Most insurance policies are confusing. Unfortunately, pet insurance policies are no exception.
For example, with most pet healthcare coverage, you don’t know if the claim will be approved or denied until AFTER you’ve paid the bill out of pocket.
You can reduce the risk of a surprising denial if you understand the aspects of a policy before you buy it. We have outlined these in our pet insurance comparison chart for easy reference.
You can easily compare pet insurance plans from several top companies.
We’ve simplified each policy’s fine print and included vet-verified tips and warnings to help you choose.
We’ve also defined important terms you should know so you can compare pet insurance with confidence.
Why Does Pet Insurance Cost Vary So Much?
When you start to compare pet insurance plans, you’ll see a wide range of price quotes.
Pet insurances base their price on factors like:
- breed
- age
- zip code
Each pet insurance weighs these factors differently which affects the cost. Also, prices vary by coverage.
Healthy Paws is our #1 Choice.
View Rates Now!
Pet Comparison Chart
Applies to all plans
Applies to some plans
Does not apply to any plans
- #2 Embrace
- #1 Healthy Paws
- #7 Nationwide
- #3 Pets Best
- #4 Pet Plan
- #6 Pet Premium
- #2 Embrace
- #1 Healthy Paws
- #7 Nationwide
- #3 Pets Best
- #4 Pet Plan
- #6 Pet Premium
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| Get Quote | Get Quote | Get Quote | Get Quote | Get Quote | Get Quote | Get Quote (10% Off Today) |
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| Monthly Cost Basic Coverage | $48.22 Several limits |
$51.58 Several limits |
$57.07 Several limits |
$38.00 Several limits |
$46.71 Several limits |
$71.64 Several limits |
$37.28 No limits |
| Overall Score | 1.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.9 |
| Monthly Cost Best Coverage | $65.66 Several limits |
$61.52 Several limits |
$67.84 Several limits |
$70.37 No limits |
$53.37 No limits |
$79.11 Several limits |
$37.28 No limits |
| Tips & Highlights | Poor customer reviews | Low payouts | Flexible coverage | Reimburses veterinary exam fees | Offers accident-only plan | Applies deductible before copay to save you $ | #1 customer rated since 2013 |
| Vet-Verified Summary | Bad reputation with customers | Too many limitations | Watch out for deductibles | Watch out for deductibles | Low annual limit on base plans | Great coverage but expensive | Overall best coverage |
| AT A GLANCE | |||||||
| Choose your own vet |  |
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| Injuries | |
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| Illnesses |  |
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| Hereditary conditions | |
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| Congenital conditions | |
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| Prescription medications | |
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| Alternative therapies | |
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| Wellness option | |
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| Flexible deductible | |
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| Annual deductible | |
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| Choose reimbursement | |
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| Reimbursed per vet bill | |
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| No annual limits | |
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| No lifetime limits | |
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| No limits per condition | |
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| Covered for life | |
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| No upper age limit | |
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| Discounts available | |
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| Read review | Read review | Read review | Read review | Read review | Read review | Read review | |
*Quotes based on 1-year-old, male, medium-sized mixed breed dog in California zip code 90017 as of January 1, 2019
Healthy Paws is our #1 Choice.
View Rates Now!
Pet Insurance Comparison Chart: Important Definitions
Annual Limits
A maximum amount of money you can be reimbursed every year. Some pet insurance policies have them; others don’t.
Benefit Schedule
A rundown on the amount of reimbursement you’ll get for specific conditions or treatments. Some pet insurance companies reimburse you according to a set benefit schedule instead of covering a percentage of the actual vet bill.
Co-Pay
Percentage of the vet bill you pay out-of-pocket. If you have a 90 percent reimbursement level, your co-pay is 10 percent of the vet bill.
Congenital Conditions
Health conditions your pet is born with. They can be hereditary or passed down genetically. They can also result from abnormal development before birth.
Not all pet insurance plans cover congenital conditions. Not all congenital conditions are immediately apparent and may show signs sometime after birth.
Deductible
Amount of money you pay out-of-pocket before your pet insurance coverage kicks in.
Exclusions
List of conditions or limitations on your coverage. Read them carefully, as they vary widely from policy to policy.
Hereditary Conditions
Disorders or diseases your pet inherits genetically, often referred to as breed-specific conditions since they tend to affect certain breeds of dogs and cats.
Not all pet insurance plans cover hereditary conditions.
Incidents
“Incident” refers to the specific condition for which your pet is being treated. “Per incident” and “per condition” mean the same thing.
Lifetime Limits
A maximum amount of money you can be reimbursed over the lifetime of your pet insurance policy.
Reimbursement Level
Percentage of the vet bill the pet insurance company reimburses you after you pay your deductible.
The reimbursement level determines your co-pay. If you have a 70 percent reimbursement level, your co-pay is 30 percent of the vet bill.
