Overview

Year Company Started: 1996

Website: www.petassure.com

Phone: 1888-789-7387

Pet Assure touts itself the “#1 alternative to pet insurance” and it may be just that. Pet Assure covers all pets, regardless of age, medical condition, or pre-existing condition, without an exclusions, deductibles, or waiting periods. Pet Assure is not insurance, it’s an alternative to insurance, Pet Assure members obtain discounts from a network of thousands of veterinarians and pet suppliers.

Once you buy a policy, the process is simple: just present your Pet Assure card to any participating vet—there are thousands—and you’ll receive 25% off your bill on the spot. There are no claim forms to fill out and no annual usage limits, making it simple to save on office visits, surgeries, elective procedures, hospitalizations, and more. It costs $99 annually or $9.95/month to cover a single dog; and $149 annually or $13.95/month to cover up to four dogs. Cat plans cost $56 annually or $6/month for one.

Pet Assure also provides a lost pet recovery service. When you enroll, your pet will receive an ID tag with a number tied to the company’s database. When someone finds your cat or dog, all they need to do is call the toll-free number, any time day or night, and report the information.

If your pet passes away or you move to an area where there aren’t any participating vets, you can freeze your membership to use at a later time, or transfer it to a friend or family member.

Pet Assure Review

Rating: 7

Our review process starts with calling each of the insurance providers over the telephone and then, we gather quotes for these three pet profiles:

• A 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier named Jax
• A 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel named Max
• An 8-year old female mixed breed cat named Fluffy

The Details

Leah answered my call quickly, and informed me PetAssure is a discount program—an alternative to pet insurance. With three pets, I would want to purchase the family plan for $149/year or $13.95/month. You can have up to four pets—regardless of age, breed, or pre-existing conditions—on this plan for the same price. There are no exclusions, deductibles, or waiting periods for reimbursements.

As soon as you purchase a policy, you can visit any veterinarian within the network, nationwide, and receive a 25% discount on all services except food and prescribed medications. You never have to fill out a claim form—and even better, there is no annual limit.

Leah asked me for my zip code, and told me there’s a participating veterinarian just six miles from my home. She gave me the option to sign up online or on the phone. If I opted to complete the transaction with her, she’d have given me all the relevant information to start using the plan right away. When you sign up online, it takes a few days to activate your policy.

Conclusions

PetAssure’s program is simple and inclusive, providing a discount on just about every service. There are no hidden exclusions—what you see is what you get! If your pet has pre-existing conditions that traditional pet insurance won’t cover, this is definitely the way to go. If, for example, your dog needed a surgery that cost $2,000, you’d save $400—far exceeding your annual fee.

Pros

• Pays 25 percent of all veterinary services
• No deductible, no limits, no exclusions
• Covers exotic pets
• Costs less than traditional insurance

Cons

• Have to use a participating veterinarian
• Leaves you responsible for most of a large expense