2020's Best Pet Insurance: Coverage, Limitations, Pricing, Reviews

At a Glance

Figo Pet was officially established in 2013 and has earned a reputation as one of the very best pet health insurance providers available today. The award-winning company offers three different plans:

• illness plan
• injury plan
• unlimited lifetime benefit plan

All plans cover the same ailments and treatments, including chronic conditions, behavioral issues, hospitalization and testing, and more.

Figo Pet pet insurance excludes a number of conditions: preventive care, pregnancy, pre-existing conditions, vaccinations, neutering or spaying, cloning, cosmetic procedures, and experimental procedures.

The waiting periods differ according to the condition:

• 3 days for accidents
• 14-day waiting period for illness coverage
• 6 months for knee injuries and hip dysplasia

Pick a reimbursement level of 70%, 80%, 90% or 100% and deductibles of $100, $250, $500 and $1,000.

1. Essential Plan has an annual limit of $5,000
2. Preferred Plan has an annual limit of $10,000
3. Ultimate plan has no annual cap

Figo Pet Cloud is undoubtedly one of Figo Pet’s best features and is one of the best online platforms out of all the options on this list. On it, customers have 24/7 access to a Live Vet, can view appointment reminders, can access a “Find My Pet” functionality, and more.

Like all top pet insurance companies, Figo Pet offers customer support. Their customer support agents can be reached from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. CT, Mondays through Fridays. On Saturdays, they work from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CT. On Sundays, however, agents are available via text only from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CT.

Read The Full Figo Pet Insurance Review

At a Glance

Operational since 2009, this is one of the most established pet insurance providers on our list. Amidst an incredibly long list of benefits, Healthy Paws is a rare type of pet insurance company that pays the vet directly.

Mixed accident and illness coverage is offered for everything:

• emergency and specialty care
• diagnostic and alternative treatment

Healthy Paws’ pet insurance doesn’t cover neutering or spaying, dental health care, parasite control, special diets, elective procedures, microchipping, preventable disease, behavioral therapy, breeding, preventative care, and more.

• Owners of pets aged 5 years and younger can pick from 70%, 80% or 90% reimbursement percentages, and a $100, $250 or $500 deductible.
• Pets aged 6 to 7 years have the options of 60%, 70% or 80% reimbursement percentages and deductibles of $250, $500, or $750.
• Dogs over 8 years old don’t have as many options with a 60% reimbursement percentage and a $750 deductible.

The pricing is determined by a personalized quoting system that considers everything from your ZIP code to your pet’s breed. With monthly premiums starting at a mere $15, Healthy Paws offers some of the best pet insurance for cats on the market. Their puppy insurance prices start at $25.

Healthy Paws’ customer service is available via telephone from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays and Sundays, customer support agents can be reached from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST. 24/7 online support is also available.

Read The Full Healthy Paws Review

At a Glance

Pet Assure is essentially a discount-network that allows pet owners to receive 25% discounts off every visit. Because it is not a pet insurance policy it works a little differently if you compare it to the pet insurance plans discussed up until now. Here, all in-house medical care is discounted.

This includes:

• wellness visits
• sick and routine visits
• preventative care such as vaccinations

Surgical procedures, dental care, X-Rays, hospitalization, spaying and neutering, and more are all included.

The only things that aren’t covered are routine grooming, boarding, outsourced services, food, medication, or mileage fees.

Pet Assure’s customer service team is available from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST on Mondays through Fridays.

Read The Full Pet Assure Review

At a Glance

With Embrace Pet insurance you have a multiple choice of reimbursement and annual deductibles: 90%, 80% or 70% reimbursement percentages and annual deductibles of $200, $300, $500, $750, or $1,000.

Depending on the plan you pick you’ll be limited to a different annual maximum: $5,000, $8,000, $10,000, $15,000, or $30,000.

There is a plan that allows you to have no annual policy caps but this needs to be arranged via telephone.

Embrace Pet does not cover: pre-existing conditions, breeding-related costs, avian flu, deliberate injury, injury or illness stemming from neglect or cruelty, cosmetic procedures, DNA cloning, or stem cell therapy.

