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You turned your back for one minute and now Fido has a stomach full of bathroom trash. Yuck! You know this isn’t going to be good. You take him to the vet and have an x-ray done and see all the q-tips, bobby pins and, oh no, a part of an old razor blade. Things just got really scary for you. The vet performs surgery and thankfully, Fido will be okay. However, your bank account is in some real pain now. Had you signed up for pet insurance, you may not have had to pay as much for the vet bills. That’s where Trupanion comes into play.
Trupanion offers pet insurance to help you cover your dog’s vet fees. Depending on the plan you choose, you could have nearly all of your vet bills covered. We’re going to look at Trupanions pros, cons, price quotes, what they do/don’t cover and more to help you decide if they’re the right provider for your dog.
Trupanion Review
Pros
- Offers an unlimited lifetime limit on coverage
- Offers optional benefits for additional expenses that cover acupuncture, physical therapy, hydrotherapy and behavioral modification training and therapy
- Hip Dysplasya has no waiting period and no age restrictions
- BBB rating is A+
- Claims are settled within four days on average (65% are settled the day they are received and 80% are settled within seven days)
- The only company that offers vet direct pay*
- 24/7 phone support
- 30-day money back guarantee
- Pet is covered in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico
Cons
- More expensive than our top three picks
- One time $35 administration fee
- Policies have three day waiting period for injuries and 30 day waiting period for illnesses
- Allow up to a 20% increase on premiums from year to year
- Pets are not eligible for enrollment after their 14th birthday
- No wellness plan
- Does not cover exam fees
*Vet Direct Pay: Trupanion pays the veterinarian directly in as little as five minutes. This means policyholders don’t have to wait for reimbursements. Instead, you pay the portion that your Trupanion policy doesn’t cover after Trupanion has paid.
Pricing
As a Trupanion subscriber, you are able to customize your Tru-panion plan to suit your budget and type(s) of care and coverage desired. Your Trupanion pet insurance policy cost will vary depending on a variety of factors; such as the age of your pet when you sign up, the deductible amount you choose (anywhere from $0-$1,000), and the type of optional riders you select. No matter which plan you select, remember that there are no coverage limits on the Trupanion core plan or riders.
Below are some example monthly premiums for various pets in different geographic locations.
| Breed | Labrador Retriever | German Shepherd | Yorkshire Terrier | Mixed Breed Cat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 4 Months | 2 Years | 6 Months | 4 Years |
| Male/Female | Female | Male | Female | Male |
| Location | New York City (zipcode: 10005) | Los Angeles (zipcode: 90010) | Chicago (zipcode: 60604) | Miami (zipcode: 33114) |
| Reimbursement Level | 90% | 90% | 90% | 90% |
| Annual Deductible | $200 | $200 | $200 | $500 |
| Price Per Month | $115.07 | $108.28 | $48.29 | $42.69 |
Coupon Code
There are not any active Trupanion coupon codes at this time.
What Does Trupanion Cover?
After the deductible and exam fee, even with the basic, or “core” plan, Trupanion pays 90% of actual veterinary bills for approved illness and accident claims, whether from the veterinary hospital, specialty animal hospital or emergency care center. While it is great that Trupanion covers 90% of the bill, other pet insurance providers are more flexible, allowing customers to choose their reimbursement level. This could mean a lower monthly premium for you. Below is a list of some items Trupanion does and does not cover. For a full list we recommend asking for a sample policy.
| Covered by Trupanion | Not Covered by Trupanion |
|---|---|
| Illnesses | Exam fees |
| Injuries | Sales tax where applicable |
| Hereditary conditions | Wellness and preventative care |
| Congenital conditions | Pre-existing conditions |
| Diagnostic tests | |
| Surgeries | |
| Hospital stays | |
| Medications | |
| Veterinary supplements | |
| Prosthetic devices and carts | |
| Alternative and rehabilitative therapies (optional) | |
| Extra protection for breeding dogs (optional) |
Pet Owner Assistance Add-On Package
The Pet Owner Assistance package costs $4.95/month in addition to the core plan premium.
- Boarding fees
- Liability coverage for third-party property damage
- Vacation cancellation costs
- Cremation or burial fees
- Advertising and reward for lost pet
Recovery and Complementary Care Rider
The price of this plan can vary anywhere from a couple of dollars towards $30 and is in addition to the core plan premium.
