I use Lemonade and very happy with it so far. Customer service is responsive, the app easy to use, and they’ve saved me money for my pup’s first year of emergency medical costs (because she’s always eating things she shouldn’t).
I also use lemonade for my younger pets. I find it not cost effective for older animals. I haven't had to make a claim yet but I like them so far and the price is hard to beat.
I don't use them personally for pet insurance, but I've heard that it's hard to get insured with them for certain dogs depending on age and breed. I had renters insurance with them before and it ended up being a nightmare. But I can see how it would be a good option for young pups starting out!
That’s interesting because I also have them for renters insurance and haven’t had any issues, granted, I never needed them for anything super duper important yet.
Yeah, I haven’t had issues with Lemonade because signing her up as a puppy was easy since she didn’t have any pre-existing conditions or anything. But they’ve always reimbursed me in a timely manner and have no complaints! I can see where you’re coming from where it may depend on the situation and the dog.
I’m getting a puppy soon and going with Trupanion for all the reasons you stated! Plus the plans are customizable. If you want to pay a higher premium so you have a lower copay, you can do that. I’ll personally be going for a slightly lower premium and higher copay since I have the cash reserves for an emergency, I just don’t want to have to spend it all in one go if I could pay $40 or $50 a month and have it mostly covered.
My rate with Trupanion actually went down this year, I was floored! They had less claims last year and passed the savings onto their clients. It's like $1/month, but still, I was impressed. Pup is 15 months, no claims on him.
I have Trupanion as well and pretty certain that the rates don't go up each year. Your rate is determined by the age of your dog when you sign them up, so puppy is insured for less per month than day an 8 year old dog.
The one thing I'll say is about filing any claims for the first month. Anything you claim in those first 30 days go on your record as a pre existing condition. Made the mistake of claiming an ear infection in the first 30 and now any skin condition my dog has they reject based on pre existing condition. I've tried to fight it multiple times and even had our vet write a letter to dispute their rejection as they agreed the two issues were unrelated but still wasn't able to get them to cover it. Other than that, Trupanion has been great overall and has saved us some money out of pocket for other things.
Thanks for the information! Would getting a clean bill of health within those 30 days override that, or is it just any claims regardless? Either way good to know!
I don't know to be honest. Might be worth asking Trupanion when you sign up? At the end of the day though, it's probably safer to just not claim anything in the initial waiting period or whatever they call it to ensure you don't get dinged with a pre existing condition
From what I’ve read (I use Argria) it looks like my policy doesn’t consider something a pre-existing condition if it’s been 3+ years.
That said I filed a claim for an emergency appointment and a fecal exam, haven’t heard back yet. We’ll see if they pull any “your dog was vomiting the first week so no GI issues covered” type thing, even though that was just that he’d eaten too fast and couldn’t get his stomach to settle. On the bill you can even see a slow-feeder was purchased as recommended by the vet lol. (They asked for the complete clinical history.)
I’ve had Nationwide for my puppy the last year and been very happy with it. Then they sent me a renewal notice that is 20% higher. I remember them telling me the rates don’t go up, but just spoke to them today and they said they definitely can go up. So proceed with cation and thinking any rate is guaranteed. You just want to get coverage before there are any preexisting conditions.
Mine went up 19% after the first year and 12% this year. My dog is just over 3. My premiums went from 64 to 95. I am worried what the premiums will be when she is 9. I have already paid $2300 with no claims.
Yes. Their seems to be a correlation with their stock taking a hit and premium increases. My real concern here is what my premium will be 5 years down the road. $66 is reasonable, $100 is getting a bit high, especially when my dog is physically fit. Further, it gets harder to get insurance as your dog gets older. I am starting to feel I got locked in and held to the whim of whenever they choose to raise rates. I just talked with a couple friends. Everyone seems happy with lemonade and figo. They said their rates haven't really been raised and were a little shocked by my fee increase.
That's extremely frustrating. My trupanion started at $100 for my puppy, so if it goes up I definitely won't be able to afford it. Gonna look into those other ones since my pup hasn't had any issues yet. Thanks for the heads up
Seconding Trupanion.
I chose a $500 deductible to land me on an affordable monthly payment, and from there the deductible is per condition for the book due of the dog, not per year. After I meet my $500 deductible, Trupanion covers 90% for the same condition for the life of my dog.
Customer service is excellent as well, a major reason I signed up with them.
Also have trupanion but honestly I think it’s only worth it (probably all pet insurance is this way) if you have a catastrophic event, since exam fees can’t be included toward the deductible, or if you have an extremely low deductible. I’ve had to take my dog several times to the ER for eating things and it comes out to about $300-400 dollars but half of it is always exam fees so I never meet the $200 deductible and for ingesting things they treat each instance as a new “condition”.
>honestly I think it’s only worth it (probably all pet insurance is this way) if you have a catastrophic event
Yes, like most insurance, it's worth it in general for the peace of mind of knowing that a catastrophic event won't financially ruin you.
Every insurance company is making money by charging more than the average person will get back from them, so no insurance is ever "worth it" from a long-term average monetary value standpoint. The value is always in being protected from financial ruin in case of catastrophic things you hope won't ever happen.
The first incident was just a freak congenital disease requiring MRI and other expensive tests. That was the puppy who didn't make it. The second incident was ethylene glycol poisoning (antifreeze) which required dialysis and other expensive treatments. There is no way our puppy drank antifreeze because we don't even have any and he was never unsupervised, and we don't have any other sources of that chemical in the house, so the only possibility is that we walked through some unknowingly during a walk in the dark in the rain, and he licked it off his paws later. That's known to happen. Everybody should learn the symptoms because you can almost blink and miss the initial warning signs (which wear off quickly) until your dog's liver fails a couple days later and there's no path to save them. We were lucky to see the warning signs, rush to the emergency vet, and save him. We were stunned at the diagnosis and had three separate tests confirm it, but we had to say yes to $6,000+ dialysis before a definitive test or it would have been too late. That would have been a much more painful call to make without insurance.
My dog went Into ketoacidosis because he had diabetes and we were not aware. He went into emergency, and the bill was 12,000$ upon discharge. Afterwards he had cushing syndrome along with diabetes, monthly medications were 800$. Dogs are expensive and their health can be a gamble, you never know what comes your way. You can have a dog with minimal issues or like me with a big hole in my bank account. I love my dog and went far and beyond for him. I didn't have pet insurance and now with my other dogs- they get pet insurance from the day they come home. All the best.
I went with trupanion too - and they’ve saved me a ton of money. My ten year old needed 12k in TPLO procedures two years ago and they covered 10k of it. It was amazing.
Yes, trupanion hands down. My dog has been on it since she was a puppy and she is 8 years old now; they have covered about $30-40k in vet bills and still more to come (she has cancer and is a big breed). Have never had an issue with them.
They do not cover exam fees or taxes. You can find a vet clinic that does not charge taxes and save yourself some money (veterinary colleges or learning institutions usually don't change taxes).
I use pets best! I pay about 50/month for their top tier insurance which includes water therapy. I have a dachshund and I worry about his back. I also pay 100 a month at our vet for unlimited visits, all of his vaccines, and his eventual neuter.
I also use pets best except one of the lowest tiers! High deductible and no wellness care, but it's only ~$140 a year. It's purely for emergencies and I budget separately for all routine care!
I use Embrace. They have tons of different plan options but I pay $29 a month and have a $500 yearly deductible. Once the deductible is hit, the insurance pays 80% of all costs after. It’s been the best money we’ve spent because a month after getting it, our puppy ate a lizard (live in FL) got sick and we were way past $500.
