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Best Pet Insurance Companies for 2026: Picks by Policy Need

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The Pet Treatment Index Editorial Desk · Independent pet-treatment research

Published: August 22, 2026 · Last reviewed: August 22, 2026 · Last verified: August 22, 2026

Veterinary review status: Not yet completed. This page will name the reviewer, credential, scope, and date if and when a licensed veterinarian reviews it. Until then, no veterinary-review label is used.

Independent insurance or legal review: Not yet completed.

There is no best pet insurance company for every U.S. dog or cat. Based on current public company materials, starting points include ASPCA for a broad baseline, Spot for flexible limits or older-pet enrollment, MetLife for a shared multi-pet structure, Trupanion or Pets Best for different direct-payment paths, Embrace for an early records review, Fetch for exam-fee and dental terms, or AKC for its limited pre-existing-condition pathway. These are not state-form findings: verify the applicable policy and compare three matched quotes.

Our original analysis found that 55.3% of insured U.S. pets were in jurisdictions the NAIC’s dated Summer 2025 Model #633 chart marked “No Current Activity.” That is a chart classification joined to NAPHIA’s 2025 state distribution—not a claim that those jurisdictions have no insurance law or that no law changed later.

If your pet needs care right now, contact your veterinarian or the nearest emergency animal hospital. Do not delay care to compare insurance. A policy bought today is not a dependable answer for a symptom, diagnosis, treatment recommendation, or bill that already exists, and nothing on this page can determine whether a claim will be paid.

Most lists of the best pet insurance companies hand you a national winner. We can’t do that honestly, and this page explains what to use instead.

This page applies to you if

  • You are in the United States.
  • You are comparing accident-and-illness coverage for a dog or a cat.
  • You are planning ahead, before a relevant symptom, diagnosis, or veterinary recommendation exists.
  • You are willing to look at the actual policy, not just the monthly price.

This is not your situation if

  • Your pet needs urgent care.
  • Symptoms, a diagnosis, a treatment recommendation, or the bill already exist.
  • You are trying to resolve an open claim or a denial.
  • You are comparing wellness memberships or discount plans rather than insurance.
  • You need coverage for a horse, bird, reptile, rabbit, or another non-dog/cat species.
  • You want a guarantee that a future claim will be paid. No page can give you that.

Start here: what this page can and cannot do for your situation

Your situation What this page can do What it cannot do Do this next
Planning ahead, healthy pet Build a three-company shortlist and show the clauses that decide it Guarantee future coverage or future premiums Compare three companies on identical settings
Symptoms have started Explain why timing and medical history matter Make a new policy cover what is already in the record Contact your veterinarian; use any policy already in force
Diagnosis or treatment recommendation exists Explain how pre-existing definitions can work Change how the record will be read Talk to your veterinarian; check your current policy
Bill already issued Explain current-policy, itemized-estimate, and financing routes Insure a bill retroactively Ask for an itemized estimate and, if a claim exists, a written claim explanation
Switching insurers Show what a replacement policy resets Promise that your history carries over Get the new policy in writing before you cancel
Open claim or denial Explain how to request the controlling clause Decide whether your claim is payable Ask your insurer for the form, clause, and written basis
Urgent or worsening signs Point you to care Diagnose or triage your pet Call a veterinarian or emergency animal hospital now
Horse, bird, reptile, rabbit, or exotic pet State the scope limit Generalize a dog-and-cat comparison Use a species-specific insurance source

Planning ahead? Match the quote settings before you compare prices. Use the three-quote comparison worksheet to line up the same coverage type, deductible and basis, reimbursement method, benefit limit, fees, add-ons, waiting periods, and payment path. There are no paid links on that page or this one as of the last verification date.

There is no one best pet insurance company nationwide

The winner changes with your state’s policy form, your pet’s recorded history, the deductible and reimbursement math, the benefit limits, and how the insurer pays your clinic. A company that fits one household can be the wrong choice next door. So this page names starting companies by documented policy need instead of assigning a national champion.

Here is what “best” means for the rest of this page:

  1. No hard disqualifier for the thing you care most about.
  2. The company sells the relevant product in your state, for your species and your pet’s age.
  3. You can find the policy document and endorsements that apply in your state.
  4. You can identify the legal insurer—the company obligated under the policy.
  5. You can afford both the premium and the way the veterinary bill gets paid.
  6. The quotes you compare use matching settings.

