Best Pet Insurance Plans: Price and Coverage Comparisons

Your pet is more than the star of your Instagram photos. He or she could be described as one of your very best friends. And you take care of those closest to you -- which is probably why you're researching and comparing pet insurance providers. 

If you've already started gathering information on pet insurance, you'll agree: There are so many options for pet coverage that it's tough to compare one provider to the next. That's why we dug in and crunched the data for you. 

Read on to see how the major pet insurance providers stack up on covered conditions, covered expense types, and policy customization options. 

Which providers offer the best pet insurance?

To find the best choice for you, let's establish the provider landscape. Major companies currently offering pet health plans include: 

• ASPCA¹

• Embrace²

• Fetch³

• FIGO⁴

• Healthy Paws⁵

• Lemonade⁶

• Many Pets⁷

• Metlife (formerly Pets First)⁸

• Pets Best⁹

• Pumpkin¹⁰

• Spot¹¹

• Trupanion¹²

Allstate, GEICO, Progressive, and State Farm also promote their pet coverage. But these national insurance companies don't write the insurance themselves -- they work with partners. Allstate and GEICO refer you to Embrace, Progressive uses Pets Best, and State Farm refers to Trupanion. 

Types of pet insurance 

Most pet insurance policies cover unexpected accidents and illnesses only. Your annual wellness visits and vaccines are not included. Depending on your provider, though, you may be able to add preventative care coverage for an extra fee.

Some providers also offer low-cost, accident-only coverage. This type of policy would pay for treatment related to a pet's broken leg, for example, but not heart disease. 

For our discussion, we'll focus on the most common form of pet insurance, which is accident and illness coverage. 

Conditions most pet policies cover 

Most pet policies will cover common injuries and illnesses such as: 

• Broken bones 

• Cuts 

• Gastrointestinal issues 

• Foreign object or poison ingestion 

• Ear, skin, or eye infections 

• Infectious diseases for which there is no vaccine 

• Chronic conditions like cancer and diabetes 

• Genetic conditions like hip dysplasia

Conditions some pet policies cover 

Conditions that providers cover less consistently are: behavioral problems, dental illness, and preventable illnesses. Behavioral problems can include excessive licking or separation anxiety that causes the pet to harm itself when you're away. Dental issues usually involve tooth decay and abscess. And preventable illnesses are conditions like heartworm or rabies that can be avoided with medication or vaccine. 

As you can see in the table below, some providers cover these condition types and some do not.   

*If you follow vet recommendations for preventative care

Table data source: Provider websites.

What expenses do pet insurance plans cover?

If your pet has a condition that your policy covers, great. That means your provider will reimburse you according to the terms of your policy, right? Technically, yes. However, the terms of your policy may be more detailed than you expect. 

There are situations in which the policy covers the condition, but does not cover all the expenses associated with that condition. Confusing, right? Let's clear this up by reviewing the three main expense types you'll see: exam fees, diagnostics, and treatment costs. 

Exam fees 

A 2020 research study pegs the average cost of a vet visit at $161.¹³ A good portion of that sum is the core exam fee.

Most, but not all, pet insurance policies cover exam fees. The main exceptions are Healthy Paws, FIGO, and Lemonade. Healthy Paws excludes exam fees outright. FIGO and Lemonade will cover your exam fees for an extra charge.  

Diagnostics 

Diagnostics include things like X-rays, bloodwork, CT scans, and MRIs. These are the tests vets use to identify what, exactly, is wrong with your pet. 

Fortunately, pet insurance usually covers diagnostics. The only tricky part is that the insurance helps pay for the diagnostics only on covered accidents and illnesses. This can create a gray area of coverage. If diagnostics reveal a problem that your policy excludes, like a preexisting condition, then a provider may attempt to deny your claim. To protect yourself, verify with your vet that there's solid justification for the testing, given your pet's symptoms. 

Providers may also deny diagnostics claims if your pet has no symptoms or if the procedure was elective.¹⁴

Treatment costs 

Excluded treatments vary dramatically by policy. Sadly, this is an area where policy fine print can deliver a terrible surprise when you file a claim. 

