide Insurance, Nationwide Mutual or any affiliated companies. Pet insurance is predatory.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR TAKING THE TIME TO POST AGAINST THIS SCAM COMPANY! i couldn't agree more and have had the run around for months. my very prominent los angeles vet and his staff have repeatedly gone to bat for me in order to get me fair and just reimbursement only to be denied. VPI IS A FOR PROFIT COMPANY who spends all their time, money and resources in NOT PAYING claims. i am not opposed to companies making a profit but this company is evil and their business practices completely unethical! i plan on filing a complaint with the insurance board. it is my understanding they were sued in a class action a few years ago. hope it happens again! STAY AWAY STAY AWAY STAY AWAY! don't waste your money and as another contributer mentioned, open up a savings account for your pet instead!

I wish I would have read all of this BEFORE I had an issue with VPI. We bought this insurance over 2 years ago when we first got our puppy. We got the highest plan, the superior plan and got the extra wellness plan. We have only made one claim over the two years for a routine checkup and they only covered $25 of the $150 worth of puppy shots and medicine I kinda brushed it off and didnt really think about it again.

Last month our dog ingested a foreign body and we had to take him to an emergency clinic. The exact scenario we bought pet insurance for. We also specifically asked about covering foreign bodies because he is a lab and they tend to get into things they aren't supposed to when we bought the coverage. We were told it was covered.

Our vet bill was $1, 500 but I wasn't too worried because we had the insurance and boy was I in for a surprise! Originally they paid us $250! I called and complained and they reviewed it and gave me an additional $140, so we were only paid $400!

I had to put it in on my credit card, thinking I would get paid back and now I don't know if I am going to be able to buy a house because I have this charge on my card and they could have cared less when I told them.

I canceled my service immendiently! I am going to put money into a savings account from now on instead of putting it into their pockets. I am sickened by the $1, 000's of dollars I have already given them with poor customer service in return!

We like many of you, WISH I had known about VPI. They are worthless. My dog had to have emergency surgery for kidney stones. The entire bill came to $4000, which we put on our credit card. VPI paid a total of $855! We asked VPI for a review of this and had our vet and the surgeon involved in getting a complete breakdown of each of their services. VPI stood by their original reimbursement and now we're looking at a HUGE amount of money we have to come up with that was totally unplanned. If that wasn't enough we've been told by VPI that we have exhausted insurance for ANYTHING related to our dog's surgery such as follow up visits to the vet - urine analsys, etc.

What the hell good is it to have VPI and pay premiums for the "Superior Plan?" I would gladly join in a class action suit if there is one. I am going to cancel VPI as soon as I can find better insurance but from what I'm reading on the internet there are complaints against other pet insurance companies as well. Does anyone out there have any suggestions.

I had the same problem with VPI. I had 4 English Bulldogs and took out policies on all of them. Within a couple of months of acquiring the policies one of our dogs started having seizures so we took him to our regular Vet and ended up having to take him to a Specialist on several occassions. We spent thousands of dollars in a short period of time and everytime we or the Vet would submit claims to VPI they would kick them back for "more information". Finally after several weeks of this we finally received a letter stating that all claims were denied because it was a "pre-existing condition". The dog was only six months old and had no medical problems prior to these seizures. I'm still unsure how that is pre-existing.

To make things worse, during this time one of our other dogs came down with Lymphoma and again, we submitted claims forms to VPI only to have them returned for "more information". We continued to fight with VPI until our Vet said he could not continue to waste time having his staff fill out forms and send them, re-send them, add more information, etc. He also informed me that he would no longer offer VPI to his customers. Once all was said and done, we lost our baby and had thousands of dollars in medical bills that we had to pay. To really put the cherry on top of this situation VPI continued to debit my credit card for the premium for the deceased dog after we informed them she had passed. Needless to say, I cancelled all of my policies with them and never even received a dime. What a total waste of money. There may be good pet insurance companies out there but VPI is not one of them.

When I applied for pet insurance earlier this year they asked for all medical exams records to verify any/ all pre-existing conditions because she is 5 years old. Once I was approved, they confirmed that all "skin" related problems would be excluded from the policy. Fine. However, she tore her ACL and needs $4300 surgery. I looked at the policy and call customer service to confirm what the reimbursement would be. But, conveniently, they said ACL surgery is NOT covered in the 1st year of the policy because of possible joint pre-existing conditions. I told them, that records were sent to them confirming her health and they verified all prior conditions. It DOESN'T matter, they still wont cover the surgery. And you know why? Because ACL injuries are the most common injuries than of any other musculoskeletal injuries. VPI takes your money and like human health insurance finds excuses not to pay up their end of the bargain. Shame on them!

