Petplan Pet Insurance

I have held PetPlan (now called Fetch by the Dodo?) policies for all of my dogs for years. (since they were puppies!) I have been so disappointed lately by the poor customer service, the claims denials, and the in-ability to access or download current or prior years claims & policy documents. Filing a claim is a nightmare using their online system, and it takes forever to get claims assigned when you email them.

Recently, I had to have a licensed Vet visit my home to perform emergency Euthanasia on my 14+ Labrador (Mocha Joe) who had been battling several medical conditions over the last 2 years and who had been rapidly declining due to complications related to lung cancer. Mocha Joe was very weak, unable to stand, and could not be moved without causing him serious emotional and physical pain and anxiety. Additionally, I was unable to lift him, and I was under quarantine for covid.

After years of asking the all the "coverage" questions of the Petplan representatives to make sure that euthanasia was covered for our dogs which they proudly replied YES to in response...My claim was denied. Stating that they don't cover house calls! WTF!? I had a licensed Vet come to my home to give treatment in an emergency situation and my dogs not covered? When did they place the "NO HOUSE CALLS" amendment in the policy? WE NO LONGER RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY AND WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN! Class action? Sign me up!

Since Jan 2012 I have been paying quarterly premiums only to learn today, 10 years later, they they would never had paid a claim. They stated, as they pointed to the policy, that annual exams are required. I did not know this. Periodically I get emails from them about rate increases, to update my CC on file, but never have they sent out reminders about ensuring you get an annual exam. I was not aware I had to do this. There is nothing on their website that states this, unless you scroll to the bottom and click on one of the many small links and then buried in verbiage it states annual exams are required. This is so deceptive that they take my money for 10 years only to find out no claims would have been covered. They stated even if I filed a claim today, even an accident claim, it would be denied. This is unconscionable.

I purchased PetPlan in 2019 for all of my pets and have never had to make a claim until my 10 mo old kitten suddenly got sick in February of 2021 which resulted in a $2, 100 emergency vet bill along with a $300 follow-up bill with our regular veterinarian. I immediately submitted the claim via the PetPlan website claims section and uploaded the statement(s) from the Emergency Veterinary Hospital, my cat's regular exam records from the veterinarian prior to the incident and that should have been suffice as this is according to PetPlan's claim instructions, the required documentation needed to process a claim. This was done in February 20, 2021 and PetPlan notified me stating they "needed more documentation from my regular veterinarian". More information? My cat, prior to the sudden illness ( which went undiagnosed because my cat quickly recovered with antibiotics) was
only 10 months old so exactly HOW MANY vet visits was my cat supposed to have prior to the emergency.
I called my regular veterinarian and had them submit the file for my cat and I received notice in September 2021 stating the claim was inactive. Huh? I gave PetPlan all the required information along with my Veterinarian sent the file which also had the emergency vet information and they canceled my claim; ridiculous and I suspect because they would have to legitimately pay me 80% of my $2, 600. claim. In October of 2021, I noticed my quarterly billing for each pet increased by 15% as well, for what? I called to cancel my policy because I didn't want to pay for an insurance plan that wasn't going to ACTUALLY REIMBURSE a medical emergency and the "customer advocate teammember" person was very convincing that he'd help and get the inactive claim opened again and processed so, based on him saying he'd "personally contact my Veterinarian for my cat's file records to process the claim" I held on and waited for PetPlan to follow through and process my 80% reimbursement for my claim after my $300 deductible was met, which, clearly was. NOPE!
It is now December 14, 2021 and the claim on my account yet again, states "Your documents have been received and will be reviewed by one of our agents shortly" which, should not take PetPlan two months to do- AGAIN! My policy auto-renewed on December 12th and the policy premium DOUBLED in price for each of my pets. Ironically, when I called to cancel my newly renewed premium I explained to the customer advocate teammember why I was canceling, he immediately started with the same BS I was given from the previous advocate which tells me right there that PetPlan is in the business of TAKING PEOPLE'S MONEY! DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF PAYING THIS COMPANY- THEY WILL RAISE YOUR PREMIUM WITHOUT NOTICE AND WILL NOT PAY ON CLAIMS!

