Kevin Mercadante is professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com. He has backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry. He and his wife are "empty nesters" living in New Hampshire.
Your pet is probably one of the most important members of your family. That's why that you need to make sure they are protected from any health related issues at all cost. This article will provide our best pet insurance companies along with tips for helping you choose the right one.
Lemonade offers award winning pet insurance that you can sign up for in seconds and get paid in just minutes. They are my #1 recommended pet insurance company.
Petplan is the pet insurance trusted by more than 250,000 pet parents and the top no kill shelters in Canada and the U.S. The are the best pet insurance company for comprehensive coverage.
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Pet insurance plans have come a long way in the last few years. While they used to provide limited benefits for a very narrow range of pet ages, there are now policies that rival human health insurance in scope.
For example, there are now pet insurance policies that will insure your pet at any age. And most will cover just about any health condition or accident, and even some alternative therapies.
You can also choose the amount of coverage, the deductible, and the percentage of reimbursements with each policy. But all those options are making pet insurance more complicated.
And for that reason, we’ve prepared this guide to the best pet insurance companies and plans. We’ve narrowed our list down to 10 companies that we feel provide the best range of plans in the industry.
Our Top Picks for Best Pet Insurance
- Lemonade - Best Overall
- Petplan - Most Comprehensive Coverage
- Eusoh - Best Health Sharing Plans
- Embrace - Best for Dental Coverage
- PetFirst - Low Cost Coverage
- Wagmo - Best for Healthy Pets
- Trupanion - Best Policy Options
- Pets Best - Best for Older Pets
- Healthy Paws - Best for Reimbursements
- Figo - Best Insurance Plans
Comparison of Pet Insurance Companies
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Lemonade offers award winning pet insurance that you can sign up for in seconds and get paid in just minutes.
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Petplan is the pet insurance trusted by more than 250,000 pet parents and the top no kill shelters in Canada and the U.S.
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Eusoh's community health plan offers comprehensive coverage for a fraction of the cost of a traditional insurance policy.
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Embrace offers personalized, affordable pet insurance for dogs & cats with up to 90% back at any vet.
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Petfirst pet Insurance, you can take the worry out of covering the cost of unexpected pet care.
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Wagmo provides the best pet insurance and pet wellness plans that won't break the bank.
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Trupanion pet insurance has one simple plan that covers 90% of veterinary costs with no payout limits.
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Pets Best pet insurance reimburses you on your veterinary bill when your pet is sick or injured.
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Healthy Paws plan coverage is provided with no maximum limits on claim payouts; no per-incident, annual or lifetime caps.
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Figo offers premium pet insurance plans for dogs and cats.
Quick Summary of Our Picks
In this guide we’ve prepared a list of what we believe to be the 10 best pet insurance companies and plans. For the most part, plans and coverage options and limits are similar from one company to another.
But the major variations are in plan details and in what each specializes in. You can peruse the table below to get a summary version of what each company provides.
For more information, scroll down and read the individual review under each company that follow.
In researching multiple companies to come up with this list, we found many similarities between companies.
But we narrowed down our selection criteria to six primary factors:
BEST FOR CATEGORY
Since the coverage provisions between companies are so similar, we attempted to zero in on what each provider specializes in. One of them may be the exact type of coverage you’re looking for to properly cover your pet.
PETS COVERED
For each company on our list, dogs and cats are the only pets covered. Other pets are considered “exotic”, and therefore not eligible for insurance coverage.
AGE RANGE
This is one area where there were significant variations between companies. Some won’t take pets over the age of 13 or 14, while others have no age limits. But even those who cut off at a specific age will allow your pet to remain covered for the rest of his or her life.
MONTHLY PREMIUM
These were not disclosed with some companies, and only indicated as a range with others. Still, we consider this to be an important criteria where the information is available.
MAXIMUM COVERAGE
This is usually determined in three levels. The first is the percentage of expenses reimbursed. It can be anywhere from 70% to 100%. The second are annual limits – the amount of coverage available in any one year. The third is a lifetime limit, but some companies provide unlimited coverage in this category. Also, with some policies limits are set on a per-incident basis. You will usually have a choice as to each coverage level.