We have had a similar experience with VPI. Our Mini poodle became deathly ill one evening while we were away. She was staying with family as she always has. She is 4 years old and never been ill. In fact had her annual physical the week before. She became vomiting and having bloody diarrhea. She spent 5 days in the ICU at a very reputable pet hospital. She was diagnosed with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. She required IV hydration, transfusions, antibiotics, antiemetics, and pain control. The bill was close to $4200. They paid a little over $700. When we asked them what happened to the 80% coverage they informed us that they set the rate and that is all they pay. We have since re-submitted it with the medical records but after reading these posts, I don't have too much hope. Does anyone know how to post these complaints on Utube, Facebook or Twitter where they will reach millions and maybe cost the company many new clients?

After 10 years of premiums our Yorkie Poo developed a severe case of IBD. After 4 days in ICU, we ran up a $3, 700 bill of which VPI paid less than $500. We went so far as to constantly get second opinions on care to ensure we were taking prudent action. It turns out that VPI Standard plan schedule of benefits no where near covers normal and customary expenses. It is pretty hard for a lay person to interpret the schedule of benefits to find out that coverage is a joke. Bottom line is to start a savings account with the money you would pay in premiums. To add insult to injury, we carry a double cancer policy however in talking with the VPI agent it appeared our pet would need to develop 4 different types of cancer to ever reach the maximum payout. As others have said I would think these practices fringe upon fraud or should at least be considered unethical. Being an educated professional, I feel rather foolish that I did not do my homework before paying 10 years of premiums. BUYER BEWARE...

I HAD a similar experience with the AKC Pet Insurance. The only one that the AKC Petpartners Insurance partners with is with THEMSELVES! This company has denied my family 1, 000′s of dollars in UNPAID claim inclusive of eusthanasia. I am shopping other insurance after experiencing how deplorable the customer service is, the lost claims they forever seem to misplace and the wrongful denial to claims INCLUSIVE OF EUTHANASIA when we were told it was medically necessary. I had the wellness plan – pretty comprehensive and they only pay PEANUT things – when it comes to the “true reason we have insurance” forget about the AKC since you have NOTHING other than an Illusion of coverage per our experience. You need to look for providers WITHOUT the NEVER ENDING clauses the AKC has -- "Per Incident" and watch out for the heriditary items they EXCLUDE. OTHERWISE — SELF FUND YOUR OWN POLICY. To have an AKC Policy — it was completely USELESS and HEART WRENCHING! Be certain to read the AKC catch all loop hole — PER INCIDENT and WATCH the annual maximum -- they offer minimal and if your pup is sick -- it gets expensive and you can have exceeded what the AKC offers. For me the AKC considered EVERYTHING the same incident even when their own EOB’s indicate different diagnosis with different dates of service. . Many OTHER insurance providers have an annual maximum WITHOUT the AKC Loop Hole which they incorrectly throw everything into and then DON'T PAY as they represent they will. STAY AWAY from the AKC for fear your experience will be as mine! In my research at petinsurancereview.com and many conversations --
We are now with a valuable provider Embrace -- what difference -- Do your homework!

VPI is ripping me off now. They came up with these new lower premium policies and I put my 17-y/o cat on one. She had been on a higher premium policy with them for 9 years. She had unexplained weight loss. On the last visit, testing revealed that she had hyperthyroidism. You normally have a grace period in which to change your policy. I had chosen a $250 deductible because I didn't realize that the $100 deductible was really a good deal. When I sent the bill to them for over $400, they reimbursed nothing. Only $240 something was eligible and therefore, I hadn't met my deductible. I was so counting on getting some money back on that claim. I talked to Customer Service who told me about the grace period and I changed the deductible to $100. They told me that I could resubmit my claim as early as the same day and would be reimbursed accordingly. I refaxed my claim the next day and had a message on my answering machine when I got home that Underwriting denied the change in deductible because I submitted a claim within 30 days of the beginning of the policy and hyperthyroidism was pre-existing and would not be covered. I was also told by a very rude Customer Service agent that I spoke to that evening that my cat could never have the $100 deductible for the rest of her life. I have paid them thousands over the years and had very little in claims by comparison. I'm too afraid to make too much of a stir, though, because my cat has exceeded the cut off age for new policies at other pet insurance companies. I feel stuck. I'm afraid if I make them mad, they'll cancel us. Any suggestions?

I wish we could get a class action lawsuit together. Anyone interested, let me know.

Because I have read numerous complaints sounding eerily familiar to my own, I have made inquiry with a law firm (Morgan & Morgan).The firm specializes in class action law suits for consumer fraud.

I am awaiting their response. For those of you interested in becoming involved - contact me at 504/450-3050 or sharonefoy@yahoo.com.

In a nutshell, I paid this company for well over a year and each and every single claim I submitted was denied as pre-existing condition INCLUDING prescription medications. It's like someone once having a cold and getting another cold - normal stuff - and that cold being considered a pre-existing condition.

Hell, anyone's pet who has ever been sick before is basically denied across the board.THAT, my friends, is NOT insurance - THAT is FRAUD!

MORGAN & MORGAN JUST CALLED - they are seriously considering the lawsuit. Anyone interested in joining should contact me - I am trying to get a list together with contacts/information/etc. to provide to the firm.! EXCITED!