Best Pet Insurance
Based on In-Depth Reviews

What is Pet Insurance?

In a perfect world, every pet would live a long life free of disease and injury. Unfortunately, that is not the world in which we live. Dogs, cats, hamsters, and even pet tarantulas all fall victim to accidents and diseases just like their humans.

Also, as with human healthcare, pet healthcare is far from free. In fact, it can be prohibitively expensive. Year after year, the costs of this care increase, putting more and more pet owners in the terrible position of putting a price tag on the lives of a family member. How much money is too much to spend to keep your best friend alive and healthy?

Pet insurance, like the health insurance you receive either through your employer or otherwise, is a means to protect yourself from potentially ruinous veterinary bills. Healthy Paws lists one particularly alarming example of the costs of pet care on its website, telling the story of a German Shepherd named Lupa who needed $52,021 worth of treatment for tetanus. Considering that the average per capita income in America in 2017 was $31,786, it’s not likely most people could afford Lupa’s care without insurance.

And yet only 4.85 million American pets are insured. This out of an estimated total of 89.7 million dogs, and 94.2 million cats.

Part of the reason for this low enrollment could be that pet insurance is a relatively new product. In fact, the first policy sold in the United States was for that shaggy star of the silver screen, Lassie, in 1982. The modest rise of pet insurance in the almost four decades since mirrors a curious change in how Americans interact with and think about their pets.

Dr. Craig Clifford, a medical oncologist and director of clinical studies at Hope Veterinary Specialists coined a pair of terms to describe the traditional model of American pet ownership versus the contemporary model. “The Snoopy generation,” as he called it, was content to leave their dogs and cats outside to mostly fend for themselves. Veterinary care was limited to relatively minor procedures and treatments and for more expensive, complicated illnesses, euthansia was generally the solution.

“The Brian generation” (a reference to the decidedly indoor family dog from the TV show “Family Guy”) on the other hand treats pets as literal family members, rather than a piece of property.  Even the way these two generations refer to themselves—pet owners versus pet parents—broadcasts the dramatic difference in how pets are integrated into a household. When a dog or cat becomes a fully-realized member of the family, veterinary care becomes a bit more complicated. Opting out of, say, cancer treatments because they’re too expensive, isn’t an option at all. There is no dollar limit on the lengths some families will go to save one of their own.

To put it bluntly, pet insurance means not having to choose between a $52,021 vet bill and the $50-$400 it costs to to euthanize a pet.

How Does Pet Insurance Work?

Most pet insurance policies reimburse you for vet costs after you’ve paid them and file a claim. You pay your veterinarian for services and then file a claim to be reimbursed a certain amount of money based on your deductible and reimbursement rate. For example, if you have a deductible of $250 and a reimbursement rate of 80%, you would get 80% back of any costs that you paid over $250.

In some cases, pet insurance companies like Trupanion will pay vets directly so you don’t have to worry about paying out of pocket or filing claims in the middle of a medical emergency. Otherwise, the reimbursement process can take anywhere from days to weeks.

Most pet insurance policies also have a waiting period, which is the time between when you enroll in a policy and when you can get coverage. Most companies have a waiting period for accidents of between one to three days and fourteen days for illness. If they’re covered, congenital or hereditary diseases have a waiting period between six months to a year.

Things to keep in mind when buying pet insurance

Pet insurance differs from health insurance in a few key ways. To begin with, most pet insurance operates on a reimbursement model. This means that you pay for the veterinary treatment or services upfront and are then reimbursed for the cost once you file a claim.

Additionally, most pet insurance doesn’t rely on a network of providers. You can choose your own vet and not incur out-of-network fees. The notable exception to this model is Banfield Pet Hospital, which offers membership to hundreds of clinics, many of which are in PetSmart stores. Technically speaking, this is not insurance at all. It’s closer to a veterinary discount plan, which is a membership that provides you with discounted prices on veterinary services.

The thing to bear in mind about such plans is that they don’t pay for anything. You will end up paying for everything, though at a discounted rate. If--to go with the example of Lupa again--the original vet bill is $52,021 and your discount is an unheard of 50%, you’ll have to pony up $26,010.50. To put it in perspective, that’s roughly the cost of a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona.