Rider
Also called “endorsements,” riders are add-ons to an insurance policy that provide additional coverage at an additional cost.
Different companies may offer different riders, such as a prescription medication rider, complementary care rider, or breeding rider for pregnancy care.
Pre-Existing Conditions
Health issues that your pet has already been diagnosed with or shown signs of before your pet insurance plan becomes active.
Pre-existing conditions are not covered by any pet insurance plan.
Waiting Period
Set amount of time you’re required to wait after enrollment before your pet insurance policy becomes active.
Pet insurance policies may have different waiting times for different conditions and coverage options.
The waiting period for injuries and accidents may be as short as a day or two while other conditions may have a waiting period of several months.
Read More Pet Insurance Company Comparisons
- Embrace vs. Petplan
- Figo vs. Nationwide
- Healthy Paws vs. Embrace
- Healthy Paws vs. Figo
- Healthy Paws vs. Nationwide
- Healthy Paws vs. Pets Best
- Nationwide vs. Embrace
- Nationwide vs. PetPremium
- PetFirst vs. Healthy Paws
- Petplan vs. Healthy Paws
- Petplan vs. Pets Best
- Petplan vs. Petfirst
- Trupanion vs. Healthy Paws
- Trupanion vs. Nationwide
There are so many things to consider when picking the right pet insurance. I remember the first time I had to do it I almost went crazy with trying to figure out all this stuff out on my own! Congenital conditions, deductibles, exclusions, incidents and what they mean, lifetime limits and so and so on! Why did they have to make this so darn difficult to understand?
It’s great to see so many options talked about here; makes things a lot easier for a busy dog owner like myself :). It takes me forever to pick out a plan if I have to go to different websites and compare stuff to see which one is best. I have a little request, don’t know if you can do it or not but here goes:
Could you make it so that when I scroll down to see injuries, illnesses, alternative therapies and so on, I can always see the top field (compare pet insurance) so I know which company’s data I’m looking at? I hope you got what I was trying to say. This would be very helpful so I don’t have to go back from time to time and remember what I was looking at.
From $9 to $88, I don’t think there is a reason for anyone not to have pet insurance. It’s affordable and totally worth it. The chart was very helpful thank you!
What I like to do with new pets is research the usual health issue associated with that breed. Then I pick my insurance based on treatment options covered by insurance companies to ensure my dog will have the treatment available and paid for if necessary. Honestly, I am 100% okay with paying a bit higher for a plan that will come in handy if my dog experiences one of the usual health problems for his or her breed. I would suggest other owners to do the same. 🙂
So much good information! Thanks for sharing tips about keeping pet insurance premiums low. I want our little CC (the cat we recently adopted) to be covered, but don’t want to spend more than we need to.
I think my family members and friends think we’re crazy, but we love our pets. We have 4 dogs and two cats currently, being able to take care of them was challenging any time an unexpected expense came up (like our old cat’s kidneys weren’t working properly or when our mountain cur mix had hip problems). I definitely have to pick a plan that has hereditary issues covered. Whether I go with a company that has a high or a low premium, I know I’m still paying less, especially if more than one of my pets got sick or hurt at the same time. Embrace or Petplan are the ones that might serve our family best.
I checked all of them , decided to go for healthypaws , which is cheap ,top rated and simply there is no excuse for anyone out there not to get his pet insured.
So many options, I can see how this could easily be confusing unless you take the time to break it all down and explain it the way you have. Great job.
Considering how many variables are at play, I would think doing your homework in advance in regard to the type of pet you consider adopting has to come into play. Some breeds are prone to certain conditions – and this would play a huge role in the type of coverage they would benefit from.
I did notice the inexpensive $9 plan, and while I see that it only covers emergencies, it sure beats nothing.
The catastrophic events are the ones that break the bank, and those are the ones that show up out of nowhere.
I appreciate your mention of what no deductible plan is. It sure sounds appealing, but I would have never thought about what would happen if there were more than one issue going on in a year. That can certainly add up.
This is such a handy tool in helping select a pet insurance. I chose Embrace because it best suits the needs of my pet firstly and also because of its deductible pay which in the long run has saved me a lot of money.
I never looked into pet insurance mainly because of the confusion of all the terms and trying to figure out what type is the best. My dogs are young and healthy so I never kind of looked over the hole insurance thing. But, I do want to be covered if one of my babies do get hurt. I had a hard time trying to sort out the different health insurance for my family. Anyway, I love this page. It breaks down everything and gives me the definition of all the terms. Great research for pet insurance. I also thought pet insurance was a lot more then it actually is.
I like Trupanion because their coverage is simple. I would prefer one plan over having to choose between many any day. And 90% benefits coverage to boot. Although is more expensive, I wouldn’t trust my English Bulldog’s health to any other company.