WAITING PERIOD
All pet insurance policies imposed this limit. Certain situations will not be covered immediately. Presumably, this is to reduce the possibility of consumers only purchasing an insurance policy when the need arises.
2. Petplan - Most Comprehensive Coverage
Petplan covers all the usual pet health situations, like accidents and illnesses. But they also cover more unusual conditions, like Covid-19, and treatments like holistic therapies.
However, they do not offer reimbursement for routine care.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: From six weeks to nine years, with limited options for pets 10 years or older.
Monthly premiums: From $20 to $100 per month for dogs and cats.
Maximum coverage: 90% of unexpected vet bills.
Waiting period: 15 days for injuries or illness, and six months for hip dysplasia, cruciates and patellas.
3. Eusoh - Best Health Sharing Plans
Eusoh makes the distinction that they are not a pet insurance company. They believe there’s something much better – a community health sharing plan that reimburses you for your pets medical, wellness, illness and routine care expenses.
And since it is a health sharing plan, they cover almost any kind of health expense your pet may encounter. You can work with any vet you choose, pay for your service, submit the receipt to Eusoh, and get reimbursement.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: Not indicated.
Monthly premiums: Average monthly premium is $38, never to exceed $48 per month.
Maximum coverage: Up to 80% of unexpected veterinary fees, to an annual maximum of $8,500.
Waiting period: 30 days.
4. Embrace - Best for Dental Coverage
Embrace advertises “Nose-to-tail Pet Insurance Coverage”. We especially liked that they cover dental illnesses for up to $1,000 per year.
But your pet can also be covered for emergency room and specialist care, cancer, prescription drugs, surgery and accidents.
However, routine care is not covered (which is typical of all pet insurance policies). They do offer an optional plan, Wellness Rewards for reimbursement for routine care.
You will also have the flexibility to work with a vet of your choice, as there is no network.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: Six weeks to 14 years, then accident-only plan available; existing illness policies continue past age 14.
Monthly premiums: Policies start at less than $1/day.
Maximum coverage: Up to 90% of unexpected vet bills with no lifetime dollar limit.
Waiting period: 14 days for illnesses, 48 hours for accidents, six months for orthopedic conditions, and 12 months for curable pre-existing conditions.
*Orthopedic condition is only applicable to dogs and can be reduced with our exam and waiver process.
5. Petfirst - Low Cost Coverage
Petfirst offers low cost pet insurance. However, their plans to come with lower maximum coverage amounts. For example, they’ll reimburse up to 80% of eligible veterinary bills, up to an annual maximum $2,000, $5,000, or $10,000.
There is no unlimited annual benefit option. Each plan level also comes with a standard $250 annual deductible. They have a multi-pet discount that can save you an average of 30% of the premiums for each.
They cover any licensed veterinarian in the US, as well as emergency animal hospitals and specialists.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: From eight weeks up to no age limit.
Monthly premiums: Starting at $15 per month for dogs, and $9 per month for cats.
Maximum coverage: 80% of unexpected veterinary costs, with three plan annual maximums – $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000 – and no lifetime maximums.
Waiting period: Under 25 hours for accidents, 14 days for illnesses, and 12 months for cruciate ligaments and disc disease.
6. Wagmo - Best for Healthy Pets
Wagmo is another Insurance company that will reimburse up to 100% of unexpected veterinary bills. They offer three deductible choices, $500, $750, or $1000.
For this reason, Wagmo will work best if you have a healthy pet. However, they do have a soft spot for pets with cancer. Your pet will be eligible for coverage for cancer treatments just 30 days after coverage begins. You can choose any licensed vet, however
Wagmo isn’t yet available in all states. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t list which states that are available in.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats
Age range: Not indicated
Monthly premiums: Plans starting at $20 per month
Maximum coverage: Up to 100% of unexpected veterinary expenses, up to a per incident limit of $10,000, and a lifetime limit of $100,000
Waiting period: 15 days for accidents and illness, 30 days for cancer treatments
7. Trupanion - Best Policy Options
Trupanion is one of the better established pet insurance companies, having paid out more than $1 billion in claims. Depending on how much you’re willing to pay for your premiums, you can select a deductible of between $0 and $1,000.
Coverage includes surgeries, medications, tests, hospital stays, and other treatments. Trupanion works with any vet you choose.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: Up to age 13.
