4
out of 5
POSTED: | BY: Beth Burch
My detailed experience with Nationwide pet insurance… So far.
My little Pomeranian Buffy, is two years old and I have had nationwide almost since the day I got her. The peace of mind I’m able to have, knowing she will be taken care of should she be injured or develop a disease is beyond comforting. Over my 55 year life, I’ve had many furbabies, and have had to pay out of pocket some rather exorbitant costs for kidney disease, pancreatitis, and cancer some of my babies suffered from, so knowing I have this security for Buffy is truly a weight off of my mind. Money is more tight than in years past, and I would never, ever want to have to let one of my babies go because I couldn’t pay for treatment, so I consider nationwide a blessing.
The process for a claim is incredibly easy, they quickly pay, and with the policy I have, they even pay for wellness visits, including their yearly physical, dentals, etc. with only a $250 deductible, which as any pet parent knows, can be the cost for one vet visit for even a simple issue.
The only thing I would change is their process for determining pre-existing conditions for puppies. Most puppies have worms, and sometimes ear mites, and Buffy had both of those when I got her at seven weeks old. Sadly, nationwide then determined gastrointestinal issues and ear problems to be pre-existing conditions. Obviously insurance companies need to cover themselves when an animal has actual pre-existing conditions, but the vast majority of puppies have either a simple parasite or mites, which are treated, and then never have again. There is a review process where you can get nationwide to re-determine whether your fur baby can have those pre-existing conditions removed from the policy, which I’m in the process of doing now, but I honestly believe for brand new babies nationwide should give some latitude when it comes to determining pre-existing conditions with such a young pup. I signed Buffy up as soon as they would allow, I believe which was 12 weeks old (I could be wrong about that, but it was very early in her life, at just a few weeks old), and she has never had another problem with her ears or her tummy, except once, when a neighbor through something over the fence, which she ate, and then got diarrhea for a day, but that is not a pre-existing condition, that is simply a furbaby eating something that disagreed with them. Hopefully Nationwide will review Buffy’s medical records over the last year and realize that she is an extremely healthy dog who has no pre-existing conditions whatsoever. So I will have to hold off on judgment regarding the review process until it’s completed. If the review process goes smoothly, then I would absolutely raise my star rating from four stars to five stars, but I would suggest nationwide take a look at determining pre-existing conditions and brand new puppies, especially regarding things such as a parasite, like worms, or ear mites, since it is so prevalent in the vast majority of puppies.
In conclusion, I am grateful to be able to have this Safety net for Buffy and for my peace of mind. Thank you Nationwide, and I guess after the review process, we will see if you’re really “on my side” lol.
One final thing, the agent I spoke with today regarding how to do the review to try and eliminate the pre-existing condition rider on Buffy’s policy, was just a spectacularly wonderful person. She was knowledgeable, kind, funny and understanding. She was truly a pleasure and a blessing to speak with, and I hope all the other agents are just as wonderful as she is.
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