Even with insurance, you may have to pay far more out of pocket than you thought you would. Besides the fact that pet insurance is a reimbursement product, you may run into benefit caps sooner than you’d thought. An all-too-common tactic used by some insurers is to advertise their plans as having no benefit caps, but bury the fact that only the top tier plan is cap free. The information is still technically available, so it’s not false advertising, but it does mean you have to be careful about which plan you pick.

4 Types of Benefit Limits

• Unlimited Lifetime — After you pay your deductible, there will be no upper limit the company will pay to cover your pet's medical bills.

• Annual Maximum — Some companies will cap payouts on an annual basis (e.g. $15,000/year). Once you reach that limit, you will no longer be reimbursed for treatments that year.

• Annual Per Incident — This is the maximum dollar amount the company will pay for a particular illness, condition, or procedure in a given year.

• Lifetime Maximum — This is the maximum amount the company will pay out either in total or per condition for the lifetime of the pet. If your pet has a chronic condition such as asthma or allergies, you can quickly hit the benefit limit. 

Lastly, though most pet insurance providers offer “wellness” plans to cover annual checkups and vaccinations, you may want to limit your coverage to only accident and illness insurance. There’s a reason 82% of policies sold in the US do not cover wellness or preventative care. For the most part, the higher premiums of wellness plans will usually end up costing you more than you’d actually spend out-of-pocket for these routine expenses, and consumers seem to have figured this out. Run Do the math yourself and don’t be surprised if paying out of pocket for these costs ends up being a better deal.  

Pre-existing conditions and enrollment

Pet insurance is not subject to the same legally mandated consumer-friendly protections as human health insurance. As such, it’s generally not very forgiving of pre-existing conditions, except under some of the more expensive and less-common policies. For the most part, pre-existing conditions are excluded from for coverage. As your pets age and your premiums increase annually in response, pre-existing conditions may very well lock you into one provider, precluding you from consideration insurers.  

Enrollment, too, is complicated and varies greatly from one insurer to the next. The following restrictions may all apply:

• Max Enrollment Age: Most pet insurance providers have a maximum enrollment age, and deny coverage once reached. However, there are a few that will cover pets regardless of how old they are, usually for an extra cost.
• Minimum Enrollment Age: Conversely, most companies also have a minimum enrollment age as well, usually expressed in weeks.
• Accident Waiting Period: Most pet insurance companies require a waiting period between enrollment and when you can make a claim for accidents. Obviously the shorter the period, the sooner coverage begins. With some insurers, this period may depend on your state. In rare cases, accident coverage starts within 24 hours.
• Illness Waiting Period: Waiting periods for illnesses are usually longer than accident waiting periods. A common time frame is 15-30 days from the policy effective date, although it can be shorter.
• Free Look Period: Free Look Period means the period of time allowed for a new policyholder to look over the terms and conditions of the policy after delivery. During this time, the policyholder may cancel the policy with a full premium refund. Free look periods are usually represented in days.

Learn more about the best pet insurance for pre-existing conditions and your possible coverage options.

How To Get Pet Insurance

If you’re wondering how to buy pet insurance, it’s a relatively easy process if you're willing to do a little bit of research. Start your journey by comparing the best pet insurance companies like our top picks above. Get quotes from these companies by calling them, using the quote forms on their websites or checking with your existing auto or homeowners insurance companies to see if you can bundle coverage for a discounted rate.

Make sure you understand each company’s coverage options and exclusions. Look for whether they offer accident-only, accident-and-illness, or wellness plans. Also, look for extra perks like dental coverage or behavioral therapy treatments. 

When you're getting quotes and signing up for coverage, choose your deductible, reimbursement rate and coverage limits. Higher deductibles will reduce your premiums, while higher reimbursement rates and limits will increase your premiums. You'll be required to pay either as a monthly premium or a discounted annual premium. Some companies may also require that your pet completes a routine exam to determine their overall health. Others just require that your pet has had an exam within a year of enrollment.

How Much Does Pet Insurance Cost?

Think of your cost of coverage like you would car insurance. When you buy an auto insurance policy, your monthly premium depends on a number of factors: how many vehicles will be on the policy, their makes and models, mileage and age, where you live, and the accident history for both you and your vehicles.