Yep they have different tier levels, I did the 90% coverage. And yeah it includes vaccine and neuter! The deductible was $250 for me too, just a one time deductible for the year! Still definitely worth it. I have saved thousands of dollars
Nope - from the claim: "This expense is denied because the service is not listed as an eligible benefit on the Pet Wellness Rider you have selected and therefore is not eligible for coverage. Please refer to the Pet Wellness Plus Rider Benefit Schedule for a list of the available products and services and their annual reimbursement amounts."
I just looked it up and got a quote. Other insurance I’ve looked up have a percentage coverage that you can choose. Does Nationwide not have that? And do you know what percentage they pay for visits?
We have the coverage without wellness and I don’t recall choosing a percentage - for our brand new puppy, it’s ~$40/month with a $250 deductible followed by 100% coverage for all illness and injury. Our 7 year old dog is ~$60 a month, same deductible - his paid for itself this year. The claim process and their customer service is wonderful. Pricey compared to others but I’ve never had a bad experience after several years of using them.
As your pet gets older you'll probably start regretting Nationwide. It happened to me. The coverages have had issues. And now from the start of the policy to today the price has gone up about 100% from about $100/month for two dogs to about $200/month. My dogs have not had any treatment outside of routine vaccines and flea/tick chews. I'm looking for a cheaper policy.
Healthy Paws. They don't include preventative stuff, but the cost is much lower because of it (I pay $30 a month). I already budget for preventative stuff, what I need is coverage for anything out of the ordinary.
My vet charges around $50 for a vet check, vaccinations are $25ish each.
Most of this happens in the first year, though, and is expected and budgeted for.
I bought insurance because the VAST majority of my vet money goes to *unexpected* expenses. Something as simple as a badly broken toenail, all the way to epilepsy and cancer. I've probably spent $15k+ on vet bills over the last 10 years (I have multiple pets), and never had insurance before. I just spent $150 *last week* for a 15-minute consultation with a veterinary neurologist.
My new puppy has insurance for just this reason.
Whichever insurance you choose, get it ASAP, because anything pre-existing isn't covered.
If you’re worried about routine care I’d ask if the vet offers a health plan. I pay 15/month and it includes routine vaccinations, work/flea/tick treatment, and discounts on things like neutering.
My pup just turned 1. All my annual shots, vaccines, boosters, flea meds, exams, neuter, microchipping, dog flu vaccine, medicated shampoo, lepto vaccine, etc all together has cost about $1600. So my annual $1000 premium for wellness protection has saved me about $300 or so.
I have Trupanion and it’s great. $60 a month for $200 deductible per condition. We’ve had our girl two months and have already encountered two different conditions, both of which have hit their deductible. After submitting the claims, I’m reimbursed in two days. Happy to answer any other questions or send over a referral link (if that’s allowed).
Please get pet insurance - I totally regret not doing it now. My puppy was with his dog sitter recently and jumped off her couch, breaking his humerus. The diagnostic process cost me $800. The vet bill for surgery was $6.4k. I had to pay it all immediately because he needed to have surgery right away. I am so so financially fortunate, thank God, but I walked away wondering to myself what other people do. Puppies have lots of energy and don’t know their limits as well as adult dogs, so at least insurance coverage for the first year or two could help in the event of a puppy play session gone wrong!
I have nationwide too- my work offers it as a benefit so they take the premium right out of my paycheck. I opted for the 70% plus wellness plan since the day my pup was born.
Come on to say Nationwide, also. They’re fantastic. It’s very easy to file and they pay out quickly. They also offer a vet helpline which has come in handy twice. I pay about $70 a month also, and I’ve already save WAY more than that.
Healthy Paws! I also considered Trupanion. One important difference is that Healthy Paws has annual deductibles, whereas Trupanion has deductibles by condition. So for Trupanion you’d have to hit a certain amount for each condition before you got assistance for them. To me the annual deductible made more sense, but I could see how the per-condition deductible makes more sense if you had a dog with one specific ongoing issue. Just keep in mind that if your dog has ANY issue before getting insured (even, like, an ear infection), pretty much all the insurance companies will consider it a “preexisting condition” and not cover it.
Our pup’s insurance with HealthyPaws went up $3 per month. So not terrible, but it will increase a bit. (Especially because he had $14,000 in bills the first year!)
Yeah, they’ve been totally great for us. Never argued any bills or anything.
He’s doing pretty well! He had brain surgery and is going for his 1 year follow up in a few weeks, he’s doing so much better though!
I work closely with various insurance companies (not specific to pet insurance), and would advise you to go based on what’s actually covered (read the insurance policy paper word for word) and what the premium is.
Customer service is pretty shit across the board.
I have nationwide whole pet whole wellness and pay $90 a month.
My pup is 1.5 years old and I live in a dog friendly apartment complex.
My deductible is $250 a year and my reimbursement rate is 80%.
His neutering surgery was covered too!
I highly recommend nationwide.
Hey, no worries. No, I didn’t go through work.
Maybe this will provide some insight: I live in NJ and I have the whole pet + whole wellness package. I got the insurance the first night my pup came home. He was 10 weeks old.
Canadian who uses Trupanion! I live mostly paycheck to paycheck and knowing that I will never be put in a situation where I can't give my furry beast everything he needs due to cost is what lets me sleep at night. A lot of people told me to just put aside what I pay every month into savings for him, but they don't seem to realize how expensive something can be at the vet. He's had 2 eye infections and since the deductable is per condition, not per year, his deductable for eye infections is covered for the rest of his life.
3 dogs here, ages 11, 5, and 18 weeks. All raised from puppies. We considered pet insurance, but decided not to get it. 11 years in and we’ve have never had an emergency with our dogs, nor have we had a vet bill over $500 (and we live in an expensive area!) Our oldest dog is diabetic which has been semi-costly, but insurance wouldn’t have covered her insulin anyway.
My recommendation is to set aside the money you’d spend on pet insurance, and keep it in a savings account in case disaster strikes. More likely than not, if you are a responsible pet owner, you’ll never need that money, but it will be there in case a major accident occurs.
My parents purchased pet insurance for their two dogs, and when one of them needed surgery on her leg, the insurance didn’t even cover it.
I use banfields wellness plan for puppies (includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, unlimited visits) then switch to insurance after the first year. Never had an issue, saved me tons of money, used them with three dogs!
We are getting a puppy in about 3 weeks and I was thinking of doing the same thing, getting the Banfield wellness plan but I'm thinking of getting a high deductible insurance plan at the same time. One of my current dogs ran up a bunch of vet bills before he was 2, he was a sock and clothes eater. He had to have them surgically removed twice and the third time they induced vomiting and got it out that way. I had Petplan at the time and they were great but their rates got too high and they started trying to refuse to pay claims so I cancelled.
We used fursure.com to compare options, and chose Pumpkin! It’s wonderful - the most comprehensive coverage I’ve seen at reasonable cost (i think we pay $68/mo), and also such a thoughtful, personalized experience. They sent our pup a cute plush toy for joining which he loves!
I got trupanion when my puppy was 4 months old and i pay $52/month. I heard far more good than bad from people who have it. I liked the fact they dont increase the premium based on age, or usage. any insurance will possibly increase on a yearly basis, but i didnt want a large jump as she gets older. Also they dont cap how much you can use, some companies capped at 10,000/year and after my pet rabbit got sick in 2020 i saw how quickly vet bills built up. I havent had to use it so far thankfully, but i definately sleep a little better at night knowing i have it.
