2018's Best Cheap Pet Insurance Providers

It’s no secret that vet expenses are not easy on the wallet, but getting pet insurance can put a significant dent in those costs. Nowadays, many companies offer pet insurance that caters to a wide range of budgets. 

The insurance premiums depend on the type of coverage chosen, the age and breed of your pet, and where you live, as well as the deductibles, benefit limits, and reimbursement percentage. In order to pay the lowest or cheapest premium for pet insurance, the first thing to evaluate is the type of coverage that's most important to you.

Types of Pet Insurance

You may choose from accident-only plans or comprehensive plans that cover both accidents and illnesses. Owners may also add preventative care coverage, known as wellness plans, for routine procedures. 

Comprehensive plans are highly recommended because it provides coverage broad enough to protect your pet from unexpected illnesses and accidents. In addition, it can have few exclusions—other than pre-existing conditions. 

Accident-only plans are the most inexpensive option but offer the least amount of coverage. As the name suggests, these plans only cover accidents such as poisoning, cuts, and lacerations, foreign body ingestion, injuries, bite wounds, broken bones, sprains, etcetera. These plans do not cover illnesses, genetic disorders, chronic conditions, and the like. 

Thus, although accident-only plans may certainly be useful if an unexpected accident occurs, opting for comprehensive coverage over an accident-only plan may be a smarter—albeit more expensive—financial decision in the long run considering that a majority of pets will suffer from at least one illness during their lives.

What Affects The Cost Of Pet Insurance

Once you have settled on a type of pet insurance plan, the policy’s price will vary greatly depending on:

• Breed – Different breeds are susceptible to certain illnesses. For instance, Persians often suffer from polycystic kidney disease. Factoring in the breed is one of the ways pet insurance companies assess the risk of insuring the animal, which ultimately impacts your premium.
• Age – This measure presupposes that pets tend to suffer more health issues later in life and, thus, the presumably larger veterinary bills of older pets drive up the premium. 
• Location – The place where your pet lives directly effects the insurance policy price because the cost of veterinary care varies depending on location. 

Once you provide the above-mentioned information to pet insurance companies, the company will generally provide you with an initial quote. It may also give you customizable options in the deductible amount you wish to pay, the percentage you want to get reimbursed for veterinary bills, and the reimbursement limit, for the companies that place caps on the reimbursement amount.

Benefit Limits

Some offer unlimited lifetime benefits, which are preferable and recommended but are not the most affordable. The benefit limits may be on an annual, lifetime, or per-condition basis. Therefore, when the owner pays the deductible, the percentage of the costs over the deductible will be reimbursed by the pet insurance company. 

For instance, if you have chosen an annual $200 deductible with a 90% reimbursement rate, once the vet bills reach the deductible, the pet insurance company will reimburse you 90% of the veterinary expenses incurred from that point forward. Now, if you chose a $10,000 limit to the benefits, the insurance company will not make any more payouts during that year when the reimbursements reach that amount.

As you may have noticed, the reimbursement limit and percentage are directly correlated with the premium price, while the deductible has an inversely correlated relationship with the premium price.  That is, premium prices on the lower end of the spectrum have low annual reimbursement limits, a lower reimbursement percentage, and a high deductible. 

Therefore, because a low premium can sacrifice coverage, you may want to consider making some adjustments and reach a middle ground between price and benefits. Naturally, then, a flexible plan with more custom options can adjust easily to your budget.

Discounts

Some pet insurance plans also stand out by offering diverse discounts. These benefit customers whose pets have specific conditions or who have more than a single pet, as they would be eligible for a multi-pet discount.

Other discounts are provided to AARP or Best Friends Animal Society members, for online registration, military personnel, insurance bundle options, among many others.

All the companies we've gathered on this list offer excellent medical coverage for pets thanks to the customization options and discounts, which allow for generally lower premiums.

We recommend that you research and request a quote from at least three insurance companies because each pet’s unique characteristics greatly influence the premium price. 

The four companies we've listed are excellent places to begin your research if you are unsure which policy is best suited to you and your pet's needs. 

Top 4 Cheap Pet Insurance Companies

Pet Premium

PetPremium is one of the best places to get cheap pet insurance because it offers very flexible, customizable policies. The provider’s claims submission and reimbursement process are simple, straightforward, and can be processed completely online. 

PetPremium's two levels of health insurance, accident coverage and accident/illness coverage, allow you to select from multiple annual limits and deductibles. These plans cover all sorts of accidents and illnesses, including hereditary and congenital conditions. You can also add optional preventive wellness care. 

PetPremium's rates are among the most competitive in the industry, and the company offers up to 90% reimbursement of veterinary costs.

Embrace

For a low monthly fee, Embrace provides one simple comprehensive plan to cover your pet's medical needs. You can personalize your plan to fit any budget, choosing your annual maximum, deductible, and reimbursement percentage. 

The company also allows you to add “Wellness Rewards,” a flexible health savings account. Even better, once your pet is signed with Embrace, their coverage lasts for the entirety of their life, and there are no lifetime coverage limits. 

Embrace calculates reimbursements by subtracting the deductible and then taking off the copay, which gets customers more money back. Finally, Embrace guarantees that there are no extra or hidden fees, and the company offers a variety of discounts for things like spaying/neutering, multiple pets, and military owners.

PetFirst

PetFirst Healthcare offers excellent overall pet insurance coverage. PetFirst also has a variety of comprehensive plans to choose from, which are broken down into lifetime and standard plans. There are annual limits on the lifetime plans and per-incident limits on the standard policies. 

These plans are customizable, with several options for deductibles and copays, but all of them offer solid benefits for all types of injuries and illnesses. Like other companies on this list, Petfirst gives discounts for online enrollment, multiple pets, military service, and animal care specialists.

PetPlan

Petplan offers various pet insurance policies that cover all the basics of medical treatment, as well as additional features such as reimbursement for a lost or stolen pet. Petplan policies can also be customized by customers. 

By changing the amount paid for vet bills and deductibles, you can get a fee that works for you. The company also has some of the best and most comprehensive discounts in the industry, making it even easier to obtain great savings.  

Small things like online enrollment and multiple pet discounts can help lower your monthly premium. Also, members of certain organizations are eligible for discounts. Few other companies provide as many ways to make insuring your pet easier on your pocket, and that's why Petplan is one of our top picks for cheap pet insurance. 

Check out our top ten list of pet insurance providers for more options.