Pets Best Pet Insurance Information & Review: Everything You Need To Know
General Information
Pets Best Insurance Services was founded in 2005 by Dr. Jack Stephens, the "father" of the pet insurance industry, who launched the first pet insurance company in North America. Pets Best offers and administers pet health insurance underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company or Independence American Insurance Company.
The team at Pets Best Insurance Services is comprised of pet owners and pet lovers, many of whom have veterinary backgrounds and are involved with animal rescue - and the team aims to end economic euthanasia by helping pet owners prepare for unexpected vet bills.
They further their mission by partnering with the Idaho Humane Society, Pet Peace of Mind, Pet Lifestyle And You (PLAY), among other pet charities.
Pets Best Insurance Services offers fast claim reimbursement (typically paid in five days or less), optional Vet Direct Pay, flexible coverage options, and a 24/7 Pet Helpline.
What kinds of pets are eligible for Pets Best pet insurance?
The Pets Best insurance company offers dog insurance and cat insurance plans to cover your pet’s unexpected veterinary bills and treatment costs for injuries, illnesses, and other health issues. All domestic dogs and cats in the U.S. (irrespective of breed or age) are eligible for Pets Best unlimited annual plans.
What insurance plans are available through Pets Best Pet Health Insurance?
Pets Best provides comprehensive coverage for the unexpected through their BestBenefit pet health insurance plans. Plans include pet insurance for dogs and pet insurance for cats. In addition to medical insurance for cats and dogs, routine care coverage can be added to any illness or accident plan to pay for your pet’s regular vet visits, spay/neuter, dental cleaning, and more.
Key Takeaways
How Much Does It Cost?
Pet insurance prices for Pets Best Pet Insurance vary based on your pet's breed, age, gender, and the zip code you live in. Use Pawlicy Advisor to lock in the best price, and compare Pets Best to other leading pet insurance brands for free.
When purchasing pet health insurance, the cost of monthly premiums depends on your dog’s age, breed, location, and the reimbursement options of the policy you select. Pets Bests pet insurance offers a wide range of insurance plans to fit your budget. The average monthly premium begins at $11.22 and goes up to over $59.66, depending on unique factors.
For instance, a dog insurance plan for a 4-year old, female Yorkshire Terrier in New York City cost more than a cat insurance plan for a 2-year old female Mixed Breed Cat in Chicago.
Use Pawlicy Advisor to guarantee the best price and compare Pets Best to other leading pet insurance brands for free.
What makes Pets Best pet insurance worth it?
Pets Best offers one of the shortest waiting periods. Fourteen days for illnesses, three days for accidents (0 in Maine), and six months (30 days in Maine) for cruciate ligament events. Instead of a cheque in the mail, they deposit the funds directly to your bank account. Choose from multiple plans to fit any budget, including an option for preventative care coverage.
There’s a special “Accident Only Plan” that covers your pet in case of emergencies. It has a $250 deductible, 90% reimbursement, and a $10,000 annual limit. The major feature that stands out is the full coverage, even when your dog or cat isn’t spayed or neutered. These benefits make Pets Best worth it for many pet parents.
Unlike most pet insurance companies, Pets Best doesn’t require a vet exam or medical record to enroll or file a claim! They promise to pay out approved claims for vet bills within five days.
How does the price compare to other plans?
Pets Best total monthly premium is inexpensive when compared to other options. If you want more flexible options, you can use Pawlicy Advisor to find and compare a range of Pets Best coverage options with context on why they’d be recommended for you.
Important Information to Know About Pets Best Pet Insurance
How good are Pets Best pet insurance reviews?
As of 2020, Pets Best reviews have an average rating of 4 out of 5 on Trustpilot (from 1,094 reviews).
*Keep in mind that pet insurance reviews only offer a shade of context. Simple review aggregators do not illuminate the real data points and fine print as it relates to your unique pet, location, and financial standing. To get a data-driven, personalized recommendation, you can use Pawlicy Advisor’s free policy scanner.