I purchased pet insurance for my dog in June. I put in a claim in July after the waiting period. Pet Plan was given every vet record from the time before I adopted him to his initial exam and later visits. The app is never working. It will have the documents then delete them. I see many others have had the same issues. I have called numerous times and got contradicting answers. Nobody knows what they are doing there. I got one honest employee n the tech department who told me flat out that his higher ups keep telling him to tell customers they must do everything on the app even though Pet Plan knows it does not work! I then emailed my records and claims as well as faxed them. I have receipts they were received but Pet Plan says no. Next call they have everything. Then silence, they don't respond. This insurance is a scam. I have spent so much time it is ridiculous. It is clear the goal is to frustrate customers to the point where they give up and Pet Plan just scams us out of our money. I asked the policy be cancelled and I get a full refund. Again no response. I have had enough!

In February I adopted a golden retriever named Lucky (policy number DOG6089279-03), since then both the former owner and I have made numerous contacts with Petplan to transfer the dog's owner's name, but we never had a return. Now in May, the policy expired and the debit stopped being made to my card, I have already made numerous calls to complete the transfer and that the debits be regularized, but the answer is that I have to wait for the manager's return, but I have been for almost two months waiting for the return, I don't know if the dog is insured, and I don't know if I'm still a customer or not! a lot of lack of respect for the customer, I'm disappointed!

Petplan has been fraudulently charging me since my enrollment in May 2019. I brought this to their attention and they initially refunded me. I then cancelled my plan due to their poor coverage. They then turned around and deducted over $700 from my account without my consent. Nor did they notify as to why this happened. I am now fighting to get my funds returned to me and NEVER deal with me again.

Uses tactics to deny claims and has not paid a single claim. Beware of this insurer.

I adopted a rescue dog who was in excellent health. My dogs see the vet for all their shots and regular checkups and bloodwork to ensure they are healthy with no problems. Just after I adopted my dog he was given a full blood panel and review and given a super clean bill of health. About 6 months later he developed a lameness in his back legs so off to the vet we went. I asked about lyme disease because it was summertime and I had just been diagnosed with lyme disease having seen the tick on my arm and the bullseye lesion about 12 days later. Turns out he had contracted lyme disease. He was on frontline but it's been less and less effective in this area so we switched to bravecto. My dog was treated with antibiotics for 3 months and his legs improved and returned to normal. Needless to say the vet bill were high due to necessary blood work and monitoring over this period. I submitted a claim and it was classified as a preexisting condition. No coverage. The vet had suggest a teeth cleaning when he was checked out for the lyme disease and we agreed once he was healthier we would take care of the cleaning. Submitted the claim for cleaning which ended up with some teeth needing to be removed. Again, submitted the claim. Three times I submitted the paperwork and PetPlan tells me they can't read the information and it's been cut off. I emailed them a PDF not a fax so their stalling was another problem. I would pull up the document on my computer which was fully intact and not cut off and send it. Finally I called and complained and said I would send them the document one more time still as a PDF that was fully intact. If they gave me the same story I told them I would report them. 5 days later I received a claim denial in the mail. Today I cancelled this coverage. It's a rip off.

I have had pet plan for 4 years . I filed a claim today and called to change my address . I had moved from the city to the country, a much better area. Was told my rates would increase due to the move. Can't tell you how upset iam we are retired on a fixed income and that extra $10. A month just can't be covered. It really bothered me so I went online and asked for a quote for the same breed and age that I purchased your plan at the new address, and the rates were lower then what I originally paid at the old address. Can you explain that to me?

PetPlan not only refused to pay for services outlined in their contract but they also used deceptive practices to continuously to charge my credit card for policy payments for a period of 7 months after my dog died and the policy was canceled. When I finally inquired about the unknown charges I was told it was for pet insurance and when I contacted PetPlan they couldn't provide an answer but offered partial reimbursement that would take several week to process.

