Getting A Service Dog.

[siniang]

How old is too old?

I think for cats the cut off is 14? Not completely sure off the top of my head. And that is for my insurance, every insurance could be different in that. Kitty cat was 14.5 when we moved to the US and I looked into it the first time (and then let it slide for the others because of that)

Another thing we have is CareCredit. Gives you a little bit of breathing room in case of those really large emergency bills.

 

[blackemerald1]

Can you get insurance for the dog that is discounted bc you also get house/contents/car insurance. Like a package deal? Is that a thing I could go look for?

 

[Sideways]

Like a package deal? Is that a thing I could go look for?

Yup.

Many. Here in sunny (read: stupid hot) Qld that would RACQ as the obvious one. But even my Medibank Private has a pet insurance I can attach at a discounted rate. They’re all over the place.

Maybe check out some of the compare online sites (like Choosi or whatever) to give you ideas about providers.

 

[Freida]

How old is too old?

depends on the company

Another thing we have is CareCredit.

Can you get insurance for the dog that is discounted bc you also get house/contents/car insurance. Like a package deal? Is that a thing I could go look for?

yep - I know USAA does that and there are a couple others out there. The ones I saw were higher copays and had a lot of stuff in the fine print that they didn't cover. Make sure you read the fine print! :laugh:

 

[blackemerald1]

Make sure you read the fine print!

I know! I hate fine print. I imagine some lawyer who works for these insurance company sits there with Word working out the most difficult way of saying something that is in essence quite simple. They get paid money for that. I should just lend them my brain for an afternoon bc I could confuse the sh*t out of anything better than a lawyer. :hilarious:

 

[siniang]

Just make sure it's actual medical insurance, not just liability (which is usually bundled with the more "normal" car and renter's insurances). I'm also not completely sure they'd really be cheaper than dedicated pet insurances and @Freida is right, they probably tend to cover less or have a ton of caveats in the fine print.

 

[Sideways]

I imagine some lawyer who works for these insurance company sits there with Word working out the most difficult way of saying something that is in essence quite simple.

You know what’s annoying? Is most of them were drafted by a lawyer at some point...

And then some bigshot insurance exec decided they’d just tweak this bit a little...

And then some actuary decided they’d just change those words a little...

And then some risk assessor having an episode decided that lampposts spontaneously crashing down was a freakishly real possibility, to hell with the word count...

And then the financial services ombudsman made some declaration about privacy clauses needing to also include information set out in this way...

At some point? Probably the insurance contract started out as a readable document. Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away!!

 

[blackemerald1]

I'm sort of hoping the training organisation may suggest or recommend an insurer when they hand over the dog - for two reasons... they may know or have some kind of deal for their dogs since they come through such a heavy training/vetting process for both behavioural/physical stuff. Secondly, they will know the dogs medical history and that's relevant in any insurance situation but of course that's transferrable to another insurer too.

It's freezing here today and I'm frozen too. I cannot get past making another cup of tea and staring out the window at the cold grey sky... lost in thought land. I haven't done anything towards accomodating a dog or even looking after myself. If they knocked on the door today to check whether I was suitable to have a dog... they'd run for the hills...

At one level this whole year has just disappeared because of family commitments and I am having lots of trouble sorting myself out now I'm back home. And even imagining that something so good, this dog, might really happen is feeling like a far fetched fantasy idea.

 

[blackemerald1]

risk assessor having an episode

^ :hilarious: Yesss!

lampposts spontaneously crashing down was a freakishly real possibility,

^And that's sure to happen orrr, maybe get trampled by a angry antelope? lol

 

[Sideways]

a angry antelope?

Oh gawd, the antelopes are back :roflmao:

 

[Sideways]

Speak to your training company - they may (should) be covered for public liability.

 

[blackemerald1]

Yes you let them out of the park and now they're on this forum running amuck lol.... :hilarious: