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This is the tightest race we had this year in our rankings, but in the end we chose a winner between Healthy Paws and Pets Best. We explain our reasoning, but want to remind you that you should always get quotes for your unique pet because if coverage is similar (as it is for these 2 companies), then price may play a larger role in your decision making process.
Visit Healthy Paws’ Website | Visit Pets Best’s Website
| Healthy Paws | Pets Best | |
|---|---|---|
| Policy Coverage |  | |
| Customer Service & Reputation | | |
| Timeliness of Claim Repayment | | |
| Price of Policy | | |
| Overall Winner | |
Policy Coverage
The table below shows specifically what is and isn’t covered by Healthy Paws and Pets Best.
| HealthyPaws | Pets Best | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Ranking in our Pet Insurance Reviews | 1st | 2nd |
| X-Rays | | |
| Blood Tests | | |
| Ultrasounds | | |
| MRI | | |
| Rehabilitation | | |
| Surgery | | |
| Hip Dysplasia | Waiting Period - 12 Months* | Waiting Period - 14 Days |
| ACL | Waiting Period - 15 Days | Waiting Period - 6 Months |
| Hospitalization | | |
| Emergency Care | | |
| Specialty Care | | |
| Pre-Existing Conditions | ||
| Check Ups, Vaccinations, Spay/Neuter, Teeth Cleaning | Extra Fee | |
| Non-Routine Dental Treatment | | |
| Chronic Conditions | | |
| Illnesses | Waiting Period - 15 Days | Waiting Period - 14 Days |
| Accidents | Waiting Period - 15 Days | Waiting Period - 3 Days |
| Hereditary Conditions | | |
| Congenital Conditions | | |
| Cancer Treatments | | |
| Diagnostic Treatment | | |
| Alternative/Holistic Therapy | | |
| Behavioral Therapy | Cover related exam fees & RX meds | |
| Prescription Medications | | |
| Exam Fees | | |
| Enrollment Fee | $25 | |
| 30-Day Money Back Guarantee | | |
| Claim Limits | Unlimited | $5,000 or Unlimited |
| BBB Rating | A+ | A+ |
| Underwriter | ACE Property & Casualty (Chubb) | American Pet Insurance Company |
| A.M. Best Rating | A++ | Unrated |
| No Exam Required to Set Baseline for Pet's Health | |
*Healthy Paws only offers hip dysplasia coverage to dogs enrolled before the age of 6.
To summarize, Pets Best requires no exam to set your pet’s health baseline, covers exam fees, offers wellness options and has a shorter accident waiting period. One of our favorite things about Healthy Paws is that it only offers unlimited lifetime benefits to its customers because it feels strongly that your pet should always be covered. However, they get points deducted for not accepting dogs older than 14-years-old for coverage.
Winner: Pets Best
Customer Service & Reputation
Healthy Paws has one of the best reputations in the pet insurance business. The majority of Healthy Paws and Pets Best customer complaints are from customers who, unfortunately, didn’t read or understand their policy.
Complaints include the companies not paying a claim during a waiting period, not paying as much of a claim due to the deductible and reimbursement level selected, not covering pre-existing conditions, etc. We can’t fault Healthy Paws or Pets Best for these complaints because there are similar complaints about all pet insurance providers.
Instead, we can hope to inform pet parents more on the terms of pet insurance, so that they understand fully what is and is not covered when they purchase pet insurance. This is something we think all pet insurance providers can help with as well.
Pets Best has slightly more negative reviews online than Healthy Paws. We think part of these negative Pets Best reviews may be due to the company changing its insurance carrier several times in the past. Pets Best still has great customer service and reputation, it’s just that Healthy Paws has a better reputation.
Another reason we think Healthy Paws is the winner of this category is that Healthy Paws leads the pet insurance providers with positive changes whereas Pets Best seems to react to competitors to keep up with the competition. While we think it’s great that both companies offer excellent customer service and coverage, we can’t help but point out that Healthy Paws has been consistent with its performance longer and led the industry being the first company to offer unlimited claim limits.
Winner: Healthy Paws
Timeliness Of Claim Repayment
Healthy Paws pays its claims within 10 days while Pets Best averages about a 5-day claim repayment. Both timelines are among the shortest when compared to other pet insurance companies. Both companies have a history of repaying claims in a timely fashion, with Healthy Paws having only a slightly better reputation. So we declare this category a tie.