Have an existing Pets Best policy? Write a review to help other pet owners.
What to know before investing in Pets Best pet insurance
- Dogs and cats must be at least 7 weeks old. No maximum age limit.
- 14-day waiting period after your pet policy effective date
- Chronic conditions that present signs or symptoms before the effective policy date are not covered.
When should you consider insurance for your pet?
The sooner the better, as earlier consideration will also help prevent future exclusions due to pre-existing conditions. In other words, you should consider pet insurance before injuries, diseases, or illnesses arise to ensure that any future veterinary bills will be covered by your chosen plan.
Ideally, you should consider pet insurance within the first six months of adopting your pet - regardless of whether you adopt from a shelter, rescue, or breeder.
Customer Service
Get answers to your pet health questions with Pets Best 24/7 helpline. Veterinary experts are available day or night to provide advice, educate, and help you make decisions regarding your pets via live chat, phone, and email. The 24/7 Helpline is valued at $100 per year and is included as part of your pet insurance policy.
Discount Opportunities
How can you receive a discount on Pets Best pet insurance:
What's Covered
Through the BestBenefit plan, Pets Best offers comprehensive pet insurance cover that pays your veterinary bills for unexpected incidents like illnesses and emergencies.
BestBenefit Accident and Illness Plans cover cancer treatment, hereditary conditions, congenital conditions, prescription medication, older pets, full coverage even when not spayed/neutered, prosthetic devices, and coverage while traveling.
Like most pet insurance companies, pre-existing conditions, elective procedures, treatment of parasites, and experimental therapies/medications aren’t covered under Pets Best insurance plans.
List of treatment and conditions covered by Pets Best Pet Insurance plans
*Veterinarians use Pawlicy Advisor to streamline the pet insurance conversation. There’s simply too many variables for any one person to truly understand what’s covered and what’s cost-effective across the hundreds of policy variations that exist.
Routine Care Addons
Pet wellness plans and routine care coverage for cats and dogs help pay for scheduled veterinary visits such as annual exam fees, shots, and vaccinations.
Pets Bests offers two tiers of wellness coverage that can be added to your dog or cat insurance plans for an additional premium when you sign up within 30 days of enrolling or during your annual renewal.
Essential Wellness
Spay/Neuter - Teeth Cleaning
Rabies
Flea/Tick Prevention
Heartworm Prevention
Vaccination/Titer
Wellness Exam
Heartworm test or FELV screen
Blood, fecal, parasite exam
Microchip
Urinalysis or ERD
Deworming
Best Wellness
Spay/Neuter - Teeth Cleaning
Rabies
Flea/Tick Prevention
Heartworm Prevention
Vaccination/Titer
Wellness Exam
Heartworm test or FELV screen
Blood, fecal, parasite exam
Microchip
Urinalysis or ERD
Deworming
What's Not Covered
Like other pet health insurance plans, Pets Bests has some exclusions to keep prices affordable. Exclusions include:
- Pre-existing conditions that begin before the policy’s effective date or during the waiting period
- Preventative care
- Elective procedures like tail docking, feline declawing, and anal gland expression
- Treatment and prevention of parasites
- Special diets
- Herbal, experimental and holistic therapies
However, note that acupuncture, chiropractic care, physical therapy, cold laser therapy, and hydrotherapy are not considered experimental or holistic therapy - and are in fact covered in most of their accident and illness plans.
Prescription coverage is limited to medications covered by Pets Best formulary list.
Claims Reimbursement
What information do you need to submit your claim?
- Signed claim form
- Original paid invoices
- Proof of payment such as credit card receipt
Pets Best recommends asking a staff member at your pet clinic to help you complete the veterinarian notes section of your claim form.
How long might it take for your claim to be reimbursed?
The fastest way to receive a claim is by choosing to be reimbursed via direct deposit. Payment will be made within two days after Pets Best has processed your claim. If you didn’t sign up for the direct deposit, expect to receive a paper cheque in the mail within 5-7 days after claim processing.
