Pet insurance with pet wellness?

MillieMoodle

I know this is available in the US, but not sure in the UK that I've found but does anyone know of any pet insurance that also does pet wellness? I.e. routine check-ups, vaccinations, worming and flea - maybe even have a spaying/neutering option? It seems that this would be sensible - to me - that an insurance wants to have generally healthy pets, which often equals good maintenance of said pets? check-ups, vaccinations, worming/flea and even spaying and neutering (though I grant there are grey areas in this in terms of behaviour changes, weight change against other preventive benefits) . Obviously there are many 'wellness plans' offered by vets, or by other 3rd parties which dictate your vet choices, but it would seem to be good to be able to shop all in one place for owners. Many will balance up the costs of a pet plan and insurance and need to split somewhere in the middle to balance their money to risk and obviously preventative/routine is going to rank rather high as that's a non-negotiable but it may mean less comprehensive on the pet insurance just because it's an unknown and if the pet is young, then less risky for now.

It would seem a good idea that the pet insurance is aware of the regular maintenance of the pet? And they'd clean up better because then people can look at their pet's care cost as a whole, rather than bits and pieces and having to budget this here and that there?

As they say, there is no NHS for pets - but NHS isn't just for incidents, they realise that better preventative care equals fewer issues to deal with?

It seems strange to me that pet insurance will support complementary medicine and not a wellness plan. I am not dismissing complementary medicine at all btw (I'd happily use complementary medicine for myself or pets if applicable) but seems just an unusual sort of thing for a pet insurance to have put a lot of consideration into to be able to offer it but all the while not considering a major component of pet care, routine and preventative care. And something that 'health plans' are cleaning up and getting people to use them (for regular care) maybe to the expense of 'unknown risk' insurance (People may go with the basics on that - major risk - and not the other more comprehensive plans).

sheramber

Pet insurance is not in the business of keeping pets healthy. They   are  in business to make a profit for the shareholders.

MillieMoodle

Yes, I am sure that there is truth there but none-the-less - we customers are still trying to find and balance the needs of our pets. They seem to do it in the states so just trying to figure out if anyone does it here or if not, why they don't.

sheramber

 Have you asked an insurance company why they don't do it?
 

MillieMoodle

They simply say they don't offer that at this time, that's all.

KiKi

It's likely that any 'wellness' programme they provided would have to outweigh the cost of the vet providing it - otherwise they are not going to make money.  The vet will charge them for the services, which creates more admin, which adds to the cost of both vet and insurance services.  So if your vet offers a wellness programme (or a series of services) for £150 a year, for eg, there's no way an insurance company can beat that - they'd need to pay that to the vet, add on admin costs, and then also take a hit on the insurance front, which will ultimately drive up insurance payments.  Most insurance policies state that ongoing care and check ups are a requirement, otherwise the insurance policy is invalid, so they don't need to make sure it happens any other way. 

A better option for insurance companies is probably to lower insurance costs if you can evidence that your pet has been vaccinated, had regular check ups etc each year.  Less admin, more onus on the owner rather than the insurance company, fewer processes, and less of a risk to your current business. 

SallyDucati

I have a separate plan through my vets - ' Healthy Pet Club'.  For a monthly fee get all flea & worming treatment and annual vaccinations, and a 6 monthly health check.  Also get 10% off vet bills.  I worked out that it does cost slightly less than paying individually and spreads the cost.

Should also say I have insurance for my cats as well so they are well covered!

Topher

Our pets follow a kind of wellness program, not through the insurance, but through the vet's they're registered with. This came about when we bought a lifetime cover for their annual innocculations via the vet we have them registered with. In each case, buying into the innocculations program has proved cost effective. (Although for various personal reasons, I wouldn't have followed the convention to innocculate annually if it hadn't been a pre-requisite of the deal they're on, and a requirement of some of the kennels we have used in the past -there's an argument to say they don't have to be boosted as frequently as annually). However for a once off fee, we have more than got our money's worth in the actual boosters, but also in the annual health check our pets get, this includes weight, teeth, general checking of condition, and updating of their records on the computer system, - that information proving very handy during a couple of emergencies in the past. We get reminders for the boosters and health chaecks and of course (not forgetting that the Vetinery practice is a business) they always advise us of a treatment we could have, but these are generally fairly superficial and we take or leave them with due consideration (weighing up wellbeing, age, and costs. 

MillieMoodle

SallyDucati said:

I have a separate plan through my vets - ' Healthy Pet Club'.  For a monthly fee get all flea & worming treatment and annual vaccinations, and a 6 monthly health check.  Also get 10% off vet bills.  I worked out that it does cost slightly less than paying individually and spreads the cost.

Should also say I have insurance for my cats as well so they are well covered!

We also do the 'wellness club' with out vet. It just seems that it would be good to budget all things in the same place. You budget for the wellness, then you contemplate the insurance and is there a risk, is there not. So you go back to the drawing board and say, hmmm...maybe I could do the wellness piecemeal, but then go back and say no, I'll keep that and re-evaluate the insurance. Most people are doing budgets and weighing up the benefit of a programme or insurance. I just thought it could be good to see sort of healthcare costs of your pet in one place and then you feel you've covered your bases. As I said, I looked this up and it is offered in the States apparently, so there must be an attraction to having bundles that give you a place to weigh up your monthly healthcare costs - and receive an economised price because you're doing it to one entity.

MillieMoodle

KiKi said:

It's likely that any 'wellness' programme they provided would have to outweigh the cost of the vet providing it - otherwise they are not going to make money.  The vet will charge them for the services, which creates more admin, which adds to the cost of both vet and insurance services.  So if your vet offers a wellness programme (or a series of services) for £150 a year, for eg, there's no way an insurance company can beat that - they'd need to pay that to the vet, add on admin costs, and then also take a hit on the insurance front, which will ultimately drive up insurance payments.  Most insurance policies state that ongoing care and check ups are a requirement, otherwise the insurance policy is invalid, so they don't need to make sure it happens any other way. 

A better option for insurance companies is probably to lower insurance costs if you can evidence that your pet has been vaccinated, had regular check ups etc each year.  Less admin, more onus on the owner rather than the insurance company, fewer processes, and less of a risk to your current business. 

Yes, that would be good. We are going with an insurance that does provide a moneyback option if there are no claims which is at least good!