Interview Series: Catherine Dennig, Fursure Pet Insurance Experts

Q&A: What You Need To Know About Pet Insurance

Unexpected accidents and illnesses may come at any moment and affect you and your pet. Fursure Pet Insurance Experts help make sure your pet's health is covered while saving pet parents money on unexpected vet costs. We partnered with Catherine Dennig of Fursure to answer some questions you may have about pet insurance. We discussed the benefits and costs to help you make a better decision about what pet insurance provider is best for you and your furry companion. At Dogdrop, we are a dog daycare that focuses on dog socialization and behavior. We see so many pups each day and want to make sure they are taken care of in all aspects of life.

1)    Why pet insurance?

Pet insurance is incredibly important for pet parents for many reasons. Pet insurance covers your pet in case of any accidents or illnesses that may occur over their lifetime. Veterinary bills continue to rise each year and procedures can be extremely expensive, often costing many hundreds if not thousands and thousands of dollars. Our mission is to transform the way people care for and spend on their pets. Part of that mission is educating and providing insight to pet parents to help them find the best pet insurance policy for their pet and budget. No one should ever have to choose between taking care of their pet and their ability to afford medical treatment. 

2)    Why did you decide to build a broker platform instead of providing insurance directly?

After talking to hundreds of pet parents in the early days, we realized the biggest problem with getting pet insurance was a lack of transparency, and lack of personalization. People were not getting insurance until it was too late because they couldn’t find an option that they trusted, or one that fit their budget, or they didn’t have the time to do the research on it. 

As a broker, we sit in a unique position to be able to offer guidance and education that puts the pet parent first. We tailor each customer’s recommendations to their unique situation, giving them confidence they’re making the right choice for them. Currently we offer a trusted pet insurance marketplace with easy comparison tools, personalized recommendations and guidance, and complimentary 1:1 consultation calls. 

3)    At what age does my pet need insurance?

You can purchase pet insurance for your dog or cat at a minimum age of 7 or 8 weeks. We highly recommend that our customers purchase insurance as soon as they bring their pet home from the breeder or shelter or rescue. If you wait and your pet develops any medical problems before your plan is activated, those are considered pre-existing conditions by all companies. And, pre-existing conditions are currently not covered by any pet insurance providers in the US. 

4)    How does the process work?

Our process is completely free for pet parents. You start by signing up and answering some basic questions about your pet - their age, breed, gender, etc. You’ll also give us information on your zip code and your budget range. Using the input you give us and our recommendation algorithm, we then provide you with your 2 best options. You can read more information about why they are your top recommendations, learn about coverage, and view other plans. Once you select a plan, it takes less than a minute for you to sign up, purchase and get your pet protected. 

Note: Every insurance company has a waiting period after signing up (to avoid fraud) meaning that there is a period of time (typically 2 weeks) between when you buy the policy and it goes into effect.

5)    Who benefits the most from pet insurance?

Most pet parents will benefit from having insurance. The exception are people that have tens of thousands of dollars lying around that will easily be able to afford a treatment if something were to happen. If you have the ability to pay a large vet bill out of pocket, pet insurance may not make sense for you. There are certain dog breeds that are at higher risk for health issues, or have breed-specific illnesses which can be extremely costly. If a dog parent is looking to be safe, it makes sense to insure them as early as possible.

6)    Will I save money with pet insurance?

We just saved one of our customers $6,000+ who has only had pet insurance for her kitten for 1 year. Many veterinarians say chances are in the course of a pet’s life you will have at least 1 major medical bill. If that happens, paying a reasonable amount per month with pet insurance will save you money, rather than paying for a large bill out of pocket. In many cases savings won’t cut it, especially if there is more than 1 large bill that happens over many years. 

We try to encourage our customers to think over the long term when it comes to paying for their pet’s health over their lifetime. With insurance, it’s less about being up one year or down the next, it’s about making sure your pet is covered when you need it most, and saving over the course of your pet’s lifetime. 

7)    What services are covered with pet insurance?

The vast majority of pet insurance plans cover accidents and illnesses, the unexpected costs. Some pet insurance providers offer a wellness add-on to pay for a portion of preventative care costs. By default, normal, expected visits to the vet are not included with pet insurance -- which is surprising to most people (since that’s different from human health insurance). Check out this infographic for more details. 

There are many nuances to coverage, including dental illness and periodontal disease, holistic veterinary treatment, rehabilitation costs, prescription food, behavioral issues, international travel, and non-medical costs like boarding and end of life, and more. It can be confusing and complicated. We recommend using Fursure to find the right plan for you, since we do the hard work of researching all the nuances to make sure our customers get the coverage they need. 

8)    How do I know if my dog qualifies for pet insurance?

The minimum age for dogs to sign up for pet insurance is 7 or 8 weeks. Some pet insurance providers have upper age limits, for example 14 years for Trupanion, while others have no restrictions. Even if your dogs have pre-existing conditions, they can still be covered for everything insurance can cover for you unrelated to those conditions. 

9)    What differentiates Fursure from other pet insurance brokers?

What differentiates us is that we are completely free for pet parents to use, we offer personalization and transparency and offer 1:1 consultative calls. Additionally, our mission to build long-lasting relationships with our customers built on trust means that our service doesn’t end when you sign up for a plan. We help our customers submit their first claims, manage their policy and medical records in 1 place, and have other product offerings in the works. We want to help our customers feel confident in the plan they have chosen for their pet, knowing that no matter what their best friend will be healthy and protected. 

10)  How much does pet insurance cost for dogs?

On average, dog insurance costs $47 per month with a range of $25-$70. Prices are very dependent on your dog’s age, breed, gender and zip code. A few choices such as your deductible, reimbursement percentage, and annual limit can affect your price as well as your coverage. Happy to help with more specifics at getfursure.com/signup!