We review each pet insurance company based on the factors most important to pet parents like you. To inform our reviews, we surveyed 1,000 dog and cat owners nationwide to determine the most important elements of pet insurance coverage. Our process includes in-depth industry research on each provider, including comparing coverage options, collecting quotes online to determine pricing, and reading reviews to assess customer service.
We then rate each provider on a 100-point scale and divide the final score by 20 to calculate an overall rating of 5.0 stars. Here are more details on the factors we consider when looking at pet insurance providers:
- Monthly price (25%): To estimate pricing, we collected sample quotes for ten mixed and purebred dogs and cats ranging in age from 3 months to 8 years. Our team collected a total of 17,338 quotes directly from 22 provider sites, obtaining at least two quotes for all 50 states from each provider for each pet profile. Providers earn the most points in this category by offering affordable coverage and a multi-pet discount.
- Drawings (15%): The best pet insurance companies offer a range of plans to enable customers to choose the best coverage for their pet. Companies that offer accident and sickness plans, accident-only plans, and wellness or preventive care add-ons earn full points in this category. We also look at coverage limits and award the most points for policies with unlimited coverage.
- Covered treatments (15%): According to our survey of pet owners, coverage is one of the most important factors when purchasing pet insurance. Companies with a range of included treatments and unique coverages receive more points in this category than providers with more standard or blanket policies.
- Customization Options (10%): Customizing your pet insurance policy can help keep your costs down. Providers that offer more annual limit, discount, and rate-of-return options earn the highest scores in this category.
- Customer service (10%): Our survey respondents also rated customer service when comparing pet insurance providers. We rate each company based on the accessibility and overall usability of their website, customer service availability, mobile apps, money-back guarantees and telehealth options for veterinarians, awarding points to insurers with more customer experience offerings.
- Industry reputation (10%): We review up-to-date ratings and accreditation information from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and rate companies based on years of industry experience and state availability.
- Waiting periods (10%): Companies with shorter accident, sickness and orthopedic waiting periods between when you sign up for cover and when your policy starts are rated higher in this category.
- Eligible age (5%): Some companies do not offer policies for pets over a certain age. For this category we deduct points from providers who have age limits for covered pets.
We use our rating system to compare each company we review and determine the best pet insurance companies in the industry. To learn more, read our full pet insurance methodology for evaluating and rating providers.