i have adopted my pet by november 2015 and immediately got a plan with petplan. i have NEVER requested anything from the insurance since i adopted my pet. this year i had two vet bills for a swallen leg ( from january 2018) and an ear infection ( from august 2018 ). after uploading all paperwork from the vet, they asked me to upload my pets history BEFORE I ADOPTED HER. i sent the adoption paperwork, then they called my vet and asked all the medical records ( WHICH I HAD ALREADY UPLOADED ALL MEDICAL NOTES FROM THE VET ) after rewieving all these documents, they decided the deductables are implied PER CASE, NOT PER YEAR. i have spent nearly $1000 in vet expenses and they sent $29 after deductables. THIS IS JUST A SCAM I IMMEDIATELY CANCELLED THE POLICY AND CANCELLED THE PAYMENTS. WHEN I GOT THE PLAN I WAS TOLD THE DEDUCTABLE WAS FOR ONE TIME AND AFTER YOU MET YOUR DEDUCTABLE, THE REST WAS PAID BY 90%
THE POLICY CHANGED IN YEARS AND I WAS STUPID NOT TO PAY ATTENTION TO CHANGES.

My dog's Petplan policy specifically stated that euthanasia would be covered if it resulted from an emergency condition. My dog began bleeding profusely from the urinary tract and we immediately took him to the ER at Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Sorrento Valley. A scan showed he had extensive neoplasia that could not be treated and euthanasia was recommended. He was in great pain and therefore we called a vet to come to the house that night to put him to sleep. I filed a claim with Petplan but it was denied. I was too grief stricken at the time to fight the decision and submit an appeal, but I wish I had. It was wrong of Petplan not to pay.

I have had insurance with Petplan for about 5 years. The rate last year was $582.24 for the year, $200 deductible (per condition) and a 100% reimbursement. In November, my cat was diagnosed with cancer, and in January, 2017, my premium increased to $1, 235.16, $500 deductible (per condition) with a 90% reimbursement. These rates went up by more than 100%! This is just not right. They blame it on getting a new underwriter, but I'm pretty sure these rates went up like this only for people with old and/or sick pets. I understand and was prepared for normal yearly increases, but this is highway robbery.

My dog has been insured with Pet Plan for over 10 years. Just received a letter that my month premiums were going up ten fold, and my Annual deducible was going from $200 per condition to $500 per condition...so now my annual costs will be $2, 400 per year premiums plus the deductible. The most egregious thing is that in this last year my dog has developed a chronic Illness, and all other insurers will consider it as a previous illness and won't cover it. So essentially after more than a decade of paying premiums, I can't stay insured with Pet Plan, or get insurance with another provider.

I took my ACD to the vet in August where she was diagnosed with Valley Fever. They took xrays and blood tests. The insurance company has repeatedly told me they need a history from the vet. This is the only time the dog was ever seen for an illness. She is not even two years old. The vet has sent three copies of the bill and his report about the office visit but the insurance company refuses to acknowledge that fact. They have stalled on reimbursement (only 80% and $200.00 deductible) long enough to get a second Premium payment out of me. They have plenty of customer reviews on their website explaining how much money they have paid back to customers but they all sound like they were written by management! Don't waste your time and money on these people!

For many years this company has been telling prospective customers their cats and dogs need not get an animal physical for coverage, or to be covered if they get sick later. You are told there is a 2 week waiting period during which there is no health coverage. It sounds fair, you think you are covered after that, and year after year, or month after month, you fork over huge premium payments. With good reason you feel safe and think your pet is covered! It is NOT! It turns out these thieves will try to worm out of paying every way they can think of.

My tale begins 4 years ago at which time I was insuring my house cat on their Gold plan. I was specifically told there was no cat physical required at sign up; not then or ever, for coverage. This meant a great deal, because I am disabled and trying to support a whole family on a bit over $700 per month Social Security. My cat lives a safe, pampered indoor life, and we can tell darn well if he is ok or not. We can not afford the $200 premium, which goes up every year, let alone another $100 vet bill for nothing. We took the policy, and renewed every year, with peace of mind the cat had health insurance.

4 years later, I still had never filed a single claim, and paid on time as usual. This 4th year my kids said they would treat my cat to a dental cleaning and check up, and paid the bill themselves for over $250. PetPlan paid nothing, and since dental, and check ups, are not in the policy, we did not claim anything, nor do we feel it is any of PetPlan's business! A couple months later my cat suffered an acute emergency hemotoma of the right ear. We rushed him to a different open vet at sunrise. That vet saved his life, and I was forced to go to my kids again to pay the over $800 bill (I am told that other doctors would charge up to $2500 for the same operation). PetPlan should be so grateful.

