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When a copperhead snake snuck up and bit Alyssa Singer’s Doberman, Miles, on the muzzle, she didn’t think twice about rushing her pup to the vet. But the $600 vet bill stopped her in her tracks. Miles was fine after a dose of antivenom and some TLC, but Alyssa’s bank account is still recovering. Melissa Vincent’s Bichon Frise, Fenway, needed not one but two knee surgeries to repair subluxated patellas, a relatively common orthopedic problem in the breed. Melissa ended up shelling out more than $4,000 to get Fenway back up and running again.
Pet Insurance Reviews
Pet health insurance has been a growing industry and a passion of our’s since 2007. We work hard to bring you unique, unbiased reviews by conducting research and getting customer feedback. Below are our top three picks for pet insurance reviews this year as well as our review criteria and what you should know about pet health insurance.
Our dog insurance reviews are constantly being updated so be sure to check in regularly for new information. Awards are given each year to help you find the best dog insurance company for your needs.
| Best | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
 |  |  |
4.65 / 5.00 |
4.55 / 5.00 |
4.30 / 5.00 |
| Read Review | Read Review | Read Review |
| Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website |
Finding the best pet insurance can be a daunting task. That’s why we’ve done in-depth research and spoken with real customers for each company to bring you our top three picks this year. Below are some items you may want to check out to learn more about this subject.
- Open our pet insurance quotes to see an example of who offers the lowest prices.
Get 3 Free Pet Insurance Quotes
- See how others compare to our top three by reading about the rest of the pack.
- Read why you can trust our review process and learn why we are a reputable source.
- Become an expert on pet insurance yourself by learning more.
- View our infographic to see some surprising statistics and fun facts.
- You may want to open up our pet health insurance terminology page for easy side-by-side reference.
Woof! Woof! Big, slobbery kisses to The Seattle Times for its endorsement of our best pet insurance for dogs recommendations.
Price Of Policy Rating
Pet insurance is unique in our reviews in that the price of each policy is unique to your pet, and is calculated based on a huge number of variables, including but not limited to your pet’s age, breed, location (ie. where you live), health conditions, and so forth. Our “price of policy” rating is calculated based on a number of quotes we run in addition to general reader and consumer feedback. Since the price for your pet may vary significantly from that of others for a given provider, we encourage you to get quotes from multiple companies.
1st Place: Healthy Paws
All scores are on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 paw being the worst and 5 paws being the best.
| 1st | |
| Overall Ranking | 4.65 / 5.00 | |
| Policy Coverage |  | Visit Website |
| Customer Service & Reputation |  | |
| Timeliness of Claim Payment | | |
| Price of Policy | | |
Why Is Healthy Paws The Best Pet Insurance?
Yippee! Healthy Paws is our winner! Why is Healthy Paws the top pet insurance? The competition was stiff this year, but ultimately, Healthy Paw’s consistent prices took them to top dog status!
- Lots of Plan Options with No Caps – We were impressed that Healthy Paws offers four annual deductible levels ($100, $250, $500 or $750), three percentage options for actual vet bill payouts (70%, 80% or 90%) and there is no cap (per-incident, lifetime, or otherwise) on any of their claims.
- No Yearly Limits – Once you meet your annual deductible, all policy-covered incidents will be paid during that year, while most companies pay back after each incident deductible has been met. So, if your pet is susceptible to trouble more than once a year or you just want to be on the safe side, this plan could be a good fit.
- The Best Customer Service – Healthy Paws has some of the best customer service reviews in the business.
- Low Premium Prices – Most consumers report lower premium prices for similar coverage (unlimited lifetime benefits with no claim limits).
Coupon Code
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.
Read our in-depth review of Healthy Paws
2nd Place: Pets Best
All scores are on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 paw being the worst and 5 paws being the best.
| 2nd | |
| Overall Ranking | 4.55 / 5.00 | |
| Policy Coverage | | Visit Website |
| Customer Service & Reputation |  | |
| Timeliness of Claim Payment | | |
| Price of Policy | | |
Why Did We Choose Pets Best As Our #2 Pick?
- True Emergency Only Option – Pet Best offers an “Accident Only Plan” to cover you in case of unplanned emergencies but it does not cover exam fees or specialty treatments. This plan has a $10,000 annual limit with a $250 deductible and 90% reimbursement, making it one of the least expensive options for pet insurance.