While Al’s Awesome Auto Insurance can claim to offer the most affordable policies in the industry, you’ll need to provide Al with a lot of specific information before knowing your exact premium payment.

The same is true of pet insurance. Generally, cats are cheaper to insure than dogs, younger animals are cheaper than older ones, and certain “problematic” breeds warrant higher rates Also, if you live in Manhattan, New York, you can expect to have a higher premium than you would if you live in Manhattan, Kansas because the cost of veterinary care in those two locations is not the same.

In line with other types of insurance, pet insurance has deductibles: money you pay out of pocket for treatment before insurance payments kick in. Generally speaking, higher deductibles mean lower premiums and vice versa. While you might be inclined to choose high-deductible insurance in order to lower your premiums, your plan to lower your overall costs could backfire if your pet requires a lot of treatments in a given year, requiring you to make numerous co-payments.

Pet insurance comes in three basic coverage categories of ascending cost: Accident Only, Comprehensive: Accidents & Illnesses, and Comprehensive + Wellness Coverage. Though an accident only policy, you’re out of luck if your pet gets sick or diagnosed with a serious disease. We recommend the middle option as it provides more of a safety net, without the extra cost of wellness protection.

So how much does a policy actually cost? According to data from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association State of the Industry guide, the average annual costs of insuring a dog or cat are:

The most expensive of these averages is still less than the cost of most peoples’ cell phone bills. It’s important to keep in mind that these numbers are simply an average and that the variables mentioned earlier--species, age, etc.--can put your bill significantly above or below these baselines. Additionally, wellness coverage will cost more, as will coverage for more exotic pets, generally.

Do I Need Pet Insurance?

Whether or not to insure something or someone is usually a personal choice, with a few exceptions--auto insurance if you own a car, mortgage insurance until you’ve paid a home loan down to a certain point, and various profession-specific insurances. There is no statute on the books mandating the purchase of a pet insurance policy when you have a furry member of the family. But just because it’s not mandatory doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.

One out of five cats can expect to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives--for dogs, the risk rises to one in four. Estimates of the cost of treatment vary according to breed, type of cancer, where you live, and treatment options, but the consensus is that it is not cheap. Diagnosis alone can run you $1-$2,000, with treatments ranging between $3-$10,000 and, of course, the ever-present possibility of a relapse.

And that’s just cancer. Treatments can run from $250 for a sprained muscle in a dog to $15,000 for acute kidney failure in cats. It is by no means certain that your pet will be afflicted by any of these or other conditions (though what dog owner hasn’t faced the prospect of emergency surgery because Fido swallowed something decidedly inedible?), so the question comes down to “how much risk can you afford?”

While the idea of economic euthanasia--putting a sick animal down because you can’t pay for treatment--is, to put it mildly, distasteful, it is a legitimate consideration in the realm of pet healthcare. Without pet insurance, the average person will reach a point where they simply cannot afford the treatment necessary to prolong the healthy life of their pet. Though it’s often sadly necessary to put down extremely sick animals when further treatment will only prolong their suffering, a broken leg or bowel obstruction shouldn’t mean the end.

However, if you have your heart set on avoiding pet insurance, a good alternative is to set aside some amount of money every month--peg it to what you would pay for an insurance policy, perhaps--in a contingency savings account earmarked for pet health emergencies. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever save enough to pay for a catastrophically expensive vet bill using this method, but it will pay for regular check ups, and the occasional small to medium accident.

Though we’ve already warned against veterinary discount plans if you’re shopping specifically for pet insurance, they do provide some cost savings for veterinary care. However, these plans really won’t help you much if your pet is diagnosed with something serious and expensive. Remember Lupa?

Having pet insurance can mean a better quality of life for you pet. People without insurance will often only pay for either relatively minor procedures or the literal do-or-die kinds of things that cannot be put off another minute. Between these categories exists a gray area of fairly expensive treatments that do not constitute life saving emergencies. Because not going through with them doesn’t imperil the life of the pet, these measures can be put off indefinitely.

If your dog is wall-eyed, for instance, she won’t die if you don’t get her vision fixed. But her quality of life will improve considerably if you do. Pet insurance can mean the difference between simply sustaining your pet’s life and improving it.