Monthly premiums: Not disclosed.
Maximum coverage: 90% of unexpected vet bills with no annual or lifetime dollar limits.
Waiting period: Five days for injuries, 30 days for illnesses.
8. Pets Best - Best for Older Pets
Pets Best was launched in 2005, and has paid over $200 million in claims since. What we like about Pets Best is that they have no maximum age limit for coverage, making it an excellent policy choice for owners of older pets.
And since they will reimburse payments to any vets in the US or Canada, your pet will be covered even while traveling. If you want to choose a lower priced plan, you can select an accident-only policy.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: From seven weeks up to no age limit.
Monthly premiums: Starting at $9 per month for an accident-only policy, with an average of between $35 and $58 per month for accident and illness coverage for dogs, and starting at $6 per month for an accident-only policy, with an average of between $22 and $46 per month for accident and illness coverage for cats.
Maximum coverage: Up to 90% of unexpected veterinary costs with no annual or lifetime dollar limits.
Waiting period: Three days for accidents, 14 days for illnesses, and six months for cruciate ligament conditions.
9. Healthy Paws - Best for Reimbursements
Healthy Paws advertises that 99% of claims are processed within two days. That’s better than any human health insurance plan can claim.
You can also use any of vet. Policies cover accidents and illnesses, hereditary and congenital conditions, chronic conditions, cancer, surgery, tests, prescriptions, hospitalization, and emergency and specialty care.
But like other pet insurance companies, Healthy Paws will not reimburse for routine care.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: Up to age 14, but lifetime for existing policies.
Monthly premiums: As low as $15 for cats and $20 for dogs.
Maximum coverage: Up to 90% of unexpected vet bills with no annual or lifetime dollar limits.
Waiting period: 15 days for accidents and illnesses, 12 months for hip dysplasia.
10. Figo - Best Insurance Plans
Figo Pet Insurance works different from most other pet insurance companies. Rather than working with a 90% reimbursement policy, they instead reimburse 100% of costs, but up to a flat annual amount.
They offer three different plans, allowing you to select annual benefits of $5,000, $10,000, or unlimited. This will eliminate the 10% coinsurance provision that are typical with other pet insurance policies.
And like other providers on this list, you can visit any licensed veterinary practice, emergency hospital or specialists.
Pets covered: Dogs and cats.
Age range: From eight weeks with no upper age limit.
Monthly premiums: Not disclosed.
Maximum coverage: 100% reimbursement up to annual limits of $5,000, $10,000 or unlimited.
Waiting period: Varies by state.
What Determines the Cost of Pet Insurance Plans?
Ultimately, pet insurance is insurance, which means the cost will be determined by a number of factors. Premium rates vary from one insurance company to another, but there are certain factors that are common across-the-board.
Your pet’s breed.
Certain breeds of cats and especially dogs can require different levels of treatment. For example, certain breeds are known to be more susceptible to health conditions, like cancer or hip problems.
They may be more expensive to insure. By contrast, other breeds may be heartier, and cost less.
Your pet’s age.
Just as is the case with people, age is a major factor in the setting of insurance premiums. The older your pet is, the more susceptible he or she is to age-related illnesses, ailments, and even injuries.
That will be reflected in higher premiums. You should also be aware that premiums for your pet will increase each year with age, just as they do for human health insurance policies.
Geography.
Vet fees may be higher in some areas than in others, particularly large metropolitan areas versus rural areas.
Pets may also be more susceptible to certain diseases or ailments in one region than another.
Your coverage level.
Plans with most pet insurance companies are now fully customizable. You can choose the amount of the annual benefit of the policy, as well as the lifetime benefit (though many now offer unlimited lifetime benefits).
The higher the benefit limit, the higher the premium will be. Policies also come with deductibles, which can range anywhere from $100 to $1000. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium will be.
Reimbursement percentage.
You can typically choose anywhere from 70% to 100% reimbursement, with premiums being highest for full reimbursement.
The amount in excess of the reimbursement percentage will be paid by you for each covered event.
Important Facts About Pet Insurance Plans
Though pet insurance is very similar to health insurance policies for people, there are significant differences you need to be aware of.
Here are the most common:
Reimbursement over direct payment.