PetPlan took my claim by fax, and we submitted a detailed line item bill as their customer service requested. In my many years of pet ownership of other pets, other times, other companies, other places; this was always enough! 2 weeks later i got an email stating their were no medical records submitted. I called PetPlan, and they had me sign another form for medical records. Another 2 weeks go by, still no check. Also there was no sign there had been any trouble with the claim, no letters, phone calls, or any further emails from PetPlan. When i called them (as opposed to them calling me), they said there were no medical records. They also said there may have been pre existing causes. In fact without medical records they would not pay! If I had not called they would have simply let the claim expire!

My thinking was since there were no previous problems there were no medical records ever generated on the hemotoma. PetPlan could plainly see by their own records there had never been a previous problem if they had wanted to! They had 4 years of payments in, and nothing paid out for anything! Besides, the hemotoma was acute, did not develop slowly, nor was it a relapse of a previous hemotoma, of which there would have been records in their files!

Surprise! Ha! Ha! You dirty no good PetPlan! Surprise! Just by dumb luck my poor cat had had that supposedly unrequired "wellness visit" this year, plus a dental cleaning to boot, at the other vet! Surprise! You won't be able to cheat my family that easily!

The way I see it, they charge you for a policy that required a large dollar wellness visit every year to validate, and without that validation there never had been coverage since 4 years ago, at day 1 with the company. As if I haven't suffered enough with the sick cat, I find it so utterly horrid this company has managed to further hurt and upset me. I personally have a bad heart, and cannot take the upset from them. Plus now i find they do this to other people too!

Three months later after much angst I am finally paid, but it was dumb luck. During most of the policy i was paying, but since there were no dang wellness visits for my purrfectly well cat, he would not have been covered for most of the last 4 years!

I'm very disappointed to discover that your company is deceptive. My recent claim for allergy-related testing was denied based on the the fact that my puppy was seen for a hot spot one month before his insurance policy was activated. Hot spots DO NOT always indicate allergy problems. He was never seen for any allergy problems for a year following the initial hot spot visit, and was never diagnosed with allergies or treated for the problem until several weeks ago. I spoke with supervisor Kelly who informed me that Pet Plan denied the claim on the basis that the allergies were a pre-existing condition. My vet stated that hot spots are not always an indication of allergies; they can be caused by many factors. It was never noted in my veterinary record that my dog suffered from allergies, nor was any medical treatment prescribed for an allergy problem. The fact that my dog never had any problems over the course of the following year should have substantiated the fact that he had no allergy issues. If this had been an allergy issue, he would have been seen again within a year, testing would have been done at that point and medication would have been prescribed. None of this happened until a few weeks ago. The denial of this claim in unsubstantiated and unacceptable, and conveys to me that this company is in fact, deceptive and unscrupulous in its practices.

I have cancelled my policy. I am a member of the German Shepherd rescue community and professional dog training community, and I will no longer recommend your fraudulent company. I also plan to take the time to review your company on social media, so consumers are aware of how you operate. If you would twist medical diagnosis to benefit your company for a small claim such as this, you would most certainly twist facts in an attempt to weasel out of paying for very expensive claims. I have attached below some principles of insurance law which judges and legislators have fashioned over the years to protect consumers, in case you're interested in improving your processes.

Petplan is a complete SCAM! DON'T BUY INSURANCE FROM THEM! I have had Petplan for over 4 years and have submitted 3 claims that they put me through the ropes just to get paid. I don't even go through this kind of hassle with my own personal insurance! This time my dog had Valley Fever and they are giving me a hard time about paying the claim. They want 2 years of health records AGAIN which I don't understand since their is nothing to prevent a dog from getting Valley Fever. My dog is well taken care of and up to date on all shots, so what difference does it make that they need to see 2 years of health records when nothing could have prevented this? All they want to do is make it as inconvenient as possible to get you paid! As far as I am concerned they are a bunch of ### THAT SHOULD ROT IN HELL!

After paying for this insurance for 1 solid year, totaling over $500. I called to get a quote for coverage on my sick dog and they told me i needed to provide a Vet routine check up from at least 1 year prior to signing up! I said, "Excuse me? Wouldn't you ask for that prior to taking my money?" They said, "Oh, it's in our contract mam." I talked to my vet and he said he's never heard of such a thing and they should reimburse me and I'm looking into it. Seriously, why take my money? These people are crooks. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THEM!

