Pets Best Pet Insurance: Is it the right choice?

Best For…

• Pet parents looking for unlimited annual coverage

• Owners looking for a wellness plan add-on

• Those looking for low-cost accident-only coverage

Not the Best For…

• Pet parents looking for bottom of the barrel rates

• Owners looking for holistic, herbal, or experimental coverage

• Those looking for coverage for severe chronic conditions

Why buy pet insurance?

You love your pet, but when it comes to a sudden injury or unexpected illness, their veterinary bills can get very high, very fast. You’re already dealing with the emotional distress that comes with having a sick pet, and financial distress can only make the situation worse.

When faced with a sick or injured pet, the rising cost of quality veterinary care and emergency treatment can put many pet owners in a tough spot, and not everyone may be prepared for a hefty vet bill.

This is why so many pet parents turn to pet health insurance as a way to relieve some of the financial pressure during these difficult times. Finding the best coverage for you and your pet can mean a very substantial difference in the treatment available.

Buying a pet insurance policy can help by reimbursing up to 100 percent of your veterinary bills. These policies can help cover a variety of expenses depending on the company and policy, including regular vet visits, preventive and routine care, emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, prescription medications, and cancer treatments.

Pets Best Pet Insurance Policies and Pricing

Pets Best offers pet insurance for dogs and cats in all 50 states and U.S. territories.

Pets Best requires authorization to disclose your pet’s veterinary and medical records at the time of enrollment to determine pre-existing conditions. If these can’t be provided or you refuse to disclose them, Pets Best can deny any claims made after the waiting period.

Pets Best vs. Healthy Paws, Petplan, and Trupanion

To see how Pets Best’s quotes stacked up to those from its competitors, Insurify’s data team compared pet insurance quotes from Petplan, Trupanion, Nationwide, and Healthy Paws.

Below are the pet insurance quotes for a two-year-old purebred golden retriever named Sally who lives in San Jose, California:

See More: How Much Is a Golden Retriever?

These are the pet insurance quotes for a one-year-old German shepherd named Jerry who also lives in San Jose, California:

Finally, these are the quotes for a three-year-old labradoodle named Sandy in San Jose. Mixed breed dogs usually have lower insurance premiums since they aren’t as susceptible to genetic conditions:

And for cats, these are the quotes for a three-year-old British shorthair named Simon, who lives in Houston, Texas:

Remember, cat insurance premiums tend to be cheaper than dog insurance premiums.

And these are the quotes for a five-year-old mixed breed long-haired cat named Wesley, who also lives in Houston, Texas:

Accident and illness coverage

Pets Best offers three plans within its accident and illness coverage for any dog or cat over seven weeks old. Each plan covers accidents, illnesses, cancer treatments, hereditary conditions, emergency care, surgeries, and prescription medications.

This means Pets Best will reimburse you for expensive veterinary fees like chemotherapy treatments, cruciate ligament injuries, mass removals, prosthetic devices, or broken bones. Pets Best is also one of the few insurance companies that provide coverage for medical problems specifically associated with pets that aren’t spayed or neutered like mammary tumors, prostate problems, or aggressive behavior.

Pets Best also offers wider coverage for dental care compared to competitors. Full dental coverage is contingent on veterinary teeth cleaning with no signs of periodontal disease for pets older than three years old.

Pets Best ’s essential plan is the cheapest option for comprehensive accident and illness coverage. The plus plan is a bit more expensive but includes coverage for accident and illness exam fees. The elite plan is the most expensive plan and includes exam fees and rehabilitative, acupuncture, and chiropractic coverage.

Pets Best also offers a wellness care add-on for routine and preventative veterinary coverage like vaccines, parasite prevention, and microchipping. There is no upper age limit for pets on any of Pets Best ’s policies.

Accident-only coverage

Pet owners can opt to have accident-only coverage, which will lower your monthly premium significantly but severely limits what your pet insurance will cover. Pets Best may also recommend accident-only coverage for pets with what it deems to be a “severe” pre-existing condition because no policy offers coverage for any pre-existing conditions. These include older pets with hip dysplasia.

Pets Best ’s accident-only plan has a flat rate price of $6 per month for cats and $9 per month for dogs, which is significantly lower than competitors. Again, while this is a low price, it severely limits your coverage options and won’t cover any illnesses your pet may develop.

Pets Best ’s accident-only plan will only cover treatment costs for unexpected injuries and accidents. This includes broken bones, emergency extractions, and snake bites. But under this plan, Pet’s Best will not cover veterinary fees related to illness or chronic conditions. Policyholders can not purchase a wellness plan in addition to an accident-only policy.

Wellness Plan

Pets Best offers a wellness plan add-on that can be purchased in addition to the comprehensive accident and illness plan only. Pets Best offers its essential wellness plan for a flat rate of $16 per month and best wellness for $26 per month.

Wellness plans help keep costs down for routine and preventative care like annual wellness exams, vaccinations, and parasite control.

Pets Best Insurance for Your Dog

Depending on the policy you choose, Pets Best can help cover nearly every instance of veterinary care for your four-legged friend. It offers up to a 90 percent reimbursement for veterinary services performed by any licensed veterinarian, specialist, or emergency clinic.

According to Pets Best ’s website, it won’t exclude coverage regardless of old age, breed, or breed-specific conditions.

The comprehensive accident and illness plan offers coverage for those unexpected veterinary trips that can rack up large vet bills. This includes treatments for cancer, urinary tract infections, kennel cough, and ear infections. It covers chronic conditions and congenital conditions that aren’t deemed pre-existing conditions like diabetes or epilepsy. In case of emergencies, Pet’s Best will also cover emergency clinic fees like surgery, pre-anesthesia testing, and euthanasia.

