Introduction
Now, if you live in America and have a pet that isn't insured, then sooner or later, you'll probably need to pay vet bills that can be very high. My 14-month-old chihuahua, Ralphie, came into my life as a little puppy. We adopted him from a friend who ended up taking a job in a different country and had to leave Ralphie behind. And I'm really attached to Ralphie now.
But as a new pet owner, I didn't even think about insurance until he got hit by a car and needed surgery, medication, and a number of follow-up visits to the vet. It all that ended up costing me a fortune. Thankfully, he's recovered. And what I learned from that experience is that pet insurance is a good idea for Ralphie's health and for my own financial well-being. So, after Ralphie's accident, I did some research into pet insurance. And out of all the companies that I considered, I opted for Spot.
Understanding Spot: A Review of Pet Insurance Options
In terms of what they offer, Spot covers accidents, illnesses, and wellness for dogs and cats, but only in the United States and Canada. They don't cover any other pets, so if you're trying to insure your parrot or your potbelly pig or something like that, you're going to have to look elsewhere. And because I've been down the rabbit hole of pet insurance, which can get quite dicey, I'll try to keep this review as simple as possible. So, I'll tell you all about how Spot works, what they cover, and how much it costs. I'll also explain some of the pros and the cons of using them, so that hopefully, you'll get a better idea of whether Spot is the right insurance for you and your pet or not.
What I discovered when I was researching is that Spot is a relatively new player in the pet insurance industry. The company was only founded in 2019, but its policies are underwritten by the over 100-year-old United States Fire Insurance Company. How much you pay depends on where you live and what kind of pet you have. So, your quote will be based on if it's a dog or a cat, what breed your pet is, and how healthy and old they are. And for those of you who aren't already familiar, Spot offers both an accident and an illness plan as well as an accident-only plan. And you can customize your coverage to include refunds for any money that you spent on prevention and wellness for your pet. And they generally pay for around 90% of your vet bills at any qualified veterinarian in the United States or Canada. And one more added benefit is that right off the bat, you can get a 10% discount for the second pet if you have more than one.
Spot's Plans and Prices
In terms of how it actually works, the most popular type of pet insurance in America is combined accident and illness coverage. And like I mentioned before, pricing is based on your pet's details and what options you choose in terms of deductibles, annual limits, and how much you choose to get reimbursed for what you spend at the vet. And to get a quote, you need to tell them where you live, your pet's gender, breed, age, and any health issues that he or she has been diagnosed with already. In terms of customization, Spot is probably the most customizable of the pet insurers that I looked into. In terms of deductibles, you can choose anywhere from $100 to $1,000. And you can set your annual limit for claims starting at $2,500 and up. And you can choose how much you'll get reimbursed for your expenses from 70% to up to 90%.
Okay, so let's get into the plans and pricing a little bit more. A combined accident and illness plan, which is their most popular, covers Ralphie for vet visits, diagnosis, treatments, x-rays, medications, and advanced care, including emergencies and hospital time, as well as the treatment of hereditary or congenital illnesses. They're insured for dental work, hip dysplasia, cancer, parasitic infections, poisoning or swallowing incidents, skin, ear, and eye infections, orthopedic injuries or surgeries, and actually quite a bit more that I hope your pet never ever has to deal with. And it also includes alternative medicines like acupuncture treatment for behavioral issues, microchip implants, and virtual vet visits as well. So, it really, really is comprehensive.
Comparing Pet Insurance: Spot vs. Competitors
You also get access to Spot's 24/7 pet telehealth helpline when you need immediate advice. And because the rates can vary according to the details that I mentioned earlier, I'll give you some examples to give you a ballpark. For example, in Washington state, Ralphie is insured up to $5,000 for annual coverage, $250 in annual deductibles, and an 80% reimbursement rate. His coverage starts at about 30 bucks a month, increasing as he gets older to 46 bucks when he turns 6 years old. For a retriever, on the other hand, you'd pay 56 bucks a month for a 1-year-old, and you'd end up paying 87 bucks a month or something like that for a 6-year-old. For a Persian cat, you're looking at around 32 bucks a month for a 1-year-old and up to 43 bucks a month for a 6-year-old.
Spot also has an accident-only policy, which a lot of other pet insurers don't even offer. This covers any injuries like broken bones, poisoning, or swallowing incidents, like when a pet swallows a child's toy or eats something it shouldn't have. This covers all accident-related vet consultations, diagnostics, hospital stays, surgery, and prescribed medication, plus any lab tests, x-rays, MRI and CT scans, IV fluids, and medical supplies like bandages and all that and so on and so forth. If your pet needs a tooth extraction, advanced care, or alternative therapy, it's also covered. Accident-only coverage is offered at the same rate for all breeds and ages. And you can expect to pay around 31 bucks for dogs and around 15 bucks for cats.
And in terms of affordability, it's the most affordable coverage you can get from Spot and is ideal for older but generally healthier pets whose comprehensive coverage would cost way too much or for very adventurous pets or something like that who tend to have more accidents. Like any insurance, there are things that are excluded. And with Spot, these include pre-existing conditions. So, you need to clarify this before you enroll, especially if your pet has already been treated for a condition that might happen again. Also, you can't claim for daycare or boarding, breeding costs, cosmetic procedures, or any preventative or wellness care under the main basic policies. Another option to customize your coverage is the gold and platinum wellness packages, which encourage disease prevention and help you detect problems before they can get serious. These plans include a bunch of things that'll keep your pets in good overall health and that seemed like a good idea to me.