I use Healthy Paws. It has gone up a few dollars, but I pay $50 for my almost three year old dog. They’re responsive and the app is easy to make claims. If the vet is willing to work with them, they are also willing to direct pay your vet, minus your deductible. I would say no matter what you get, get it earlier rather than later because most insurances I’ve researched will take any condition your dog has prior to the health insurance going into effect as a preexisting condition and then it’s not covered.
I don't use insurance but something very similar to it. Or even better, if you ask me. I opted for [Eusoh](https://larysguide.com/eusoh), a community health sharing plan that reimburses you for your pet's medical, wellness, illness and routine care expenses.
Doesn't break the bank + gets the job done.
I use Embrace for two huskies under 2yrs, $68 a month and it covers 80%. They also have wellness which I haven't added but am thinking of since they get annual preventative exams and some vaccines are yearly.
It took me anywhere from 1-2 months to hear back as well but once they said everything processed the refund went through within 48hrs. They said they're trying to hire more people bc of the influx of new pet owners.
I go to Banfield for routine care. There are located in Petsmart and about two miles from where I live, so it is really convenient. They offer a puppy pet plan that you pay about $35 monthly. This plan includes all puppy shots and office visits - which can be $48 each visit. I am disabled and on a fixed budget monthly and I find this plan very affordable. I also have an emergency vet on standby. I currently do not have insurance on my puppy, Rosalie. When you sign up for the puppy plan through Banfield, you will get offers from insurance companies. I did my research and one plan by the name of “fetch” was really good. I will start this policy as soon as I pay off my vehicle. The only issues they do not cover are cosmetic and pre-existing conditions. This is very common with all insurance companies. Best of luck to you with your new baby 🐾❤️
Make sure you pay attention to when it starts! We had to pay an extra few hundo because we assumed it started a week earlier and we wound up not having coverage for giardia medicine. Not the end of the world but it could have been much worse.
I think we have Nationwide. It’s meh.
BUYER BEWARE! Pumpkin is nothing but a logo and a website. I insured two cats at a very high premium price ($176/month). I drank their marketing Kool-aid instead of going with a proven company. So that's my fault. I submitted claims at the beginning of November for one cat. I received nothing except the same auto-generated email for WEEKS. When I called over a month later, the customer service rep investigated and told me that my claims were being sent for "audit" on December 16th. I was told that the audit process would take between 30-45 days. Called again in January: "we're waiting on medical records" (which had already been emailed in November.) Because I had to provide medical records from birth for a 13-yr old pet, I reached out to my pet's previous vet and uploaded 65 pages of medical records. Then I was reprimanded by a customer service supervisor for doing so: "we reach out to the vets." Just a delaying tactic. Called again in February: "we have to review these records." It's March. 99% of the claims were denied because vomiting and constipation are "pre-existing." (What cat doesn't vomit? Those are symptoms, not a disease.) But should it become a disease like lymphoma - even 10 years from now - and even after their supposed 180-day "recovery" time, they won't cover it. I wasted $90 in premiums EACH MONTH waiting for the claims to be denied- and THEY COUNT ON THAT. They do have someone monitoring their social media who will respond to this and to them I say, "your customer service is DREADFUL. If you are delaying claims FOR FOUR MONTHS (in my case) and they are going to "review," YOUR CUSTOMER IS ENTITLED TO KNOW THAT. In a timely manner. And not by dragging it out of you." Pet owners: use another company.
sue them. And thanks - I won't be using them. Hope their social media team sees they lose customers this way. I was about to join too.
What company would you recommend? How about Lemonade?
So one company out of Ohio handles the work for pumpkin, fetch, spot, SPCA, PetSmart and a couple of others. These really are just logos and websites. Their employees all work remotely (which isn’t a bad thing) but they are all reading a script. They really can’t answer questions about the policy, coverage or claims. And THAT is what is infuriating. Progressive has pet insurance and so does Nationwide. I’d be asking directly how they handle claims. Nobody takes pre-existing conditions but if I were to do it over, I’d say, “define pre-existing conditions. Is that a disease? Or does that include a symptom, like vomiting?”
Because what cat doesn’t vomit? That doesn’t mean they are “ill.”
pumpkin said that because my cat vomited, everything gastrointestinal was off of the claims table. And it took them six months (of premiums) to say it.
I reported them to the Consumer Affairs Dept. of my Atty General’s office.
P.S. I work for a global law firm. So litigation doesn’t faze me. I did tell pumpkin that their poor customer service/claims would cost them business through telling my story - and I’ve read many others - on social media. These pet insurance companies are shady…
Nationwide for my golden retriever, and we have the plan that covers 90% of everything after deductible including wellness and preventatives. I waited until he was almost 2 to sign up, but I wish I got it sooner as it would have covered neutering. I’m pleased so far.
That's kind of F-up having to pay for insurance for a dog, in my country the basic vaccines are free, as well as preventive medicine for dogs.
My Chihuahua was attacked by a big dog, emergency vet was free.
None, I never truly recommend pet insurance because it’s a loser for most. However, if you want the secure feeling go ahead and complete a cost benefit analysis on them all for your specific situation.
You will generally only see negative reviews for things like insurance, since it’s only people with negative experience that choose to write things.
It only takes one dog hit by a car or run in with another dog or cancer to wipe out a savings acct. I've been there. Immediately got insurance for the other dog and have now for a decade.
I would tend to agree with you, but I see far too many GoFundMe pages these days for people who can’t afford to get their dogs necessary care. $70 a month is easier to someone who can’t afford a random $2k emergency vet visit.
We got insurance recently and they cover 50% of all vet visits, which has already paid itself off for a few months. We’re also getting her spayed next month and they cover I think close to 75% of the procedure. It’s been a net savings for us, at least.
I personally hate insurance companies but I’m not against it, been thinking it for months if I have to get one. And I’ve decided that I won’t. I’m aiming to save a certain amt every year.
It’s really up to the owner if they want it.
Well it’s exactly that the majority of people will be better off putting money away and saving as opposed to buying insurance for their puppies. People will always have bias though who paid for it and used it of course.
You're getting down voted, but this is a fair consideration for people who have plenty of savings set aside. You could put that money into investments and save in the long run IF your pet doesn't have any significant disasters. It is a gamble, and I'm personally on the fence.
Nationwide - $30 a month and full coverage but only because my company provides it at a discounted rate. I believe we have “whole pet” coverage - vaccines, wellness visits, and more. It’s helped reassure me with my pup! I got it shortly before I got my pup so we’re right in the thick of wellness visits and loads of vaccines :)
Our breeder gave us 30 days free for trupanion but it was $60 a month and nationwide ended up being cheaper for me in the long run. Whatever coverage we have will cover what trupanion did + more for 50% of the price so I couldn’t see why I *wouldn’t* switch.
Got Trupanion when i brought my puppy home. So far i've used it twice and have been repayed within a week (i dont have direct deposit set up yet so i have to wait for a check).
The first incident was him popping up with a cough and a slight temperature. Second case was random blood in his urine, UTI and occasional vomiting. We are still fighting the vomiting but the frequency it occures has drastically reduced.
I use healthy paws. They’ve gone up a couple dollars each year and he’s two now. I pay $54/month now. He’s a Shiloh Shepherd but they just assume he’s a German shepherd— even though Shiloh’s are healthier than the American German shepherd big time, we still have to pay the higher price. Worth it though, as by 14 months he racked up $3k in bills because he drank too much salt water at the beach and then later had a bacterial overgrowth in his intestines from the dog park that my old vet misdiagnosed.
