Just got an increase from $385/month to $1137/month for accident and illness for my 2 dogs (about 14 yrs old in CA, USA). I've had Embrace for 10 yrs and this is absolutely insane. Should I change companies? Now that they're older, they'll have some preexisting conditions if I do new evaluations with a new provider. But I definitely can't afford this!

TL;DR: my 8yo DSH cat has "slightly abnormal shape to heart," "discussed URI, allergies, etc.", and "susp. feline idiopathic cystitis" written in his vet records, all from different exams and illnesses over the last few years, but with no recurrence in illness or symptoms. Are these comments enough for insurance companies to say he has incurable preexisting conditions and deny coverage of any future health issues? I'm super late to the party (no one told me to get pet insurance when they're young), but I'm looking to get insurance for my two cats, Andy and Ollie. Given that they're basically my children and I'm finally in a position where I have a bit of income, I want to do what I can to make sure they're able to get whatever care they might need (though hopefully they never do). Both are 8 year old DSH, previously indoor/outdoor for 3 years, now indoor only, no major health issues so far (no ER visits, no chronic conditions, etc.). I've been spending a bunch of time reading up on different companies, policies, reviews, kinds of issues people run into, etc., spoke with an ASPCA rep and planned to call Lemonade and Pumpkin to ask some questions and compare rates and plans and such. With all the frustration and confusion expressed different places about claims being denied for preexisting conditions, I decided to read back through the vet records I have and see if there was anything that my cats might get dinged for. There are a few things off the bat: they're both a bit on the chonky side, but weight has been steadily coming down into good ranges. A vet noted mild tartar two years ago, which I know means there's essentially no chance of any kind of dental coverage, but that's not necessarily the end of the world. What's really got me worried is that Ollie has had a few illnesses that I could see insurance companies labeling as preexisting conditions and using to deny future coverage: * May 2024- After a wellness exam where the vet said he was in good health, he became lethargic, struggled to use his litter box, and barely ate. I got him back into the vet ASAP, and the doctor found his bladder was painful and a little swollen, diagnosed "suspected feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC)", and gave him an anti-inflammatory shot and gabapentin. Ollie responded well and recovered in a few days with no issues since. Importantly, the vet noted that the inflammation could have been caused by stress and that his bladder was full but "did not seem to be blocked" -- I know that urinary blockages are considered incurable preexisting conditions, so I'm worried that the lack of definitive language (ie "no urinary blockage") could provide enough wiggle room for them to call it an incurable PEC. * July 2023- This is the one I'm most worried about. I took them in because Ollie had been wheezing a bit after activities like playing with his brother. At some points, it sounded almost like he was trying to get a hairball out, but nothing ever came up. The vet ran some tests to check for heart disease, asthma, or a URI. His radiographs showed "no obvious signs of asthma" and "weren't a slam dunk for asthma", but unfortunately did show "potential heart issues, abnormalities on heart" and specifically that his heart was apparently a "slightly abnormal shape". She recommended a proBNP to see if his symptoms were heart-related and it came back negative, so she said it was most likely a URI and gave him antibiotic and steroid injections with instructions to come back for a trial asthma treatment if he didn't improve. Thankfully, he did improve and hasn't had any wheezing since. -- This is especially concerning because 1) asthma is an incurable PEC and even though none of his vets has ever diagnosed or trialed treatment for it, the fact that asthma was even mentioned could be enough for them to call it a PEC; and 2) the "slightly abnormal shape" of his heart just screams guaranteed denial of coverage. And if this is considered an incurable PEC, what kind of probably serious things could they potentially refuse to cover because it's tangentially related to his heart? * Also, Ollie is a snorer. It's never gotten to a point where he's stopped breathing or anything, but it was happening frequently enough that I brought it up at a wellness exam. We used to live in a house that got fairly dusty, so I asked the vet if allergies might be contributing to his snoring and if an air purifier might help. The vet records read "Disc informed O about URI, allergies, etc.". Really really hoping that me asking about allergies doesn't lead to a future issue not being covered. So yeah, I feel like there's enough in his records for insurance companies to reject so many different kinds of claims, especially claims for cardiac, respiratory, or renal health issues, by saying these illnesses (and snoring) are evidence of incurable preexisting conditions. One of the big reasons I want to get insurance is in case cancer tries to rear its ugly head, especially since both of my childhood pets died young from cancer and all my family could afford was basically just pain management. I don't want to go through that again with my boys, and there are also a ton of other big health issues that could pop up and (hopefully lmao) be covered by insurance. But as much as I want to believe that they'd be reasonable, at the end of the day, these insurance companies aren't non-profits, they exist to make as much money as they can, and there's no Pet ACA to prevent them from denying coverage because of preexisting conditions. Which brings me to my main question (sorry for taking so long to get to the point): is getting insurance for Ollie worthwhile? I'd hate to spend the money on fairly pricey premiums just for anything that might come up to not be covered. Maybe I'm just overly worried and cynical, but the fact that something small can make a massive difference in how much longer I get with my fur babies is honestly scary. Sorry again for rambling, there's just a lot to consider. Any advice or insight is very much appreciated!