It covers pretty much everything else including but not limited to breed-specific and genetic conditions, congenital conditions, chronic conditions, cancer, exam fees, rehabilitation fees, behavioral therapy, and ER care.

There’s also a pet insurance plan that includes preventive care and a wellness add-on program.

Waiting periods:

• 2 days for accidents
• 14 days for illnesses
• 6 months for orthopedic conditions

However, if you submit your pet’s orthopedic report card when you enroll them then this turns into a 14-day waiting period.

Embrace Pet offers multiple discounts:

• 5% to 10% discounts for two or more pets
• 5% military discount
• 10% veterinary staff pet insurance discount
• 15% USAA discount

Embrace Pet’s customer service is available via live chat from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET on Mondays through Fridays while the call center can be reached from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET on those same days. On Saturdays, you can reach them from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET.

Read The Full Embrace Pet Insurance Review

At a Glance

Pets Best is often referred to as the best cheap pet insurance provider on the market and we’re inclined to agree since its accidents-only plan costs a mere $6 for cats and $9 for dogs.

It offers a range of plans covering:

• illnesses
• accidents
• preventative care

You have a choice of 90%, 80% or 70% reimbursement percentages and deductibles of $50, $100, $200, $250, $500 or $1,000 with annual limits of $5,000 or unlimited.

Apart from offering the cheapest pet insurance policy imaginable, Pets Best will cover your pet for all sorts of conditions and services, depending on the plan you pick. Surgery, specialist visits, outpatient care, emergency visits, prescription medications, behavioral treatments, and acupuncture are just a few examples of the coverage.

Organ transplants, pre-existing conditions, and stem cell therapy are a few of the exclusions.

• accidents have a 3-day waiting period
• illness and hip dysplasia have a 14-day waiting period
• cruciate ligament injuries have a 6-month waiting period

If you opt for the routine care add-ons, those are available from the policy effective date onwards. All claims must be submitted within 180 days and repayments average between 25 to 40 days.

If you have any queries or are interested in comparing pet insurance quotes, customer service can be reached via phone from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. MT Monday to Friday and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. MT on Saturdays. There is also a text, email and live chat option although the operating hours of these platforms aren’t specified.

Read The Full Pets Best Review

At a Glance

Trupanion is a pet insurance company that aims to simplify pet insurance as a whole.
Trupanion has a 90% reimbursement with no payout limits.

You can choose a deductible between $0 to $1,000, however, note that the deductible isn’t annual but rather per incident. You must submit claims within 90 days and your claim will be processed in 69 days and paid in 14. It’s also one of the few providers of pet insurance that pays the vet directly should you need this service.

It covers everything from hereditary conditions to hospital stays and many instances in between. It’s also one of the few providers of pet insurance that covers dental care.

The two things that make Trupanion stand out are its optional packages:

• Pet Owner Assistance – covers the boarding fees of your pet in the event that YOU are hospitalized and the advertising costs and rewards for lost pets
• Recovery and Complementary Care Rider – covers hydrotherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, and other alternative therapies

On the other hand, it doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions, preventative care, or exam fees.

It has a 30-day waiting period for illnesses, hip dysplasia and cruciate ligament injuries and a 5-day waiting period for accidents. The Trupanion customer service team can be contacted 24/7 via email, phone, or SMS.

Read The Full Trupanion Review

At a Glance

If you’re a fan of Lassie, you’ll be impressed to know that she was Nationwide’s first-ever customer.

Nationwide offers an assortment of plans covering injury, accident, and pet wellness. It has three different plans for you to pick from and a 90% reimbursement or fixed benefit option.

Nationwide doesn’t just cover cats and dogs but also a whole range of exotic pets. It offers animal health insurance for most bird species as well as amphibians, chinchillas, mice, snakes, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, lizards, opossums, geckos, goats, gerbils and more!

Speaking of coverage, Nationwide is extremely specific about what it does and does not cover, so we suggest reading through their policy coverage documentation with a fine-tooth comb. The company doesn’t cover: anything relating to pre-existing conditions, grooming, or boarding. Some plans only partially cover certain conditions. For example, skin tumors are fully covered in the Major Medical and Whole Pet plans but not in the Pet Wellness insurance plan while ACL is fully covered by the Whole Pet plan, partially covered by the Major Medical plan and not covered at all by the Pet Wellness plan.

