Embrace Pet Insurance

I filed the claim online and, as I expected, received a check for just the small amount remaining available after payment on the previous physical. I had just paid $200+ for an emergency passport to replace a lost one (that was then found that evening) and, because of a bank error, came back from vacation to hundreds of dollars in NSF fees (only about 1/3 of which the bank would reimburse). So I felt like I was being pummeled by unnecessary expenses. I HATE wasting money, and now I was out about $200 because my dog's physical wasn't covered.

I figured it was worth a shot, so I called Embrace and explained that this was my dog's annual physical, that I didn't know why my husband had taken her 2 months earlier than the previous year, and asked if there was any way they would cover it as if it had been a full year. The rep told me that she would submit it. I just received the decision and they covered it in full! This really made my day and took a lot of the sting out of my recent expense attack. Embrace wasn't my first pet insurance company, but I have been with them for a few years now and they are far superior to my previous insurer. I wish I could put my kids on this plan. I will be with Embrace for as long as I have pets.

After multiple calls and chats with various representatives, the claim was finally approved. After that, it was smooth sailing. Her surgery claim was approved quickly and efficiently, although I’ve realized that I must submit all claims myself instead of allowing my vet to submit them directly, as your company claims to have never received the documents directly from the vet, despite them sending the documents via multiple methods on multiple occasions. The reimbursement check was sent out quickly and received quickly, so overall, the frustrations were worth it.

Hamilton came through surgery great, and then several weeks later did the same to his left hind leg. So back to the vet we went to get that repaired. Both surgeries were covered by Embrace. They paid 80% of the total bill - both for the local vet who first diagnosed the problem and for the vet who actually did the surgery. Without this insurance, we wouldn't have been able to afford the cost and may have had to have taken other measures. Now we have a dog with two bionic legs and is a great and friendly part of our family. I would recommend Embrace Pet Insurance to everyone.

It just so happened that my vet had a mat on his counter which advertised Embrace Pet Insurance. I remembered that when I adopted two rescue pugs 6 months later. While the cost was around 2K for both dogs, my peace of mind was bought, too. It had wellness care which included dental and OTC items, doctor visits for illness and catastrophic care. I had no doubt that this was the way to go for me and my "girls". I now have only 1 pug, but I know she is Embraced! This is long winded I know but I can't say enough about the peace of mind Embrace has given me. I swear by this company and recommend it to others 100%.

Fast forward several claim-free years, and Gromit tore the ccl in her knee, requiring surgery. The cost of the surgery and follow-up exams was over $4,000. My first pleasant surprise was that since I had not filed any prior claims, my deductible was automatically reduced! Next, the claims that I submitted were not only paid quickly and without question, but the agent suggested that I set up direct deposit so that I could receive reimbursement even faster. As Gromit has gotten older, the premiums have increased. But the peace of mind that Embrace has provided is worth it to me. I didn't have to hesitate about getting Gromit the surgery that she needed regardless of the cost. And watching her run around and play, pain free and fully-healed, warms my heart.

I purchased a policy in August after a recommendation from our vet, and at the end of August, our dog developed a small skin infection. Antibiotics cleared it up in a few days. The claim was denied. Why? This is the exact sentence from their review: Unfortunately, a dermatologic condition, excessive head shaking was noted on 2/7/19, which was prior to the policy purchase. This makes dermatologic conditions (see Embrace definition copied below) pre-existing. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? They failed to note here that our dog has never been diagnosed with any sort of ear infection that would cause excessive head shaking. There is no pre-existing condition. This insurance company hides behind their fancy policy wording to never pay a claim. Despicable.

After that awful experience, I was determined to never let that happen again, and signed up my healthy 3-year old rescued Dalmatian for a plan with Embrace. I did research online before choosing an insurance company, and given the generally positive things I read about Embrace, and the way they marketed themselves as honest and straightforward, decided they seemed like the best bet. My dog is my best friend, and I cannot even imagine being in that situation with him. In early October 2018, I received an email from Embrace: "Hi! You are now out of the accident and illness waiting periods. Nice!" Great I thought, now I now longer have to worry about having to choose between my dog's health and financial ruin. Little did I know.

Fast forward to June, and my dog's health one day begins to decline rapidly, out of nowhere. By the end of the week, he could barely get out of bed. Realizing he was only getting worse, I brought him first to his normal vet office, where they did blood tests and found that his electrolytes and kidney values were abnormal. They sent me to a more specialized 24-hour ER clinic, the one I had been to with my cat. There they diagnosed his mysterious symptoms as Addison's disease.

He fortunately made a rapid recovery on meds and was fine for about a month, when one night he suddenly jumped out of bed (he sleeps with me) and proceeded to have a grand mal seizure, his whole body convulsing, drooling profusely, losing bowel control. I was terrified he might be dying. I held him and tried to calm him and keep him from bumping into anything. Gradually, the seizure died down. However, over the next 24 hours he had 5 or so additional seizures. We ended up back at the ER. They were able to stabilize him but a neurologist found nothing abnormal. He had never had a seizure before in his life and since they could find no cause, they diagnosed him with idiopathic epilepsy. Seizures are not associated with Addison's or his medications, so it seems that was just a really unlucky month for us. At least, I thought, these things will definitely be covered by his insurance. I was just happy he was okay.

So the claims? As of now, 4/5 have been rejected (related to Addison's) and the one for epilepsy has not been decided. I filed them all in early August- it is now October. Why were the Addison's claims rejected? Well in November, I brought him to the vet because I thought he seemed a little constipated. After my cat incident I did not want to take any risks- that's what I insured him for. The vet found nothing wrong and prescribed a bland diet, and he went back to normal. She recorded, however, that he had vomited up one serving of chicken soup I fed him (a new food for him).

Because vomiting is a "clinical sign," Embrace said, Addison's (known as "the great pretender" because of its nonspecific symptoms) was a pre-existing condition and not covered. Ignoring for a second the absurdity of that, how could it be pre-existing if it was past the waiting period? Well, Embrace messed up. His vet checkup the previous year had actually been more than 12 months before I enrolled- after they told me the waiting period was over I didn't bother to double check the date- they had received all his records after all.

The same day they denied the claims, I received an email saying that they had gone back and altered the waiting period in his policy- a year later. Not only is this grossly unethical, it is clearly in violation of a provision in his policy for my state of residence. I won't go into detail, but the wording is clear that there is a specific time window and set of circumstances under which coverage can be retroactively modified, and this in no way fits. So Embrace does not even bother to check that they are following their own policy.

I am severely disappointed and frankly disgusted by my experience with Embrace. I know how insurance is supposed to work- I used to work as a healthcare industry consultant and understanding health insurance was part of my job. Let me be clear- this is not insurance- this is a scam. I will update this review as necessary but unless Embrace complies with their stated policy, I will see them in small claims court.

One of the dogs was treated at an emergency clinic upon referral from our regular veterinarian and they are requesting a complete medical record from the emergency clinic. An emergency clinic does not have a year’s medical record. They only see animals on an emergent basis for a short amount of time. The policy states claims will be addressed in specific amount of time. I have to pay the claims upfront sometimes with a credit card for which I pay 18% interest. When our claims are not paid in a timely manner that interest is like a rate hike for the year, a cost of doing business with Embrace.

We spend roughly 4000.00 a year for this insurance via direct withdrawal. It is not late and if it were I’m certain I would be notified immediately. Just would like to have the same privilege with claims handling. We chose Embrace with the long haul in mind but now beginning to wonder if we will have to start all over again with another company and the waiting periods and pre-existing conditions we have already paid to cover with Embrace.