I was in an accident recently and i signaled and looked behind me and merged rightward into a middle/center lane. As I did so someone came flying up from behind me and I believe they very likely merged leftward into the same center lane, and I struck their aft portion of their car. Like their quarter panel and rear door (it was a four door car). I hit with the front of my car. like my right-side turn signal and bumper cover hit their left-side rear door and quarter panel. Not much damage to either vehicle but certainly much more to the other motorist's car. They will probably need a new doorskin and new quarter panel or at least serious bodywork to repair the damaged panels. Anyway, my insurance coverage does not include collision or comprehensive. Which is fine. I prefer it that way. I thought it should've been mixed fault or not my fault at all but in one week my insurance USAA has found me liable. There were no other witnesses, no passengers in either vehicle, and no camera footage. I forgot to take photos of either vehicle and so did the other motorist as far as I know. We only took photos of each others' insurance cards. They said due to the location of the damage on both vehicles (i never sent them a photo of either vehicle so other than my words and the cop's words they don't know where the damage is on my vehicle) and due to the police report, they are making this decision. I called the police department to get the report and not only do they want 10$, but they said the only way my insurance company could have the report is if they solicited to lexisnexis via snail mail. If that is true, then I suspect there is little that in ~6 business days they got the report. I was unsure what happened and the old lady who hit me/I hit was very adamant it was not her fault, which I guess is what I should mimic in the future, even though anyone with half a brain knows that in many accidents, eyewitness testimony is unreliable. I did not admit fault at the scene or to anyone I have a career where my driving record is important and I really don't want my insurance to go up. The adjustor is being noncommunicative. Please help

Sorry everyone this is a long one and I don’t have a good way to TLDR it. Just for a quick note, I have USAA for auto insurance and my vehicle is a 2017 Corvette Z06 in 3LZ trim, Z07 package, and 52k miles. I own the car outright and it is titled/registered in NH. So a little while ago I was driving in heavy rain, hydroplaned, lost control, hit another car in a few places not too hard, and slid into the median. The cosmetic damage is pretty bad. A few body panels and aerodynamic parts of the car were damaged and will need to be completely replaced, as you can’t repair fiberglass/carbon fiber. I estimated myself that the cosmetic damage alone would cost $25-$30k (take that for what it is, I’m not expert lol). I had a chance to look under the car and nothing looked terrible - only thing of concern was a rear wheel that was canted slightly outwards. I towed it to a shop and they’ve found no frame damage; they’re saying it’s completely repairable. USAA got an adjuster to do an estimate on the repairs and it came out to almost $32k without having taken apart the vehicle. Their estimate also included a substantial amount of work being done on the rear suspension, if needed, which is probably the only mechanical part of the car which would’ve been damaged. Their Actual Cash Value (ACV) for the car came out to be almost $61k at the time, and since the repairs were estimated to be over 50% of the ACV, they deemed it a total loss immediately. But I knew that ACV was wrong, because no low ballers, I know what I got. In all seriousness, their report included the methodology for calculating the ACV - they compare my car to two similar cars for sale in the area. However they made a mistake and compared my car to two base model Corvettes which, brand new, went for anywhere from $30k-$45k cheaper at MSRP. They also left out very valuable features my car had as OEM equipment like the carbon ceramic brakes which go for about $16k brand new. Obviously I know I’m not getting full value for these things, I’m just saying they certainly add value. Anyway, they admitted their mistake in comparing my car to two non-comparable vehicles and redid the calculation. The new ACV is almost $87k now. Now, I know a lot of you if not all of you will say take the money and run, but this is a dream car for me - it’s spec’d perfectly and I’ve done a lot of work on this car all by myself, so it has a lot of meaning for me. I could take the owner retainment settlement option and receive $48k, repair the car myself, and pocket extra money (because I know these repairs wouldn’t cost more than $48k), but they would issue a salvage title, and I couldn’t do that because I’d still want full coverage on the car. But even with this new (and correct) ACV, USAA refuses to not call this car a total loss. Repairs would have to exceed $43k to be over 50% ACV and, by their own definition, be a total loss. Additionally, in the state of NH, generally when a vehicle is involved in a collision the damages need to exceed 75% of the ACV to be deemed a total loss. This is what USAA has recently sent me as I’m still fighting them to get the repairs done, “I can understand your point, however there was no mistake in deeming the vehicle a total loss at start, you were interested in more value in the settlement. The fact that the added value was reviewed doesn't remove it from a total loss stance. We still report it to the State as a total loss, the features and conditions that were modified as a courtesy increased the value here.” So my question is, can they do this? Still deem it a total loss even though from the start their calculation of the ACV was incorrect? I disagreed the car was a total loss from the very beginning, I wasn’t looking to get more money from the settlement, I just wanted to ACV to be correct. I’m not even looking to pocket any money from this, I just want my car fixed.