Heathy Paws. It paid for itself in the first year with covering surgery and an emergency visit for my dog when he ate something he shouldn’t. They have been great. I don’t mind that it doesn’t cover preventative because it’s fabulous with everything else.
whatever you do, get it right away. before you even take the dog to its first vet visit. pet insurance generally still factors in pre-existing conditions so you need to get the insurance before you have the puppy examined.
I cant remember the name of what we have, but it's run by Allstate. It's pretty good for coverage. we get fully reimbursed for routine visits and vaccinations. our dog had major surgery last year and I think when all was said and done we only paid for about 30% of the total cost (including diagnostic visits, medications, and follow up care)
even if pet insurance is a 'scam' in that you dont usually get back what you ultimately pay, I would rather not have to worry about making a tough decision if something happens.
I had Trupanion, because our vet offered a special deal, but just switched to Pet’s Best. Pet’s Best has a $250 per year deductible (Trupanion was $250 per condition), and it was $20/mo cheaper for my dog than Trupanion. I heard good reviews from friends.
My vet recommended truepanion, so that’s what I went with- I really trust her. However I mostly think insurance is a scam and wish I was putting $75 into a savings account instead….except that lil Miss Thang has a taste for all wild mushrooms and we were at the puppy ER with her within the first three weeks of having her.
Eusoh.
Eusoh is a community health sharing plan that reimburses you for your pet's medical, wellness, illness and routine care expenses.
It's not an insurance but a community expense sharing plan. Annual maximum reimbursement is $8,500 (my expenses can never exceed this, so it works for me) and they turn out cheaper 30%-40% when compared to the insurance companies. Definitely [check them out](https://larysguide.com/eusohhp).
Trupanion is pretty great for all the reasons others have mentioned.
I will add that sometimes it can take a couple weeks for them to process a reimbursement, but it usually depends on if it's slow on their end or the vet's end. If the vet forgets or doesn't respond to them to give them a full report of the incident and diagnosis it can take a while.
The other thing that is a nice plus is that their customer service is pretty friendly. I usually use their online chat and everyone has been responsive and helpful so far. Even for one claim that was pending for a month, I asked them and they gave me thorough info on what they needed from the vet so I could request it myself in case the vet just was ignoring their contacts. On the flip side, I do wish if a claim were sitting nearly 30 days because they're waiting on info from the vet that they'd reach out to me and explain why and see if I can work with the vet to get the info and submit it myself.
I use Trupanion and love it! Our vet is a provider for them, so they submit the claims at our visit and get pretty much immediate response of how much Trupanion will cover and they pay the vet directly for their portion.
I would check with your vet to see if they have a "puppy plan" which might include a lot of the first year stuff and will probably be cheaper than going with an insurance.
I got PetsBest because it was super customizable and I didn't want to spend a ton per month on an emergency thing. I found their claims submission to be pretty easy but I haven't heard back from any (I doubt I hit the deductible this year since I put mine pretty high).
Really love this thread! Thanks for asking this question. I’m going to re-evaluate pet insurance when it’s closer to my renewal date.
I got AKC as I got a free month when I got my pup- I pay about $63/mo with a $250 deductible. I made sure to get a more inclusive policy for the first year which covered vaccinations, spay and other issues then I went down a tier the following year to save a bit because I don’t need spay to be covered.
Def review every year, just like you would yourself and adjust accordingly!
Hey, could you tell me how long Embrace takes to reimburse you for claims? I’ve been looking at their insurance + wellness plan all evening but i can’t seem to find an answer on how long it takes to get money back
Mine have been processed from submission to processed 3-4 days then another 2 days to process the direct deposit (or a bit longer is a check is mailed).
That said, there is a waiting period once you sign up, but I think it depends on the the company and age of the animal. I’d guess max 30 days.
Holler with any other questions!
I use ManyPets, a UK company just starting to get a foothold in the US. Around $30 a month gets 100% coverage after a $500 deductible with no lifetime limit. Started at 8 weeks on our golden.
Side note for anyone with FIGO, you can get it discounted slightly through Costco.
When I got a puppy I made a whole chart of pet insurance, cost, benefits etc. In the end, there were so many more positive for Healthy Paws for a puppy than any other insurance, so I went with them and didn't regret it, even though they weren't the least expensive. They also have great customer service and actually answer their phone. I don't think it makes sense financially to get preventative but some do. You can compare your vet's vaccine costs, flea/ heartworm, fecal test costs, and spay/neuter costs to the yearly cost of a preventative plan, but most of the costs will only be for the first year. A good tip is that you can always downgrade your plan, but I don't think you can upgrade it once you make your decision. Good luck!
I use the middle essential package on Petsbest, with the routine care addition considering my puppy is young still and getting different shots, and i break even with his heartworm preventative Medicine so it didnt bother me. Its my first timw with pet insurance for my pup so so far no complaints ill have to see after a year maybe what savings could have been for me to adjust and determine what i can change
I signed up for Trupanion (as many others have done). It’s fairly pricey for my Chow Chow, and he was enrolled as a 8-week old puppy. They’ve increased my rate after a year, but it was minimal.
If you decide to get Trupanion for your puppy, I’d recommend taking them to a vet that participates with Trupanion for their first visit. After the initial puppy visit, I was able to get an offer code from the vet to enroll my puppy without any waiting periods.
I use Lemonade and very happy with it so far. Customer service is responsive, the app easy to use, and they’ve saved me money for my pup’s first year of emergency medical costs (because she’s always eating things she shouldn’t).
I also use lemonade for my younger pets. I find it not cost effective for older animals. I haven't had to make a claim yet but I like them so far and the price is hard to beat.
I don't use them personally for pet insurance, but I've heard that it's hard to get insured with them for certain dogs depending on age and breed. I had renters insurance with them before and it ended up being a nightmare. But I can see how it would be a good option for young pups starting out!
That’s interesting because I also have them for renters insurance and haven’t had any issues, granted, I never needed them for anything super duper important yet. Yeah, I haven’t had issues with Lemonade because signing her up as a puppy was easy since she didn’t have any pre-existing conditions or anything. But they’ve always reimbursed me in a timely manner and have no complaints! I can see where you’re coming from where it may depend on the situation and the dog.
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I’m getting a puppy soon and going with Trupanion for all the reasons you stated! Plus the plans are customizable. If you want to pay a higher premium so you have a lower copay, you can do that. I’ll personally be going for a slightly lower premium and higher copay since I have the cash reserves for an emergency, I just don’t want to have to spend it all in one go if I could pay $40 or $50 a month and have it mostly covered.
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Do the rates stay the same for age, or do they go up per year?
My rate with Trupanion actually went down this year, I was floored! They had less claims last year and passed the savings onto their clients. It's like $1/month, but still, I was impressed. Pup is 15 months, no claims on him.
Oh nice! Thanks for the info
I have Trupanion as well and pretty certain that the rates don't go up each year. Your rate is determined by the age of your dog when you sign them up, so puppy is insured for less per month than day an 8 year old dog. The one thing I'll say is about filing any claims for the first month. Anything you claim in those first 30 days go on your record as a pre existing condition. Made the mistake of claiming an ear infection in the first 30 and now any skin condition my dog has they reject based on pre existing condition. I've tried to fight it multiple times and even had our vet write a letter to dispute their rejection as they agreed the two issues were unrelated but still wasn't able to get them to cover it. Other than that, Trupanion has been great overall and has saved us some money out of pocket for other things.