Most health insurance policies for people pay benefits directly to the provider.
Though some pet insurance companies will offer this option for select providers, in the vast majority of cases you’ll pay the cost of the treatment for your pet upfront.
The insurance company will then reimburse you for the costs you’ve paid.
Routine care.
If you’ve noticed in our reviews of each company, coverage extends to unexpected expenses only.
Virtually all pet insurance companies specifically exclude routine care from their basic policies. This includes periodic checkups, vaccinations, and even spaying and neutering.
The basic purpose of pet insurance is to cover large, unexpected expenses, not ordinary charges. This helps to keep premiums lower than they would otherwise be.
However, many pet insurance companies also offer separate packages that will cover routine care.
Pre-existing conditions.
In most cases, a pet insurance company will not cover your pet for pre-existing conditions. They’re designed to cover conditions that develop after the insurance policy is in force.
However, some companies will also extend coverage to pre-existing conditions after a certain waiting, such as six months for a full year.
The pet must be symptom-free during that time, and the condition must be determined to be a curable one.
There are exceptions. As the review of Wagmo above discloses, the company will cover a pet with cancer just 30 days after the policy is taken.
If your pet has a specific health condition, curable or non-curable, you may be able to find an insurance company that will cover the costs of treatment, but you’ll need to do some deep research.
Final expenses excluded.
Pet insurance policies don’t cover burial or cremation expenses.
However, most will cover the cost of euthanasia that’s determined to be medically necessary.
Age limitations.
Some pet insurance companies do impose age restrictions. For example, a company may only accept coverage for a pet up to age 13 or 14.
However, if your pet is already covered under an existing policy by the time he or she reaches that age, the coverage will generally continue for life.
This is a major change from just a few years ago, when a typical pet insurance policy may have terminated coverage at age 11 or 12.
Policy exclusions.
Virtually every pet insurance policy comes with a certain number of health conditions that will not be covered.
That list will be different from one company to another, and you should always thoroughly review it before settling on a policy choice.
A common exclusion is pre-existing conditions, but there may also be others related to a specific breed.
In-network, out-of-network.
This is a common parameter with health insurance policies for people. You’ll pay less to work with a provider who is part of the insurance company’s network than you will with one that isn’t.
That doesn’t apply when it comes to pet insurance. Most companies will cover services rendered by any licensed veterinarian or pet care facility.
That gives you considerably more flexibility in choosing the service providers who will be caring for your pet.
Is Pet Insurance Worth Having?
Pet insurance was a rarity just a generation ago. There are now dozens of companies operating in the pet insurance space, offering all kinds of policies and premium levels.
If, like most pet owners, you consider your dog or cat to be part of your family, they deserve to have health insurance just like every other member of your family.
Pets are susceptible to many of the same health conditions as people. There are also other conditions that are unique to pets, and even to particular breeds.
Meanwhile, injuries due to accidents to pets may be more prevalent than they are with people, since pets can get into so many different potentially dangerous situations, whether chasing other animals or being hit by a car.
Having pet insurance could mean the difference between getting proper care for your pet or having them put to sleep due to cost issues.
If that is a situation you never want to confront, you’ll greatly reduce the chance of it happening by having adequate pet insurance. Just as is the case with healthcare for people, healthcare for pets has advanced at an amazing rate in recent years.
There’s much more that can be done to save a pet’s life today than was possible 10 or 20 years ago. But of course, the cost of those services has increased as well.
While the most expensive procedure 20 years ago may have been $1,000, today it can well be several thousand.
If that’s beyond your ability to pay, a pet insurance policy will provide you with more care options than your bank account might.
Next Steps...
Pets tend to be most susceptible to accident related injuries when they’re young. But once they reach middle age, say four or five years old, the onset of diseases and chronic conditions enters the picture.
In either case, having the right pet insurance policy will enable you to get the care that they need. The lone exception may be when your pet is much older, and treatment options are much more limited.
If your pet is considered to be part of your family, you should definitely investigate the options that are now available with pet insurance policies.
Lemonade
Lemonade Pet Insurance: everything you love about Lemonade now for cats and dogs. Instant claims and a digital experience driven by social good.
Kevin Mercadante is professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com. He has backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry. He and his wife are "empty nesters" living in New Hampshire.
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