Petplan Pet Insurance Review

Pet insurance policies can be overly complicated. For pet owners who want a simple, straightforward plan with no frills, there’s Petplan. This provider sells a single policy that covers most of the accidents and illnesses your pet might encounter. While wellness coverage isn’t offered, there are plenty of other perks that are well worth considering.

Company Overview

Petplan was founded in 2003 by a young couple whose sick cat incurred an unexpected $5,000 veterinarian bill. The pair created a plan to offer accident and illness coverage to other pet owners for financial protection from unforeseen events. Petplan now sells this plan in both the United States and Canada; policies in both countries are underwritten by XL Specialty Insurance Company.

Pros Explained

• Many ways to customize: Choose the coverage you need from a combination of 16 deductibles, seven annual limits, and three reimbursement levels.
• Coverage for adverse events: Petplan will reimburse you for a variety of different unexpected costs, such as trip cancellation if your pet becomes sick or boarding fees if you’re admitted to the hospital.
• Helpful online resources: The Petplan website includes in-depth resources on pet health that include informational articles, a symptom checker, and an insurance provider comparison tool.
• No network limitations: Visit any licensed veterinarian in the United States or Canada and you’ll be reimbursed according to your policy structure.

Cons Explained

• Only one plan available: Petplan offers only one pet insurance policy with no options to add benefits.
• No preventive care coverage: Unlike the majority of pet insurers, Petplan doesn’t sell any form of preventive care coverage.
• Restrictions on older animals: Although Petplan’s claim to have no upper age limit is accurate, older pets being enrolled for the first time are subject to significant restrictions on reimbursement terms. Those enrolled at age six and up must also undergo a veterinary exam within the 30 days before or after the policy start date.

Available Plans

Petplan sets itself apart from the competition by offering one single plan and no optional riders for supplemental coverage. The policy includes treatment for most injuries and illnesses, reimbursing expenses such as exam fees, diagnostic tests, treatment, and prescriptions. Certain services like preventive care and end-of-life costs are excluded from coverage entirely.

Covered Treatment	Included in Plan
Exam fees	√
Procedures	√
Lab tests	√
Medication	√
Continued treatment	√
Genetic conditions	√
Preventive care
Microchipping
Spay/neuter surgery
Vaccinations
Dental treatment
Behavioral treatment	√
Specialists	√
Alternative/holistic care	√
Medical boarding	√
Cremation/burial

Plan Pricing

Since Petplan only sells one policy, pricing is fairly straightforward. Monthly premiums are determined by your pet’s age and breed, in addition to the limit, deductible, and reimbursement amount you choose. Pets ages 10 and up are limited to a policy with a $15,000 annual limit, $750 deductible, and 70% reimbursement for covered services.

A more curious aspect of Petplan’s policy premiums is that a minimum price of $20.16 per month is applied to policies below a certain coverage level. A one-year-old cat, for example, would be charged this rate for any type of coverage–whether it’s a plan with a low $2,500 annual limit, $1,000 deductible, and 70% reimbursement or an unlimited plan with the lowest possible $250 deductible and 90% coverage. This means that owners of pets that would typically be less expensive to insure could end up overpaying significantly for the coverage they select.

	Monthly premium
Dog: 1 year	$20.16 to $45.65
Dog: 3 year	$20.16 to $57.86
Dog: 6 year	$20.16 to $98.86
Dog: 12 year	$160.46
Cat: 1 year	$20.16
Cat: 3 year	$20.16 to $24.17
Cat: 6 year	$20.16 to $40.38
Cat: 12 year	$40.90

Waiting Periods

Pet parents who sign up for coverage with Petplan will need to wait 15 days before the policy becomes effective. This is the longest waiting period that insurers typically require; many begin accident benefits just two or three days after the start date. Any type of knee condition won’t be covered until six months after the enrollment date.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Any condition that showed symptoms before the policy start date or during the applicable waiting period is considered pre-existing and will be disqualified from coverage. This is standard across all pet insurance plans.  

