A Vet's Review of Prudent Pet Insurance
2024

• 6 month waiting period for damage or rupture of cruciate ligaments, luxation of the patellas or other soft tissue disorders of the knee. May vary by state.
  
  While this waiting period can be waived if your vet certifies that your pet does not have pre-existing knee conditions, please note that a Vet may want additional diagnostics (e.g. x-rays, ultrasound, etc) before they will feel comfortable certifying this. The cost of this will be out of your own pocket.
• If a cruciate or soft tissue injury to the knee happens on one side before they policy starts or during the waiting period, that condition will not be covered if it happens on the other side. Even if it happens after the waiting period.
• Dental coverage for accidents and illnesses is limited.

• Strong underwriters
• Coverage when travel out of state including the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
• Provides coverage in the 5 important areas as part of the base plan:
  1. Chronic disease
  2. Continual coverage for chronic disease
  3. Hereditary/congenital conditions
  4. Cancer
  5. Breed specific conditions

• Contact Prudent Pet for information on the specific reasons they may cancel a policy. Given that Nationwide unexpectedly announced the cancellation of over 100,000+ policies in the spring of 2024, it's important to have clarity in this area.
• Based on their pre-existing conditions policy, signs can be used to denote something as pre-existing. As with all pet insurance companies that use this wording, I have concerns that this can be used to deny claims even when these previous signs are not directly related to the disease or condition currently in question.
• In their sample policy it states that the following is an exclusion: "... any illness that is the same as, or has the same diagnosis or clinical sign(s) as any illness your pet had before the effective date of this policy or during the first fourteen (14) days beginning on the effective date of this policy." It is not clear whether or not this includes any conditions that can happen on both sides of the body.
  
  For example: Will secondary glaucoma in the right eye exclude secondary glaucoma in the left? Primary glaucoma in one eye can have a higher risk of happening in the other eye, but this isn't always the case with secondary glaucoma.
• It is not clear whether reimbursements are calculated by taking the deductible first or the reimbursement percentage first.

• Make sure you research what customers are saying about the company. A company may have the 5 components that should be part of a pet insurance plan, but the company may not be a hit with customers. Sites to check include but are not limited to BBB.org, Yelp.com and PetInsuranceReview.com Things to look for include but are not limited to: How fast are payments paid?, What are customers saying about the pre-existing conditions policy?, How often are claims denied and for what reason?, What is the customer service experience like?, Are there issues with premium increases?
• Check with your state's Department of Insurance to see if any complaints have been filed for the company you are interested in.
• Make sure you understand what the waiting periods are.
• Make sure you understand their bilateral conditions policy.
• Make sure you understand any requirements that you must adhere to to maintain coverage.
• Make sure you read the terms and conditions to get a thorough understanding of all exclusions.
• Make sure you understand when and by how much your premium can increase.
• If you change plan levels, there is a possibility that all medical conditions present under the old plan will be considered pre-existing in the new plan. Make sure you ask the company if this is the case.
• For some companies, pre-existing conditions can be based on signs and symptoms alone, a diagnosis is not needed. For example, if your pet had a cough before you applied for pet insurance and this cough was discussed and written in the pet's medical record, there is the possibility that all future cough conditions, no matter what the cause, would be considered pre-existing - even if there was no treatment given. Make sure you ask the company if this is the case.
• Pet insurance companies are businesses. The top priority of any business is to make a profit for their stakeholders. Pet insurance companies can and may change your rates and terms to meet that top priority. A change of business ownership or underwriters can also be a catalyst for changes in your rates and terms.
  
  When you purchase pet insurance make sure you have a realistic understanding of this and how it can affect you.

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