- Low Pricing – Pets Best was consistently among the least expensive pet insurance companies when we ran quotes.
- Customer Service Options – They offer live chat, phone, email, fax and FAQs to help answer your questions. We’re also impressed with its 24/7 Pet Helpline, which allows you to speak with a vet expert any time of day.
- Customizable Plans Tailored To What You Want – You choose what coverage you want to pay for instead of paying more for stuff you don’t want. Deductible options are from $50-$1,000, reimbursement is available for 70%, 80% or 90% and they offer two wellness plans.
Coupon Code
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.
Read our in-depth review of Pets Best
3rd Place: Petplan
All scores are on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 paw being the worst and 5 paws being the best.
| 3rd | |
| Overall Ranking | 4.30 / 5.00 | |
| Policy Coverage | | Visit Website |
| Customer Service & Reputation | | |
| Timeliness of Claim Payment |  | |
| Price of Policy |  | |
Why Is Petplan Our #3 Pick?
- Fully Customizable Plans with No Limits – Pet owners considering Petplan can create a plan to best meet their needs and budget with a choice of maximum annual coverage amount ($2,500 to unlimited coverage), annual deductible ($250 to $1,000) and reimbursement rate (70%, 80% or 90%). There may be even more options available to you through the call center at this number: 800-237-1123 (our exclusive 5% discount will be honored for this phone call as well).
- Good Customer Service – Petplan is among the best customer service options available in this industry, with 24-hour customer service via live chat, phone, email, FAQ, mail, and fax.
- Policy is Crystal Clear – Petplan’s program gets points for clarity – they are very specific about what your duties are as a pet parent and what they do and don’t cover so there are no guessing games involved.
- Discounts for Good Health – Petplan offers discounts on your premiums if you don’t file a claim fora period of time, rewarding you for keeping your pet safe and healthy.
Coupon Code
Use coupon code CanineJournal to receive an additional 5% discount (10% total if you sign up online). Alternatively, if you call 800-237-1123 you will automatically get the additional 5% discount! You can also visit our dedicated Petplan promotions page to discuss current offers.
Read our in-depth review of Petplan
The Rest Of The Pack
Here’s a list of companies we include in our annual pet insurance reviews with the year they were founded:
- First: Healthy Paws 2009
- Second: Pets Best 2005
- Third: Petplan U.S. 2003
- 24PetWatch 2000
- AKC Pet Healthcare 2003
- ASPCA Pet Health Insurance 1997
- Embrace 2003
- Nationwide acquired VPI in 2014 and started selling pet insurance as Nationwide (VPI was founded in 1982)
- PetFirst 2004
- Trupanion 2000
New Entrants Are Not Reviewed
There are many new pet insurance companies popping up due to the popularity and high demand. In the past, we have seen new companies enter the pet insurance space with extremely low prices. However, after some time in business and paying some claims these companies increase their prices to make ends meet.
This ends up hurting the customers because their premiums increase drastically and if they submitted a claim their pet now has a pre-existing condition. So, if they change providers, that condition will not be covered by another pet insurance provider. In the end, they may have been better off going with a different, more established company.
Because of this, we have decided not to review pet insurance companies that don’t have at least 5 years of experience (ie. FIGO, founded in 2013, is right on the cusp). We feel that this gives companies time to establish a consistent pricing system and reputation, which helps us evaluate them better and gives customers a better idea of what to expect.
Why You Can Trust Our Reviews
Want to know how we come up with our winners and where we get our information from?
Unlike some other sites, our reviews are conducted by writers and researchers who have no information about the monetary affiliation or relationships our site may have with any merchants discussed. We take great pride in this since our reviews are authentic, and you can trust us.
Some of the links you see are affiliate links. These links are added after the review is complete. What does this mean? It means that we receive a commission if you click on the link and buy. There is no upcharge on pricing, and the service offered is the same. This is how we can afford our continuous research on pet insurance comparisons so we can provide the highest quality and most up to date information for you.
If you’d like to learn more about how we complete our reviews and our business, read our review process.
Learn More About Pet Insurance
We have many articles dedicated to pet insurance. We’ve divided our research into multiple pieces to avoid cluttering one page up. If you’d like to learn more about your options for insuring your valued family member, choose one of the articles below.