Most policies cover surgery, emergency services, hospitalization, and prescription medication. (Note an exception here: Pets Best doesn't cover prescription meds unless you optionally add that feature to your policy.)

Treatments involving prescription food, vet-recommended supplements, and alternative therapies may or may not be covered. Alternative therapies include acupuncture, massage, and hydrotherapy for chronic or degenerative conditions. 

The table below shows how providers address these three treatment types.  

Table data source: Provider websites. 

As a rule, providers that pay for these treatments only do so when they're related to a covered condition. So, if your vet prescribes food to treat your dog's kidney disease, a Lemonade pet policy will help with those costs. But if you decide on your own to change your dog's food to a healthier brand, your Lemonade policy will not reimburse you.

Policy customization options comparison

Most, but not all, providers allow you to customize your deductible, annual coverage limit, and reimbursement rate. 

Deductibles 

Pet insurance deductibles can range from $50 to $2,500. As with other forms of insurance, lower deductibles create higher premiums. 

Generally, a pet insurance deductible is an annual one -- meaning you can accumulate your deductible contributions across multiple vet visits throughout the year. There are exceptions, however. Specifically, Metlife and Trupanion do not have annual deductibles. 

Metlife has a per-incident deductible. If you've ever filed a claim on the comprehensive or collision portion of your car insurance, you know how this works. You pay the entire deductible on each claim before your insurance kicks in. 

Trupanion has a "lifetime per condition" deductible. You pay the deductible once for each unique condition. You may prefer this deductible type if your pet's breed is prone to chronic diseases like heart or kidney disease.  

The table below shows pet insurance deductible types and amounts by provider. 

Table data source: Provider websites.

Annual coverage limit comparison

The annual coverage limit is the maximum payout your policy will provide within a 12-month period. Higher limits have higher premiums -- but the difference is often only a few dollars. 

The table below shows annual coverage limit options by provider. 

Table data source: Provider websites.

Reimbursement rates on covered claims comparison

The reimbursement rate is the percentage of the bill your policy will pay on a covered loss, assuming you've met the deductible. You can lower your premiums by selecting a lower reimbursement rate. 

Say your beloved Chihuahua, Taco, gets in a fight with your neighbor's German Sheppard. Taco is going to be fine, but he needs stitches. The covered portion of the bill is $900 and your deductible is $250. That leaves $650. If your reimbursement rate is 70%, the insurance pays you back $455. At a reimbursement rate of 90%, you'll receive $585 on the claim. 

As you can see in the table below, most providers reimburse 70% to 90% of covered costs. Where there are ranges, you get to select the reimbursement rate you want.

Table data source: Provider websites.

Pet insurance plan cost comparison

While the cheap pet insurance plan may appeal at first perusal, remember these pet plans prices vary widely in the amount of coverages offered, as we've discussed. A little additional cost can be worth a lot in extra protection. Based on our sample study, the average cost of pet insurance is $49.55 per month, though plans can also be found for less than $20 and more than $80.

Prices can also shift dramatically based on location, pet species, and breed. These quotes represent one sample for a 3 year-old female dog (boxer) living in Santa Fe in February 2023. There is no guarantee the cheapest insurer for this case study (FIGO) will be the same as the cheapest insurer for someone with a cat instead. What will remain more consistent, however, is the quality and scope of coverages offered by each plan.

While we include some feature comparisons here against price, it's important to recall that there are also other subtle but important differences between these providers, as seen above.

Table data source: Dog insurance quotes via providers for 3-year old boxer in Santa Fe, NM

How to choose the best pet insurance policy 

There are many nuances of pet insurance. When you're comparing options, look past the premiums and dig into what's covered. You want to know how those coverages relate to your pet's breed and lifestyle. 

Also plan on keeping up with your pet's preventative care. Get to those annual checkups and stay current on vaccines. Those actions will keep your pet healthy and maximum the coverage you get from your insurance provider.

Pet Insurance Comparison FAQ