A hard disqualifier beats a stack of small advantages. A lower premium does not help if the benefit you need is excluded, the company does not sell the product in your state, or your clinic will not participate in the payment process you expected. Screen for disqualifiers first, then optimize.

Best pet insurance companies by policy need

A defensible shortlist starts with the policy feature that matters most to you, not with a score. The eight companies below each publish a structure that fits a specific need. Treat them as starting points to verify, not as winners.

Table 1. Starting companies to verify, by owner priority
Scope: U.S. accident-and-illness plans for dogs and cats. Every “why it enters” entry is drawn from the company’s own current public material and is labeled company stated. It has not yet been confirmed against the issued policy form for a specific state. Verified 2026-08-22.

Your priority Starting company Why it enters the shortlist What to confirm in your state’s policy Main limitation
Broad accident-and-illness baseline ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Markets a broad benefit set and a curable-condition provision with a stated 180-day symptom-and-treatment-free period (ASPCA, company stated) Exam-fee and dental terms, the curable clause, and its knee-and-ligament rule A marketing summary is not the contract
Flexible annual limits or enrolling an older pet Spot Lists multiple annual-limit and reimbursement options and states that its plans have no upper enrollment-age limit (Spot, company stated) Which options appear in your state, product, and quote Options and eligibility can vary by product and state
Insuring several pets on one policy MetLife Pet Insurance Says its Family Plan can combine up to three dogs or cats with one shared deductible and one shared annual limit (MetLife, company stated) State availability and whether one shared deductible and limit fit your household One shared annual limit can be used across all enrolled pets
Reducing the bill due at a participating clinic Trupanion Describes payment to participating veterinary hospitals at checkout and states that its coverage has no annual, per-condition, or lifetime payout limits (Trupanion, company stated) Whether your clinic participates and what amount remains yours Not every clinic participates; no payment path guarantees claim approval
Sending eligible reimbursement to the vet after processing Pets Best Says Vet Direct Pay can send eligible reimbursement to the clinic after claim processing and receipt of a signed release (Pets Best, company stated) Release requirements, processing sequence, and clinic agreement This is not the same as payment at checkout; timing varies
Learning earlier how records may be classified Embrace Offers an optional medical-history review after enrollment and says it must be requested or records are generally reviewed at the first claim (Embrace, company stated) When the review can begin, which records it uses, and how reconsideration works The review occurs after purchase and does not settle a future claim
Sick-visit exam fees and adult dental terms Fetch Markets coverage for sick-visit exam fees and for injury and disease in adult teeth and gums (Fetch, company stated) The applicable state form, definitions, exclusions, reimbursement terms, and any limits Marketed benefits still require form-level confirmation
A limited path involving some pre-existing conditions AKC Pet Insurance States that pre-existing conditions may become eligible after 365 days of continuous coverage (AKC, company stated) State availability, eligible condition categories, waits, exclusions, and continuous-coverage rules Not available in all states, not all conditions qualify, and it cannot fund a current bill

Limitations: This table compares public company materials for the priorities listed. It is not a census of every policy sold in the United States, and it does not rank price, claim speed, service quality, renewal stability, or claim outcomes. The issued policy, endorsements, declarations, applicable state law, and the facts of a claim control coverage.

Companies in our register that do not carry a label yet. Figo, Pumpkin, Lemonade, Healthy Paws, Nationwide, and Prudent Pet appear in our underwriter register but do not receive a headline label here because we have not verified a distinct current policy advantage for them at the same evidence standard. The absence of a label is not a negative rating. It means we have not finished that comparison.

The logo you shop may belong to a marketing brand, producer, or administrator. The declarations page identifies the legal insurer that issued the policy. A different company may administer enrollment or claims, so “the brand” and “the insurer” should not be treated as interchangeable.

Our pet insurance underwriter register maps 14 familiar brands to the legal insurers named in current public materials. Use it before you treat two brand names as two independent insurance structures.

One legal insurer can appear behind several brands. Our current source-matched register shows Independence American Insurance Company in public materials for AKC Pet Insurance, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, Figo, Pets Best, Pumpkin, and Spot. It shows United States Fire Insurance Company in public materials for ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, Pumpkin, and Spot.

