Overview
Year Company Started: 2006
Underwriter: RLI Insurance Company and Mt. Hawley Insurance Company
AM Best Financial Strength Rating: Mt. Hawley Insurance Company and RLI Indemnity Company – are rated A+ “Superior” by A.M. Best Company
Website: Embrace Pet Insurance
Phone: 1800-511-9172
Embrace Pet Insurance provides insurance for cats and dogs that are at least 8 weeks old. Although Embrace has only been in business since 2006, they work with an underwriter—Lloyd’s of London—that’s been around for over 300 years. This means the company is well-equipped to pay out claims.
Unlike other pet insurance companies, Embrace offers customizable policies. You don’t need to choose from a list of options; instead, you tailor the policy to fit your needs. Choose an annual maximum of $2,000, $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 annually; a deductible of $100, $200, $500, or $1,000 annually; and a co-payment other 10%, 20%, or 35%. The most comprehensive coverage would include a high deductible and a high annual maximum. If you can’t afford that, though, you can still get peace of mind with $2,000 in annual coverage and a $100 deductible.
All Embrace policies cover accidents and illness (with certain age restrictions), cancer, hospitalization, surgery, laboratory and diagnostic testing, medication administered by your vet, cancer, and genetic conditions. Since most pet insurers do not cover genetic conditions, this gives Embrace a competitive edge. Prescription drug coverage is optional on all of Embrace’s full coverage plans
Embrace no longer offers dental coverage, but offered as “Dental Rewards”, which is a paid allowance with bonus cash towards dental care.
With an Embrace pet insurance policy, you can see any veterinarian. Just submit a claim after your appointment, and they will reimburse you in accordance with your benefits. If your pet has a microchip ID, if you’re a veterinary worker, or if you have multiple pets, you’re eligible for discounts.
Embrace Pet Insurance Review
Rating: 9
Our review process starts with calling each of the insurance providers over the telephone.
I called Embrace Pet Insurance and spoke with a customer service representative named Christine about 3 pets:
- A 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier
- A 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel
- An 8-year old female mixed breed cat
Christine answered my call immediately, and was very helpful in addressing all my questions. She explained I’d get two 5% discounts because my pets were spayed and neutered and I had more than one pet. I told her my pets were not microchipped, which means I didn’t qualify for a third 5% discount.
The Plans/Quotes:
I have four options for both the dogs and the cat:
Budget:
includes accident and illness coverage with a $5,000 annual maximum, a $500 deductible, and 20% co-payments.
For the Yorkshire Terrier: $26.83/mo
For the Cocker Spaniel: $36.51/mo
includes accident and illness coverage with a $2,000 annual maximum, a $300 deductible, and 20% co-payments.
For the cat: $19.58/mo
Everyday:
Includes accident, illness, and Rx drug coverage with a $10,000 annual maximum, a $300 annual deductible, and a 20% co-payment.
For the Yorkshire Terrier: $48.60/mo
For the Cocker Spaniel: $66.14/mo
includes accident, illness, and Rx drug coverage with a $5,000 annual maximum, a $300 deductible, and 20% co-payments.
For the cat: $28.65/mo
Select:
includes accident, illness and Rx Drug Coverage, as well as the wellness rewards program—a $200 allowance (Wellness Rewards Basic) or a $400 allowance (Wellness Rewards Plus) that you can put toward any type of wellness treatment. Note: wellness Rewards is an add-on to your pet insurance to help cover the costs of routine care. It has no waiting periods, deductibles, or co-pays.
The annual maximum is $10,000, the deductible is $300, and the co-payment is 20%.
For the Yorkshire Terrier: $63.55/mo
For the Cocker Spaniel: $81.09/mo
includes accident, illness, Rx Drug Coverage, and wellness rewards with a $5,000 annual maximum, a $200 deductible, and 20% co-payments.
For the cat: $48.27/mo
Design a Custom Policy:
includes accident and illness coverage. You can add prescription and dental rewards and the wellness rewards program if you choose. You can then choose an annual limit from $2,000–$15,000; a deductible of $100, $200, $300, $500, or $1,000; and a co-payment of 10%, 20%, or 35%.
For the Yorkshire Terrier: starts at $8.37 and goes up to $108.09/mo
For the Cocker Spaniel: starts at $11.39 and goes up to $147.09/mo
For the cat: starts at $6.75 and goes up to $102.2/mo
Additional Information
If I pay for the plans annually as opposed to monthly, I save an additional 5%. All of the plans allow me to see any veterinarian in the country. Embrace does not cover pre-existing conditions but does cover breed-specific and genetic conditions. Coverage for accidents and illnesses starts 15 days after I purchase the policies. I have 30 days after making the purchase to cancel the plans so long as I don’t make a claim.