This video serves as a great introduction to dog insurance and the benefits of owning a policy:
Reasons To Get Pet Insurance Infographic
Our dog health insurance infographic shows pet statistics and average costs of medical expenses.
To embed this infographic on your site, simply copy and paste the code below:
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
For those of you still on the fence, you’re probably wondering what kind of common scenarios your pup might get into where pet insurance would apply. Check out our list of common dog health issues to get an idea. Removing lumps and bumps is one of the most common surgeries for dogs and can cost more than $1,000 each time. That’s a lot of money that you were not planning to spend, and most of us don’t have that amount of cash lying around. That’s one of the places dog insurance can come in handy. Insuring your pet can lift that weight off of you so you can focus on enjoying your time with your four-pawed friends, not worrying about having to pay for unexpected medical bills.
Got more questions? Hit us up in the comments below or post a reader question in our community.
Have you had experience (good or bad) with pet insurance?
I created a spread sheet to calculate the costs, one of them being break even, for a 1k deductible and a 65% reimb @ $25 a month you would need to have a bill of around $1500, I can put that in the bank every year and in the 10-14 year life of my dog I would be willing to bet that the cost would be less. So to answer your question at this point if I was to pick a health ins company it would Be Embrace they are the only one that I found that could answer all my crazy questions in language that made sense and matched what was in their policy, and they don’t play games with the deductible, I will stay FAR away from Pets Best they flat out tell me one thing that is not in their policy and they kept answering with answers that had nothing to do with the questions to avoid it, what else is not in the policy but is required to maintain coverage?…
I would suggest speaking with Healthy Paws about what types of increases you should expect each year for your specific dog. Hopefully that will give you an idea of what you could be facing. Let me know if I can help you out in any other way! Good luck!
PS- ion the paperwork from the adoption agency it has a pre-existing skin issue that the vet has determined no longer exists will the condition ever be covered?
I can already see how hard Pets Best pushes to try to get that proof. We are in the process of our first (very simple) claim to try to get credit toward our deductible for <$20 of anxiety meds. PB wants everything but the kitchen sink from our vet/us. So now I realize, they have her full records, and let's say…if she has any future stomach issues, they'll use it against us that she saw a vet (the week before her coverage began) for being sick from eating poop in the woods. Even though I know any GI issues in the future are unrelated, they'll still say it's pre-existing.
Note that some of these companies don't allow repeat occurrences within 12 months, either. Like, if your dog gets an ear infection and it's covered once, then gets another one within 12 months, they'll deny it. I've read many, many comments to that effect.
Just be smart. Know what's in your dog's records, and think to yourself if it's honestly worth it to try to have Illness coverage. Look at it from the insurance company's eyes and try to imagine what they'll use against you. Do you really want to pay premiums for years, only to find out everything is "pre-existing" when the time comes to use your policy?
I think we're going to go with Accident-Only, and that's that.
I thought ‘pets best’ also had no annual limits? But do they have “limited lifetime coverage and per incident limits on claims”?
Does petbest coverage of hip displaysia after age 6 get reduced as well?
-Healthy Paws
-Pets Best
-Petplan
-Trupanion
-ASPCA/Hartville
-Nationwide
Pets Best does not have an age restriction for hip dysplasia coverage.
Some key reasons we think Healthy Paws is better than Pets Best:
1) Healthy Paws is highly rated and has been consistent with its underwriter. This shows its stability in pet insurance.
2) Healthy Paws offers good pricing for always unlimited coverage, which is what we recommend.
3) Pets Best’s underwriter is unrated, which is considered a higher risk. This makes us nervous a little.
4) Pets Best is owned by Trupanion, which has very high prices and is publicly traded so it gets pressures from stockholders that could increase its prices over time. Today, Pets Best’s pricing is exceptional and its product is great too, which is why it’s in our top 3.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
-Healthy Paws
-Pets Best
-Petplan plans to launch Petplan Pay+, which allows Petplan to pay vets directly but not until third quarter of 2018
-ASPCA/Hartville
-24PetWatch
-Trupanion
Embrace and Nationwide do not have the option to pay vets directly.
Thank you for all the great information. I love that fact that you are answering every comment too. very awesome!!