Hi Last month I bought an older truck after having it 2 days it stolen from in front of my apartment in SE Portland OR. I filed a cliem, the car was recovered, YAY! Not so fast. The adjustor decided the car was not worth repair. Progressive called the leinholder and they decided to total the car. As a person that used to be a mechanic I wanted the car because I could fix it for less than 1500. When I called the lender I was told, "it is better for me and better for you". The lender is wanting me to pay the difference between the orig loan amount and what insurance pays. My position is, the lender take what is offered, apply it to the balance and I continue to make the payments. He will get his money, I'll get the car and we are both happy. The issue is, I didnt have the chance to explain that to the lender (buy here pay here lot) the decision to total the car was made without speaking to me about it. What are my rights?

This is for a puppy that will be enrolled at 8 weeks old. All unlimited options: Pets Best - doesn’t cover alternative therapies such as shockwave, PRP, stem cells, PEMF - $50.87 month - 90% with $500 deductible Healthy Paws - my current insurance provider - no longer offers 90% coverage - policy states it doesn’t cover diseases preventable via vaccine which is concerning since vaccines don’t always cover all strains - $47.71 month - 80% with $250 deductible Pumpkin - sample policy says “we may decide not to renew your policy at the end of any policy period” which is concerning if you start having a lot of claims - $74.99 month - 90% with $500 deductible Figo - $51.99 month - no exams covered (or $62 with exams covered) - 90% with $500 deductible Any thoughts? I’m happy with Healthy Paws but the 80% is disappointing so considering other options

Hi all. I recently leased a new car because the used car market was so atrocious in my area it was cheaper to go this route (context: they want full coverage so it's more expensive than the baseline cheapest policy I can otherwise get in NYS, the insurance checks on the used cars I found were comparable). My monthly rate is 500$/month w/ Progressive. Which is way more than the damn car. I'm a new driver, female, 24 (FML). I understand being young and new is whatever but 500$?? This was the cheapest my agent could find but I really want to shop elsewhere and look around before the next insurance renewal rolls up.

I pay into a CalSavers account. I received an email five days ago saying: "per my request all correspondence will be sent to:" \[an email which is not mine\]. It looks like a scammer domain. I don't remember registering to access the account on the CalSavers website, though I may have during the enrollment process when I started the job. Either way, I can't access the account as it doesn't recognize the email I would have used. Is it possible someone has stolen the money by transferring it out of my account? I don't imagine scammers would waste time as soon as they have access... I can't call CalSavers until their office opens tomorrow.

State is Michigan. I want to keep this as private as possible. Basically I had a double mastectomy back in the beginning of January. It was supposed to include liposuction on my sides to prevent 'dog ears'. I traveled 9 hours for this surgery. The swelling was so bad under my armpits I couldn't really see the open wounds. When I would do my cleaning and dressing changes every day I noticed a lot of discharge and blood. I had both of my sisters look at the wounds since I couldn't see them. I ended up going to the ER. The did cultures of both side wounds and started me on an IV antibiotic and an oral one. I contacted my surgeons office and got scheduled with a PA. They tried saying there was no infection and just to put Vaseline on it. They then extended my LOA at work. The ER contacted me and said that I had E. Coli and a staph infection. They changed the antibiotics because the one they prescribed wouldn't treat the infection. I relayed this info to my surgeons team. At this point I still haven't met with my surgeon after two months. I googled how to treat the wounds and took the care into my own hands. No doctor in my area will touch the surgical sights since they didn't perform the surgery. Two months later and I still have an open wound with discharge. Fast forward to this past Friday my health insurance sends me a subrogation claim letter to fill out. I have never heard of this before. It wanted me to file a police report and a LARA report. It also asked if I've hired an attorney. I called the state police post and they said to call the attorney general for any medical malpractice suits. So my question is how do I find the proper attorney and what are my steps now? I live in a small town and don't even think there are any attorneys that deal with medical malpractice. I have very detailed documentation of my infection and medical reports. Any advice is welcome.

I'm thinking of changing my renter's insurance of 8 years Assurant (Actually did some research and did not hear good things about them) to bundle with USAA. My apartment company has an "insurance fee" as part of the lease which covers liability, so all I would need is coverage for property. Since liability is now part of the lease, I was thinking of dropping liability from renter's policy to save some money. Is there any reason why I should keep liability on my renter's policy that I can't think of?