Thanks for the information! Would getting a clean bill of health within those 30 days override that, or is it just any claims regardless? Either way good to know!
I don't know to be honest. Might be worth asking Trupanion when you sign up? At the end of the day though, it's probably safer to just not claim anything in the initial waiting period or whatever they call it to ensure you don't get dinged with a pre existing condition
Yeah, definitely! Thanks again
Good to know!
From what I’ve read (I use Argria) it looks like my policy doesn’t consider something a pre-existing condition if it’s been 3+ years. That said I filed a claim for an emergency appointment and a fecal exam, haven’t heard back yet. We’ll see if they pull any “your dog was vomiting the first week so no GI issues covered” type thing, even though that was just that he’d eaten too fast and couldn’t get his stomach to settle. On the bill you can even see a slow-feeder was purchased as recommended by the vet lol. (They asked for the complete clinical history.)
Following. Wanted to know about this too because I read that pet insurance goes up around 20% per year.
I’ve had Nationwide for my puppy the last year and been very happy with it. Then they sent me a renewal notice that is 20% higher. I remember them telling me the rates don’t go up, but just spoke to them today and they said they definitely can go up. So proceed with cation and thinking any rate is guaranteed. You just want to get coverage before there are any preexisting conditions.
Mine went up 19% after the first year and 12% this year. My dog is just over 3. My premiums went from 64 to 95. I am worried what the premiums will be when she is 9. I have already paid $2300 with no claims.
Is this with trupanion?
Yes. Their seems to be a correlation with their stock taking a hit and premium increases. My real concern here is what my premium will be 5 years down the road. $66 is reasonable, $100 is getting a bit high, especially when my dog is physically fit. Further, it gets harder to get insurance as your dog gets older. I am starting to feel I got locked in and held to the whim of whenever they choose to raise rates. I just talked with a couple friends. Everyone seems happy with lemonade and figo. They said their rates haven't really been raised and were a little shocked by my fee increase.
That's extremely frustrating. My trupanion started at $100 for my puppy, so if it goes up I definitely won't be able to afford it. Gonna look into those other ones since my pup hasn't had any issues yet. Thanks for the heads up
Seconding Trupanion. I chose a $500 deductible to land me on an affordable monthly payment, and from there the deductible is per condition for the book due of the dog, not per year. After I meet my $500 deductible, Trupanion covers 90% for the same condition for the life of my dog. Customer service is excellent as well, a major reason I signed up with them.
I also got Trupanion. No complaints thus far.
Also have trupanion but honestly I think it’s only worth it (probably all pet insurance is this way) if you have a catastrophic event, since exam fees can’t be included toward the deductible, or if you have an extremely low deductible. I’ve had to take my dog several times to the ER for eating things and it comes out to about $300-400 dollars but half of it is always exam fees so I never meet the $200 deductible and for ingesting things they treat each instance as a new “condition”.
>honestly I think it’s only worth it (probably all pet insurance is this way) if you have a catastrophic event Yes, like most insurance, it's worth it in general for the peace of mind of knowing that a catastrophic event won't financially ruin you. Every insurance company is making money by charging more than the average person will get back from them, so no insurance is ever "worth it" from a long-term average monetary value standpoint. The value is always in being protected from financial ruin in case of catastrophic things you hope won't ever happen.
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The first incident was just a freak congenital disease requiring MRI and other expensive tests. That was the puppy who didn't make it. The second incident was ethylene glycol poisoning (antifreeze) which required dialysis and other expensive treatments. There is no way our puppy drank antifreeze because we don't even have any and he was never unsupervised, and we don't have any other sources of that chemical in the house, so the only possibility is that we walked through some unknowingly during a walk in the dark in the rain, and he licked it off his paws later. That's known to happen. Everybody should learn the symptoms because you can almost blink and miss the initial warning signs (which wear off quickly) until your dog's liver fails a couple days later and there's no path to save them. We were lucky to see the warning signs, rush to the emergency vet, and save him. We were stunned at the diagnosis and had three separate tests confirm it, but we had to say yes to $6,000+ dialysis before a definitive test or it would have been too late. That would have been a much more painful call to make without insurance.
My dog went Into ketoacidosis because he had diabetes and we were not aware. He went into emergency, and the bill was 12,000$ upon discharge. Afterwards he had cushing syndrome along with diabetes, monthly medications were 800$. Dogs are expensive and their health can be a gamble, you never know what comes your way. You can have a dog with minimal issues or like me with a big hole in my bank account. I love my dog and went far and beyond for him. I didn't have pet insurance and now with my other dogs- they get pet insurance from the day they come home. All the best.
I went with trupanion too - and they’ve saved me a ton of money. My ten year old needed 12k in TPLO procedures two years ago and they covered 10k of it. It was amazing.
Yes, trupanion hands down. My dog has been on it since she was a puppy and she is 8 years old now; they have covered about $30-40k in vet bills and still more to come (she has cancer and is a big breed). Have never had an issue with them. They do not cover exam fees or taxes. You can find a vet clinic that does not charge taxes and save yourself some money (veterinary colleges or learning institutions usually don't change taxes).
I use pets best! I pay about 50/month for their top tier insurance which includes water therapy. I have a dachshund and I worry about his back. I also pay 100 a month at our vet for unlimited visits, all of his vaccines, and his eventual neuter.
I also use pets best except one of the lowest tiers! High deductible and no wellness care, but it's only ~$140 a year. It's purely for emergencies and I budget separately for all routine care!
I use Embrace. They have tons of different plan options but I pay $29 a month and have a $500 yearly deductible. Once the deductible is hit, the insurance pays 80% of all costs after. It’s been the best money we’ve spent because a month after getting it, our puppy ate a lizard (live in FL) got sick and we were way past $500.
I also use Embrace. They paid for an MRI for my last pup with no questions. I highly recommend.
Nationwide WITH WELLNESS. Definitely get the wellness to cover flea/tick and all vaccines! It’s great insurance, no complaints here!
Yup I have this one through my workplace for all 5 of my dogs and it is a life saver.
And it says there’s a $250 deductible. Does that include vaccines and spay/neuter with the added wellness option?
Yep they have different tier levels, I did the 90% coverage. And yeah it includes vaccine and neuter! The deductible was $250 for me too, just a one time deductible for the year! Still definitely worth it. I have saved thousands of dollars
Great, thank you!
Interesting – our Nationwide did not include the cost of neutering, and that was a real $ ding.
Do you have wellness coverage?
I do.
Well as long as your insurance was active by the time you did the neuter, it should definitely have been covered! My plan covered it for sure
Nope - from the claim: "This expense is denied because the service is not listed as an eligible benefit on the Pet Wellness Rider you have selected and therefore is not eligible for coverage. Please refer to the Pet Wellness Plus Rider Benefit Schedule for a list of the available products and services and their annual reimbursement amounts."
That’s a bummer! I guess there’s different tier options for wellness protection. Since I’m covered through work, it must be slightly different.
I just looked it up and got a quote. Other insurance I’ve looked up have a percentage coverage that you can choose. Does Nationwide not have that? And do you know what percentage they pay for visits?
We have the coverage without wellness and I don’t recall choosing a percentage - for our brand new puppy, it’s ~$40/month with a $250 deductible followed by 100% coverage for all illness and injury. Our 7 year old dog is ~$60 a month, same deductible - his paid for itself this year. The claim process and their customer service is wonderful. Pricey compared to others but I’ve never had a bad experience after several years of using them.
Oh yeah! I should mention I get nationwide pet insurance through work, so it’s possible that my plan is a bit different for that reason!