My Question: is there something wrong with Geiko/Nation Wide/Progressive? I am looking at Nation Wide right now and quoted me at 43 for emergencies and wellness. looks like Nation has their own through petinsurance.com where as Progressive runs through Pets Best.
regards,
Thank you!
To answer your questions, yes, pet insurance companies do cover rescue dogs. Most companies require a vet visit within a specific time frame before coverage begins to help them determine the dog’s overall health. As for holistic vet care, I think you’ll find this comparison table helpful. It compares all of the best pet insurance companies and shows what each one covers compared to the rest. Let me know if you have any other questions!
–Healthy Paws: Healthy Paws has one bilateral-exclusion in its policy, applying to cruciate ligament problems. Your pet would be eligible for coverage for future cruciate ligament injuries if there had been no signs/symptoms with either leg before enrollment or during the 15 day waiting period. As your pet has sustained an injury to one of the cruciate ligaments prior to enrollment, Healthy Paws would not be able to provide coverage for any future treatment for the cruciate ligament on both the right and left leg. So Healthy Paws probably isn’t the choice for you since you want TPLO covered.
–Pets Best: From what I’ve read in the sample policy, it appears to have a 6-month waiting period for CCL tear no matter what. If symptoms were present AND you follow the guidelines and there are no symptoms for 18 months then it looks like it would be covered. So all that being said, if your dog went 18 months without any issues with the CCL tear, you could then sign up for Pets Best and it looks to me like it would be covered if he ever needed surgery. HOWEVER, I suggest talking this over with Pets Best before signing up and make sure that we are understanding it correctly.
–Petplan: Petplan says they will cover the other CCL if the first leg remains healed for 12 months.
–Embrace: Since knees are bilateral, that would be a preexisting conditions. So going with Embrace would not be a good option for your case.
As we always tell our readers, before signing up be sure to discuss this with your pet insurance company so it is clear what will and will not be covered. If there are any other questions you may have, please let me know and I can do my best to help!
Please let me know if you have any other questions. We want you to make an informed purchase decision that you’re happy with!
Let me know if you have any other questions or if you’d like help comparing two companies directly! Best of luck 🙂
You can also look at our Pet Insurance Quotes page for sample quotes. According to our quotes from April 2017, Nationwide, FIGO and Healthy Paws were among the least expensive a couple times.
If it came down to those three companies being the least expensive for your dog as well within a few dollars, I would choose Healthy Paws. It has a history of great service and in the situation where your dog falls ill, the last thing you want to do is not have something covered that you thought should be covered.
Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!
With your least expensive option being Pets Best, I would say choosing it as your insurance company is a great route to go. As you mentioned, Pets Best is currently our #2 pick for pet insurance. So it is a good company in our eyes and we love that you’re able to get such a great, low monthly price. Please let me know if I can help you further!
Also, a lot of insurance companies don’t cover office visits for regular check ups. Banfield has wellness plans where they have unlimited office visits free of charge, vaccinations, heart worm medication, etc. Would it be best to just have the insurance and then the wellness plan on the side? Please advise.
There is a chance that your dog may need surgery in the future for the cruciate ligament tear. I recommend asking your vet how much the surgery would cost and starting to save a little each month, so if/when the surgery is necessary you are prepared financially. We do have this article, How Much Does Cruciate Ligament Dog Surgery Cost, which might be helpful too.
In regards to Banfield, I recommend you read this Banfield Review and be sure to look at the comment section too.
If you look at this comparison table, you can see which companies cover ACL Surgery and if so, what the waiting period is. However, you’ll also want to note that also included in the table is a row for Pre-existing Conditions, which no company has a checkmark for.
Ultimately, we always recommend that pet parents obtain pet insurance for their dogs the moment they bring them home. Let me know if you have any further questions!
If you do not have pet insurance yet, I recommend looking into Pets Best. From what we’ve read on Pets Best’s sample policy, it looks like there is a 6-month waiting period for CCL tear no matter what. If symptoms were present AND you follow the guidelines and there are no symptoms for 18 months then it looks like it would be covered. So all that being said, if your dog went 18 months without any issues with the CCL tear, you could then sign up for Pets Best and it looks to us like it would be covered if he ever needed surgery. HOWEVER, I suggest talking this over with Pets Best before signing up and make sure that we are understanding it correctly.