That does not make the policies identical. One insurer can issue different forms through different producers, administrators, products, states, and effective dates. The useful conclusion is narrower: a logo alone does not identify the legal company, the contract, or the rules that apply.

Why this matters to you, plainly: two different logos do not guarantee two different legal insurers, forms, administrators, or claim processes. Check the declarations page for each policy.

Your state’s law changes the policy floor

In 2022, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners adopted the Pet Insurance Model Act (#633). A model act is a template, not federal law. Its language becomes binding only where a jurisdiction enacts it, and the enacted version may differ.

What the 2022 model would require where enacted in materially similar form:

  • Illness and non-accident orthopedic waiting periods may not exceed 30 days.
  • Accident waiting periods are prohibited.
  • A contract using a permitted waiting period must allow it to be waived after a licensed veterinarian completes a medical examination; the policyholder pays for that exam unless the policy says otherwise.
  • The insurer carries the burden of proving that a pre-existing-condition exclusion applies to the claimed condition.
  • A condition for which coverage is afforded cannot become pre-existing on renewal, and waiting periods cannot be applied to renewals of existing coverage.
  • If no claim has been filed, the buyer has 15 days after receiving the policy to examine and return it, with the premium refunded within 30 days after the return.
  • An insurer cannot require a veterinary examination as a condition of renewal.

Those are model provisions, not nationwide promises. The current state statute, regulations, policy, endorsements, declarations, and claim facts control.

Table 2. NAIC Model #633 state-status map joined to where insured pets live
Scope: the 56 jurisdictions shown on the NAIC Model #633 state page; pet-share percentages cover the 50 states and District of Columbia tracked in NAPHIA’s U.S. table. Legal classification: NAIC Model #633 state page, Summer 2025 edition. Pet distribution: NAPHIA State of the Industry Report 2026, 2025 data year. Unit: percentage of U.S. in-force insured pets. Computed and verified 2026-08-22.

NAIC Summer 2025 classification Jurisdictions shown in that edition Share of U.S. insured pets in NAPHIA’s 2025 state table
Model Adoption California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington 41.7%
Related Activity Idaho, New Mexico, Tennessee, Utah 3.0%
No Current Activity in that dated chart Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming 55.3%

Method: We assigned every jurisdiction to the column used in the NAIC’s Summer 2025 chart, then summed NAPHIA’s 2025 share of U.S. in-force insured pets for the 50 states and District of Columbia. The NAPHIA percentages sum to 100.0%; the 16 Model Adoption jurisdictions sum to 41.7%, the four Related Activity jurisdictions to 3.0%, and the jurisdictions marked No Current Activity in the dated NAIC chart to 55.3%.

Limitations: The NAIC chart is a dated research starting point, not a live 50-state legal register or formal legal opinion. “No Current Activity” means the chart did not identify model adoption or related activity as of that edition; it does not mean general insurance, unfair-trade-practice, or claims-handling law is absent. NAPHIA is an industry trade association. Its report says the underlying data are estimated to represent about 99% of written pet health insurance premium in the United States and Canada, combine member and public information, and may use reasonable assumptions.

A post-chart change proves why the date matters. New Jersey appears in the Summer 2025 chart’s No Current Activity group and contributes 4.7 percentage points to the computed 55.3%. New Jersey later enacted P.L. 2025, c.224 on January 12, 2026. Its effective-date clause says it takes effect on the first day of the twelfth month after enactment—January 1, 2027. The 55.3% figure therefore reproduces the dated NAIC chart; it is not presented as a current-law count.

California stands apart in the distribution. NAPHIA reports that California held 18.1% of insured U.S. pets in 2025. The NAIC chart cites California insurance code provisions dated 2020, before the 2022 model. California owners should read the state disclosure and issued form rather than assuming that a national summary controls.

The nine named reasons regulators track when a claim closes without payment

For Market Conduct Annual Statement reporting, the NAIC requires participating insurers to sort claims closed without payment into nine named categories plus an additional “other reasons” field. That is a regulator reporting taxonomy—not proof that these are the only factual or contractual reasons a specific claim can close without payment.

Table 3. Nine named NAIC no-payment categories in consumer language
Scope: U.S. pet-insurance MCAS reporting in participating jurisdictions. Source: NAIC Market Conduct Annual Statement Pet Insurance Data Call & Definitions, version 2026.0.0, items 3-99 through 3-108. Verified 2026-08-22.