The gold plan is what we ended up going for, and it cost us around 10 bucks a month, but you get wellness benefits worth 250 bucks a year with set amounts for each procedure. I might not have thought of doing any of these if I didn't have the plan. And I'm talking about things like wellness checkups, dental cleanings, deworming, vaccines, and tests and other stuff that Ralphie gets regularly, even if we don't think he has it or don't know that he has it because they're covered on the gold plan. For just under 25 bucks a month, you get everything from the gold plan and even more prevention and wellness procedures that I didn't really think were necessary for Ralphie, like rabies shots, urine and blood tests, and a health certificate. But if you think your pet needs all that, then it's a good deal for what you get.
Filing Claims with Spot: How It Works
In terms of the benefits, and like I said before, if you want to save a bit more money, use the link that's down in the description below because you'll automatically get a discount that you wouldn't be able to get if you went straight to Spot's website. Now, in terms of my experience using Spot's website, it was mostly a pleasant experience because I got a quote within a couple of minutes, and I was able to easily adjust my coverage and compare rates pretty easily. And what I found for Ralphie, because he's still so young, is that the combined accident and illness coverage is slightly less at his age than the set price accident-only policy.
But when he gets older, it changes, and then I'd have the option of adjusting his coverage. And because preventative care isn't included in the main policy, I actually, like I said, ended up going with the gold plan to keep him on track with checkups, deworming, vaccines, and so on and so forth because it helps to know that if he, God forbid, has another accident, I can get refunded for most of the cost. But I wanted him to also be covered for any natural illnesses and preventative care to stop anything major before it can fester. Of course, it's up to you and your budget and your pet's needs, but Spot does stand out as being more flexible than most of the other pet insurers that I researched.
Why It's a Flexible and Affordable Option
And something I should mention is that when I was researching them, I was going through reviews on Trustpilot, and I noticed a few complaints from customers about a 2-week waiting period on all incidents before you can claim. The main complaint was about having to submit their vet records going back years when customers made a claim for some illnesses. But that's kind of standard procedure in the insurance industry for humans as well as far as I know. So, I don't think it's so irregular. And for me, the few times I did submit claims for reimbursement on my gold wellness policy, they were paid out after around 2 or 3 weeks or so as promised. So, I don't have any complaints in that department, although I do think they could simplify the claims process a bit. It was a bit intimidating to me, and there was a lot of paperwork when I did it the first time. But on the whole, I've really enjoyed using their site and their app, and I even used them to find a veterinary clinic nearby for Ralphie.
Okay, so I looked into a few other options, and I found a couple of competitors that are worth mentioning here. The first one is Healthy Paws. They have just one broad accident and illness plan with unlimited annual coverage but no accident-only or wellness add-on options. In terms of cost, accident and illness coverage for a 1-year-old male chihuahua like Ralphie is about 30 bucks a month, which is roughly the same as Spot. But while Spot doesn't specify a set time for claim resolution, Healthy Paws says they can handle most claims within 2 to 10 days. But Spot offers more in terms of the conditions and incidents that are covered, with more options for add-ons as well. And if you only want accident-only coverage, then Spot is the only one that even offers that as far as I know.
And then there's Pumpkin, which, like Spot, has an accident and illness plan and an add-on for wellness expenses. But again, unlike Spot, they also don't have an accident-only plan. But Pumpkin does include some things that aren't covered by Spot, such as supplements, rehab therapies, and end-of-life services. And if you compare cost for accident and illness coverage for Ralphie, then the quote that I got from Pumpkin was almost twice as much as what I got from Spot. But this was for a fixed amount of annual coverage of up to $10,000 versus a limit of $5,000 with Spot. So, maybe that explains the difference in price. But both offer unlimited annual coverage for dogs and cats, although Spot has more ways to tailor your policy and has a mobile app to manage your insurance as well, which Pumpkin does not.
So, the reason I went with Spot was largely cost but also because of how much I could adjust the plan. And considering all the coverage I got from Spot, I decided that it was the most favorable option for me. And so far, I haven't had to claim anything major, but it is good to know that I can if he, God forbid, gets an infection or gets injured again. And like I mentioned, I was reimbursed without any problems when I claimed for the wellness procedures covered by my gold plan. So, it's working out well for both Ralphie and I.
Okay, so that about the review of Spot. So, do I think they are the best for all pets? Well, everybody's dogs and cats are different, but Spot had what I needed for Ralphie, which was a comprehensive plan for a reasonable monthly fee. And Spot was also more flexible than the other companies I looked into. And where they especially stood out is how they give you the chance to arrange your coverage to suit your budget and your particular pet. Also, I've learned a lot about being a responsible pet owner from the wellness plan I got for Ralphie. So, in the end, I would definitely recommend it as a good investment that one day might end up saving you a bunch of money and stress and help you take good care of your dog or cat.
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