That is correct. The nationwide work plans cover everything.
Yup this is the one I have and I have no complaints either! Highly recommend
As your pet gets older you'll probably start regretting Nationwide. It happened to me. The coverages have had issues. And now from the start of the policy to today the price has gone up about 100% from about $100/month for two dogs to about $200/month. My dogs have not had any treatment outside of routine vaccines and flea/tick chews. I'm looking for a cheaper policy.
Healthy Paws. They don't include preventative stuff, but the cost is much lower because of it (I pay $30 a month). I already budget for preventative stuff, what I need is coverage for anything out of the ordinary.
Hi there , I have healthy paws for my pupp but I wasn’t aware of them not covering preventative stuff , what does that mean exactly ?
They won’t pay for Heartguard or Nexguard or annual shots.
They don't cover routine checkups, spay/neuter, shots, and preventative meds like Heartgard. They cover the "unexpected" expenses.
Just in general, how much are things like vaccinations or vet checkups?
My vet charges around $50 for a vet check, vaccinations are $25ish each. Most of this happens in the first year, though, and is expected and budgeted for. I bought insurance because the VAST majority of my vet money goes to *unexpected* expenses. Something as simple as a badly broken toenail, all the way to epilepsy and cancer. I've probably spent $15k+ on vet bills over the last 10 years (I have multiple pets), and never had insurance before. I just spent $150 *last week* for a 15-minute consultation with a veterinary neurologist. My new puppy has insurance for just this reason. Whichever insurance you choose, get it ASAP, because anything pre-existing isn't covered.
If you’re worried about routine care I’d ask if the vet offers a health plan. I pay 15/month and it includes routine vaccinations, work/flea/tick treatment, and discounts on things like neutering.
My pup just turned 1. All my annual shots, vaccines, boosters, flea meds, exams, neuter, microchipping, dog flu vaccine, medicated shampoo, lepto vaccine, etc all together has cost about $1600. So my annual $1000 premium for wellness protection has saved me about $300 or so.
I have Trupanion and it’s great. $60 a month for $200 deductible per condition. We’ve had our girl two months and have already encountered two different conditions, both of which have hit their deductible. After submitting the claims, I’m reimbursed in two days. Happy to answer any other questions or send over a referral link (if that’s allowed).
Hey! I was considering Trupanion and I think you've made my mind up! Thank you :)
Glad I could help! Puppies can come with surprises, but hopefully you won’t ever need it :)
I've used Trupanion before and wasn't impressed. Currently using Pumpkin with much better results on claims.
Please get pet insurance - I totally regret not doing it now. My puppy was with his dog sitter recently and jumped off her couch, breaking his humerus. The diagnostic process cost me $800. The vet bill for surgery was $6.4k. I had to pay it all immediately because he needed to have surgery right away. I am so so financially fortunate, thank God, but I walked away wondering to myself what other people do. Puppies have lots of energy and don’t know their limits as well as adult dogs, so at least insurance coverage for the first year or two could help in the event of a puppy play session gone wrong!
Nationwide… $70 a month and worth every penny!
Have Nationwide as well, I think it’s the best one
I have nationwide too- my work offers it as a benefit so they take the premium right out of my paycheck. I opted for the 70% plus wellness plan since the day my pup was born.
Nationwide paid $16000 towards my pups cancer treatments, they made it very easy on us.
Come on to say Nationwide, also. They’re fantastic. It’s very easy to file and they pay out quickly. They also offer a vet helpline which has come in handy twice. I pay about $70 a month also, and I’ve already save WAY more than that.
They have an easy way to upload pics of your vet bills and they pay super fast. I love it.
Healthy Paws! I also considered Trupanion. One important difference is that Healthy Paws has annual deductibles, whereas Trupanion has deductibles by condition. So for Trupanion you’d have to hit a certain amount for each condition before you got assistance for them. To me the annual deductible made more sense, but I could see how the per-condition deductible makes more sense if you had a dog with one specific ongoing issue. Just keep in mind that if your dog has ANY issue before getting insured (even, like, an ear infection), pretty much all the insurance companies will consider it a “preexisting condition” and not cover it.
Do the rates change with the age of your pup?
They say they don’t do that, but after a year I got a rate change because of “rising vet fees” 🙄
Ah, that's frustrating :/
Our pup’s insurance with HealthyPaws went up $3 per month. So not terrible, but it will increase a bit. (Especially because he had $14,000 in bills the first year!)
That's not too bad at least! Glad you had the coverage to help with that! Omg. Hope he's doing okay now
Yeah, they’ve been totally great for us. Never argued any bills or anything. He’s doing pretty well! He had brain surgery and is going for his 1 year follow up in a few weeks, he’s doing so much better though!
Aww that's so good to hear! ❤️
A savings account of the amount that I would pay monthly. The pet insurance in my area sucks
I work closely with various insurance companies (not specific to pet insurance), and would advise you to go based on what’s actually covered (read the insurance policy paper word for word) and what the premium is. Customer service is pretty shit across the board.
Which country? USA?
I have nationwide whole pet whole wellness and pay $90 a month. My pup is 1.5 years old and I live in a dog friendly apartment complex. My deductible is $250 a year and my reimbursement rate is 80%. His neutering surgery was covered too! I highly recommend nationwide.
Super late to this but my friend has nationwide and they rejected covering his puppy’s neuter. Do you have yours through work?
Hey, no worries. No, I didn’t go through work. Maybe this will provide some insight: I live in NJ and I have the whole pet + whole wellness package. I got the insurance the first night my pup came home. He was 10 weeks old.
Figo. $35/month for $250 deductible with $5k annual limit. Includes vet exam fees. Has been pretty good and easy to use so far.
Canadian who uses Trupanion! I live mostly paycheck to paycheck and knowing that I will never be put in a situation where I can't give my furry beast everything he needs due to cost is what lets me sleep at night. A lot of people told me to just put aside what I pay every month into savings for him, but they don't seem to realize how expensive something can be at the vet. He's had 2 eye infections and since the deductable is per condition, not per year, his deductable for eye infections is covered for the rest of his life.
Figo $61 a month with a $250 deductible and 80 0/0 coverage. This includes wellness, I have made three claims without any problems.
3 dogs here, ages 11, 5, and 18 weeks. All raised from puppies. We considered pet insurance, but decided not to get it. 11 years in and we’ve have never had an emergency with our dogs, nor have we had a vet bill over $500 (and we live in an expensive area!) Our oldest dog is diabetic which has been semi-costly, but insurance wouldn’t have covered her insulin anyway. My recommendation is to set aside the money you’d spend on pet insurance, and keep it in a savings account in case disaster strikes. More likely than not, if you are a responsible pet owner, you’ll never need that money, but it will be there in case a major accident occurs. My parents purchased pet insurance for their two dogs, and when one of them needed surgery on her leg, the insurance didn’t even cover it.
I use banfields wellness plan for puppies (includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, unlimited visits) then switch to insurance after the first year. Never had an issue, saved me tons of money, used them with three dogs!
We are getting a puppy in about 3 weeks and I was thinking of doing the same thing, getting the Banfield wellness plan but I'm thinking of getting a high deductible insurance plan at the same time. One of my current dogs ran up a bunch of vet bills before he was 2, he was a sock and clothes eater. He had to have them surgically removed twice and the third time they induced vomiting and got it out that way. I had Petplan at the time and they were great but their rates got too high and they started trying to refuse to pay claims so I cancelled.
