Best Dog Insurance Companies in 2021
| Written by Aneta Mircevska Updated on October 31, 2021 |
If your dog has ever been injured or sick, you know how expensive veterinary care can be. A financial safety net you can fall back on can be very helpful in these sorts of situations. Pet insurance plans are the best safeguard against unforeseen injuries, illnesses, and other potential pitfalls that your dog might go through.
Below, we will go over our unbiased opinion of the top dog insurance companies of 2021 in order to choose the best insurance company for your dog.
What is the best pet insurance for your dog?
PetFirst |    |
With so many options out there, finding the right insurance policy that works for your dog as well as your wallet can be time-consuming. We’ve made it our mission to review every insurer out there, and have pulled together our top ten from them all.
What is Dog insurance?
If you're a dog parent, you've probably already experienced a roller coaster of emotions when it comes to your pup. You've felt love and companionship as you've cuddled and played together, been exasperated as you've had to replace another pair of slippers that your pooch chewed through, gotten angry when a bigger dog chased yours at the dog park, and felt truly sad with your dog when you couldn't locate her favorite chew toy (note to self: check under the fridge).
Still, there's one emotion that you never want to experience as a dog parent: the fear that you might not be financially capable of taking care of your dog when she's sick or injured. Even though we may not want to think about it, our canine companions get sick and hurt just as often as we do, and these conditions are apt to occur more frequently as they age.
Over the past years, dog insurance has emerged as a reliable, feasible means of securing your dog's health requirements. The monthly or annual sums you pay into your dog insurance plan broaden the scope of treatments you can provide for your dog when she really needs them as well as the amount of treatments you can give her in a given year.
How Does it Work
If you've had any experience dealing with health insurance for yourself or your family members, the world of dog insurance should be pretty familiar. Dog insurance companies typically set up annual quotes for your dog's health insurance based on a trifecta of factors: your deductible, premiums, and reimbursement.
The deductible is the amount of money you need to pay before your dog insurance starts paying your claims, the premium is the monthly or annual amount of money you contribute in addition to the deductible, and the reimbursement is the percentage of each claim that your dog insurance company pays. You can play around with these amounts to find a price that works for you - a higher deductible will lower your premium, while a higher reimbursement rate will raise it.
Before you can start to get your dog insurance involved in treatment for your pup, each dog insurer has a waiting period. Typical waiting periods for illnesses last around two weeks, though the waiting periods for accidents can be much shorter. Some dog insurers put an annual cap on the amount of money they’ll pay within a year, while others don’t but may accordingly charge a higher premium.
Many dog insurers today make it simple to get everything done online: get a quote, sign up, manage your account, even get reimbursed. Other perks you can look for in a dog insurer include direct-to-vet pay, so that you don't even need to wait to be reimbursed, multiple pet discounts, and 24/7/365 customer support line.
Pet Insurance for Old Dogs
The older your dog is, the harder it is to insure. Plus, your policy will no doubt be much more costly. We’ve reviewed the best insurance providers out there for older dogs - you can find all of our favorites right here.