Named reporting category What it means in plain terms What to check before you buy or file
Ineligibility The pet, product, policy, or submitted expense did not meet an eligibility rule Species, age, state, product, effective date, and eligible-expense rules
Pre-existing-condition exclusion The insurer applied the policy’s pre-existing-condition language Exact definition, timing, curable provision, records period, and related-condition wording
Waiting period The event or condition fell within a period before relevant coverage became active Accident, illness, and orthopedic waits separately, plus any valid waiver provision
Maximum benefit limit The applicable annual, per-condition, lifetime, or other limit was reached Every limit, its basis, what counts against it, and whether it resets
Claim amount less than deductible The eligible claim amount did not exceed the applicable deductible Deductible amount, annual/per-condition basis, and what expenses count toward it
Inadequate documentation The insurer did not receive documentation it required to decide or pay the claim Claim form, invoice, medical notes, diagnosis or reason for visit, deadlines, and missing-record process
Hereditary-disorder exclusion The insurer applied a hereditary-condition exclusion Whether hereditary conditions are covered, excluded, waiting-period limited, or sublimited
Congenital-anomaly or disorder exclusion The insurer applied a congenital-condition exclusion The congenital definition and how it differs from hereditary or pre-existing wording
Chronic-condition exclusion The insurer applied a chronic-condition exclusion The chronic-condition definition, ongoing-care terms, and any limits

The same NAIC data call includes item 3-108 for claims closed without payment for reasons other than the nine named categories. The categories do not publish how often any company uses each reason. We did not locate public company-level MCAS results that would support a denial-rate ranking.

What most owners get wrong. A medical-history review may not happen when the policy is bought. Embrace, for example, says its optional review is available only after enrollment and must be requested; otherwise, it generally reviews records when the first claim arrives. Before relying on any company’s process, ask:

  1. Is a medical-history review available before or after enrollment?
  2. When can I request it?
  3. Which records and time period will you review?
  4. Will you identify potential pre-existing classifications in writing?
  5. Can I request reconsideration if records are incomplete or misread?
  6. How does the review interact with the policy’s return or free-look period?

Do not send medical records to The Pet Treatment Index. Send records only through a legitimate insurer or veterinary channel that has explained why it needs them and how it handles them.

“Pays the vet directly” means three different things

Owners often shortlist a company because it “pays the vet.” That phrase covers operationally different workflows, and only one may reduce what you hand over at the front desk on the day of treatment.

Table 4. Direct-payment taxonomy
Scope: U.S. dog and cat accident-and-illness plans. Named examples come from the company’s current public process documentation and are labeled company stated. Verified 2026-08-22.

Payment path Documented example What actually happens Likely upfront burden What can still remain yours
Payment at a participating clinic during checkout Trupanion The clinic submits through Trupanion’s system, and an eligible covered amount may be paid to a participating veterinary hospital at checkout Lower only when the clinic participates and the claim can be decided through that process Deductible, the owner’s share under the policy, non-covered charges, and any amount not approved
Payment to the veterinarian after claim processing Pets Best Vet Direct Pay The owner submits the claim with a signed veterinarian reimbursement release; after processing, eligible reimbursement can be sent to the clinic Depends on whether the clinic agrees to wait for processing Deductible, coinsurance, non-covered charges, and any amount the clinic requires before payment arrives
Ordinary reimbursement Common policy workflow The owner pays the clinic, submits a claim, and receives any eligible reimbursement after adjudication The veterinary bill may be due upfront Deductible, coinsurance, non-covered charges, and any amount above a limit

Limitations: Participation, timing, documentation, and clinic consent are set by the company, policy, and individual clinic. No payment path guarantees that a claim will be approved, and “direct pay” should never be treated as one standardized feature.

Ask your clinic one question before you choose a company: “Do you accept payment from any pet insurer at checkout, will you wait for payment after a claim is processed, or do you require payment in full from me?” The answer can eliminate a company faster than a comparison score.

Pre-existing conditions and waiting periods can reverse your shortlist

A lower premium stops mattering if the applicable form treats your pet’s history as excluded. Do not assume that “no diagnosis yet” means the history is irrelevant, and do not apply one state’s waiting-period rule to another state.

