We have Trupanion - but we are Canadian. Trupanion used to be a Cdn. company called Vet Insurance - that was trying to move into the U.S. - but in the end bought a U.S. Company and now is headquartered there. We took out the insurance when our dog was 15 months old - we initally did not take it out because the plan DID NOT (at the time) cover hip dysplasia. Now the plan does BUT NOT for existing clients. Imagine paying premiums for 6 years and your dog develop dysplasia - you are not covered, but someone who signed up 35 days before is. People were very annoyed but with pets who were 6 years old, up the creek. Originally deductibles were not part of the plan. Now of course they are. Our original premiums were $32.00 a month plus our Cdn. taxes. Now they are $75.00 a month - and the increase to $75 happened before we ever had a claim - which did not happen until May of 2011 when our dog developed what was thought to be conjunctivitis but was really an ulcer in the making that in turn became an abscessed cornea. He is a white dog with perfectly clear eyes so we caught the problem day one. We had our most recent appointment with the board certified eye specialist in Nov. of 2012. The "crud" of course is still in his eye. So in addition to our monthly premiums of $75 we have been seeing the eye specialist every 4 months for nearly 1 1/2 years - this after constant treatments with our regular vet. NOTE - RECHECKS ARE NOT COVERED. So if the bill is say $125.00 plus taxes - we receive about $22.00 back (taxes are not returned). I wanted surgery at the beginning - used to have Dachshunds who had full body back surgery - and this happened with my 2 special guys - so I felt cursed. It would have been far cheaper. In retrospect, we would have been far further ahead to have had a bank account for our guy based on his excellent health until the eye problem. Cost wise this has cost us thousands. I called Trupanion after the most recent e-mail regarding adding prescription food, behavior modification etc. to the plan to ask how much this was going to cost us - even though we won't be able to use it. Our dog does cost us a lot of money with check-ups, vaccines etc. - plus dentals. His dentals usually run about $1,200 - and of course are not covered. Many people at the specialist's office have pet insurance and all feel the same. I did call when I heard about the addition of hip dysplasia - our dog does not have it - and asked if it could be added for existing clients whose dogs have never exhibited any signs of the health issue - and who have not submitted any claims. They said they were looking at grandfathering it, but didn't. Also watch the hospitalization issue - although these days you are lucky not be sent home the day after heart surgery. If you are hospitalized for 4 days, the plan will pay for boarding of your dog - EXCEPT my husband and I are both shown as our dog's owners. Since he wouldn't be in the hospital - he could be travelling - at work - visiting me in the hospital etc. - Trupanion would not pay since he would be available to care for our dog - and vice versa. This happened to someone else. So put the insurance in one person's name and hope. Our dog will turn 9 next April - so obviously we are not about to cancel the policy. He will also most likely be our last dog. In the event that the worst should happen and he die prematurely (his breed often lives to be 18) and we did get another dog, it would be a senior dog and we would not take out insurance or go to extreme measures. Each person has to decide what to do. Our breed of dog is known to be healthy if you adopt a standard size as opposed to one that has been mucked about with so that the dog weighs 5 lbs. as opposed to 25 lbs. And this has been the case. Every day I check his eyes - next appointment will be in 6 months, unless something happens. I do believe in pet insurance - BUT - not when they change the plans to attract new customers and leave the existing customers out in the cold. In Canada we do not have the variety of plans offered in the U.S. so I would do some checking. Look at the LIFETIME COVERAGE of a condition (much like kids' braces); the annual MAXIMUM per condition - some plans will pay say $1,000 annually for a broken leg - but a broken leg will cost you a lot more than $1,000 to have fixed - that type of thing - as well as the regular deductible and any breed specific deductibles and general deductibles. Also, exactly what is covered - and if they stop covering certain illnesses whether you will be grandfathered - not necessarily so as my vet found out with her pet. Our dog is more likely to develop Patellar Luxation or tear an ACL - so far so good - and supposedly we would be covered since he does not have a prexisting condition.

