hen I adopted two older kittens from a shelter, the shelter recommended pet insurance since they had no way of knowing about the health of animals in their facility. The insurance would "protect me" should the cats have medical problems. So I called the company they recommended - PetFirst.
At no time did anyone from PetFirst say anything about pre-existing conditions or worming being excluded. I was told only that the insurance did not include wellness care which I felt was very appropriate.
It didn't take long before I realized that I had adopted both cats with a pre-existing problem. One tested positive for roundworms so both were treated. Even after treatment, both had loose stools with some bright red blood in the litter box. In other ways, the cats were healthy. I didn't try to submit a claim until 8 months later when the problem was persisting and I had already incurred several hundred dollars in vet bills. The cats were given worming medicine again as a precaution even though their previous culture was negative.
PetFirst denied all payment on the claim, insisting that it was a pre-existing illness, was routine care (nail cutting was included on the same bill), and that worming was not included. They must have all these rules in their fine print but they certainly don't tell you when they sign you up. And they knew these cats were adopted from a shelter which made them high risk. At the very least, this company is highly unethical and it may be fraud since they do not disclose very important terms and conditions and are signing you up over the phone even before you can't see and review their policy which arrives by mail several weeks later. And they made a point of reviewing normal exclusions on the phone. Then when you really need the insurance, they conveniently have a reason hidden in their exclusions to deny the claim and this is probably after you have paid their premiums for quite some time (as I did). I paid them $50.95 per month from June, 2017 through January 2018.
PetFirst Pet Insurance Reviews
hen I adopted two older kittens from a shelter, the shelter recommended pet insurance since they had no way of knowing about the health of animals in their facility. The insurance would "protect me" should the cats have medical problems. So I called the company they recommended - PetFirst.
At no time did anyone from PetFirst say anything about pre-existing conditions or worming being excluded. I was told only that the insurance did not include wellness care which I felt was very appropriate.
It didn't take long before I realized that I had adopted both cats with a pre-existing problem. One tested positive for roundworms so both were treated. Even after treatment, both had loose stools with some bright red blood in the litter box. In other ways, the cats were healthy. I didn't try to submit a claim until 8 months later when the problem was persisting and I had already incurred several hundred dollars in vet bills. The cats were given worming medicine again as a precaution even though their previous culture was negative.
PetFirst denied all payment on the claim, insisting that it was a pre-existing illness, was routine care (nail cutting was included on the same bill), and that worming was not included. They must have all these rules in their fine print but they certainly don't tell you when they sign you up. And they knew these cats were adopted from a shelter which made them high risk. At the very least, this company is highly unethical and it may be fraud since they do not disclose very important terms and conditions and are signing you up over the phone even before you can't see and review their policy which arrives by mail several weeks later. And they made a point of reviewing normal exclusions on the phone. Then when you really need the insurance, they conveniently have a reason hidden in their exclusions to deny the claim and this is probably after you have paid their premiums for quite some time (as I did). I paid them $50.95 per month from June, 2017 through January 2018.