Pet Insurance Fraud? America's Court

[jowasaurus]

Ok. So I'm really not sure where to post this ridiculousness and am in no way trying to bring up religious issues. . .

I'm sitting here on my couch watching America's Court for the first time. I used to watch Judge Pirro and have refused to watch the shows that have filled her spot since her show was moved somewhere[which has yet to be discovered by me, any knowledge about when/ where she is on would be appreciated?!]


Anyways. The second case went a little something like this:

A Christian woman is suing a Pet Insurance provider for the amount of money she paid for the insurance. Apparently this man went into her church and started talking about the rapture.
He started talking about how when Jesus comes down and all of the believers ascend into Heaven, the nonbelievers and their PETS will be left here on Earth with no one to take care of them. He had this woman thinking about when she goes up into Heaven, her cats/ dogs will be locked inside her house and starve to death with no one to take care of them.
She paid a sum of money to get this "insurance" that his army of Atheists will have addresses of those insured and after the rapture, will take care of those ascendent's pets. She said his speech had her in tears and she wrote him a check that day. Later she was talking to her friends and they told her is sounded like a scam. She started to believe them and wanted her money back. The judge was not willing to grant her to money or let her win her lawsuit. . . Shocker.



This got me thinking a little though. As much of a scam as this really does sound, what is going to actually happen? What kind of insurance policy [actual or referred like with friends, family, etc] do YOU guys have if anything were to ever happen to you?
I had surgery this week and was only gone one day, but I called my boyfriend 3 times to make sure he filled water bottle before he went to sleep, gave pellets and veggies in the morning, and made sure hay racks were full. I know when certain cages need things like that because it is normally done only by me [e.g.:: Warden drinks a full bottle daily and needs it refilled twice a day, the others only need it once. Bo and Waylon need their hayrack refilled in the afternoon and morning, others don't]

[MrWhistles]

I am not shocked that the judge did not award her money back.
HOWEVER, I do think the scammer should of been punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Scams are around us all the time and it is up to you to decide wither or not it is a scam and wither or not to give out your money like that. On times like this people will do just about anything for your dollar and you need to be more vigilant on your dollar.
No if he broke into her bank account, that is a different story. But she WILLINGLY handed money over to the scammer and it should be taken as a lesson learned thing and hopefully she will be more mindful of where her money is going


that said:
i do have insurance on my dog, horse and cat. For Mr. Whistles and me we have a medical savings set aside and we also use Care Credit. Husband has health insurance through his job and my dad dropped me off his insurance. I am a fairly healthy person and are still considering taking up health insurance. But should anything happen we have our medical savings and Care Credit.

[ThePigAlchemist]

I heard that those kinds of insurance were fairly common during the rapture scare. I won't go into what I think about the whole rapture thing (but I'm an atheist, so if the rapture ever happens, my pets are safe ). If something else happened, though, I've got "insurance" either way. When I'm at home (I'm a college student and have been spending summers at home with my mom, and live in an apartment at school), my mom is a good caretaker (and I only have two pigs so it's easy enough to check up on them and give them what they need). At school, I have my roommate who isn't a pig person but she knows what to do if necessary, and I also have a friend who is very much a pig person who would take in my pigs in a second if something went wrong, and I would do the same for hers.

[jowasaurus]

[There was a little bit of implied sarcasm in my post about how shocking everything is.]

I have no heard of Care Credit, @MrWhistles ! I just googled it but would love for you to explain it a little more if you have already used it!

[Inle_Rabbit]

Oh yes!! Get insurance!! Life, health, renters/homeowners, identity and disability! You NEED to protect your family and assets if anything ever happens to you (or your wife/husband). You also should have a will.

With regards to those left behind I have made a legacy drawer detailing everything. All our financial stuff, all our wishes after we pass and what to do with insurance money and other assets, including pet care! This is in addition to the wills my husband and I both have. Here is some info on that: Legacy Drawer: Keep Your Family Prepared - daveramsey.com

Be prepared! Everyone will die it's only a matter of when. (I know it sounds so depressing... )

[mufasa]

Aha, a fellow court show watcher! (I'm partial to Judge Judy and The People's Court myself.) I read about that insurance during the rapture scare. I guess it made sense at the time if you really believed you were going to be whisked up to Heaven. If it had actually happened, I wonder if the athiests would have kept up their end of the bargain.

Personally, I don't think Heaven would really be Heaven at all if my pets didn't go there with me. They're all gifts from God, so I don't believe he would take them away from me.

I don't have insurance on any of my critters, although a woman at the barn where I board my horse had her mare insured and it was a good thing, since the horse needed major surgery.

[MrWhistles]

[There was a little bit of implied sarcasm in my post about how shocking everything is.]

I have no heard of Care Credit, @MrWhistles ! I just googled it but would love for you to explain it a little more if you have already used it!

Care Credit is a credit card that you ONLY use for medical needs. Like your doctor, dentist, etc, etc. It can also be used for your animal's medical needs.
It pays in full your medical bill and you pay it off in your own time. While your paying it off it builds your credit.

[Wildcavy]

Insurance-wise, some things I think everyone should get if possible (health insurance, renters/homeowners) and others it just depends (life insurance). I don't have pet insurance and wouldn't unless I had a large animal. By putting aside what I would pay in premiums, I can end up with a pretty good vet fund.

On the insurance scam -- I'm not exactly sure how it would fall, legally, under a scam. The fact that the woman was foolish enough to fall for someone purporting to know the actual date of the Rapture / end time doesn't mean that the guy did anything wrong, legally. Ethically, yeah, it was wrong. But looking at it as a contract I'm not sure that under U.S. law she'd have a leg to stand on.

I echo what's been said above, too -- you have to let folks know what's out there and keep it in one place. It's really frustrating knowing that someone has insurance or a will and having to tear through their attic or office trying to find it, especially while grieving.

[Rejinahowsley]

I'm not at all surprised that the vet did not give her money back - she paid it herself, obviously because she was too stupid to realize it was obviously a scam.
As far as insurance, I do not have pet insurance, as I cannot afford it I do have a membership with Pet Asure though; it costs me about eight (?) bucks a month and they'll pay 25% of the vet bills, but at the time of service so I don't need to file for claims etc. For me it's a lot better, because I just don't have the money to pay for pet insurance.