The good news is that Petplan will waive pre-existing limitations on any condition that has shown no clinical signs for at least 12 months. This is certainly beneficial, although many competitors advertise similar policies with curable exclusionary periods as short as six months.

Coverage Limits

Seven different annual limits are available through Petplan. These start at $2,500 and go up to $25,000, plus a more expensive option with unlimited annual benefits. The lower your annual limit, the less you’ll pay in monthly premiums.

Plan Exclusions

Since Petplan doesn’t provide any add-on coverage options, there are several exclusions to the policy that you should know about. No form of preventive care is covered, which includes wellness exams, vaccinations, microchipping, and dental treatment. Petplan also declines to offer reimbursement for end-of-life expenses such as cremation or burial.

Claims

Petplan’s claims policy is fairly strict, and there are a few guidelines that pet owners are expected to abide by if they want to receive reimbursement for qualified expenses. The most noteworthy is that a veterinarian must be seen within 48 hours of the first sign of any illness or injury. Since some conditions show symptoms gradually and many aren’t urgent, this can be difficult to achieve, especially with the busy schedule of an average working adult. Receipts must then be submitted within 90 days showing the services rendered and proof of payment.

Claims can be filed via the free Petplan app or by downloading a form from your account portal on the provider’s website.

Customer Service

No matter when you need to get ahold of Petplan, the provider is ready to take your call. Phone lines are open 24 hours per day and staffed with licensed insurance providers. If you prefer, you can also contact the company by email or live chat. This level of convenience isn’t offered by the majority of pet insurers.

However, one cause for concern is the prevalence of potentially misleading claims on Petplan’s website. As an example, the company uses large banners to advertise coverage for COVID-19 treatment. While it’s technically possible for pets to contract the disease, fewer than a dozen cases have been reported by the USDA and none of the infected animals have shown any serious symptoms. Veterinarians generally agree that the virus is not a risk for pets, so there’s no need for pet owners to purchase insurance specifically for this purpose. 

Petplan also makes some claims about its competitors that should be taken with a grain of salt. As previously mentioned, the company occasionally misrepresents the availability of wellness coverage among pet insurance companies. Petplan also uses its illness waiting period as a comparison tool against other insurers but fails to disclose that its accident waiting period is significantly longer than industry averages.

Third-Party Ratings

Petplan gets overall positive ratings from third parties. The provider has an A+ rating with the BBB, although there are dozens of complaints that mostly cite billing errors and miscommunications. Petplan’s policy underwriter, XL Specialty Insurance Company, gets an A+ rating from AM Best, indicating superior financial stability.

Competition: Petplan vs. Healthy Paws

Pet insurer Healthy Paws takes a similar approach to Petplan in only offering one accident and illness plan with no policy upgrades. Since both cover similar types of treatment, we compared monthly premiums to see how the costs added up. For an unlimited policy with 80% reimbursement and a $250 annual deductible, Healthy Paws came in 30% cheaper than Petplan. This just goes to show how important it is to compare quotes using your pet’s information and a standard level of coverage.

	Petplan	Healthy Paws
Animals Covered	Dogs and cats	Dogs and cats
Example Cost	$42.36 to insure a two-year-old dog with 80% coverage, no annual limit, and a $250 deductible	$29.39 to insure a two-year-old dog with 80% coverage, no annual limit, and a $250 deductible
Coverage Type	Accident and illness	Accident and illness
Waiting Period	Injuries: 15 days; Illnesses: 15 days	Injuries: 15 days; Illnesses: 15 days
Network Size	Unlimited	Unlimited

Methodology

Every pet insurance provider offers unique types of coverage, so our methodology for reviewing pet insurance companies uses a quantitative scoring method to review them all on a standardized basis. Our model takes information such as pricing, benefits, and exclusions into consideration, ensuring each policy matches the level of coverage you expect for your pet. We also evaluate providers using customer service and financial strength data from third parties to help aid our assessment.