It’s one of the only providers of pet insurance that covers spaying and neutering.

• 14-day hip dysplasia waiting period
• 12-month cruciate ligament waiting period
• 14-day waiting period for all conditions covered by the Whole Pet and Major Medical plans

Claims must be submitted within 90 days and you can expect to receive payment within 30 days, although most receive theirs in 5 to 15 days!

Nationwide’s customer service is available 24/7 via phone, email, and live chat.

At a Glance

ASPCA is yet another pet insurance company that is incredibly popular and has processed over 1.6 million claims in its 20-year run.

What it’s most loved for is its multiple-pet offer – all pets are listed under a single policy and each pet receives a 10% discount. It has plans that cover

• illnesses
• accidents
• preventative care

You have a choice of 90%, 80% or 70% reimbursement, and deductibles of $100, $250, or $500.

You can also pick between annual limits of $3,000, $5,000, $7,000 or $10,000.

ASPCA is very generous when it comes to what it covers. It covers all kinds of accidents and illnesses, alternative therapies, behavioral issues, hereditary conditions, and congenital conditions, microchip implantation as well as prescription medication, food, and supplements.

It does not cover:

• pre-existing conditions
• cosmetic procedures
• breeding costs

While this is not technically a pet insurance company that covers pre-existing conditions, if no symptoms are displayed in a 180-day period, then the condition is no longer classified as pre-existing.

It has a 14-day waiting period for accidents, illnesses, hip dysplasia, and cruciate ligament events.

Claims must be submitted within 270 days and the average claim repayment typically takes around 14 to 16 days.

Customer service is available via email or phone from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST on Mondays to Fridays and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST on Saturdays. On Sundays, they’re available from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST.

At a Glance

PetFirst is a pet insurance company that is part of the MetLife Company’s brand umbrella.

You have reimbursement options of 90%, 80% or 70% and annual limit options of $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000. Pick from $50, $100, $250 or $500 deductibles.

Accidents, illnesses, diagnostic testing, hospitalization, prescription medications, orthotic devices, and exam fees are all covered.

No pre-existing conditions are covered and costs relating to routine exams, grooming, cosmetic procedures, breeding, behavioral training, and other types of pet care are not included under PetFirst’s insurance.

Claims are typically processed within a 14-day period.

Just 24 hours after enrollment, your pet is covered for accidents.

Illnesses and cases of hip dysplasia have a 14-day waiting period.

PetFirst not only offers:

• 5% discount to those who own two pets
• 10% discount to those who own more than three
• $10 – $20 discount off online policy purchases
• 5% to 10% corporate employee discount
• 10% veterinary staff pet insurance discount
• 5% military discount

The PetFirst customer support team can be contacted via email, telephone, and live chat from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST on Mondays through Fridays and from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST on Saturdays and Sundays.

At a Glance

Petplan is yet another pet insurance option that is well worth considering.

It has annual price limits of $2,500, $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000, $25,000 or an unlimited annual price depending on the plan you pick. You have a choice of an annual deductible of $250, $500, or $1,000, and reimbursements of 70%, 80%, or 90%.

Petplan covers: injuries, accidents, illnesses, non-routine veterinary exam fees, sick visits, emergency care, specialist visits, dental-related diseases and treatments, behavioral therapy, imaging, hereditary and chronic conditions, cancer treatment, prescription medications and more. It is one of the few companies that offer pet dental insurance.

The company doesn’t offer coverage for: wellness, routine care, preventative care, prophylactic teeth cleaning, non-curable pre-existing conditions, or elective treatments.

Claims must be submitted within a 90-day period and claim repayments take place within a 30-day period.

• Accidents and illnesses have a 15-day waiting period
• cruciate ligament and patella injuries have a 6-month waiting period
• after 365 days, Petplan pet insurance will cover a curable pre-existing condition

If you need any help at any point the Petplan customer service is available 24/7 via email, live chat, and phone.