Pets Best is one of the few insurance companies that guarantees coverage for dogs that are injured while hunting or in the line of service. It also offers coverage for conditions associated with not being spayed or neutered, like prostate issues or ovarian conditions.

The wellness care add-on helps cover the cost of routine expenses for your dog like annual wellness exam fees, heartworm prevention, microchipping, and vaccinations for diseases like rabies.

Like every other pet insurance company, Pets Best will not cover elective and cosmetic procedures or pre-existing conditions. However, Pets Best will make the distinction for pre-existing conditions that it deems “curable.” This means that if your pet had kennel cough before your policy’s start date, but no longer required treatment, you would still receive coverage. It will also not cover herbal, holistic, experimental treatment, or alternative therapies.

Check Out: 10 Dog Breeds With the Least Health Problems

Pets Best Insurance for Your Cat

Pets Best offers a comprehensive accident and illness plan or accident-only plan for your favorite feline. It also offers a wellness plan add-on that can be purchased with the comprehensive plan for routine and preventative care coverage.

Pets Best can provide coverage for nearly every instance of veterinary care your cat may need from any licensed veterinarian, specialist, or emergency clinic. The comprehensive accident and illness plan covers accidents, illnesses, behavioral conditions, chronic conditions, and prescription medications.

Depending on the plan you choose, Pets Best can cover common ailments like urinary tract infections or toxoplasmosis treatments and not-so-common conditions like feline diabetes or mange. Policies also cover unexpected emergencies like lacerations or surgery after car accidents.

Pets Best is one of the few pet insurance providers that provide full coverage for cats that are not spayed or neutered, including coverage for conditions related to these procedures. This includes mammary tumors and perianal issues.

While Pets Best does not cover pre-existing conditions, it will reinstate coverage for specific diagnoses that are deemed cured and no longer require treatment.

Learn More: What Is Emergency Pet Insurance and What Does It Cover?

Pets Best Insurance for your bird or exotic animal

Pets Best does not offer insurance for birds or exotic pets. Currently, Nationwide is the only pet insurance company to offer pet insurance for exotic animals.

Pets Best Claims, Deductibles and Benefits

Pets Best offers a decent amount of flexibility when it comes to building a comprehensive accident and illness policy. Pet owners are able to customize specific treatments they want to be covered, how much they want to spend each month, the annual deductible, and the percentage of the veterinary bill that is reimbursed per claim.

Policyholders are also able to choose the annual payout limit, but the only options are $5,000 per year and an unlimited amount. Choosing an annual payout limit of $5,000 might save a few dollars, but it could also end up costing you more in the long run. If your dog needs a $7,000 sock extraction surgery, your policy would only be able to cover $5,000, and you would have to pay $2,000 out of pocket.

Pets Best ’s comprehensive plan offers annual deductibles of $50, $100, $150, $200, $250, $500, and $1,000. This means that your pet insurance policy will only kick in once you’ve spent the chosen amount on treatments covered by your policy like bloodwork or CAT scans out of pocket. The higher your annual deductible, the less you will pay per month, and vice versa.

Pets Best also lets policyholders choose the reimbursement level on their policy. Pet owners can choose between 70 percent, 80 percent, or 90 percent, which determines how much of the veterinary bill will be paid for by Pets Best— much like a copay. This means that if you were to pick an 80 percent reimbursement rate, you would still be required to pay 20 percent of the veterinary bill out of pocket.

Accident-only policies are not flexible because of the fixed rate. Policyholders that choose an accident-only policy receive an annual amount of $10,000, a deductible of $250, and a reimbursement rate of 90 percent.

Vet Direct pay

Like most pet insurance providers, Pets Best works through a reimbursement system that requires policyholders to pay for treatments upfront and later receive a refund after filing a claim. But unlike many competitors, Pets Best offers vet direct pay, which is used to pay for veterinary treatment directly instead of using the policyholder as a mediator. This is a great option for pet owners that aren’t able to pay for expensive treatments out of pocket.

Filing a claim

Pets Best will reimburse each claim after receiving a completed claim form, a copy of your veterinary invoice, and proof of payment. These can be uploaded directly to its member center through its website or app, emailed to claims@petsbest.com, faxed to 1 (866) 777-1434, or mailed to the following Pets Best address:
Pets Best 2323 S. Vista Ave. Ste. #100
Boise, ID 83705

According to Pets Best ’s website, policyholders can expect to receive their reimbursement as quickly as two days through direct deposit after processing each claim. Policyholders can track this process in the member center portal.

Waiting period

Pets Best implements various waiting periods depending on the coverage. Accidents can be covered after three days from a policy’s start date, illnesses are covered after 14 days, and cruciate ligament conditions are covered after six months. If your pet were to get sick or injured before the end of this waiting period, any claim filed would not be covered by your policy, and you would have to pocket those costs. It would also become a pre-existing condition, and you would not get coverage in the future for it. Any wellness care plans do not have waiting periods.

Pets Best Pet Insurance Reviews from Policyholders

Success Stories

Pets Best has a page on its website dedicated to letting policyholders share reviews of the service. The reviews come from Reviews.io, where Pets Best holds a 4.4-star rating with 3,000 reviews. It is one of the few insurance providers that allow negative reviews on its website. Positive reviews usually discuss how quickly claims are processed and good customer service.

Not-so-successful Stories

Pets Best ’s website also shows negative reviews from Reviews.io from unhappy patrons. Although a majority of Pets Best reviews are positive, one-star reviews typically complain about the rising cost of premiums each year and the denial of claims.

Pets Best Pet Insurance Contact Information

Who underwrites Pets Best policies?

Pets Best insurance policies are underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company, Independence American Insurance Company, or Delaware insurance company.

Frequently Asked Questions: Pets Best Insurance