- Acupuncture
- Chiropractic
- Homeopathy
- Hydrotherapy
- Physical and rehabilitative therapy
- Behavioral modification and therapy
- Naturopathy
About Trupanion Pet Medical Insurance
Trupanion pet medical insurance was founded in Canada in 1998 as VetInsurance. In 2005, VetInsurance expanded to the U.S. and re-branded in 2008 as Trupanion. For the last decade, American Pet Insurance Co. (APIC), a subsidiary, has performed the underwriting duties for Trupanion. Many pet insurance providers do not have their own underwriter, Trupanion claims that this allows them to pay back 70 cents for every dollar spent in premiums. The U.S. branch is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and was named one of Washington state’s Best Workplaces in 2013.
Compare Trupanion to Other Leading Pet Insurance Providers
Visit our Pet Insurance Reviews page to see a comprehensive comparison of the leading insurance providers for pets. See how Truepanion stacks up against the competition and if they’re the right pick for you.
Why are you thinking of getting pet insurance through Trupanion?
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14 Comments on "What Makes Trupanion Pet Insurance Unique?"
Take note if you have time read the article in the ny times about pet insurance its worth the read, its all a hoax, big money making opportunity for the insurance company. 10-20% of all injuries are really covered. We invested a ton on money into trupanion insurance to only be denied our claims. Take the money you were going to pay for insurance and put in into a pet emergency savings and you will come out way ahead. We would have actually had money left!
The monthly premiums may cost a bit more than other companies, but I tell you it is very well worth it. Trupanion is wonderful.
Working at a vet hospital myself, I’ve seen first hand how having insurance can make all the difference in what a family is able to do for their pet. Originally I bought the insurance for my older cat primarily, who was 8 at the time, and getting it for my then 2 year old cat was an afterthought. Mostly, I just thought I wanted to be covered “just in case” and to have things set up to avoid issues with pre-existing conditions (my older cat has asthma, which was pre-existing to our coverage). Man, I’m glad I did.
Two years later I find out in a routine dental that she has extra teeth with fused roots, which required a trip to a specialist. Then, a mysterious progressive weight loss turned out to be IBD—in a 4 year old cat. Enter in another specialist and way more money than I could have managed out of pocket.
My boss was so impressed at how Trupanion handled things that she made it part of our employee benefits package. A $0 deductible for 2 cats (now 5 & 11) runs $102 a month. It is more expensive than other plans, but I find it to be far more comprehensive w/o a need for riders. We had been paying about $70 a month for a $250/deductible, but now that it’s a work benefit, we’ve dropped it to zero.
The big difference between the plans I think is missed in this article is that Trupanion does it’s deductibles by incident/illness/injury. Once you meet the deductible for a single issue, you never have to meet it again. It does not refresh at the end of the year; so not really a “yearly” deductible as listed above. That, more than anything has been worth it for us in the beginning.
Did you get that? “Potential manifestations” gets them out of paying anything unless your dog was insured the day you got him and before he ever visited a vet’s office.
My schnauzer had been insured for a little over 3 years when he started having severe rashes on his abdomen. He couldn’t sleep they were so bad. He just cried. So multiple vet visits later, my dog was diagnosed with atopy, I actually met my $500 deductible, and I filed a claim for the first time. Trupanion ordered records from every vet my dog had visited and found two mentions of him chewing his paws and an ear infection in the year prior to coverage. (The ear infection was caused by his ear hair trapping moisture, and the vet clearly wrote that he was not scratching his ears.) Trupanion said these vet notations showed that his current abdominal atopy was a pre-existing condition.
I’ve had good experiences speaking with representatives on the phone before this point. There’s always someone available. But now that I have a legitimate grievance, representatives are unhelpful, and they won’t let me speak to someone in claims. There is no one available to explain how paw chewing from 4 years ago is definitively the same condition as his current abdominal atopy. But I guess they don’t have to be certain. They just need to find “potential manifestations.”
I have zero faith now that Trupanion will ever honor their contract. They’re engaging in deceptive business practices and protecting themselves with a sneaky policy. I’m going through the appeals process right now, so if I’m pleasantly surprised I’ll let update my review.
The only treatment that’s worked so far for my dog is an expensive immune modulator. Now I wish I’d just opened a savings account for him 3 years ago. I would have $1,500 dollars in there by now.