How to Pay for Vet Bills After Hitting the Pet Insurance Annual Limit

Many groundbreaking pet procedures that extend life or improve the quality of life for pets come at high price tags. Owners routinely buy pet insurance to help them afford these vet costs, but many pet insurance policies have pet insurance annual limits that cap the amount that can be spent on treating a single animal or single condition.

If you have reached your annual pet insurance reimbursement limit but your pet still needs care, you’ll want to explore your options for paying any vet costs you’re responsible for. Here are a few suggestions for how to pay for vet bills not covered by your pet insurance policy.

Savings

Saving money to cover the costs of expensive pet veterinary care can be an ideal approach to ensuring you’re able to pay for anything your pet needs. The benefits of using savings to pay for pet medical care beyond what your pet insurance policy covers includes:

• No interest costs. The money is yours, so you don’t have to pay interest to a lender. In fact, you could earn money on your savings, particularly if it’s in a high-yield savings or money market account.
• No need to worry about getting approved for financing. Your ability to provide your pet’s care won’t depend on a lender’s willingness to give you a loan.
• Immediate access to funds. You can take money out of your own savings account at any time, so you’ll have cash readily available to cover emergency pet care.

However, there are also some downsides to using savings:

• You may not have enough saved to cover all your pet’s needs. Big expenses can come as a surprise. Unless you can afford to set aside money each month in case your pet has a serious health issue, you may not have the cash available to cover costly pet procedures.
• Opportunity costs. Spending money on your pet’s care could leave you without a cushion for other emergency costs that may arise. Dedicating money to pet care could also reduce the money you can use to reach other savings goals, like retirement.

Personal loans for vet bills

Personal loans for vet bills are another possible way to pay for your pet’s care when your pet needs expensive procedures above your pet insurance policy limits. Personal loans can be obtained from banks, credit unions or online lenders. Here are some advantages of paying for vet bills with a personal loan:

• You may pay less interest with a personal loan. While rates and terms depend on your creditworthiness, personal loans may have lower rates than general purpose credit cards.
• You’ll have a scheduled pay off date. Personal loans allow you to borrow a set amount of money and repay it on a fixed schedule. You’ll know upfront what your monthly payments will be (assuming you have a fixed-rate personal loan) and how long your loan term is so you’ll be able to plan for exactly when your debt will be paid off.
• You may have more funds at your disposal. The borrowing limits on a personal loan are often higher than credit card limits, which could give you more money to use for your pet’s care.

There are, however, also some disadvantages of taking out a personal loan for vet bills, including the following:

• You may not qualify for a personal loan. Lenders look at your income, credit score, credit report, debt-to-income ratio and other factors when determining loan eligibility. Since personal loans aren’t secured by collateral (like your home or car), they may be more difficult to qualify for than some other forms of borrowing.
• You may not qualify for an interest rate you want. While personal loans may have a lower APR than general purpose credit cards, this isn’t always the case – the rate you’ll pay depends on your creditworthiness. If you can only qualify for a high-interest personal loan, paying back the debt could be very expensive.
• You may not be able to borrow the amount you need. Be prepared to tell the lender how much you need to borrow and why you want the funds. Realize that you may be eligible to borrow more from some lenders than others. You don’t want to borrow more than you need for your pet’s care, nor do you want to be approved for less than the total sum necessary to save your best friend.
• It can take time to get the funds. You’ll need to fill out an application with proper documentation. Then the lender will need to review your application, make a credit decision and, if approved, fund your loan. While you may have an approval decision the same day, it could take several business days for the funds to be deposited into your bank account so you can use them. If your pet needs emergency pet care and your vet requires upfront payment, this could be a problem.

General purpose credit cards for vet bills

Charging pet care expenses is common and using your credit cards for vet bills is another way to potentially pay for the costs of care once you’ve exceeded your pet insurance policy limits. There are both pros and cons to using a card. Here are some of the advantages:

• You can charge vet care immediately. If you already have a general purpose credit card with available credit, you may be able to use your card right away to pay for emergency pet care — no need to wait for loan approval or funding to be provided.
• You have flexibility in how much you borrow. With personal loans, you borrow a set amount upfront. With credit cards, you can use available credit up to your credit limit — and can use the revolving credit limit without reapplying for the credit card. This can be helpful if you don’t know exactly how much you’ll have to spend on care.
• You may be able to earn rewards. Many credit cards have rewards programs that provide cash back, points or miles on qualifying purchases. You could earn rewards for charging the care your pet needs.

Unfortunately, you’ll also need to consider these major downsides of charging vet care on a general purpose credit card:

• You may not have credit available to cover vet costs. If you don’t have enough available credit on your current general purpose credit card, then you may not be able to pay your vet immediately for the care your pet needs today.
• Repaying the debt may be expensive. General purpose credit cards charge interest if you don’t pay off your statement balance in full by the due date — and the longer it takes to repay, the more you’ll spend on interest charges.
• Your pay off date is uncertain. General purpose credit cards don’t usually have a specific date by which you need to pay off your balance in full. So, it’s up to you to create a payoff timeline and stick to it.
• You could hurt your credit score. Using more than 30% of the credit available to you on your credit cards may adversely affect your credit utilization ratio, which is an important component of your credit score.¹

CareCredit credit card for veterinary financing

Finally, another approach to paying for vet bills would be to use financing with the CareCredit credit card at enrolled provider locations.* Some of the advantages of using CareCredit to pay for your pet’s care include:

• Ease of payment. Many healthcare providers, including veterinarians, have partnered with CareCredit and accept CareCredit as payment for services. This can be important if you need to provide fast payment for care. You can apply on your tablet, phone, computer, or in your vet’s office. If approved, you can use the CareCredit card to pay for care.
• You may be able to qualify for promotional interest financing and pay over time with convenient monthly payments.*

However, you do need to be aware of potential downsides:

• Not all applicants are approved for CareCredit. You’ll need to meet creditworthiness requirements to be able to get approved for a CareCredit credit card.

What approach is right for you?

To decide how you should pay for your pet’s care, carefully consider the pros and cons of each option. There’s no one right answer, as different payment methods are best for different situations and how much money is needed for your animal companion. The important thing is to weigh all your options and make an informed choice about how best to pay for your pet’s care.