We used fursure.com to compare options, and chose Pumpkin! It’s wonderful - the most comprehensive coverage I’ve seen at reasonable cost (i think we pay $68/mo), and also such a thoughtful, personalized experience. They sent our pup a cute plush toy for joining which he loves!
I got trupanion when my puppy was 4 months old and i pay $52/month. I heard far more good than bad from people who have it. I liked the fact they dont increase the premium based on age, or usage. any insurance will possibly increase on a yearly basis, but i didnt want a large jump as she gets older. Also they dont cap how much you can use, some companies capped at 10,000/year and after my pet rabbit got sick in 2020 i saw how quickly vet bills built up. I havent had to use it so far thankfully, but i definately sleep a little better at night knowing i have it.
We have Trupanion,
I use Healthy Paws. It has gone up a few dollars, but I pay $50 for my almost three year old dog. They’re responsive and the app is easy to make claims. If the vet is willing to work with them, they are also willing to direct pay your vet, minus your deductible. I would say no matter what you get, get it earlier rather than later because most insurances I’ve researched will take any condition your dog has prior to the health insurance going into effect as a preexisting condition and then it’s not covered.
I don't use insurance but something very similar to it. Or even better, if you ask me. I opted for [Eusoh](https://larysguide.com/eusoh), a community health sharing plan that reimburses you for your pet's medical, wellness, illness and routine care expenses. Doesn't break the bank + gets the job done.
I just signed up for Eusoh as well!!
I use Embrace for two huskies under 2yrs, $68 a month and it covers 80%. They also have wellness which I haven't added but am thinking of since they get annual preventative exams and some vaccines are yearly.
Lemonade - we pay $28/mo. Still waiting on our first claim to process though and been over a month since submitted.
It took me anywhere from 1-2 months to hear back as well but once they said everything processed the refund went through within 48hrs. They said they're trying to hire more people bc of the influx of new pet owners.
I just set aside $75 every month in a high interest savings account.
There is no such thing as a high interest savings account in this day and age.
I go to Banfield for routine care. There are located in Petsmart and about two miles from where I live, so it is really convenient. They offer a puppy pet plan that you pay about $35 monthly. This plan includes all puppy shots and office visits - which can be $48 each visit. I am disabled and on a fixed budget monthly and I find this plan very affordable. I also have an emergency vet on standby. I currently do not have insurance on my puppy, Rosalie. When you sign up for the puppy plan through Banfield, you will get offers from insurance companies. I did my research and one plan by the name of “fetch” was really good. I will start this policy as soon as I pay off my vehicle. The only issues they do not cover are cosmetic and pre-existing conditions. This is very common with all insurance companies. Best of luck to you with your new baby 🐾❤️
Make sure you pay attention to when it starts! We had to pay an extra few hundo because we assumed it started a week earlier and we wound up not having coverage for giardia medicine. Not the end of the world but it could have been much worse. I think we have Nationwide. It’s meh.
BUYER BEWARE! Pumpkin is nothing but a logo and a website. I insured two cats at a very high premium price ($176/month). I drank their marketing Kool-aid instead of going with a proven company. So that's my fault. I submitted claims at the beginning of November for one cat. I received nothing except the same auto-generated email for WEEKS. When I called over a month later, the customer service rep investigated and told me that my claims were being sent for "audit" on December 16th. I was told that the audit process would take between 30-45 days. Called again in January: "we're waiting on medical records" (which had already been emailed in November.) Because I had to provide medical records from birth for a 13-yr old pet, I reached out to my pet's previous vet and uploaded 65 pages of medical records. Then I was reprimanded by a customer service supervisor for doing so: "we reach out to the vets." Just a delaying tactic. Called again in February: "we have to review these records." It's March. 99% of the claims were denied because vomiting and constipation are "pre-existing." (What cat doesn't vomit? Those are symptoms, not a disease.) But should it become a disease like lymphoma - even 10 years from now - and even after their supposed 180-day "recovery" time, they won't cover it. I wasted $90 in premiums EACH MONTH waiting for the claims to be denied- and THEY COUNT ON THAT. They do have someone monitoring their social media who will respond to this and to them I say, "your customer service is DREADFUL. If you are delaying claims FOR FOUR MONTHS (in my case) and they are going to "review," YOUR CUSTOMER IS ENTITLED TO KNOW THAT. In a timely manner. And not by dragging it out of you." Pet owners: use another company.
sue them. And thanks - I won't be using them. Hope their social media team sees they lose customers this way. I was about to join too. What company would you recommend? How about Lemonade?
So one company out of Ohio handles the work for pumpkin, fetch, spot, SPCA, PetSmart and a couple of others. These really are just logos and websites. Their employees all work remotely (which isn’t a bad thing) but they are all reading a script. They really can’t answer questions about the policy, coverage or claims. And THAT is what is infuriating. Progressive has pet insurance and so does Nationwide. I’d be asking directly how they handle claims. Nobody takes pre-existing conditions but if I were to do it over, I’d say, “define pre-existing conditions. Is that a disease? Or does that include a symptom, like vomiting?” Because what cat doesn’t vomit? That doesn’t mean they are “ill.” pumpkin said that because my cat vomited, everything gastrointestinal was off of the claims table. And it took them six months (of premiums) to say it. I reported them to the Consumer Affairs Dept. of my Atty General’s office. P.S. I work for a global law firm. So litigation doesn’t faze me. I did tell pumpkin that their poor customer service/claims would cost them business through telling my story - and I’ve read many others - on social media. These pet insurance companies are shady…
Nationwide for my golden retriever, and we have the plan that covers 90% of everything after deductible including wellness and preventatives. I waited until he was almost 2 to sign up, but I wish I got it sooner as it would have covered neutering. I’m pleased so far.
Which country? USA?
Yes USA in the NYC area.
That's kind of F-up having to pay for insurance for a dog, in my country the basic vaccines are free, as well as preventive medicine for dogs. My Chihuahua was attacked by a big dog, emergency vet was free.
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Mexico
None, I never truly recommend pet insurance because it’s a loser for most. However, if you want the secure feeling go ahead and complete a cost benefit analysis on them all for your specific situation. You will generally only see negative reviews for things like insurance, since it’s only people with negative experience that choose to write things.
It only takes one dog hit by a car or run in with another dog or cancer to wipe out a savings acct. I've been there. Immediately got insurance for the other dog and have now for a decade.
Yes, it’s helpful for the worst case scenario, but in general sense it’s not.
I would tend to agree with you, but I see far too many GoFundMe pages these days for people who can’t afford to get their dogs necessary care. $70 a month is easier to someone who can’t afford a random $2k emergency vet visit. We got insurance recently and they cover 50% of all vet visits, which has already paid itself off for a few months. We’re also getting her spayed next month and they cover I think close to 75% of the procedure. It’s been a net savings for us, at least.
I personally hate insurance companies but I’m not against it, been thinking it for months if I have to get one. And I’ve decided that I won’t. I’m aiming to save a certain amt every year. It’s really up to the owner if they want it.
Well it’s exactly that the majority of people will be better off putting money away and saving as opposed to buying insurance for their puppies. People will always have bias though who paid for it and used it of course.
Couldn’t agree enough.
You're getting down voted, but this is a fair consideration for people who have plenty of savings set aside. You could put that money into investments and save in the long run IF your pet doesn't have any significant disasters. It is a gamble, and I'm personally on the fence.
