Calculating Your Pet Insurance Costs

There are two basic ways to get your insurance company for your pet will calculate the amount that is to be paid from the insurance claim. The two methods are the benefit schedule method or actually going through medical bills and calculate the exact amount to be paid.

Many people think that the benefit schedule method is the best payment method as it pays out the most for illnesses and other pet insurance issues. This method gives you a fixed amount right up front of how much a pet insurance policy will pay out. Therefore, no matter how much you spend on your pet’s medical bills, you will still only get a certain amount of money. This amount will not even change year to year as the vet bills rise. This is why if you choose this method you need to revise your benefit schedule periodically in order to make sure that you will be covered the way you want to be. If you don’t change your benefit schedule, the last three years have shown that you can lose as much as 20% in your claims amount in accordance with the rates of veterinary costs.

The only two insurance companies that use this method are Veterinary Pet Insurance and Pet First Healthcare.

The other, more traditional payout method is often referred to as the UCR method or “Usual, Customary, and Reasonable”. This is where you ask for the full payment of the medical bills that you have incurred for your pet. The amounts that you can claim vary from place to place, depending on the cost of veterinary services. This amount also changes if you have required emergency services for your pet, and the amount will change to year as veterinary costs change.

No matter the option that you choose, be sure that you do your research so there will not be any surprises. A lot of times your vet bill will be more than your insurance company will pay and you end up paying a lot out of pocket. This is especially true if you have the benefit schedule method because you will never receive over the fixed amount.

This is why it is so important to do your homework on your pet insurance policy before you choose one. There is nothing worse than a surprise bill that your insurance company won’t cover and you end up paying. The UCR method is more reliable than the benefit schedule method because you will actually get a closer amount to the actual bill than the benefit schedule method. Even though some people think that the benefit schedule method is better it is best to get the UCR method because it helps you cover your veterinary bills better.