I purchased PetPlan insurance in June 2012. For my 2 dogs an adult male basset hound and puppy pit bull the cost was $392.70 ad $311.96 per year. After 4 claims for the basset hound being denied they deemed him "lame" and would not pay any claims having to do with his legs including a cyst being removed. They did pay about $50 for the puppy out of about $1000. I decided not to renew because it was not worth the hassle or the money. Unfortunately I went out of the country last June and unbeknown to me they auto renewed the policy. Charging me $490.88 and $327.74 on my credit card. This was a 25% increase for a dog they paid -0- out in claims for. They have refused to refund this money because I did not notify them within what they considered an appropriate amount of time.

This June I got lucky and they tried to charge my credit card for $601.52 & 343.88 (again a 22.5% increase for a dog they have paid -0- out for claims) my credit card company thought this was fraud and denied the charge.
These people are not only dishonest but they have stolen $818.62 from me and would have taken an additional $945.40 if it hadn't been for the credit card company.

BTW the only emails I have received from them was an email telling me to update my credit card information.

I never had insurance on my previous dog and he was a healthy 16.5 year old when he passed away but when I got my new puppy decided to take out insurance with Pet Plan - having had him for a year the vet contact them regarding a claim regarding a hernia and some dental work. They now have turned down my claim saying this was known - this is not true the hernia was not spotted until he was nearly 2 months old and although a comment was made when he was first examined that he had an undercut jaw - this is normal in the breed - this is not the reason why he needs to have two teeth removed this is because they have not fallen out. Having paid over a year's worth of premiums at a high rate I am not impressed with their denial to settle what should be covered - as no exemptions were made at the time of taking out the policy. Wish I had gone to another insurer - not impressed with their attitude

I purchased my PetPlan dog plan on June 9, 2009, pre-paid for quarterly coverage and was charged after the 24 hour hold on June 10, 2009. A few weeks later Brewster began experiencing urinary issues, so on June 24 I took her to our local vet. Thus, it is important to note that the vet visit was after the two week waiting period. It was simply coincidental that the vet visit was on the day after the plan went into effect. The vet diagnosed Brewster with a mild bladder infection and prescribed some meds. Given the fee was only $70 we didn’t bother submitting it to PetPlan.

After two weeks, Brewster still wasn’t well so we returned to the vet, who issued a different prescription. After another three weeks, she still wasn’t improving, so we returned to the vet who advised we begin costly testing. After checking with PetPlan, who told me specifically the procedures were covered, we moved forward with the testing to determine what was wrong. The tests ultimately showed Brewster had a stone in her bladder that had to be surgically removed.

At this point we had spent around $800 with the surgery estimated to cost more than $1000. We submitted a claim for the $800 for the initial fees incurred, and I again called and spoke with PetPlan to confirm the next surgical procedure would be covered.

Brewster went into surgery on August 31 at 7 a.m. When I got home from work, I received a letter from PetPlan saying that they were denying my claim and subsequently would not be covering the surgery we had performed today. I then called PetPlan immediately and was informed that they were considering it a pre-existing condition – because even though I enrolled on June 9 and paid the same day, my plan “mysteriously” was not activated until June 15, which meant the first vet visit occurred during the two week wait period. However, I did open my plan on June 9, technically in effect on June 10 due to the 24 hour hold, which would mean the June 24 vet visit would fall after the wait period had ended.

I did not enroll and pay for a service and then knowingly consent to the plan not being activated for five additional days. At this point, we have not received any further response/communication/resolution from PetPlan and are currently responsible for nearly $2, 000 in vet fees, despite Pet Plan incorrectly activating our plan five days after we enrolled and paid in full.

My dog means the world to me, which is why I was so thorough in my plan selection. Working in the insurance industry, I know how insurance companies work and often wrongly deny claims, which I fear is the case in my situation. I am glad my dog has now received the proper course of treatment, but there is still a large vet bill that needs to be resolved. We choose PetPlan to be protected, not defrauded.

Don’t choose PetPlan!