A diagnosis is not always the trigger. The NAIC model defines a pre-existing condition by circumstances before the effective date or during a waiting period, including prior veterinary advice, prior treatment, or verifiable signs or symptoms directly related to the claimed condition. A state or policy may use different wording, so read the definition that actually applies.

“Curable” does not mean automatically covered. ASPCA states that a curable condition may stop being treated as pre-existing after the pet has been cured and free of symptoms and treatment for 180 days, except for knee and ligament conditions (ASPCA, company stated). The window, exceptions, recurrence rule, and meaning of “treatment-free” vary by form. Ongoing medication or other treatment can prevent a treatment-free requirement from being satisfied.

Knee, ligament, orthopedic, and bilateral wording can catch owners off guard. ASPCA’s public summary says that if a knee or ligament condition occurs before coverage begins or during a waiting period, future knee or ligament conditions will not be covered under that stated rule. Other companies use different language. Search the applicable form for knee, ligament, cruciate, orthopedic, bilateral, and related condition rather than assuming the opposite side of the body is independent.

Waiting periods come in several forms. Accident, illness, and orthopedic waits may differ. Under the 2022 NAIC model, accident waits are prohibited, illness and non-accident orthopedic waits are capped at 30 days, and a permitted wait must have an examination-based waiver provision. Those are model rules; enacted state language and the issued contract control.

One limited exception is worth knowing. AKC Pet Insurance states that pre-existing conditions may become eligible after 365 days of continuous coverage, subject to state availability, the applicable product, condition category, waiting periods, and exclusions (AKC, company stated). That is a planning-ahead pathway with a one-year runway. It is not a way to fund care your pet needs now.

If a claim has already been denied, the useful next step is not a new quote. Ask your current insurer, in writing, to identify the policy form, endorsement, specific exclusion or limit, and factual basis it relied on. That written answer is the starting point for any review or appeal.

What pet insurance costs now—and why renewal matters

The average U.S. accident-and-illness policy cost $836 a year for dogs and $435 for cats in 2025. The dog figure rose 11.5% in one year and 33.8% from 2021 to 2025. The first quote is therefore only one year of a longer decision; it cannot tell you what renewal will cost.

Table 5. U.S. average annual premium for accident-and-illness plans
Scope: United States, in-force policies. Source: NAPHIA State of the Industry Report 2026, report dated June 21, 2026, covering calendar year 2025. Units: U.S. dollars per pet per year. Verified 2026-08-22.

Year Dogs Cats
2021 $625 $370
2022 $640 $387
2023 $675 $383
2024 $749 $386
2025 $836 (+11.5%) $435 (+12.6%)

Limitations: These are national category averages across breeds, ages, locations, insurers, limits, deductibles, reimbursement methods, and benefit designs. They cannot establish which company is cheapest for your pet, and no figure here is a quote. NAPHIA reports accident-only coverage separately; its 2025 averages were $190 for dogs and $112 for cats.

NAPHIA reports approximately 5.23 million insured dogs and 1.75 million insured cats in the United States at the end of 2025—about 6.98 million combined. Its reported penetration rates were 5.99% for dogs, 2.29% for cats, and 4.27% across the estimated U.S. dog-and-cat population.

Renewal risk is real, but this page cannot rank it. A first-year quote does not establish future price, continued product availability, or whether the insurer will change the form at renewal subject to applicable law. The NAIC model would require an insurer to disclose whether claim history, the pet’s age, or a geographic change can reduce coverage or increase premium. That disclosure rule is not automatically nationwide.

Before buying, ask each company in writing:

  • Can age affect the renewal premium?
  • Can claim history affect premium or coverage where I live?
  • Can a move change the premium or product?
  • Can the policy form or benefit structure change at renewal?
  • How and when will I be notified of a nonrenewal or material change?

The answer still cannot guarantee future pricing. It gives you a dated record of what the company represented before purchase.

What most pet insurance rankings do not tell you

A first-year quote cannot establish long-term cost. A high review score cannot rewrite a policy exclusion. And an advertised claim speed cannot predict what happens with a different condition, clinic, state form, or legal insurer. The problem with many rankings is not the data they show—it is the denominator they leave out.

Reviews are useful for finding questions, not for proving contract terms. Owner reviews can surface confusing language, documentation friction, payment delays, and cash-flow concerns. They cannot establish a policy clause, national approval rate, legal compliance, or universal service quality without a controlled denominator and correct legal-insurer mapping.

