5 Best Pet Insurance Companies (September 2023)

Pet insurance can help you significantly offset the cost of your pet’s health care needs, and there are plenty of well-rated pet insurers to choose from today. If you’ve started doing the research, you’ve likely seen that most offer a similar accident-and-illness plan with standard coverages and exclusions. 

But there are some key differences that make certain pet insurance providers stand out and may make an insurer a better fit for your pet’s needs. We at the This Old House Reviews Team analyzed coverage, cost, downsides, and unique perks across leading pet insurance providers, scoring them on key metrics to help you make the best choice. See our top five picks for best pet insurance companies below.

Compare Other Pet Companies

• Lemonade: Best Overall
• Spot: Most Customizable Plans
• Embrace: Best Deductibles
• Healthy Paws: Best Coverage Limit
• ASPCA Pet Health Insurance: Best for New Pet Owners

*Sample quotes are for 4-year-old, mixed-breed, male dogs in Raleigh, North Carolina using a $250 deductible, $5,000 annual limit, and 80% reimbursement rate. Healthy Paws doesn’t have an option to customize your annual coverage limit, so this quote is for unlimited coverage.

Learn the basics pet owners should know before selecting a pet insurance plan. 

We scored Lemonade at a 96 out of 100 for its coverage options, low monthly premiums, and short accident waiting period.

Learn more: Lemonade Pet Insurance Review

Spot: Most Customizable Plans

We scored Spot 91 out of 100 for its customizable coverage options, deductibles, and plan pricing.

Learn more: Spot Pet Insurance Review

Embrace: Best Deductibles

Embrace scored a 93.5 out of 100, earning points for its costs, customization options, and additional features but losing points for its low coverage limits.

Learn more: Embrace Pet Insurance Review

Healthy Paws: Best Coverage Limit

Scoring a 93.5 out of 100, Healthy Paws offers unlimited coverage with no maximum per-incident, annual, or lifetime payouts.

Learn more: Healthy Paws Pet Insurance Review

ASPCA: Best for New Pet Owners

We gave ASPCA Pet Health Insurance an 89 out of 100 for its long partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and its many online resources for pet owners.

Learn more: ASPCA Pet Insurance Review

While the providers below didn’t make our top five, we feel they deserve honorable mention. See how they compare on coverage and cost below.

*Sample quotes are for 4-year-old, mixed-breed, male dogs in Raleigh, North Carolina using a $250 deductible, $5,000 annual limit, and 80% reimbursement rate.

The average cost of pet insurance for dogs across our top five providers is $43.62 per month. The average monthly premium for cats across these providers is $18.02. Lemonade, Spot, and ASPCA have the lowest pricing out of our top five providers. 

Pet insurance premiums are calculated based on your location and your pet’s age, breed, gender, and species. Metropolitan areas typically have higher premiums, as do older pets, male pets, and dogs. 

If saving money is your priority, check out our review of cheapest pet insurance companies.

The coverage you get depends on the plan you select. All providers have an accident-and illness plan that typically covers accidents such as:

• Bite wounds
• Broken bones
• Cuts
• Ingested objects or toxins
• Sprains

Commonly covered illnesses include:

• Allergies
• Cancer
• Chronic conditions
• Congenital conditions
• Dental illness
• Diabetes
• Digestive illnesses
• Eye and ear infections
• Heart disease
• Hereditary conditions
• Hip dysplasia

You can use your standard pet insurance coverage to pay for all or the partial cost of vet treatments such as blood tests, emergency care, hospitalization, prescription medications, specialty care, surgery, ultrasounds, and X-rays.

Preventive Care Coverage

If you choose to add wellness coverage to your policy, you can use it to offset the cost of preventive routine care, such as: 

• Annual wellness exams
• Dental cleanings
• Grooming
• Microchipping
• Spaying or neutering
• Vaccinations 

What’s Not Covered

Pet insurance does not cover:

• Any condition resulting from intentional neglect or abuse by you or a member of your household 
• Any treatment not performed by a licensed veterinarian
• Breeding or whelping 
• Cosmetic procedures, such as tail clipping or declawing, unless medically necessary
• Preexisting conditions 

Learn more about what pet insurance covers.

Once you enroll in a pet insurance plan, there will be a waiting period until your coverage kicks in—usually no longer than 15 days for most providers. After the waiting period is over, you can file a claim for your pet’s veterinary bills. When you take your pet to any licensed vet office, you’ll pay the bill out of pocket, then go online or on your mobile app to file a claim for the amount you were charged. Your provider will reimburse you via direct deposit or mailed check, usually within a couple of weeks after the claim is processed.

Keep in mind you’ll have to meet your pet insurance deductible before you’ll start receiving reimbursements. If you choose a higher deductible, you’ll have a lower monthly premium, but you’ll be responsible for paying more out of pocket up-front. If you choose a lower deductible, you’ll pay less out of pocket up-front but will have a higher premium. 

The annual limit you choose also affects how much you’ll be reimbursed. For example, if you choose a $5,000 annual limit, once you’ve been reimbursed $5,000, your provider won’t reimburse you any further even if you continue submitting claims. Some providers offer unlimited coverage, meaning there’s no payout cap, though this option sometimes increases your premium. 

You’ll also get to choose your reimbursement rate, which is usually 70%–100%. The higher the rate, the higher the premium, but you’ll also be reimbursed more. For example, if you choose a 90% reimbursement level, your provider will reimburse you 90% of the vet bill you filed a claim for.

Learn more about how pet insurance works.

All providers allow you to sign up for a policy on their website. Some also allow you to enroll over the phone. Once you enroll, your provider will send you your policy contract and any additional documents you need. 

Here are our tips for getting the right pet insurance for you:

• Read providers’ sites, sample policies, customer reviews, and other online ratings
• Be familiar with what providers’ plans do and don’t cover
• Get sample quotes from each provider to see what your monthly premium will be
• Call or chat customer support with any questions you have before enrolling
• Pick the annual limit, deductible, and reimbursement rate that work best for your budget and your pet’s health care needs

Having pet insurance is an important part of being a pet owner. Unless you’re prepared to pay for all of your pet’s vet expenses out of pocket, a pet insurance plan helps you significantly reduce the cost of your pet’s health care needs, sometimes even footing 100% of the bill. 

Don’t forget to research providers carefully before committing to ensure you get the right coverage for your pet at the right price for your budget. We recommend pet insurance companies Lemonade, Spot, and Embrace for their comprehensive coverage, customer satisfaction, and service, though it’s worth checking out any provider on this list.

The This Old House Reviews team is dedicated to thorough, in-depth reviews of each product or service that we detail in our content. Determined to build trust with our readers through transparency, accuracy, and accountability, we’ve built a detailed rating system to score pet insurance brands. Included in this methodology are the following six factors with their respective scoring weights:

• Coverage (25)
• Plan options (20)
• Monthly cost (20)
• Company reputation (15)
• Customer service (10)
• Species eligibility (10)

Our researchers keep all data in each company’s score up to date, making any changes to our content when necessary to provide our readers with the most accurate information on relevant metrics, such as plan options, customer service, reputation, and monthly cost.

To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.