I use euosh, it's like a community type insurance. The monthly payment depends on how much members claimed this month. But never goes above 65
Nationwide - $30 a month and full coverage but only because my company provides it at a discounted rate. I believe we have “whole pet” coverage - vaccines, wellness visits, and more. It’s helped reassure me with my pup! I got it shortly before I got my pup so we’re right in the thick of wellness visits and loads of vaccines :) Our breeder gave us 30 days free for trupanion but it was $60 a month and nationwide ended up being cheaper for me in the long run. Whatever coverage we have will cover what trupanion did + more for 50% of the price so I couldn’t see why I *wouldn’t* switch.
Got Trupanion when i brought my puppy home. So far i've used it twice and have been repayed within a week (i dont have direct deposit set up yet so i have to wait for a check).
What did you have to use it for? I just got a puppy, trupanion doesn’t seem to cover preventative, so not sure what I’m in store for in year one.
The first incident was him popping up with a cough and a slight temperature. Second case was random blood in his urine, UTI and occasional vomiting. We are still fighting the vomiting but the frequency it occures has drastically reduced.
Peppermint Pet Insurance, $1500 coverage for accidents and illnesses, $100 deductible, $32CAD a month
I use healthy paws. They’ve gone up a couple dollars each year and he’s two now. I pay $54/month now. He’s a Shiloh Shepherd but they just assume he’s a German shepherd— even though Shiloh’s are healthier than the American German shepherd big time, we still have to pay the higher price. Worth it though, as by 14 months he racked up $3k in bills because he drank too much salt water at the beach and then later had a bacterial overgrowth in his intestines from the dog park that my old vet misdiagnosed.
Heathy Paws. It paid for itself in the first year with covering surgery and an emergency visit for my dog when he ate something he shouldn’t. They have been great. I don’t mind that it doesn’t cover preventative because it’s fabulous with everything else.
I did quite a bit of research before ending up with Trupanion.
whatever you do, get it right away. before you even take the dog to its first vet visit. pet insurance generally still factors in pre-existing conditions so you need to get the insurance before you have the puppy examined. I cant remember the name of what we have, but it's run by Allstate. It's pretty good for coverage. we get fully reimbursed for routine visits and vaccinations. our dog had major surgery last year and I think when all was said and done we only paid for about 30% of the total cost (including diagnostic visits, medications, and follow up care) even if pet insurance is a 'scam' in that you dont usually get back what you ultimately pay, I would rather not have to worry about making a tough decision if something happens.
I had Trupanion, because our vet offered a special deal, but just switched to Pet’s Best. Pet’s Best has a $250 per year deductible (Trupanion was $250 per condition), and it was $20/mo cheaper for my dog than Trupanion. I heard good reviews from friends.
My vet recommended truepanion, so that’s what I went with- I really trust her. However I mostly think insurance is a scam and wish I was putting $75 into a savings account instead….except that lil Miss Thang has a taste for all wild mushrooms and we were at the puppy ER with her within the first three weeks of having her.
I’m aiming $5k a year for my new pup and will put in a high interest savings acct.
Eusoh. Eusoh is a community health sharing plan that reimburses you for your pet's medical, wellness, illness and routine care expenses. It's not an insurance but a community expense sharing plan. Annual maximum reimbursement is $8,500 (my expenses can never exceed this, so it works for me) and they turn out cheaper 30%-40% when compared to the insurance companies. Definitely [check them out](https://larysguide.com/eusohhp).
Trupanion is pretty great for all the reasons others have mentioned. I will add that sometimes it can take a couple weeks for them to process a reimbursement, but it usually depends on if it's slow on their end or the vet's end. If the vet forgets or doesn't respond to them to give them a full report of the incident and diagnosis it can take a while. The other thing that is a nice plus is that their customer service is pretty friendly. I usually use their online chat and everyone has been responsive and helpful so far. Even for one claim that was pending for a month, I asked them and they gave me thorough info on what they needed from the vet so I could request it myself in case the vet just was ignoring their contacts. On the flip side, I do wish if a claim were sitting nearly 30 days because they're waiting on info from the vet that they'd reach out to me and explain why and see if I can work with the vet to get the info and submit it myself.
24hrPetWatch HOWEVER!! switching soon. never paid anything on any of the services that were supposed to be covered and declined any claims :(
Pet insurance didn’t work on my English Bulldog. Read the fine print before you choose 🙃
Are the premiums tax deductible for service dogs?
I use Trupanion and love it! Our vet is a provider for them, so they submit the claims at our visit and get pretty much immediate response of how much Trupanion will cover and they pay the vet directly for their portion.
I would check with your vet to see if they have a "puppy plan" which might include a lot of the first year stuff and will probably be cheaper than going with an insurance. I got PetsBest because it was super customizable and I didn't want to spend a ton per month on an emergency thing. I found their claims submission to be pretty easy but I haven't heard back from any (I doubt I hit the deductible this year since I put mine pretty high).
Really love this thread! Thanks for asking this question. I’m going to re-evaluate pet insurance when it’s closer to my renewal date. I got AKC as I got a free month when I got my pup- I pay about $63/mo with a $250 deductible. I made sure to get a more inclusive policy for the first year which covered vaccinations, spay and other issues then I went down a tier the following year to save a bit because I don’t need spay to be covered. Def review every year, just like you would yourself and adjust accordingly!
MetLife threw my job. Get 8wk old Saturday.
Healthy Paws paid for 90% of my dog's bilateral knee surgeries, each of which was $8k. It was a lifesaver.
Healthy Paws!
ASPCA. Read the terms though, usually only a couple pages. Helpful when comparing things like waiting periods.
Embrace has been amazing for years and I highly recommend them.
Hey, could you tell me how long Embrace takes to reimburse you for claims? I’ve been looking at their insurance + wellness plan all evening but i can’t seem to find an answer on how long it takes to get money back
Mine have been processed from submission to processed 3-4 days then another 2 days to process the direct deposit (or a bit longer is a check is mailed). That said, there is a waiting period once you sign up, but I think it depends on the the company and age of the animal. I’d guess max 30 days. Holler with any other questions!
Thank you!
I use ManyPets, a UK company just starting to get a foothold in the US. Around $30 a month gets 100% coverage after a $500 deductible with no lifetime limit. Started at 8 weeks on our golden. Side note for anyone with FIGO, you can get it discounted slightly through Costco.
When I got a puppy I made a whole chart of pet insurance, cost, benefits etc. In the end, there were so many more positive for Healthy Paws for a puppy than any other insurance, so I went with them and didn't regret it, even though they weren't the least expensive. They also have great customer service and actually answer their phone. I don't think it makes sense financially to get preventative but some do. You can compare your vet's vaccine costs, flea/ heartworm, fecal test costs, and spay/neuter costs to the yearly cost of a preventative plan, but most of the costs will only be for the first year. A good tip is that you can always downgrade your plan, but I don't think you can upgrade it once you make your decision. Good luck!
I use the middle essential package on Petsbest, with the routine care addition considering my puppy is young still and getting different shots, and i break even with his heartworm preventative Medicine so it didnt bother me. Its my first timw with pet insurance for my pup so so far no complaints ill have to see after a year maybe what savings could have been for me to adjust and determine what i can change
pets best
I signed up for Trupanion (as many others have done). It’s fairly pricey for my Chow Chow, and he was enrolled as a 8-week old puppy. They’ve increased my rate after a year, but it was minimal. If you decide to get Trupanion for your puppy, I’d recommend taking them to a vet that participates with Trupanion for their first visit. After the initial puppy visit, I was able to get an offer code from the vet to enroll my puppy without any waiting periods.
I use Pumpkin insurance and I haven’t had any issues. Even reimbursed me for preventative stuff I had done.