Why even consider the unique laws of New York or Massachusetts if you don't live there? Kind of silly in my book. And the paranoia of someone else "driving" your car is moot too since I don't know of a state where insurance isn't reciprocal. I'm insured on your car and you're insured on my car (with permission of course). So as long as you OK him coming and using your car, you're covered. Check with your agent of course for your local laws but that's probably the case. Having collision insurance is for one reason. If the benefit of paying the insurance offsets what you could get out of it if something happens. I think you should drop the collision altogether. I don't think $4k would break you to lose it if it's totaled out. You're better off putting that money toward higher liability, higher uninsured and underinsured coverage and maybe an umbrella so it benefits you. There's really no down side to suspending the coverage when you're gone. Why pay for it when there's no way you'll use it? You'll keep the comprehensive which is all you really need under those circumstances. Again, check with your agent but I don't know of a place this wouldn't apply. And you wouldn't need liability since you're not driving it. Even if your son DOES drive it while you're gone, it's usually covered by his insurance (again, check with your agents to be sure). As Elmer said there's benefits to running a vehicle but a few months sitting likely isn't going to be an issue with the caveat that I don't know how fragile or sensitive Jags are. I've had vehicles sit for a year or more without being started. The biggest issue is your upper level lubricant is usually gone so it'll take a few seconds to get the oil back up there, pressure to build in the engine and tranny, etc. If you're leaving it a long time you might want to prep it, but check with your mechanic. I'd bet they'll tell you 3 months is no big deal. Any time you use a charger you should be using it in a well-ventilated area as a charging battery does give off gasses. Nothing to be paranoid about but something about which you should be educated. Oh, and here, there's also a rental car coverage that has to be dropped if you drop collision. So there's an additional saving. If you have a good agent, and why do business with them if they're not, they should be able to explain this and help guide you on your decision. Couple months ago I had a sit down with my agent and we went over my coverage. Got back my fogey class discount, tweaked coverage and he encouraged me to consider dropping collision soon. I will on the next renewal since I already paid it when we met. Put on a $1 mil umbrella, upped the liability/un/under and a couple other tweaks and the net result was actually about break even or even less and when I drop collision/rental it'll be more savings. As a side note, I've always said there's 4 things you want the best you can get and in no particular order they're doctor, lawyer, mechanic and insurance agent. You'll benefit big time in the long run if you keep that in mind.

Has anyone had an “at fault” accident after the expiration date of their policy and before submitting payment for renewal and had their insurance company balk at coverage? This is why Michigan's notice statute is so precise, as my link in my previous post details. There were substantial changes to Michigan auto insurance statutes in 2019. Specifically, under Michigan law regarding car insurance cancellation for non-payment, if an insurer doesn’t provide the legally required 10-day notice of cancellation after the nonpayment has occurred, then it cannot lawfully cancel a person’s policy and coverage will continue either until the person pays his or her premium or until the insurer issues a proper notice. This protection is invaluable for a driver who have been injured in a car accident and his or her insurer is trying to avoid paying No-Fault benefits by claiming that it does not have to provide coverage because the driver’s policy had been cancelled due to nonpayment of premiums.

Jill302, thank you for that link. It sure looks like the person my DH spoke to was wrong. That makes more sense and makes the choice easier for me. Oakley, BCBS is the provider for the plans I can get that offer some out of network coverage, but it's 30-50% and would apply to everyone I would see at home other than my PCP and in-patient care at one hospital. None of my generic medications would be covered, and for all of that I would be paying hundreds of dollars more each month -- just to not risk being drained or bankrupt by an out of state and out of network medical surprise. I have been covered by BCBS many times, including most recently. I would have stayed with them if they offered individual coverage that would equal my group coverage -- even at the COBRA rates, it would have been a viable option. The plans they do offer individuals don't work for me.