Raw complaint counts need a denominator. A meaningful comparison would need the correct legal insurer, jurisdiction, time period, pet-insurance premium volume or policy count, complaint category, and confirmed disposition. Counting complaints against a brand name—when several brands can share an insurer and one insurer can issue several products—creates a precise-looking number with an unstable meaning.

What we cannot honestly rank yet: We did not name a cheapest company, fastest-claims company, or best-customer-service company. We did not collect normalized live quotes, buy policies, file controlled claims, or normalize complaint data by legal insurer and premium volume. A confident ranking without that work would outrun the evidence.

How we chose these companies

We used policy-first hard filters rather than a weighted score. A company enters a shortlist here only when the relevant structure traces to an official source, the limitation that could reverse the answer is printed beside it, and any missing state-form verification is labeled instead of hidden.

What can move a company onto the list:

  • A documented structure that matches a specific owner priority.
  • A locatable official source and verification date.
  • An identifiable legal insurer or a clear route to the declarations page.
  • A material limitation we can state plainly.
  • A company-stated label when the applicable state form has not yet been checked.

What cannot:

  • Familiar branding.
  • Availability of a commercial relationship. There is not one on this page, and there is no penalty for a company that lacks one.
  • Advertising spend, review volume, app-store ratings, or an award badge.
  • Filling a template row. If we do not have the evidence, the label stays off.

We do not assign undisclosed numeric weights, and we do not score a company as zero because a document was hard to find. Missing evidence is marked unverified, not negative. Our full standard is in the insurance coverage methodology and editorial standards.

What we actually verified

Documents and pages read for this article:

Original work performed for this article: We joined the NAIC state-chart categories to NAPHIA’s 2025 percentage distribution of insured U.S. pets. The 50-state-plus-D.C. percentages sum to 100.0%; our recomputation produced 41.7% Model Adoption, 3.0% Related Activity, and 55.3% No Current Activity in the dated NAIC chart. Both source inputs, the method, the New Jersey post-chart change, and limitations appear beside Table 2.

What we did not do:

  • We did not buy a policy, file a claim, or contact an insurer or clinic.
  • We did not collect normalized live quotes, so we name no cheapest company.
  • We did not test customer service, claim approval, claim speed, or renewal stability under controlled conditions.
  • We did not confirm the Table 1 rows against issued policy forms for every state. Those rows are labeled company stated for that reason.
  • We did not build a current 50-state provision register or read every current statute, regulation, bulletin, policy form, and endorsement.
  • We did not locate public company-level MCAS results that would show how often each no-payment category is used.
  • We cannot determine whether a future claim will be paid.

Found a newer policy form or a clause that does not match? Send the company, state, product, form number or version date, section, and official source through our corrections page. Do not send medical records, claim files, account numbers, payment information, or identifying details. We do not need them and do not want to hold them.

Build your three-company shortlist

Pick one broad baseline, one company built around your highest-priority feature, and one structurally different comparator. Drop any company with a hard disqualifier. Then compare what is left on identical settings.

  1. Name your stage. Planning ahead, switching, current care, or an open claim. If symptoms or care are current, contact your veterinarian and use any policy already in force. If a claim is open or denied, request the controlling form and written basis.
  2. Name your top priority. Upfront cash flow, multi-pet structure, older-pet enrollment, exam fees, dental illness, high limits, or deductible predictability.
  3. Name two dealbreakers. Write them down. They do the real filtering.
  4. Pick three companies with different structures using Table 1.
  5. Pull the state documents for each and confirm the legal insurer in our underwriter register.
  6. Save everything—the form number, version or effective date, endorsements, quote, company answers, and the date you checked.

Compare your three finalists on the same settings. Open the three-quote comparison worksheet and enter the same pet details, coverage type, deductible and basis, reimbursement percentage and method, benefit limit, included benefits, fees, waiting periods, and payment path for each company. A premium is not lower until the product settings match. The worksheet is owned by The Pet Treatment Index, free to use, and contains no paid placement as of the last verification date.

When a lower quote is not a reason to switch

Do not cancel an existing policy because a replacement quote is cheaper. A replacement is a new contract with a new effective date, new waiting periods, and a new assessment of your pet’s recorded history—including anything that happened after the old policy began.