Winner: Healthy Paws & Pets Best (Tie)
Price Of Policy
This category was tricky for us to declare a winner. For the most part, both companies are priced similarly in terms of monthly premiums. Below are some quotes we pulled on May 15, 2018. All information is for pets without a microchip, no multi-pet discount and no pre-existing conditions.
| Breed | Birthday/Gender | Gender | Location | Deductible | Reimbursement % | Annual Maximum | Price Per Month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy Paws | Yorkshire Terrier | December 2016 | Male | Columbus, Ohio (zip code 43205) | $100 | 80% | Unlimited | $36.98 |
| Pets Best | Yorkshire Terrier | December 2016 | Male | Columbus, Ohio (zip code 43205) | $100 | 80% | Unlimited | $32.49 |
| Healthy Paws | Yorkshire Terrier | December 2016 | Male | Columbus, Ohio (zip code 43205) | $100 | 90% | Unlimited | $43.62 |
| Pets Best | Yorkshire Terrier | December 2016 | Male | Columbus, Ohio (zip code 43205) | $100 | 90% | Unlimited | $36.10 |
| Healthy Paws | Labrador Retriever | April 2016 | Female | Los Angeles, California (zipcode 90024) | $250 | 80% | Unlimited | $50.79 |
| Pets Best | Labrador Retriever | April 2016 | Female | Los Angeles, California (zipcode 90024) | $250 | 80% | Unlimited | $70.33 |
| Healthy Paws | Medium Mixed Breed | January 2014 | Female | Chicago, Illinois (zipcode 60604) | $500 | 70% | Unlimited | $38.59 |
| Pets Best | Medium Mixed Breed | January 2014 | Female | Chicago, Illinois (zipcode 60604) | $500 | 70% | Unlimited | $31.07 |
| Healthy Paws | Medium Mixed Breed | January 2014 | Female | Chicago, Illinois (zipcode 60604) | $100 | 70% | Unlimited | $57.57 |
| Pets Best | Medium Mixed Breed | January 2014 | Female | Chicago, Illinois (zipcode 60604) | $100 | 70% | Unlimited | $56.12 |
| Healthy Paws | American Pitbull Terrier | September 2017 | Male | New York City, New York (zipcode 10012) | $250 | 90% | Unlimited | $76.68 |
| Pets Best | American Pitbull Terrier | September 2017 | Male | New York City, New York (zipcode 10012) | $250 | 90% | Unlimited | $81.98 |
We also ran more price quotes, where Healthy Paws was consistently the third least expensive and Pets Best was either the least expensive or second least expensive. The prices tend to be very similar between these two companies.
Additionally, Healthy Paws requires a one-time fee of $25 and Pets Best has a transaction fee of $2 for every payment. So while Pets Best was found to be less expensive for often than Healthy Paws, it also has a recurring fee that can make its cost closer to Healthy Paws. This is why we have a tie for this category.
We encourage you to run your own quotes to understand how the pricing stacks up for you and your pet.
Winner: Healthy Paws & Pets Best (Tie)
Coupons
Healthy Paws
Use this link and you will automatically receive up to a 10% discount. The actual discount varies based on individual state regulations. You can also visit our dedicated HealthyPaws promotions page to discuss current offers.
Pets Best
Our readers have access to an exclusive PetsBest discount of 5% off BestBenefit plans for the first year! Just use this link to get started (Eligible in all states except AK, FL, HI and TN and does not apply to accident-only plan or wellness rider). You can also visit our dedicated Pets Best promotions page to discuss current offers.
Overall Winner
This was a tough one to compare because we think Healthy Paws and Pets Best are both excellent pet insurance providers. What it ultimately came down to was Healthy Paws has a more recognizable and established reputation. While the checkmarks are even, we feel that Healthy Paws wins by a hair in this comparison.
Healthy Paws should be on the lookout though, Pets Best is putting up an excellent fight to earn the winner’s spot in our pet insurance reviews. You can learn more about Pets Best and Healthy Paws by reading our individual reviews.
Winner: Healthy Paws
Do you have an experience with Healthy Paws or Pets Best you’d like to share?
Thank you
Is it really 6 months but they don’t just say 14 days to get people to enroll?
Thanks for the help
Please let me know if you have any other questions about pet insurance that I can help you with. I just finished our summer audit for pet insurance and hope to have the articles go live by the end of June.