PetPartners Pet Insurance Review

Finding the right pet insurance is a delicate balance between finding the coverage you need and keeping prices affordable. PetPartners offers a buildable approach with bare-bones accident and illness policies that can be purchased on their own or used as the base for a more customizable plan. If you understand the limitations, this can be a great value to help you find affordable coverage for your pet.

Company Overview

PetPartners is a North Carolina-based pet insurer that began selling policies to U.S. animal lovers in 2002. However, the company was involved in pet insurance in the United Kingdom for years before this, offering plans as far back as the 1980s. Today, PetPartners is the official insurance provider for both the American Kennel Club and the Cat Fanciers’ Association. Policies can be purchased in all 50 states.

Pros Explained

• Customizable policies: PetPartners policies can be finetuned with precise coverage levels and various upgrades.
• Low base premiums: In the quotes we received, basic accident and illness coverage was as little as $12.24 per month for dogs and $8.08 for cats.
• Multi-pet discount: Families with multiple pets get a 5% discount for enrolling them together.
• Thirty-day free look period: PetPartners lets you try coverage for 30 days and get a full refund if you aren’t happy and haven’t filed any claims.

Cons Explained

• Less-inclusive plans: The base-level plan available through PetPartners lacks coverage for common needs like exam fees and genetic conditions.
• Limited options for older pets: Some plans with PetPartners are only available to pets under the age of 9.

Available Plans

PetPartners insurance policies are centered around the provider’s accident and illness plan, called CompanionCare. This base plan offers very limited coverage for the procedures, tests, and medications required to treat a defined list of conditions. Certain common benefits like exam fees, inherited disorders, and end-of-life expenses are notably absent from the list and instead require the separate purchase of additional upgrades.

The upgrades available from PetPartners include ExamPlus, SupportPlus, Defender, and DefenderPlus. ExamPlus covers exam fees for primary care vet visits and SupportPlus pays for expenses in the event that your pet passes away. Defender and DefenderPlus are the provider’s preventive care riders that offer wellness benefits including health screenings, regular checkups, and vaccinations.

The table below shows which treatments are covered under CompanionCare and which require the purchase of an upgrade.

Plan Pricing

PetPartners’ pricing may look incredibly cheap at first, but it’s important to keep in mind that the base policy includes remarkably less coverage than a typical accident and illness plan.

To give an example, we were quoted just $21.60 per month to get CompanionCare for a 2-year-old dog with a $500 annual deductible, $10,000 limit, and 80% reimbursement. However, if we wanted to add coverage for exam fees, end-of-life expenses, and full wellness benefits, the cost skyrocketed to $42.97, almost twice as much as the original quote.

Waiting Periods

The waiting periods on PetPartners policies are right in line with industry norms for accidents and illnesses. After signing up, you’ll have to wait two days before accident benefits go into effect. Illness benefits kick in 14 days following enrollment.

However, some specific types of treatments are subject to much longer waiting periods. A few serious types of spine and joint conditions have a 180-day waiting period, although this is more typical with pet insurance plans.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Practically no pet insurer covers pre-existing conditions and PetPartners isn’t an exception to the rule. A pre-existing condition is defined as any condition that would otherwise be covered but first appeared before the beginning of coverage. Any condition that appears during a waiting period is also considered pre-existing, which is why it’s important to keep those varied waiting periods in mind.

Coverage Limits

PetPartners offers great options for coverage limits. Annual limits start at $2,500 per year and go all the way up to include unlimited benefits, depending on how much you’re willing to pay. Lower limits carry a less expensive monthly premium, and vice versa.

If you’re enrolling your pet after a few years of ownership, there are a few age-related limits you should be aware of. Those who are at least 9 at signup only have the option of an Accident Only policy.

Plan Exclusions

There isn’t much that PetPartners excludes entirely from its plans. The real problem is figuring out which combination of riders you need to purchase in order to make it happen. If you only purchase the CompanionCare base policy, for example, you’ll be in for a surprise when you submit a claim for an injury exam and reimbursement is denied. It’s important to read all the fine print and understand exactly what is and isn’t included in the policy you purchase.

Claims

Policyholders can make a claim via a form available on its website, which pet parents are required to fill out and submit by email, mail, or fax along with the corresponding receipts. 

PetPartners recommends that policyholders print a few extra claim forms to keep in their car in case of an emergency vet visit. In this day and age, we’re used to insurance providers offering more rapid digital filing methods, including online forms and even smartphone apps.

Customer Service

In addition to traditional customer service methods like phone and email, PetPartners also offers its customers a live chat service option. All three are monitored during business hours, which run from Monday to Friday and for a few hours on Saturday.

In emergency situations, PetPartners won’t leave you stranded. Policyholders get complimentary access to a 24/7 vet helpline that is accessible by phone and chat. You can use the service to get support from a licensed veterinarian, including advice on whether your pet needs urgent medical attention for a specific concern.

Third-Party Ratings

The provider’s first listed underwriter, Independence American Insurance Company, does quite well with the financial rating service AM Best. The insurer gets an A- rating, the agency’s second-highest tier for financial strength. It indicates that the insurer has "an excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations." However, AM Best placed the A- rating under review in May 2021 because Independence American Insurance Company's parent company, Independence Holding Company, is selling its interest in PetPartners to another company.

Competition: PetPartners vs. PetFirst

PetFirst is a strong PetPartners competitor that offers similarly low-priced policies designed for pet parents on a budget. In the price battle alone, PetPartners wins; the provider’s policy is cheaper per month for similar coverage with a slightly higher limit. However, further examination proves that PetFirst comes out on top overall. Despite slightly higher monthly prices, the plan includes costs like exam fees and genetic conditions that aren’t included in the PetPartners equivalent.

Final Verdict

Taking coverage amounts into consideration, PetPartners offers reasonably priced policies even if you do need to purchase additional riders. Our main issue is that exclusions aren’t well explained until you read the policy's fine print, which could lead some pet parents to inadvertently sign up for a policy that includes less coverage than they originally thought. Pricing aside, we’re all for the plan customization and additional services PetPartners offers. This could absolutely be the right policy for your pet as long as you know exactly what you’re buying.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PetPartners the Same as AKC Pet Insurance?

PetPartners and The American Kennel Club (AKC) are different organizations. However, they created a partnership in 2003, and PetPartners is now AKC's official pet insurance provider. Not only do they partner in pet insurance, but they also advocate together for pets to receive quality and timely veterinary care.

Does AKC Pet Insurance Cover Neutering?

PetPartners is AKC's official pet insurance provider, meaning AKC's plan coverage is the same as PetPartners. Its Defender and DefenderPlus endorsements cover neutering. However, its more-basic plans do not.

Does AKC Insurance Cover Vaccinations?

Yes, AKC's primary pet insurance provider, PetPartners, covers vaccines as well as other preventative care measures such as heartworm prevention through its Defender and DefenderPlus endorsements. Its more basic plans do not cover this type of care.

Does AKC Pet Insurance Have a Waiting Period?

The waiting period for a policy from AKC's primary pet insurance provider, PetPartners, is 14 days. However, for pets with more serious conditions, it can be 180 days.

Methodology

Price is important, but it isn’t the only thing we consider when reviewing pet insurers. Our methodology for reviewing pet insurance includes careful examination of the details of every policy, comparing benefits and looking for potential exclusions. We use a variety of factors to rate each company’s customer service, including our own evaluation and third-party data. We compile all of these factors into a quantitative scoring system that helps us choose the best pet insurance carriers out there.