To submit your claim, the following information is needed:
You must file a claim and supporting paid invoice(s) within 180 days of the treatment date. For the fastest and easiest claim filing experience, please log into your Customer Account at www.PetsBest.com/customerportal and use the electronic claims upload process to submit your documents. Alternately, you can download a personalized claim form from the Customer Account, or you can contact the Customer Care center at 877-738-7237 and Pets Best Insurance Services will mail, email, or fax one to you. Pets Best Insurance Services may require complete medical history/records associated with your pet to process our claim. 1. At Pets Best Insurance Services' request, you agree to provide all of your Pet's medical history/records. 2. You authorize Pets Best Insurance Services, at the time of enrollment and any time after to contact any and all veterinary clinics or hospitals to obtain all available medical records that exist for your pet. 3. You authorize any and all veterinary clinics or hospitals to release to Pets Best Insurance Services all medical records that exist for your Pet.
Cancellation Information
You may cancel your policy by notifying Pets Best Insurance Services with a call, online chat, or in writing via mail, fax, or email. Any unearned collected premium will be refunded pro rata. The number of days after your policy's effective date that a cancellation can be requested varies state by state so please review your specific policy for additional information. If a cancellation is within your policy's grace period, Pets Best will refund 100% of any premium paid as long as no claims have been paid. This will void the policy from the beginning, and any pending or not yet submitted claims will be denied.
The policy will continue until cancelled and will renew automatically every year as long as premium payments are current. If premiums are unpaid, the company may cancel the policy by sending a notice of cancellation at least 30 days before the effective date of cancellation.
Pre-existing conditions
Pre-existing conditions are not covered by Pets Best Pet Insurance. However, they don’t exclude you from being eligible for pet insurance. Pets with pre-existing conditions should still be covered in case other injuries or illnesses arise.
The specific language used to describe what is considered a pre-existing condition is specified per-policy. Below is Pets Best Pet Insurance's latest definition of a "pre-existing condition":
Pets Best Insurance Services looks at the 18 months preceding the policy effective date and excludes any conditions that were present during that period. Conditions that are present during the policy waiting period are also deemed to be pre-existing conditions. Please note, the following Conditions are deemed Pre-existing conditions if they are present at any time preceding the policy effective date or the expiration of any waiting period: 1. Chronic conditions. 2. Bilateral conditions, if your pet had at any time any pre-existing conditions consistent with that same bilateral condition on either side of the body. 3. Intervertebral disc conditions, if your pet had at any time any pre-existing conditions involving the intervertebral discs (due to either degeneration or trauma).
ME:
This policy excludes coverage for conditions present prior to the policy effective date. This means that any condition for which any of the following are true prior to your policy’s effective date, are not eligible for coverage: (1) a veterinarian provided medical advice; (2) your pet received previous treatment; or (3) based on information from verifiable sources, your pet had signs or symptoms directly related to the condition for which a claim is being made.
CA:
Any condition for which a veterinarian provided medical advice, the pet received treatment for, or the pet displayed signs or symptoms consistent with the stated condition prior to the effective date of a pet insurance policy or during any waiting period.
Compare Pets Best Pet Insurance To Other Top Providers
If you'd like to see how Pets Best Pet Insurance stacks up against other top providers, we've made it easy. Take a look at the links below:
Pet insurance coverage offered and administered by Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC is underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company, a New York insurance company headquartered at 6100 4th Ave. S. Suite 200 Seattle, WA 98108, or Independence American Insurance Company, a Delaware insurance company located at 11333 N. Scottsdale Rd, Ste. 160, Scottsdale, AZ 85254. Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC (CA agency #0F37530) is a licensed insurance agency located at 10840 Ballantyne Commons Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28277. Each insurer has sole financial responsibility for its own products. Please refer to your declarations page to determine the underwriter for your policy. Terms and conditions apply. See your policy for details.