Conclusions:
As we came to the end of the call, Christine told me she could help me purchase the plans or I could use the website. She was extremely helpful and friendly.
In making my choice, I will consider the following pros and cons:
Pros:
- You have full control over the annual maximum, deductible, and co-payment if you make a custom policy.
- The maximum is per year, not per incident.
- There are several ways to get discounts.
- All pets get the 5% multi-pet discount, not just additional pets after the one with the highest premium (like other insurance companies).
- They cover genetic and breed-specific conditions.
- Embrace covers chronic conditions, unlike other insurance companies.
- They do not exclude any breed.
- Embrace reimburses a straight percentage of your bill instead of using a benefits schedule.
- Other customer reviews indicate Embrace pays claims quickly.
Cons:
- The rates are higher than competitors’ rates.
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The wellness rewards basic program comes only a $200 annual allowance, which may not be enough to cover office visits, vaccinations, and more. However, the $299 rewards plus program comes with a $400 annual allowance which allow you to spend the money however you prefer within their wellness categories. E.g. You can spend $250 on heartworm, flea, and tick meds.
I was told by one of their representatives that, for chronic conditions that last longer than one year, they only pay 25% of any treatments received after the first year, regardless of the co-pay you originally signed up for.
Is Patellar Luxation, a dislocation of knee cap, considered a breed specific condition that they would cover?
My dogs are 9 years old, they will only offer an accident plan…!
Embrace removed the 25% sub-limit on chronic conditions/continuing-care. For example, if a pet is struck with cancer the pet parent can receive up to $50,000 in reimbursement for claims/health-care toward each pet.
Words don’t even begin to express the “WOW” that accompanies having your pet covered with Embrace. My pup suffered bilateral hip dysplasia. Not only did Embrace cover the FHO (surgery), they cover the rehab as well. This allows my pup (only 8 months old) to have the best shot of recovery available to him. Rehab is very expensive — worth it clearly — but no small claim. Not only is this covered the reimbursements are so prompt – in some instances less than 72 hours – WOW. Customer Service is awesome, every representative I speak to is knowledgable and kind as well as caring – another WOW! Then get this WOW — they provide exceptional coverage. Not all providers cover the things that Embrace has. I did my homework when selecting this insurance. I had a very unfortunate experience with another pet insurance provider. So I learned a lesson the hard way with that other carrier. I know what I speak as to providers and Embrace – WOW — they are AMAZING and offer a SUPERIOR product. This provider has allowed me to get the best care for my sweet pup and believe when I say — not all insurance companies are that way — THANK YOU EMBRACE!
Good reimbursements. I’ve never had a problem with a claim. My 10 years old Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel and Poodle mix) was healthy most of her life, but I had always carried pet insurance for her through Embrace mostly for vaccinations, routine exams and in case of emergencies. Now that she is older she has developed cushings disease and diabetes and requires medications daily. Without the Embrace pet insurance to help cover the costs of these meds it would be a financial struggle to be able to provide the medications and special dietary needs to keep her healthy and feeling good.
Hi I am interested in getting dog insurance. I was wondering if the plan covers speciality diets (I.E renal diets) if the animal is ever diagnosed with a problem requiring prescription diets. If so how does the deductible apply?
Hi Kate. Prescription diets are only covered if you added the Wellness Rewards Plus plan. ($400 allowance billed at $28.95/month or $299/year)
We have never purchased pet insurance, but after we adopted Teddy (American Cocker Spaniel) we were told that we should look into it. We checked with many different companies and decided to go with Embrace. We are currently enrolled in the Embrace Everyday plan. We know that Cocker Spaniel has some health issues when we adopted him but we just love him so much! Glad we found embrace. It has been well worth the money for his plan. Teddy has chronic skin infections due to allergies, ear infections, and seizures. Not only the vet bills, the antibiotics, allergy meds, ear drops, etc. are all covered. We love Teddy and he is the best gift that we have ever received!
After loosing one of our dogs to kidney failure, and seeing the expense of his care, we decided that we wanted to protect his brother Sunny, and this year Sunny did get a urinary track infection and ear/skin infection and the Embrace pet insurance covered most of the cost, and our big boy is fine now. I must say we will never be without it again. The people at Embrace really understand what you go through as a pet owner. I can not say enough about them. They sure are a great company to trust.