Before you cancel:

  1. Get the complete replacement policy, endorsements, and declarations in hand.
  2. Confirm the effective date and every waiting period.
  3. Ask the new insurer, in writing, how it will evaluate your pet’s existing records.
  4. Compare pre-existing, curable, bilateral, orthopedic, deductible, reimbursement, limit, and payment provisions side by side.
  5. Confirm whether any medical-history review is available and when it occurs.
  6. Keep proof of both policies. Continuous insurance with a new company does not mean the new contract will treat prior history the same way.

A replacement premium that looks lower can cost far more if the new form excludes history the old policy would have considered. Get the replacement terms before you cancel—not after.

Common questions

Which pet insurance company is best overall?

No company is best overall for every U.S. dog or cat. The defensible choice depends on the applicable state policy, your pet’s history, deductible and reimbursement structure, benefit limits, required payment process, and a price compared on matching settings. Use the shortlist above to choose three companies, then compare the actual forms.

What is the best pet insurance for dogs?

There is no dog-only winner across breeds, ages, states, histories, and policy designs. Start from the feature that matters most—multi-pet structure, older-pet eligibility, payment method, exam fees, dental illness, or limits—and confirm it in the applicable state form.

What is the best pet insurance for cats?

The same policy-first method applies. Do not assume a company’s price or value for a young dog predicts its result for a cat. NAPHIA’s 2025 data show average accident-and-illness premiums rose 12.6% for cats and 11.5% for dogs from 2024, so compare current cat quotes directly rather than inferring them.

Which pet insurance pays the veterinarian directly?

Trupanion describes payment at participating veterinary hospitals during checkout. Pets Best describes a process that can send eligible reimbursement to a veterinarian after the claim is processed and a signed release is accepted. Those are different workflows. Neither means every clinic participates, every charge is eligible, or every claim will be approved.

Which pet insurance covers pre-existing conditions?

Most policies exclude conditions that meet their applicable pre-existing definition, although some contain curable-condition provisions. AKC Pet Insurance states that pre-existing conditions may become eligible after 365 days of continuous coverage, subject to state availability, policy terms, waiting periods, and exclusions. That is a planning-ahead pathway, not a way to pay for care your pet needs now.

Is there pet insurance with no waiting period?

Treat that phrase carefully. Accident, illness, and orthopedic waits can differ, and an examination-based waiver may apply only under stated conditions. The 2022 NAIC model prohibits accident waiting periods and caps illness and non-accident orthopedic waits at 30 days, but only current enacted state law and the issued policy control.

Should I switch pet insurance companies for a lower price?

Not until you have the replacement policy, effective date, waiting periods, and treatment of your pet’s existing history in writing. Canceling first can create a gap and place previously insurable history into a new contract’s pre-existing-condition analysis.

How many quotes should I compare?

Three matched quotes are a practical working minimum, not a legal or actuarial rule. Two show one difference; a third can reveal whether either is an outlier. Use identical pet details, coverage type, deductible, reimbursement method, benefit limit, included benefits, fees, and payment requirements.

Is a wellness plan the same as pet insurance?

Not necessarily. A wellness or preventive-care package may reimburse scheduled services or offer discounts, but it may be a separate non-insurance program, an endorsement, or a benefit embedded in an insurance policy. Identify what the product legally is before comparing it with accident-and-illness coverage.

Before you go

Educational information, not advice. This page provides educational information about insurance products. It is not veterinary advice, a diagnosis, a treatment recommendation, legal advice, insurance advice, a personalized policy recommendation, or a coverage determination. A veterinarian’s examination and diagnosis set your pet’s treatment. The issued policy, endorsements, declarations, current state law, medical record, and claim facts determine coverage. See our veterinary disclaimer.

What we are. The Pet Treatment Index is an independent research publication. We are not a veterinary practice, insurer, insurance producer or broker, pharmacy, or government agency. We do not sell or bind policies and cannot recommend a policy for an individual pet.

Compensation. As of the last verification date, this page contains no compensated link or paid placement. If that changes, the relationship must be disclosed before or beside the relevant action, and it cannot change the policy evidence, exclusions, method, alternatives, or conclusion. See our commercial disclosure.

No guarantees. Nothing here guarantees a price, renewal premium, coverage, claim outcome, clinic participation, product availability, savings, or continued availability of any company or feature.

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